A shake-up in the Top 10 sees the Warriors, Nuggets, Wolves, Grizzlies, Kings and Pacers rise up the ranks.

Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs are blazing through opponents this season.

Year 2 of theEmirates NBA Cuptips off on Tuesday with new courts, new groups and a couple of pretty good matchups, including Joel Embiid making his season debut against the New York Knicks.

The makeup ofthe groupsis based on last seasons standings, but this is a new year. Here are the cumulative records for the six different groups through Sunday.

Emirates NBA Cup groups, cumulative winning percentage:

As we enter Week 4 of the season, the top two teams in the East Cleveland and Boston are in the same group, set to face each other in Cleveland next Tuesday. And two of the top three teams in the West Phoenix and Oklahoma City will meet in NBA Cup action on Friday, thoughinjuries to Kevin DurantandChet Holmgrentake some of the juice out of that matchup.

They could also (eventually) take the Suns and Thunder out of the top five in the Power Rankings. For now, theyre still there, though that top five has been shuffled around since last week.

Denver (4-0) News of the Nuggets demise has been greatly exaggerated.

New York (1-3) This is going to take more than a New York minute.

This is not a week of marquee matchups for the Bucks. Instead, its time to win some basketball games. Nine of their 13 games over the next four weeks are against the Raptors, Pistons, Hornets, Bulls, Wizards, Hawks and Nets. That stretch starts Tuesday with a home-home back-to-back against Toronto and Detroit.

OffRtg:Points scored per 100 possessions (League Rank)

DefRtg:Points allowed per 100 possessions (League Rank)

NetRtg:Point differential per 100 possessions (League Rank)

Pace:Possessions per 48 minutes (League Rank)

The league has averaged 112.6 points scored per 100 possessions and 99.8 possessions (per team) per 48 minutes this season.

OffRtg:122.0 (1)DefRtg:109.9 (9)NetRtg:+12.1 (2)Pace:100.5 (9)

They had a couple of scares last week, but the Cavs remain unbeaten and are the 12th team in NBA history to start the season with 11 straight wins.

If theres an unsustainable aspect to this start, its certainlythe league-best 42.2%from 3-point range. The Cavs were 14-for-22 from deep as they outscored the Warriors (who entered the game withthe leagues best point differential) by 41 points in the first half on Friday. They cooled off the following night against Brooklyn but made up for it in the paint, where Evan Mobley scored18of his 23 points.

The Cavs starting lineup (with Isaac Okoro as the fifth guy) was outscored by 11 points in less than 10 minutes against Brooklyn, but theyve now outscored their opponents by 28.3 points per 100 possessions in Caris LeVerts 210 minutes, with that beingthe highest on-court markamong 300 players whove averaged at least 10 minutes per game. They closed the Brooklyn win with LeVert and Ty Jerome (who hada huge bucketin the final minute) instead of Okoro and Jarrett Allen.

Darius Garland only had 20 points against the Nets, having dropped39 and 27against Milwaukee and Golden State earlier in the week. But he was efficient and now has an effective field goal percentage of 66%,up from 52.4% last season(which wasnt far off from his marks of the previous two years).

The Cavs were a league-best 9-1 in rest-advantage games last season, but have just two rest advantages in their first 40 games of 24-25. Both of them Wednesday in Philadelphia and Sunday vs. the Hornets are this week.

Week 4:@ CHI, @ PHI, vs. CHI*, vs. CHA

OffRtg:119.2 (4)DefRtg:107.6 (3)NetRtg:+11.6 (3)Pace:100.7 (8)

Stephen Curryis back, and the Warriors (though they got clobbered by the Cavs) went 2-1 in their gauntlet of games in Boston, Cleveland and Oklahoma City.

The Warriors first five games were more about the defense allowing less than a point per possession. The last five games (a 4-1 trip) have been more about the offense scoring119.7 per 100. Buddy Hield hasnt cooled off much, Jonathan Kuminga has been terrific since moving to the bench, and Draymond Green is now14-for-31(45%) from 3-point range this season.

