PBT's Week 4 NBA Power Rankings: Embiid, Maxey and 76ers move into top spot

Teams are starting to settle in about 10 games into the season and we're starting to get a sense of where teams fit, although there was still a lot of movement up and down in this week's NBA Power Rankings. That starts with Philadelphia taking over the top spot.

1. Philadelphia 76ers (8-2, last week No. 3). Philly takes over the top spot despite a loss Tuesday to Indiana (second game of a series, tough to beat a good team twice in a row). The 76ers are here because Tyrese Maxey is making the leap to All-Star, maybe an All-NBA level player this season but just as importantly, Nick Nurse and the Sixers are playing faster and leaning into his game. Against the Pacers and Pistons the Sixers ran a lot of empty-side Maxey/Joel Embiid pick-and-rolls that are almost indefensible, especially with shooters spacing out the floor on the weak side. Philadelphia has won eight straight but face a big test with Boston on Wednesday. After he dropped 50 on the Pacers Maxey dedicated the game to Kelly Oubre, who is in all our thoughts. Get well.

2. Boston Celtics (8-2, LW 1). Jayson Tatum has played like an MVP candidate this season and leads the league in raw plus/minus by a wide margin: Boston is +178 with Tatum on the court this season (Nikola Jokic is second at +120). What should be concerning for Celtics fans is the team's -14.4 net rating when Tatum is off the court. It's early, there is a lot of noise in that stat, but it's concerning. The Celtics are rolling — best net rating in the NBA — but concerns about the team's depth are legitimate, with Al Horford shooting just 38.5% so far this season (23.1% from 3) and Payton Pritchard doing worse at 32.7%. Big test against the 76ers on Wednesday, which starts a run of 5-of-6 on the road.

3. Denver Nuggets (9-2, LW 2). The Nuggets are 3-1 since Jamal Murray went out with his hamstring strain, and they need to find a way to keep winning into December which is when he's expected to return. One way would be to start to get to the free throw line more — the Nuggets are averaging just 17.8 free throw attempts a game and are shooting 70.8% at the line, both numbers are league lows. Denver's never been a high free throw team, but last season they shot almost five more a game and hit 75.1% of them, this year those numbers have fallen off. Nikola Jokic at 75.1% and Aaron Gordon at 53.6% are shooting career lows at the line. Some free points would help with Murray out.

4. Minnesota Timberwolves (8-2, LW 6). Minnesota has the best defense in the NBA, and not just by a little — they are 3.7 points per 100 possessions better than second-place Boston. At the heart of that is a rejuvenated Rudy Gobert, who when he is not in a sleeper hold by Draymond has looked like his old Defensive Player of the Year self, protecting the rim and still challenging shots on the perimeter. Gobert deserves some credit for Minnesota's hot start. Anthony Edwards' dunk over Dario Saric is worth another look (and there is no way it should have led to a technical foul).

5. Oklahoma City Thunder (7-4, LW 8). It's obviously a small sample size, but only five teams qualify right now for the traditional measure of a title contender — top 10 in offensive and defensive rating — and the Thunder are one of them (ninth in offense, sixth in defense, using Cleaning the Glass' numbers). The offense could take a step forward, while as a team they are hitting 37.6% of their shots from 3 (fifth best in the league), they are 24th in the league in attempts from deep (and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is hitting just 30.8% from 3 this season, well below his career average). There are more points from beyond the arc this team could pick up. Good test this week with two games in the Bay Area against the Warriors.

6. Dallas Mavericks (8-3, LW 4). The Mavericks keep winning games and deserve this top-10 ranking, but I remain skeptical they can hold onto it — I'm just not sold yet. Part of that is their 24th-ranked defense, which will come back to bite them. The other big concern is Dallas has only one win over a team currently above .500 and that was Brooklyn in the second game of the season. Interesting tests coming up on that front this weekend at Milwaukee then facing the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back (the Kings are not over .500 but are a different team now that De'Aaron Fox is back. What keeps them up here is Luka Doncic playing maybe the best ball of his life, averaging 31.1 points, 7.9 assists and 7.8 rebounds a game — he has been MVP level.

7. Atlanta Hawks (6-4, LW 7). One thing Quin Snyder has brought to Atlanta is pace — 19.4% of Hawks possessions start in transition, which leads the league (stat via Cleaning the Glass), and they have a 141.6 offensive rating on those plays. The Hawks are are third in the league using a traditional pace measurement (up from 17th two seasons ago, the team's last full season under Nate McMillan). Running always seemed to fit Trae Young's game and the Hawks are leaning into it. Overall, the Hawks are fifth in the NBA in offense and 15th in defense, a combination that will win them a lot of games, but that may be tough this week with the Knicks, 76ers and Pacers on the schedule (all games in the ATL).

