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The New York Knicks started last season with a 2-3 record and went on to collect rings, showing that the first week of the NBA campaign doesn't determine what happens in the ensuing months.
At the same time, everybody wants to get off to a good start. It sets the tone, establishes confidence and eases any tension that might have lingered from the offseason. If you stumble out of the gates, negativity can snowball.
With each team now at least three games into the 2026-27 season, it's time to check in on some early winners and losers.
The rebuilt Minnesota Timberwolves are clear members of the first category, while the hapless Miami Heat land in the latter. The Oklahoma City Thunder? That's more complicated.
The Oklahoma City Thunder opened the season by smothering Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio, holding him to a 0-of-12 start from the field as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander began his case for a third straight MVP award. Depth, in the form of a red-hot Jared McCain (6-of-8 from three off the bench), carried the day.
Two nights later, OKC held the Denver Nuggets to just 84 points, three fewer than their worst scoring total all of last year. SGA endured his worst offensive performance since October of 2024 in that one. It didn't matter because Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and the rest of the Thunder's supporting players dominated.
Oklahoma City used the first week to remind everyone that the 2025 champs were on a mission. Then, Williams went down with a gruesome leg injury in a win over the Clippers on Sunday. The Thunder will be without him for an extended stretch.
If any team has the depth and top-end talent to survive losing a two-way All-NBA wing, it's OKC. But J-Dub's injury means the Thunder are no longer in a tier by themselves.
Kristaps Porzingis' season may be over before it ever began. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg came out on the wrong side of a verbal spat with Luka Dončić. Stephen Curry doesn't appear to have any more help than he did a year ago.
The Golden State Warriors are hurting.
Porzingis' unavailability is no shock. He was away from the team all offseason and may have only been retained on an extension as a trade chip. His ongoing struggle to manage POTS syndrome, which has limited him for the better part of two years, was a known factor.
It's still a major disappointment for the Warriors that he's reportedly contemplating retirement.
Nobody expected Golden State to contend this season. With some good breaks on the health front and a timely return from Jimmy Butler, they profiled as a Play-In threat at best. Now, after three straight losses that revealed a glaring lack of depth, scoring punch and overall talent, the Dubs are a Stephen Curry injury away from potential relegation.
A blowout win to open the season against the Dallas Mavericks was no great surprise, but an Oct. 23 victory over the San Antonio Spurs could go a long way toward proving the Houston Rockets belong in the West's contender class.
Coming into the year, Houston seemed properly slotted into a crowded second tier behind San Antonio and OKC—jammed up against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers in some order.
After watching Alperen Sengun bully his way to 29 points while Kevin Durant shot over the top of San Antonio's multi-guard looks for an efficient 20 points on 10 field-goal attempts, it's a lot easier to imagine the Rockets holding their own against anyone in the playoffs It also didn't hurt that they took care of business against a very frisky Atlanta Hawks squad to move to 3-0 on Oct. 24.
When Amen Thompson sprang off the floor to block Victor Wembanyama's potential game-tying attempt late in the game, it might as well have been an announcement over a megaphone: The Rockets can compete with anyone.
For all the hand-wringing over the Orlando Magic's offensive woes and questionable coaching over the last few years, health has always been the real factor preventing success.
Paolo Banchero's high ankle sprain against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 23 means injuries are, yet again, the problem in Orlando.
The Magic were already behind big in the third quarter, well on their way to a disappointing 0-2 start, when Banchero went down. He'll miss 4 to 6 weeks, a loss that doesn't sting any less after the Magic beat the Knicks without Banchero on Oct. 25.
It's never ideal to lose a first option, but Banchero's dominant 35-point performance in the opener and strong start against Minnesota suggested he'd leveled up. A potential All-NBA season may be over before it ever began, as Banchero is now at real risk of slipping below the 65-game threshold for awards inclusion.
Orlando posted an elite plus-11.1 net rating with Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane and Wendell Carter Jr. on the floor last year. Now, that group probably won't share the court again until December.
A slimmed-down Joel Embiid still can't get off the floor, but that's a long-term concern. For now, the revamped Philadelphia 76ers—Embiid included—are looking as good as anyone could have reasonably expected.
After taking down the defending champion New York Knicks on opening night, the Sixers battled back from a massive 29-point deficit to bury the Cleveland Cavaliers. That's two East contenders dispatched in two tries, for anyone keeping score at home.
The fledgling Milwaukee Bucks were no match for Philly on Oct. 24, as Embiid played his best game of the young season. His 28-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double was his first since Jan. 22.
There was no shame in dropping an Oct. 25 game to the surging Pistons. Philly is always going to struggle on the second night of back-to-back sets.
Most encouragingly, the Sixers have defended well and taken care of the ball. They held the Knicks and Cavs to offensive ratings below 100.0. Outside of an early cough-up fest in the first half against Cleveland, mistakes have been few and far between.
Both of those factors figured to be issues for a star-driven core that would need some time to coalesce. The offense has scored at below-average rates in all three wins, despite Tyrese Maxey's sporadic takeovers. Once all the talent here gets on the same page, the points will come.
For a minute there, it felt as if the Miami Heat had addressed most of the depth and defense concerns that arose after they traded away half a rotation for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. signed at bargain rates. It seemed reasonable to expect at least one of Nikola Jović, Pelle Larsson or Bobby Portis to contribute in upsized roles. Then the games started.
Through the Heat's first three contests, all losses, the support around Giannis on both ends has been abysmal.
Bam Adebayo has disappeared for long stretches of Antetokounmpo-centric offense. Thompson is shooting 34.5 percent from the field while surrendering blow-by drives to all comers. Jović has been a zero on both ends. Collectively, the defense in all three defeats has been about as bad as anything Miami has put on the floor in years—particularly in blowout defeats against Minnesota and Detroit.
This is a "worst fears realized" situation for the Heat. Their support pieces are underperforming and may face some real fit issues. It's early, but every pessimist about the Giannis trade is looking pretty smart right now.
Just as everyone suspected, the downsized, LaMelo Ball-led Minnesota Timberwolves emerged from the first week of the season with the NBA's No. 1 defense.
There's certainly some luck involved there, but Minnesota's similarly stellar offense seems legit.
Anthony Edwards and Ball are bombing threes at high rates. Jaden McDaniels has taken a leap on offense with the ball. Ball, in particular, is having a major impact on the Wolves' scoring success. His influence was undeniable in an Oct. 25 win over a Toronto Raptors team that had been smothering opponents in the opening week.
Naz Reid has looked very good for the Charlotte Hornets, but Ball's hugely positive effect on the Wolves' offense makes them the early winners of one of the offseason's biggest trades.
The slate has been difficult, marked by matchups against playoff-caliber foes in Philadelphia, Boston and Orlando. That said, the 0-3 New York Knicks are nonetheless one of the early season's biggest disappointments.
Nobody is panicking, but the defending champs seem to be enduring some predictable malaise. When it's all parades and SNL hosting gigs for several months straight, it's not easy to get back to the grind.
The Athletic's James L. Edwards III outlined the issue, noting: "The offensive flow that slaughtered opponents in April, May and June doesn't have as much juice right now. The defensive intensity comes in waves. There are head-scratching turnovers. The Knicks used to punish teams that made mistakes or eased up. So far this regular season, the Knicks are returning the favors with mistakes of their own."
New York is relatively healthy. Everything it accomplished last postseason still counts. It'd just be nice if the defending champs played like themselves.
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