The Warriors continue to start Trayce Jackson-Davis at the five, but Kevon Looney has been on the floor down the stretch ofall threeof their close games. And the two biggest buckets in their win in Boston were Looney put-backs that gave them four-point leads in the final two minutes. Looney didnt play in Oklahoma City on Sunday (probably because the Thunder didnt have a center after Chet Holmgren was hurt), but heleads the leaguein offensive rebounding percentage by a huge margin, having grabbed 19.4% of available offensive boards while hes been on the floor.

Last season, the Warriors were outscored by 4.5 points in transition, the leagues third-worst discrepancy, according to Synergy tracking. This season, theyre a plus-11.6 per game in transition, the leagues best differential, having seen dramatic improvement on both ends of the floor. They were a plus-16 in transition (30-14) in their six-point win in Boston.

The Warriors have just two games this week, and theyre their two NBA Cup home games. They scored just107.5 points per 100 possessionsas they lost three oftheir four gamesagainst the Mavs last season.

OffRtg:112.8 (14)DefRtg:100.3 (1)NetRtg:+12.5 (1)Pace:102.6 (5)

There have been many injuries around the league, but none is more devastating than the Thunderlosing Chet Holmgrenfor at least two months with a hip fracture suffered early in their loss to Golden State on Sunday.

Holmgrens injury hurts more with Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams also out. The Thunder started 6-foot-4 Lu Dort at the five in the second half vs. the Warriors on Sunday, and may be calling on Ousmane Dieng to play center until one of the other bigs gets back. Unsurprisingly, the loss to the Warriors was the Thundersworst defensive gameof the season (127 points allowed on 99 possessions).

Is more Alex Caruso a solution? He was guarding Nikola Jokić for a bit on Wednesday when the Thunder picked up their first loss in what was also their first game that was within five points in the last five minutes. Caruso (though not guarding Jokic late) wasCaruso on the floordown the stretch and has averaged 7.6 deflections per 36 minutes (second in the league), but hes played just19.5 minutes per game, with three other guards/wings continuing to take turns as the teams fifth starter.

Jalen Williams has taken 29.6% of his shots from 3-point range, up from 24.3% last season. But theres been a big difference between his 3s off the catch (13-for-27, 48%) and his 3s off the dribble (5-for-20, 25%).

The Thunder went 1-3 in NBA Cup play last season, and their first Cup game this year Friday vs. Phoenix is a matchup of two of the three 8-2 teams in the West. The final four games of their six-game homestand are all against 2024 Western Conference playoff teams.

Week 4:vs. LAC, vs. NOP, vs. PHX*, vs. DAL

OffRtg:119.4 (3)DefRtg:108.7 (6)NetRtg:+10.7 (4)Pace:98.9 (19)

The Celtics havent been particularly sharp, and they were without Jaylen Brown for four games before hisreturn on Sunday. But a not-particularly-sharp Celtics team is still better than most teams at their best.

A year ago, the Celtics won their first 20 home games. Before Wednesday, they had won their previous 16 games that Jaylen Brown had missed and their previous 27 that they led by more than five points in the fourth quarter. But they couldnt hold onto a seven-point, fourth-quarter lead against the Warriors, allowing Golden State to score 25 points on 12 clutch possessions.

The defense was better down the stretch of their overtime win over the Nets on Friday (16 points allowed on 18 clutch possessions), though the Celtics had some issues when Al Horford was targeted in the pick-and-roll. We can expect opponents to have attack Horford at or near the top of their offensive game plan all season.

The Celtics somehow trailed 16-2 at the start of both of their games (vs. Brooklyn, at Milwaukee) over the weekend. But they still rank asthe leagues second-best first-quarter team(plus-19.7 points per 100 possessions). Jayson Tatum has an effective field-goal percentage of67.9% in first quartersand just 51% thereafter.