8. Indiana Pacers (7-4, LW 9). If you're looking for this season's Sacramento Kings, look no further — the Pacers have a historically good offense to open the season, they are League Pass darlings because they are fun to watch, and they are held back only by a dreadful defense. Indiana doesn't just have the best offense in the NBA so far, their 122 offensive rating is two points better than second-place Dallas (120). Tyrese Haliburton sparks that offense — he has ascended to a top-five playmaker in the league. As evidence, in a two-game series against the 76ers this week he had 58 points, 32 assists and 0 turnovers. Fun In Season Tournament test next Tuesday against another fast starting team in Atlanta.

9 Milwaukee Bucks (6-4, LW 10). There are a lot of things not fitting together smoothly in Milwaukee yet, and while new coach Adrian Griffin is taking some (deserved) fire for this, some of this is beyond his control — a key issue with the Bucks' 25th-ranked defense is roster driven. It was no secret adding Damian Lillard was a defensive downgrade (but worth it for the offensive upside), however, pairing him with Malik Beasley in the backcourt is a defensive disaster at the point of attack. There are scheme issues on the defensive end as well, this is a roster built for drop coverage (which Coach Bud wanted and built towards) and Griffin has pushed them toward a more aggressive style trying to create turnovers. It hasn't fit. The Bucks need to get more conservative on the defensive end with this roster.

10. Miami Heat (7-4, LW 20). Tyler Herro is out likely another couple of weeks with a sprained ankle, but the Heat are 3-0 since he went down — and are on a six-game win streak overall — thanks to maybe the best stretch of basketball in Bam Adebayo's career: Five straight games of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds (the longest 20 and 10 streak he has ever had). Miami is doing all this winning in the most Miami of ways, with guys just stepping up as others go down or are taken out of the starting five (hello Kevin Love). We'll see if they can keep that up against the Nets (a team that given them trouble recently), then on Saturday Miami starts a five-game road trip in Chicago.

11. Golden State Warriors (6-6, LW 5). The most telling stat of the Warriors season so far comes via Anthony Slater of The Athletic: Only one Warrior other than Stephen Curry has scored 20 points in a game this season (Dario Saric on Tuesday in the loss to Minnesota). The Warriors have to get Curry some help. Andrew Wiggins is still in a slump and that's a problem. The Warriors were counting on him to be one of the core scorers behind Curry, but Wiggins is averaging 10.5 points a game and shooting 15.4% from 3, and his offensive slump is bleeding into his defensive effort. On a positive note, last season, the Warriors were terrible away from the Chase Center, going 11-30 overall on the road an not winning a fifth road game until Jan. 16. This season the Warriors are already past that number, having gone 5-2 with their early heavy-road schedule. Things will be tough this week with Draymond Green likely facing a multiple-game suspension and Stephen Curry battling a slight leg injury that could keep him out short term.

12. New York Knicks (5-5, LW 13). The Knicks have the third-best defense in the league so far this season, which has highlighted just what a defensive force Mitchell Robinson has become. However, that's not the only part of his game standing out this season, Robinson's screen setting has improved which has been a boost to pick-and-roll operators such as Jalen Brunson. If the Knicks are going to take a step forward this season they have to start shooting better than a league-worst 55.5% in the restricted area — that is flat-out dreadful. Someone needs to finish. Speaking of finishing, Josh Hart may have made the shot of the year, creating a look by bouncing it off Jrue Holiday.

13. Houston Rockets (6-3, LW 21). Dillon Brooks has been surprisingly efficient to start the season: He's picking his spots, taking fewer shots (8.7 a game down from 13.6 in Memphis last season), hitting 53.3% from 3, and he has a ridiculous 69.1 true shooting percentage. He has been everything the Rockets could have hoped so far. The Rockets have won six in a row and have a top-10 offense and defense in the league — this ranking may well be selling them short. The knock had been the wins for this team came against a soft schedule of banged up teams, but they beat Denver on Sunday (even without Jamal Murray that's a quality victory). They will be put to the test this week on the road against both Los Angeles teams and then Golden State.

