4. Indiana Pacers (Last: 10)
The Pacers have come out of the gate sprinting as one of the league’s fastest-pace teams (104.5 pace) with the highest assist-to-turnover ratio (3.7 assists for every turnover) and are 2-0. Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight rebounds in Saturday’s win over the Cavaliers (who were without both Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland) and the defense is showing early signs of improvement from last season’s 26th-ranked outfit.
5. Miami Heat (Last: 3)
Same as it ever was, the Heat are dealing with injuries from the jump and are out to a 1-2 start. Caleb Martin played in only the season opener after a knee injury sidelined him for most of the preseason but was clearly limited. He didn’t play in Boston or Minnesota over the weekend and is considered day-to-day. Josh Richardson has yet to play with a foot injury and Haywood Highsmith has been out with a sprained MCL that will be reevaluated this week. Jimmy Butler missed the Heat’s first back-to-back Saturday in Minnesota, and that appears to be the plan for now. (Miami’s next back-to-back is Nov. 12 in San Antonio.)
Tyler Herro is averaging the fourth-most field goal attempts in the NBA but is shooting at a 37.3% clip. His 3-point shooting isn’t the issue — he’s made 37.9% of his attempts from distance — but he’s struggling inside the arc, where he’s made only 36.8% of his 2-pointers. But with injuries and slow starts for Butler (16.5 points on 31% shooting) and Kyle Lowry (5.3 points on 42.9% shooting), the Heat are relying on Herro to get shots up.
For what it’s worth, Bam Adebayo has been great, averaging a team-high 22.7 points in 48% shooting while providing world-class defense. Monday night’s game in Milwaukee against the Lillard-Giannis PnR will be his biggest test yet.
6. Cleveland Cavaliers (Last: 5)
Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland each sat out Saturday’s loss to the Pacers with hamstring injuries and are listed day-to-day. They have combined to play in three of Cleveland’s first three games. Jarrett Allen has yet to play this season with an ankle injury. As such, it’s tough to get a read on this team. But former Heat starter Max Strus has so far been a positive addition, averaging 18.7 points on 39.4% shooting from 3-point range, 9.3 rebounds and 4 assists in three games.
7. New York Knicks (Last: 6)
The Knicks beat the Hawks on opening night but then lost to the top-ranked Celtics and the Pelicans on the second night of a back-to-back to drop to 1-2. While RJ Barrett (22.7 points on 47.1% shooting) has played well coming off an impressive FIBA World Cup run with Team Canada, Julius Randle has struggled (13.7 points on 27.7% shooting). Here’s what I wrote about Randle in my preseason power rankings: “The biggest swing factor for the Knicks is Julius Randle, who is coming off an All-NBA caliber season but has a tendency to follow good seasons with less good ones.” Even though it’s early, Randle has enough of a pattern here for Knicks fans to be concerned.