Biggest Winners and Losers from Week 1 of the 2022-23 NBA Season
The 2022-23 NBA season isn't even a week old, but that won't stop us from dispensing some takes.
Based on the few days of action we have to analyze, there are handfuls of both winners and losers.
Some of the selections are teams. One is a player. Others escape the confines of those categories.
Below are four selections from each side of the ledger following Week 1.
Winners: Boston Celtics
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Danilo Gallinari's torn ACL, Robert Williams III's knee surgery and a seasonlong suspension for head coach Ime Udoka had the Boston Celtics entering the regular season on what felt like shaky ground, but they've put a lot of that to rest in their first three contests.
No one has as much to do with the stabilization as Jayson Tatum, who's off to a strong start as a bona fide MVP candidate.
Through three games, Tatum is averaging 34.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.7 threes, 1.7 blocks and 1.0 steals. No player in the proud history of the Celtics organization has scored more in the first three games of a season.
But he's not winning by himself.
Jaylen Brown is averaging 25.0 points. Grant Williams and Sam Hauser's true shooting percentages are over 100. Derrick White appears to have streamlined and improved his jumper.
At the very least, it looks like Boston will be comfortable under interim coach Joe Mazzulla even while awaiting Williams' return.
The East has other top-level teams that will push the Celtics, but it's safe to say they should stay in the contenders' tier for the foreseeable future.
Losers: Philadelphia 76ers
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The Philadelphia 76ers are on the other end of the spectrum. They entered as contenders and a trendy pick to represent the East in the Finals.
Now, they're 0-3 with losses to the rebuilding San Antonio Spurs and a Milwaukee Bucks team that was without Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton.
For the first two games, James Harden looked closer to his old self than he did at the end of 2021-22, but Joel Embiid struggled while putting up a combined 41 points on 38.5 percent shooting.
In Game 3, Embiid busted loose for 40 points, but Harden cratered to 12 points on 18 shots in the loss to San Antonio.
So far, it's difficult to see how the games of the two superstars will mesh (though they did so pretty well last season). Both have spent the majority of their careers dominating the ball for whole possessions, and if Harden isn't overly deferential, their games can clash.
It's only been three games, though. These two seemingly knew how to play together last season, and there's more than enough time and talent for them to figure it out again.
Winner: Nikola Jokić
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Coming into the season, Nikola Jokić only needed two triple-doubles to tie Wilt Chamberlain for the all-time lead among centers.
It only took him three games to get there.
After an unexpected loss to the plucky Utah Jazz in Game 1, Jokić buckled down in a Friday-Saturday back-to-back.
First, on the road against the fully healthy defending-champion Golden State Warriors, he put up 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Back in Denver the next day, he went for 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, 16 rebounds and 13 assists in the Nuggets' home opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Coming into the season, most assumed Jokić would be out of the MVP race because of voter fatigue. And that's probably true. But if he keeps this up for a Nuggets team that finishes first in the West (which is where FiveThirtyEight projects them to land), earning a third straight MVP might be unavoidable.
Right now, he's averaging 24.0 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.7 assists with a 72.5 true shooting percentage. The efficiency almost has to come down, but everything else is in play given the boost in defense and shooting provided by Denver's new additions.
Jokić now starts games alongside three high-end shooters in Michael Porter Jr., Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jamal Murray. He already appears to have chemistry with new reserve Bruce Brown.
Having better teammates might suppress his scoring a bit, but it should help him in most other areas.
Losers: Defenses
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It sometimes feels like jump shooters and offenses in general can come out of the gate with a little rust to knock off.
This season, it's the defenses that are struggling to find their footing.
In 2021-22, the league average for points per game was 110.6. The average effective field-goal percentage was 53.2. In 2022-23, the first mark is up to 113.5, but the effective field-goal percentage is 52.9.
That points to increases in both pace and offensive rebounding percentage as the reasons for the scoring boost.
And while those numbers may level off over the coming days and weeks, the extra pressure has strained defenses through the first week.
Winners: Fans
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The amount of talent and level of play in the NBA right now is as high as it's ever been. Some of the finishes around the rim and tough shots that players consistently make would've been unthinkable in earlier eras.
From that perspective, the fans of the league are among the biggest winners.
More specifically, returns from seasonlong absences for Zion Williamson, Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray and Ben Simmons have brought an extra layer of excitement that most seasons don't have.