14. Brooklyn Nets (6-5, LW 19). Injuries are piling up in Brooklyn, starting with leading scorer Cam Thomas missing a couple of weeks with a sprained ankle. Ben Simmons, who has already missed four games, will be out at least a week according to coach Jacque Vaughn with a nerve irritation in his back impacting the left side of his body. The Nets have gone 3-1 in those four games Simmons missed, but it's not good long-term for the player or team. One bright spot for the Nets was Bilal Couilbaly scoring 20 off the bench in the win over the Wizards, a promising sign for the 19-year-old rookie out of France. Tough stretch coming up for Brooklyn with Miami (twice), Philadelphia and Atlanta.

15. Los Angeles Lakers (6-5, LW 14). Los Angeles moved Austin Reaves to the bench and Cam Reddish to the starting lineup, and so far that new starting five (D'Angelo Russell, Reddish, Taurean Prince, LeBron James, Anthony Davis) has a +10.3 net rating. While a lot was made of the Lakers' terrible first quarters, it should be noted they have a +13.4 net rating in the fourth quarter, second best in the league. The Lakers have strung together three wins in a row against a soft patch in the schedule (the Suns without their stars, Blazers and imploding Grizzlies) but face a real test Wednesday against the Kings (with De'Aaron Fox back), but then they continue through a stretch of winnable games.

16. Phoenix Suns (4-6, LW 11). For the first time this season Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal will be on the court together Wednesday night when the Suns face the Timberwolves (and the league's best defense, no easing into things). Maybe the big three can turn around the fact the Suns have a league-worst -25.4 net rating in the fourth quarter, and for the season are -61 In the fourth (also worst in the league, and by a wide margin, Miami is next at -36). The Suns also just need to start being more efficient shooting the rock — Bradley Beal has a 49 true shooting percentage, Jusuf Turkic 49.7, and sixth man Eric Gordon 53.8 (all far below the league average of around 57).

17. Sacramento Kings (5-4, LW 22). De'Aaron Fox is back in the lineup — he scored 28 in a win over Cleveland — and it's fair to expect Sacramento to start racking up wins now. The Kings went a respectable 2-3 with their offensive engine sidelined. In addition to the return of Fox, Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray seem to be finding their range after a rough patch and their shooting will boost the offense as well. Turning the corner will not be easy with six games in a row on the road coming up, but they start with a rest-advantage game against the Lakers on Wednesday then get the Spurs in an In-Season Tournament game Friday, both winnable.

18. Orlando Magic (5-5, LW 12). Jalen Suggs has shown flashes in the past couple of weeks of the player Orlando hopes he can be. He is a very good defender at the point of attack, but his offense often kept him on the bench. Suggs scored 20 points against the Bucks and 21 against the Hawks in the past week, giving the Magic reason to be optimistic (then he returned to form against Brooklyn, consistency will matter). Orlando's loss in Brooklyn on Tuesday was the first of four on the road, but with two in Chicago there are wins to be had outside of Florida.

19. Toronto Raptors (5-5, LW 17). Darko Rajakovic has the Raptors playing elite defense (fifth-best in the league using Cleaning the Glass), but that can't cover up for a 27th-ranked offense. The problem is in the halfcourt, where the Raptors have a league-worst 84.8 offensive rating (basically nine points below the league average). If this sounds familiar it should, this was the issue under the fired Nick Nurse (the team was 25th in half court offense last season). Toronto is the only team not to play an In-Season Tournament game yet, although that changes on Friday (and in a tough way against the Celtics).

20. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-6, LW 18). The Cavaliers' offense being 20th in the NBA is far from ideal (especially with Donovan Mitchell being off the last couple of games), but the much bigger shock in Cleveland being 21st in defense — that should be their calling card (they had the best defense in the league last season). There are a few things wrong on that side of the ball, but the Cavaliers are fouling more (sixth-highest FT/FGA rate in the league, and they are bottom 10 in defensive rebounding (which is terrible with the size of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on this roster). A couple of winnable games (Portland, Detroit) this week, but also a couple of real tests (Denver, Philadelphia).

21. New Orleans Pelicans (5-6, LW 16). Ears perked up around the league this week when Zion Williamson said he was “taking a back seat” and essentially holding back how he wants to play to fit in better with the team. There may be some truth to that, but the other issue is he just does not look as explosive as he once did, and that shows with him taking just 48.3% of his shots in the restricted area (down from 61.8% a year ago). Herb Jones returned to the starting lineup Tuesday and, not so coincidentally, the defense looked a lot better (against Luka and Dallas, which is saying something).

