NBA Power Rankings: Philadelphia 76ers the last unbeaten after Week 2

The Philadelphia 76ers are the last unbeaten team remaining in the NBA this season. Do the new NBA Power Rankings reflect that status?

The new NBA season has just completed it’s first full week of games and we’re already down to just one unbeaten team remaining. That would be the Philadelphia 76ers, who opened a four-game West Coast swing with a dramatic victory at Portland on Saturday night.

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But at 5-0, the 76ers are not to be confused with being a threat to the Warriors’ NBA record of 24 straight wins to open a season, set during their 73-win campaign in 2015-16.

The results continue to hold some surprises. The Phoenix Suns are still rolling along, with their 4-2 record marking their best start to a season since they were also 4-2 to open the 2013-14 season — also the last time the Suns finished with a winning record.

On the other end of the surprise scale, one can find the Santa Cruz Golden State Warriors, who are now without Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, Rick Barry, Chris Mullin and Joe Barry Carroll for the immediate future.

With a roster that might as well be entitled “D’Angelo Russell and the G-League Chorus,” the Warriors — without a banged-up D-Lo  on Saturday — fell to 1-5 on the season while ranking dead last in the NBA in adjusted defensive rating per Cleaning the Glass.

The ratings at CtG remove garbage-time minutes (so it’s a bit of a surprise the Warriors have anything left to analyze … I kid, I kid), but the overall defensive numbers don’t tell a happier tale for Golden State — 30th among the NBA’s 30 teams allowing 117.3 points per 100 possessions.

Six teams in the early going have defensive ratings of less than 100, significant when viewed in the context of the Milwaukee Bucks leading the NBA last season with a rating of 104.9.

The Los Angeles Lakers are leading the pack on the defensive end at a sterling 96.3 points allowed per 100 possessions, while holding opponents to a 45.6 effective field goal percentage (also No. 1 in the NBA).

With the calendar flipping over to November, there should be some star-powered returns, with Paul George expected to make his delayed debut with the LA Clippers some time this month and the Sacramento Kings expected to get Marvin Bagley III back from a thumb injury later in November as well.

As for the Warriors, they are hoping to get Green back this week and Looney sometime next week, so that will be some good news for a club that’s had little of it over the season’s first 12 days.

With that, let’s dive into the rankings.

Last week: Won at New Orleans 134-123, lost to Phoenix 121-110, lost to San Antonio 127-110, lost to Charlotte 93-87

This week: Monday vs. Portland, Wednesday at Houston, Friday at Minnesota, Saturday at Oklahoma City

The moment the rest of the NBA has been dreaming of for most of the last five years appears to be upon us, as the Golden State Warriors are off to a dreadful start with five losses in their first six games, including losing their first four games at their brand-new home, Chase Arena in San Francisco.

We’re just six games into the season and only six Warriors have played in every game, with Glenn Robinson III being the only player to start all six contests for Golden State.

It was Robinson who did his best to try and keep the Warriors in the game against Charlotte on Saturday night, scoring 16 points and matching his season-high with nine rebounds while drilling 4-of-7 from deep after opening the season just 2-for-10.

Otherwise, though, things are looking grim for Golden State — injury-riddled and pushed up against the luxury tax apron so hard their ability to make any roster changes is almost non-existent. If I’m Marquese Chriss — the lone Warrior on a non-guaranteed contract — I’m renting rather than buying and trying to get a good daily rate.

Last week: Lost to Denver 101-94, lost to Charlotte 118-111, won vs. Utah 102-101, won at New York 113-92

This week: Wednesday at Toronto, Friday at Atlanta

The Sacramento Kings have shown some fight after a 0-5 start that included three losses at home and a pair of road blowouts. The Kings have back-to-back wins after pummeling the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday 113-92. That came on the heels of a one-point win over the Jazz at home on Friday.

The Kings are still somewhat shorthanded up front, with Marvin Bagley out for four to six weeks after breaking his right thumb on opening night, while Harry Giles has yet to appear in a game because of more knee trouble.

Sacramento is 2-1 after making a lineup change in the middle, with Dewayne Dedmon taking his 36.1 percent shooting to the second unit and Richaun Holmes starting. Holmes earned the gig by scoring 24 points with 13 rebounds and two blocks in 30 minutes during Sacramento’s loss to the Nuggets on Monday.

In his three starts, Holmes is averaging 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks in 28.4 minutes per game, shooting a nifty 75 percent (18-for-24) from the floor.