NBA Power Rankings: Up is down, down is up after crazy start

Last week: Lost at Philadelphia 107-93, won vs. Toronto 112-106, won at New York 118-95

This week: Wednesday vs. Milwaukee, Friday vs. New York

The Boston Celtics swept their Friday-Saturday back-to-back without centers Enes Kanter (knee) for both games and Daniel Theis (ankle) on Saturday. Kanter started in the opener, with Theis getting the start against the Raptors. With both players out, Robert Williams got the call and gave Boston an efficient 22 minutes, getting seven boards and three assists to go with four points.

Kemba Walker shot just 12-for-40 (30.0 percent) and was 3-for-14 from 3-point range in his first two games as a Celtic before blowing up against the Knicks Saturday for 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting, canning 7-of-12 long-range attempts. His eight assists in three games might be a concern, what with that whole being-the-point-guard thing.

Gordon Hayward looks better than he did last season, averaging 16.3 points in the early going, but Jayson Tatum is a mess — shooting 45.5 percent (10-for-22) from 3-point range and just 28.2 percent (11-for-39) inside the arc. He’s 9-for-19 at the rim so far and 2-for-20 on shots between the rim and the arc. Small sample size theater? Yes. But still … oof.

Last week: Lost at Utah 100-95, lost to Washington 97-85, won vs. Golden State 120-92

This week: Monday at Houston, Wednesday vs. Portland, Saturday vs. New Orleans

The Oklahoma City Thunder got well in a hurry against Golden State on Sunday, hanging 120 points up after being held to 95 and 85 respectively through their first two games. Their two additions from the LA Clippers are leading the way, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 24.3 points per game and Danilo Gallinari chipping in with 20.0 a night.

But the Thunder started extremely cold. Even after shooting 55.7 percent overall and 15-for-32 (46.9 percent) from 3-point range against the Warriors, it raised their season marks to just 44.5 percent and 36.6 percent respectively. Dennis Schroder is leading the team in assists at 4.3 per game and is playing more minutes (81) than Chris Paul (79) thus far.

Coach Billy Donovan is also finding some playing time for the kids, with rookie Darius Bazley getting 20.2 minutes per game so far and Slam Dunk Contest champion Hamidou Diallo up to 17.9 minutes a night and averaging 9.0 points per game on 11-of-20 shooting so far.

Last week: Won vs. Cleveland 94-85, lost at Atlanta 103-99

This week: Monday at Toronto, Wednesday vs. New York, Friday vs. Milwaukee, Saturday vs. Denver

The Orlando Magic have pulled off some prestidigitation in the early going, managing to split two games despite their shooting being so far off that they couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean without it plunking into the beach. Orlando is a league-worst 38.9 percent overall and have made only 23.0 percent of their 3-point attempts through the first two games (also last in the NBA).

But they are getting it done at the other end, with a 92.2 defensive rating (second in the league). Evan Fournier has been the best offensive weapon so far, with 39 points on 15-of-31 shooting so far. The 3-point shooting has been dismal.

Among players with at least two made 3s (the league qualifying mark is one per game), Fournier is leading the team at 30.0 percent (3-for-10). Terrence Ross is 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) and Markelle Fultz is 2-for-9 (22.2 percent). That’s not even counting Nikola Vucevic (1-for-9), Aaron Gordon (1-for-4) or Jonathan Isaac (0-for-4). It’s not a bold prediction to say this will normalize over time.