22. Los Angeles Clippers (3-7, LW 15). The Clippers are 0-4 Since the acquisition of James Harden with the 29th-ranked offense and the 25th-ranked defense in the league over that time. Part of the problem is Tyronn Lue wanted to play fast with Russell Westbrook pushing the pace, but with Harden at the helm the Clippers are much slower (26th in the league in pace since he stepped on the court). The Clippers are letting defenses get set. Another setback is Mason Plumlee being out for a couple of months with a sprained knee — but the team will soon sign Daniel Theis to fill that role (he is arranging a buyout in Indiana). Theis will be a boost, P.J. Tucker at the backup five was not the answer.

23. Chicago Bulls (4-7, LW 23). We didn't even get to Thanksgiving before the "Zach LaVine will be traded" rumors started to heat up. That's not unexpected but the big question still lingers out there: Will the Bulls tear it all the way down and trade DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Alex Caruso and everyone else and start a proper rebuild? NBC Sports Chicago's K.C. Johnson says don't bet on it. DeRozan has an assist-of-the-year candidate with this pass against the Bucks.

24. Utah Jazz (4-7, LW 27). Utah is turning the ball over on 15.3% of its possessions this season, the highest percentage in the league, which is dragging down their offense (16th in the NBA) and putting their defense on a back foot trying to race back and defend in transition. Watch them play and they have solid shot creators (Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton) but no true point guard that can organize the team. They need a floor general with this roster, like that guy they traded to Minnesota last season. Two games against the Suns this weekend, but Utah's timing is bad as Phoenix just got healthy.

25. Charlotte Hornets (3-7, LW 26). LaMelo Ball may be one-of-one, but a team is only going to win so many games with the worst defense in the league no matter who is handling the ball on the other end. Friday night against the Knicks Miles Bridges is set to make his return after the 10 games he was suspended this season for a no-contest plea to a domestic violence situation before last season. What's concerning is last month Bridges had to turn himself in for violation of a protective order with the mother of his children — allegedly for, in part, throwing billiard balls at a car his children were in — and yet the team and league have done nothing and he is set to play. The league has been soft on domestic violence in the past few months and it's a terrible look.

26. San Antonio Spurs (3-8, LW 24). Losers of six in a row, and Victor Wembanyama has had a couple of rough outings lately, such as in Madison Square Garden against the Knicks and Tuesday against Chet Holmgren and the Thunder (eight points on 4-of-15 shooting in that one). The thing that has to be driving Gregg Popovich insane is the turnovers — 25 against the Thunder, and they are now 25th in the league in turnover percentage (that's partially just what to expect with the Jeremy Sochan at point guard experiment). The Spurs are home for their next four: The Kings, Grizzlies and two against the Clippers.

27. Memphis Grizzlies (2-9, LW 29). Watching the Grizzlies in person, it becomes even more obvious how hard it is for them to create shots without Ja Morant on the floor (and now with Marcus Smart suffering an ankle injury things are only going to get worse). The Memphis defense is not good, but the Morant suspension has exposed the shortcomings on offense and in ball handling, as much as Desmond Bane has tried to step up. Morant will return next month, but the best playoff teams have multiple shot creators on the court at all times, it's something the Grizzlies' front office needs to address eventually. Playing the Celtics on Sunday is not going to help matters.

28. Washington Wizards (2-8, LW 30). They are not winning a lot of games, but the Wizards are doing it fast — Washington is playing at the fastest pace in the NBA. One guy who does not seem to be thriving in that style is Jordan Poole, who is averaging 16.2 points a game (second on the team) but he has a 50.8 true shooting percentage (usually the kind of number reserved for a defensive specialist and he is playing with almost a sense of entitlement. When Poole and Kyle Kuzma are on the court together, the Wizards have a -23.5 net rating — not good for your two stars.

29. Trail Blazers (3-7, LW 25). Rookie Duop Reath — born in South Sudan, played at LSU in college – set an NBA record for centers taking eight 3-pointers in his NBA debut (making three). He came back to earth a little in his second game (0-of-3 from deep) but it's something fun to watch. Otherwise, Portland is getting crushed right now by injuries with Scoot Henderson (ankle), Malcolm Brogan (hamstring), Anfernee Simons (thumb) and now Robert Williams III (season-ending knee surgery) all out.

30. Detroit Pistons (2-10, LW 28). Losers of nine in a row, it's easy to say "get Cade Cunningham some help" but the reality is he shoots himself in the foot a lot with poor second halves. The one real bright spot in Detroit remains the play of Ausur Thompson, who is showing a polished all-around game that includes pulling down an impressive 10.3 rebounds a game (a lot for a wing listed at 6'7"). Jalen Duren continues to be solid as well. Is Alec Burks playing well enough to become a trade piece closer to the deadline?