The Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets, the two teams that missed the Eastern Conference playoffs last season, both started with a 3-0 record. (The latter ruined the Brooklyn Nets in Sunday's home opener.) )
In the West, the Los Angeles Lakers finally beat the Grizzlies to take their first win of the season. Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors are also currently off to a 3-0 start.
After the first week of an NBA game, we rank the team's strength:
1. Milwaukee Bucks
Current record for the 2021-22 season: 2-1
Last week's ranking: 2
The Bucks' victory over the Nets in the opener reminded the league why the Bucks are the defending champions. The Bucks finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists at Giannis Antetokounmpo in their win over the Nets. The season began with injuries, the Bucks' starter was in a hurry, but Juju Holliday and Rodney Hood both returned on Saturday. Brook-Lopez (back pain) will at least miss Monday's game against the Pacers.
2. Utah Jazz
Current record for the 2021-22 season: 2-0
Last week's ranking: 5
Hassan Whiteside, the former top-paid big man who joined the Jazz at minimum wage, made an encouraging start as Rudy Gobert's replacement. In the first two games, he scored 14 points, 19 rebounds and three blocks in 34 minutes, while the Utah Jazz led the opponent by 19 points in whiteside's presence.
3. Denver Nuggets
Last week's ranking: 7
Michael Malone is pleased with his team starting the new season without Jamal Murray. The Nuggets have not conceded more than 98 points in their first two games, both against the Suns and Spurs. Defending MVP Nikola Jokic returned to his previous form, averaging 29.5 points and 14.5 rebounds per game. Michael Porter Jr. started slowly, finishing with just 22 points and seven rebounds in two games, but it didn't take long for him to surpass those numbers in one game.
4. Brooklyn Nets
Current results for the 2021-22 season: 1-2
Last week's ranking: 1
For the Nets, the season started slowly, not only did they not have Kyrie Irving, but they also saw the start of the season as an extension of the preseason. Head coach Steve Nash also spoke about how he handled the rotation, with James Harden saying after Sunday's loss to the Hornets that his hamstring injury is recovering after a long offseason and he is still struggling to get into the season.
5. Golden State Warriors
Current record for the 2021-22 season: 3-0
Last week's ranking: 11
At Stephen Curry leading the Golden State Warriors, everything went well, and their record was 3-0. Curry continued to shine as he began his quest for his third MVP. He scored 45 points in Thursday's win over the Clippers and continues to give confidence to the larger crowd on the roster. Veterans Nemanja Belicka, Andre Iguodala and Damien Lee provided Steve Cole with good playing time on the bench, while third-year defender Jordan Poole continued to improve his attack.
6. Miami Heat
Current record for the 2021-22 season: 1-1
Last week's ranking: 6
The Heat got off to a strong start to the season, beating the Bucks, but gradually faded after losing to the Pacers in overtime on Saturday. The good news for Miami is that sharpshooter Taylor Harrow seems to have found his breakout point again. In his first two games, he scored a total of 57 points.
7. Philadelphia 76ers
Last week's ranking: 9
The Philadelphiaman played poorly against the Nets in the final five minutes, with a 3-0 record in the week before the start of the season. The situation with the 76ers — even without Ben Simmons — is what they've always been: If Joel Embiid were healthy enough to play, the Phillies would win a lot of games.
8. Los Angeles Lakers
Last week's ranking: 3
What a wonderful night it was for Carmelo Anthony. The 19-year veteran rose to no. ninth on the NBA's all-time scoring list in an impressive way, scoring 28 points on the bench — including two free throws to help the Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies in his first win of the season. "He didn't climb that milestone, he opened the door," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.
9. Atlanta Hawks
Last week's ranking: 8
10. Chicago Bulls
Last week's ranking: 19
The rejuvenated Bulls, which was their first 3-0 since the 2016-17 season, still had some awkward moments on their offense, but Zach Lavin, DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball all played exciting basketball. Under the constant entanglement of Ball and Caruso, their defense was more active than expected. The starting part of their format was soft — they faced the Pistons twice, they didn't have Cadcanian, and the Pelicans, they didn't have Zion Williamson — so this week the tougher opponents for the Knicks and Jazz should provide a better gauge of how good Chicago can be.
11. New York Knicks
Last week's ranking: 14
It's just three games, but one of the Knicks' trends is that Kemba Walker is playing less and less, and in the Knicks' two games, Kemba Walker's playing time increased from 36 and 19 minutes in New York to 22 minutes and 19 minutes, respectively. He and Rose will take turns playing throughout the season.
12. Phoenix Suns
Last week's ranking: 4
Suns guard Chris Paul scored a total of 20,000 points and 10,000 assists against the Lakers on Friday night, becoming the first player in NBA history to score 20,000 points and 10,000 assists. (Paul became the 47th player in NBA history to score 20,000 points, while he scored his 10,000th assist last season.) )
13. Dallas Mavericks
Last week's ranking: 10
The Lone Rangers' offense has been underperforming for most of the first six quarters of the season, and while the Lone Rangers didn't add another playmaker in the offseason, Jason Kidd tried to figure out how to ease Luka Doncic's burden. Dallas scored 58 points in the second half with a 52.3 percent shooting in Saturday's win over Toronto, a tried-and-tested approach: spread the pitch and get Doncic Cook on the pitch.
14. Wasps
15. Grizzly Bear
16. Wizards
17. Trailblazers
18. Clippers
19. Celtic
20. Timberwolves
21. Walkers
22. Raptors
23. The King
24. Spurs
25. Knights
26. Rockets
27. Pelicans
28. Magic
29. Piston
30. Thunder