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

Last week: Lost at Houston 116-112, lost to Portland 102-99, won vs. New Orleans 115-104

This week: Tuesday vs. Orlando, Thursday at San Antonio, Saturday vs. Golden State, Sunday vs. Milwaukee

There are always some teams that are playing better than their record and no team in the NBA exemplifies this through the first couple of weeks than the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Some close losses, some bad bounces and some problems closing games has led to the Thunder starting the year 2-4, including tough losses at Houston and to the Trail Blazers last week.

This despite a net rating that is just outside of the top 10 in the NBA, the second-best effective field goal percentage allowed and a defensive rating of 98.1 that ranks third in the league.

Chris Paul bounced back from a tough night against the Rockets in his return to Houston with 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals against Portland, going 10-for-11 from the line. His numbers are decidedly un-CP3-like thus far, averaging 14.8 points, 4.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals and shooting 45.2 percent overall and 48.1 percent on 4.5 3-point tries a night.

Last week: Won at Phoenix 96-95, won vs. Clippers 110-96, lost at Sacramento 102-101, lost at Clippers 105-94

This week: Wednesday vs. Philadelphia, Friday vs. Milwaukee

The Utah Jazz are another team, much like Orlando, that is playing top-flight defense while struggling mightily at the offensive end. And losing backup center Ed Davis for at least a month to a fractured fibula is not going to help the Jazz in their weakest area — offensive rebounding.

Per Cleaning the Glass, Utah is third in the NBA with a 98.8 defensive rating and third in allowing a 47.6 effective field goal percentage. But a 23rd-ranked offense that is getting 104.5 points per 100 possessions and ranks 25th in turnover percentage is holding the Jazz back a bit.

The Jazz aren’t helping themselves by being the worst offensive rebounding team in the NBA … by a lot … with only 5.3 offensive rebounds per game. The gap between Utah and the 29th-ranked team, Milwaukee, is 2.2 offensive boards per game. That’s is the same as the gap between the Bucks and the Clippers, ranked 19th.

Joe Ingles is embodying Utah’s offensive struggles, averaging just 6.3 points in 28.7 minutes per game in his new sixth man role, shooting 36.4 percent overall, 33.3 percent from 3-point range and getting to the foul line just twice.

Last week: Won vs. Milwaukee 116-105, won vs. New York 104-102

This week: Tuesday at Cleveland, Thursday at Charlotte, Saturday at San Antonio

The Boston Celtics have bounced back nicely from a rough opener at Philadelphia with four straight wins, including going 2-0 last week with a convincing victory over the Bucks before hanging on to beat the Knicks.

The Celtics are getting it done by taking care of the ball, leading the NBA with an 11.4 turnover percentage, and helping their opponents not do the same with an NBA-best 19.0 turnover rate by their opponents.

That’s enabled Boston to weather some inconsistent shooting early. Their effective field goal percentage of 48.8 is in the bottom five of the league.

Jayson Tatum, expected to do a star turn last season, hit the game-winner Friday against New York and is averaging 22.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 35.6 minutes per game, with a crazy shooting line of 40.0 percent overall, but 48.6 percent on 7.4 3-point attempts per game.