Week 1 of the 2025-26 NBA season is within the books. What higher time to unfurl our energy rankings.
San Antonio’s Spurs heart Victor Wembanyama and Milwaukee Bucks ahead Giannis Antetokounmpo — a pair of charming unicorns — had been the respective Players of the Week for his or her conferences, main their teams to higher-than-anticipated finishes within the first version of our energy rankings. The Spurs, particularly, appear like a juggernaut, although they’re lacking a number of key gamers, together with De’Aaron Fox.
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Still, it was troublesome to fit San Antonio any increased than the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets, who share a single loss — a double-overtime defeat by the hands of the mighty Golden State Warriors — between them. The Western Conference, as anticipated, is comfortably the superior facet of the standings.
Meanwhile, within the East, the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers — every lacking their All-NBA star — have shared a single victory, towards the winless (and Zion Williamson-less) New Orleans Pelicans. Not fairly.
(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
There is a chasm between the top-six contenders and the remainder of the sector, because the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers and L.A. Clippers, amongst others, have proven vital flaws having to do with age, accidents and the absence of some extent guard. Fixes might not be on the way in which.
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Elsewhere, the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic — a pair of Eastern Conference teams that anticipated to be on the record of fringe contenders — haven’t appeared the half, as continuity and ingenuity stay points.
What to do, then, with a pair of surprisingly undefeated teams, the Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls, who’ve mixed to win a handful of video games towards presumptive high quality opponents? We slotted them someplace within the jumbled center, the place they’ll rise or (extra probably) fall as we get a bigger pattern dimension.
This is the place the enjoyable begins. Enjoy the experience, and file your complaints with me here. It could also be futile, although, as these energy rankings are good. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for. Move alongside.
Battling a damaged nostril, stitches over his left eye and an iced proper hand, Cam Thomas, after totaling 40 factors and zero assists, supplied an early metaphor for Nets expectations this season: “I’m getting my ass beat out there, but it’s all good. Just got to keep playing, keep pushing.”
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Wizards fan David Baldini, who gave up his season tickets after 20 years, after the staff raised costs by greater than $10,000, informed The Washington Post of his favourite squad, “They’re f***ing terrible. I don’t know how you can raise ticket prices like that when the team is horrible.”
“We performed three good quarters,” mentioned Pelicans coach Willie Green. “A lot of good there. A lot to build on. But we’ve got to be better in those moments of understanding that teams are going to make some adjustments. The first adjustment is to play hard.” A good reminder in the first week.
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Pacers coach Rick Carlisle got to the heart of the issue in Indiana: “We’re missing an All-NBA player, a great playmaker and scorer. But there are opportunities for other guys. And from a style standpoint, we’re going to have to figure out very quickly what style is best for this group.”
Coach Jordan Ott sounded off: “We’ve got to be better. There’s no excuse for that. We’re going to should be higher defensively. This is a defensive-minded group at occasions and we simply lose our approach, however we’re three video games in. There’s a pattern dimension to all this. A whole lot of that’s who you play.”
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Coach Darko Rajaković: “We’re going to need 20, 30, 40 games for us to make conclusions. We are going to have nights when it looks like, ‘Wow, we figured it out,’ and then some nights when we’re going to look like [Friday], where we were disjointed there at the end of the game.”
Think Lauri Markkanen is on the transfer? Jazz GM Austin Ainge: “Lauri could be and hopefully is part of our next team when we’re going up. … I joke that, obviously, no one is untradeable. If a trade came in for me, I would convince [the team’s governor] to take it. This is how it goes.”
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The Hornets have gained two of their first three, regardless of beginning two rookies, however pump the brakes on any excessive expectations. As Charlotte’s Collin Sexton conceded, “Understand that we haven’t played with each other before. We’ve got a lot of new faces. We have a lot of new guys here.”
DeMar DeRozan submits our first officiating gripe of the season: “It’s deflating. Especially when we’re going out there trying to play hard and compete, and it seems like we’re getting called for fouls, but on the other end when we’re trying to be aggressive, nothing is going our way.”
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Joe Mazzulla’s Celtics start within the mud: “Everybody starts the year [talking] about togetherness and getting through difficult times, but no one anticipates it happening [immediately]. They always think it’s gonna happen later, but it happened now. So we just gotta chip away at it.”
Anthony Davis, remaining optimistic: “This is adversity? We have 80 games left,” Davis mentioned. “We can run off 10 straight [wins] and then what? That’s how I look at it. … We know we have to be better on both ends of the floor. An NBA season is a roller coaster. We’re staying positive.”
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Blazers veteran Jerami Grant supplied a sobering actuality, because the Blazers attempt to escape the shadow of Chauncey Billups’ scandal: “We know it’s a tough situation. We’re feeling for him and his family. But the NBA moves fast, you’ve got to keep moving. I think it’s just part of the business.”
