NBA Week 2 Power Rankings: Cavs rise, Lakers bottom out

The Orlando Magic just notched their first win of the season, a complete drubbing of the Charlotte Hornets, but they have looked good in every game they have played this season. Despite wave after wave of injuries their big frontcourt rotation has enough skill and versatility to keep them in any game. Franz Wagner is playing well, Paolo Banchero looks like an All-Star, let alone Rookie of the Year, and Bol Bol has finally grasped onto the tantalizing potential draft analysts saw in him. The Magic’s bench is so bad they will lose a lot of games, but if and when they get healthy they will give a lot of good teams fits this year.

The LA Clippers aren’t concerned about the regular season. Their eyes are focused on getting to April fully healthy so that their stars can take over and they can ride their insane depth to a title. The problem? That depth doesn’t look so great right about now, and their stars aren’t healthy. Last year they missed the playoffs altogether, and while that feels unlikely this year they haven’t instilled a lot of confidence. Two losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder look bad enough, but this team’s only two wins are by a combined eight points to the Kings and Lakers…who already appeared on this list. Not great, Bob.

The Indiana Pacers look poised to be the young, fast team that everyone wants to watch and ultimately end up about where everyone expected before the season. These “League Pass” darlings have Tyrese Haliburton wheeling and dealing, Bennedict Mathurin bombing away as a rookie challenger to Banchero for top honors, and enough two-way verve to scare some teams.

The Washington Wizards are right about where we expected. They lost to the one good team on their schedule, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and otherwise went 3-1 against a soft schedule. Kristaps Porzingis looks healthy, Bradley Beal is competing on both ends, and Monte Morris is a steady hand at the wheel. This group has capped upside but if Deni Avdija can be a true defensive difference-maker perhaps they can battle their way to the Play-In Tournament.

The San Antonio Spurs had the league’s lowest win total heading into the season, a surefire bet to plunge to the bottom of the standings without any backcourt players of note. Instead, Tre Jones has been the definition of solid, Josh Richardson is having a bounceback year, and the starting frontcourt has been awesome: Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Jakob Poetl look like the real deal. They will falter as the season goes on, but their start has been electric.