While the last three seem to be ramping up more slowly, Zion burst out of the gate with 25 points in a blowout win over the Brooklyn Nets.
The others have shown flashes that suggest the old versions of themselves may still be accessible.
Beyond the comebacks, the award races figure to be as tightly contested as ever.
We already mentioned three MVP candidates in Tatum, Embiid and Jokić. Luka Dončić, whose Dallas Mavericks are among the boatload of contenders or fringe contenders, will surely be in the mix, too.
This goes beyond individual players, too.
With the depth of talent in the league, most teams should be competitive from now through the end of the season. And even fans of the teams toward the bottom of the standings will have something fun to pay attention to, as the franchise that wins the lottery will undoubtedly earn the distinction of drafting Victor Wembanyama, who could be one of the best prospects in league history.
For teams like the Spurs and Indiana Pacers, even losses will feel like wins.
Losers: Los Angeles Lakers
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Given their lackluster offseason (to put it kindly), the Los Angeles Lakers probably shouldn't have been expected to be any better in the first week of the season, but unrealistic expectations are sort of par for the course with this organization.
And for any team with LeBron James, starting 0-3 is going to get some attention, especially after the third loss.
The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers were responsible for the first two, but their rosters are clearly superior to what the Lakers have put together. The Portland Trail Blazers were supposed to be in a similar tier, so blowing a seven-point lead at home with under two minutes left (when L.A. had a 93.7 percent win probability) doesn't look great.
But again, that assumes you had any faith in this team in the first place, which was probably a mistake.
After LeBron and Anthony Davis, this roster is a mess. From Russell Westbrook on down, just about every player is in a more prominent role with L.A. than he'd occupy on almost any other team in the league.
With the depth of the Western Conference, the Lakers may have to make the Westbrook trade (whatever it may be) long before the 20-game mark they're reportedly targeting.
Otherwise, they may not be able to climb out of the hole they started digging in Week 1.
Winners: Damian Lillard and the Rest of the Big Scorers
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It's less than a week into the season, and the clock has already struck Dame Time.
On the road, with his team down one and time winding down in the fourth quarter, Damian Lillard drilled a cold-blooded stepback triple on Sunday afternoon.
That brought Lillard to 41 points, which is where he would end after Jerami Grant hit the game-sealing bucket on Portland's next possession.
It was Lillard's second successive 41-point performance, and he's now averaging 34.0 points per game, but he's not the only player who has already put up a ridiculous line.
Ja Morant has a 49-point performance in a win over the Houston Rockets. Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped 44 in a win over, well, the Rockets. We already mentioned Embiid's 40-piece. Wings Paul George and Jayson Tatum each got one too. DeMar DeRozan opened his campaign with 37 points on 14-of-22 shooting. Pascal Siakam already has a 37-point triple-double.
With the amount of high-end talent in the league right now, we're almost running the risk of these massive performances starting to feel routine.
A Bit of Both: Utah Jazz
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It sure seemed like the Utah Jazz were all-in on Victor Wembanyama when they traded Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell for packages that included loads of draft assets and no All-Stars.
With their new, seemingly eclectic bunch of talent, losses were supposed to be easy to come by. The expectation was that would put the Jazz in the same lottery range as teams like the Spurs and Pacers.
If that was ever the plan, the players on this roster didn't get the memo.
After a shocking blowout win over the Nuggets in Game 1, Utah had back-to-back overtime wins on the road over the Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans.
All three of those teams are over .500 and still trailing the 3-0 Jazz, who are getting contributions from all over the roster.
Mike Conley's steady hand at the helm is reminiscent of Chris Paul with the Thunder in 2019-20 (an analogy that extends to their situations, too). Jarred Vanderbilt sometimes looks like a modern version of Dennis Rodman. Kelly Olynyk, who hit the game-winner in New Orleans, is showing more versatility than Bojan Bogdanović did with Utah. Collin Sexton is playing as hard as he ever has, particularly as a rebounder. Walker Kessler is already contributing. And Lauri Markkanen suddenly looks like Finnish KD.
Markkanen isn't just a stretch 4 anymore. He's creating off the dribble, scoring inside and out, and finishing over rim protectors like Gobert.
Through three games, Markkanen is averaging 24.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.3 threes, 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks.
He and the Jazz may not keep this up all season. There's certainly a debate whether or not they even should.
But for now, they're winning (in the traditional sense) and playing with an energy and passion that last season's team never displayed.