The Magic, nonetheless making an attempt to type out their new-look lineup, will not be going to let a sluggish begin get them down. “It’s a long season,” mentioned Orlando’s Desmond Bane. “We’re only three games in. We’ve got a lot of good dudes in our organization, so I don’t expect anybody to hang their head.”
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Injuries are the worst. “It’s hard to have consistency when it’s multiple different lineups and different guys playing,” mentioned Atlanta’s Trae Young. “ It’s only the third game. … We’ve had multiple different lineups every game. It’s hard to find consistency when you don’t have that.”
People like what they’re seeing early from the Bulls, particularly on the defensive finish, and that goes for the gamers, too. “I love the way we play here,” mentioned Bulls guard Tre Jones. “The guys in the locker room; the coaching staff is amazing. The style of play has been amazing here.”
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AJ Green on Giannis Antetokounmpo: “That’s who he is at his heart. He’s that guy that’s going to step up, regardless of how he’s feeling. He’s going to put pressure on the other team for 48 minutes. Just relentless attacking and making them adjust or try to stop him, and they can’t.”
We’re solely a handful of video games in, and the Grizzlies have already had “a pretty embarrassing performance,” in accordance with Jaylen Wells. There is at all times a shiny facet in Memphis, although. “The benefit of the NBA is we acquired one other sport tomorrow, so wanting ahead to that.”
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Some acquainted phrases from Erik Spoelstra in Miami: “There was a competitive spirit from our guys. Guys are fully committing to that, our collective competitive edge. … It wasn’t a great game on our part, but that competitive spirit — you can do a lot of great things with that.”
Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe are balling. Joel Embiid? “Longer stints mean you might be done by halftime. But I can’t sit for too long,” mentioned the 2023 MVP. “Being in shape is one thing, but being in basketball shape is another thing. You need to play, and you need to play a lot.”
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Wolves coach Chris Finch was fast to diagnose his staff’s situation by a number of video games. “Defense is certainly not where it needs to be,” he mentioned. “Not dictating on the point of attack. No aggressiveness to it at all, and the fly-around mentality behind it is just not quite there.”
Not the best of indicators that Deandre Ayton wants his teammates to make enjoyable of him — or no matter — for motivation. “They all have their own little thing to get my head all mixed up,” mentioned Ayton. “Yeah, they be trying to get me ticked off before these games just to get me rolling.”
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Pistons proprietor Tom Gores is driving excessive after years of lows. “It’s been a decade, really trying to get where we are today,” he mentioned. “It’s taken a lot of patience and a lot of hard times, but it feels great. I feel like we’re set up to be a machine. I feel like we’re set up to be a sustainable winner.”
Tyronn Lue with an early season warning to his staff: “If our first unit can’t get off to better defensive starts, subs will be made faster. It’s a learning experience, just kind of see what our team is made of. … If I got to make early subs from here on out, then that’s what we gotta do.”
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Amen Thompson was there to settle us down, regardless of Houston’s early struggles with out their level guard. “We have championship-level expectations, so just trying to play our best game every game,” the Rockets ahead mentioned. “Bad games happen, but we’re still trying to win those.”
The Cavaliers are protecting a degree head after a 64-win season that ended shy of playoff expectations. “Everyone is saying we’re contenders,” mentioned Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson. “To me, contenders go to the conference finals. We have to get out of the second round first.”
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The Knicks are coming for the league. “Our expectations are extremely high,” mentioned New York’s new coach, Mike Brown. “We feel like as the season goes along, we’re gonna get better. … But we don’t feel like we’re anywhere near what we’re capable of. And that’s what makes it exciting.”
Jimmy Butler isn’t mincing phrases with regards to the veteran Warriors. “It’s amazing,” he mentioned. “Everybody knows where the ball has to go, what you’re supposed to do when you get the ball, who to give it to at every second of the game. That’s why we’re going to win a championship.”
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Keldon Johnson, channeling what we had been all fascinated about Victor Wembanyama’s 40-point, 15-rebound opener: “Honest question. Have you ever seen some s*** like that in your life?” And Wemby, extra frighteningly: “I feel like it’s time to take the next step. We’re all tired of losing.”
The new-look Nuggets, who’re deeper than ever, are simply getting began. “We can get a lot better,” mentioned Denver level guard Jamal Murray. “We’re still just getting comfortable with each other and the timing and all that. … I just see a lot of potential for the future with that group.”
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in postseason type, in accordance with Thunder coach Mark Daigneault: “He’s form of in character proper now. It’s a credit score to the work that he does. He does not ease his approach into the season. He’s ready to go on Night 1 and for all 82. … He seems about the identical.”