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NBA Power Rankings Week 1: Lakers woes and other first impressions

By Josh Cornelissen

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 12: LeBron James #6 and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers on the basketball court together during the second half of a preseason basketball game against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center on October 12, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 12: LeBron James #6 and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers on the basketball court together during the second half of a preseason basketball game against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center on October 12, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies. Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images /

Welcome back to the NBA Power Rankings, where for the first time we have actual regular-season basketball games to take into account when ranking the league’s 30 teams. We can chuck the projections (err, to an extent) and rely on cold, hard facts to order these teams.

The Chicago Bulls lead the league with a perfect 3-0 record, so we’ll just skyrocket them to the top…oh, they played the rebuilding Pistons twice and the Zion-less Pelicans once? Perhaps we hold off a little.

NBA Power Rankings Week 1: What are our first impressions of every team?

These first impressions are important, but they aren’t everything. We want to balance our expectations for a team and our understanding of their roster with the results on the court. With such a small sample size of just two or three games, things will be a bit wonky.

Even so, we can only work with what we see. From Ja Morant coming into his own to Russell Westbrook’s unsurprising failure to launch to the return of the Golden State Warriors, the first five days of the NBA season have brought us a lot. We’ll let the real results affect the rankings a bit more than we otherwise would to reflect the realities of the season.

Even with the craziness of a small sample, one team in central Florida is proving to be exactly who we thought they were. Here we go!

(Note: All stats and records are accurate as of Sunday, October 24th.)