The Celtics open NBA Cup action by hosting the Hawks on Tuesday, eight days after winning in Atlanta by 30. Theyll have their first rest-disadvantage game of the season the following night in Brooklyn, having gone 9-2 (3-2 on the road) in rest-disadvantage games last season.

OffRtg:113.0 (13)DefRtg:111.0 (13)NetRtg:+2.0 (14)Pace:99.5 (17)

Kevin Durantis outwith a calf strain, depriving us from watching him go to work on late-and-critical possessions in (essentially) every Suns game.

Eight of the Suns 10 games have been within five points in the last five minutes, and Durant is12-for-19on clutch shots, with huge buckets coming against the Sixers and Heat last week. Hes just 2-for-7 on clutch 3s, but one of those makes wasa completely unbothered pull-upover an earnest contest from Daniel Gafford as the Suns got a big win in Dallas on Friday. The Suns remain undefeated (7-0) in clutch games with Durant in uniform, but their seven-game winning streak ended Sunday when they couldnt get late stops against the Kings, who scored 26 points on 16 clutch possessions.

With all the close wins, the Suns are tied for the Wests best record but havethe conferences 10th best point differential(+2.1 per game). Statistically, theyre a worse team than they were last season (plus-3.1 per gameplus-3.1 per 100 possessions).

The drop-off has mostly been on offense. The Suns have seen the leagues biggest drop in turnover rate (good), but also its biggest drop in offensive rebounding percentage (not good). Theyve also become even more of a jump-shooting team, taking only 40% of their shots in the paint, the leagues second-lowest rate and down from 46% last season.

The Suns NBA Cup opener in Utah on Tuesday is the start of a four-game trip and their first stretch of five games in seven days. Their second Cup game is their first meeting with the Thunder, who swept the three-game series last season. Devin Booker played in just one of the three games, but the Suns lostthat oneby 25.

OffRtg:116.9 (6)DefRtg:114.2 (18)NetRtg:+2.7 (12)Pace:101.2 (7)

The Nuggets lost Aaron Gordonfor multiple weeksbefore they got Jamal Murray back from a three-game absence, but theyve seemingly put their early-season worries behind them, winning five straight (and seven of their last eight) games.

The bench had some good nights last week. On Monday, the Nuggets rallied from a double-digit, fourth-quarter deficit for the second time against the Raptors and gottheir first winin a game in which they were outscored with Nikola Jokić on the floor. (They hadtwo such winslast season.)

On Wednesday (with Murray still out), Julian Strawther didnt shoot well, but the lineup with him in Russell Westbrooks place outscored Oklahoma City by 17 points in 11 minutes. Peyton Watson (starting for Gordon) got the game-sealing block as Denver handed the Thunder their first loss of the season.

But with Murray back for the last two games, bench minutes were not so good, with Denver getting outscoredby 28 pointsin his 23 minutes on the bench. The solution may be to, somehow, keep Strawther and Westbrook separated. Denver has been outscored by21.4 points per 100 possessionsin their 147 minutes on the floor together, but its a plus-5.1 per 100 in 166 total minutes with one on the floor without the other.

The Nuggets have four days off before beginning a stretch where theyre playing nine of 12 on the road. It begins Friday with their NBA Cup opener in New Orleans, where they losta Cup gamelast November, one of three games last season where they never held a lead.

OffRtg:115.3 (8)DefRtg:109.7 (8)NetRtg:+5.6 (6)Pace:98.8 (20)

The Wolves arent quite defending at the same level they did last season, but theyve allowed less than a point per possession inthree of their last four games. Unfortunately, that wasnt good enough on Sunday.

On Thursday, the Wolves had themost efficient offensive game(135 points on 98 possessions) for any team since the Celtics blowout of the Knicks on opening night. That included 79 points on 51 possessions (155 per 100) in the second half when they turned a five-point deficit into a 16-point win in the final nine minutes. Overall, Minnesota has seen the leagues eighth-biggest jump in points scored per 100 possessions from last season (114.6, 17th).

Twenty-four hours later, the Wolves outscored the Blazers by 48 points (66-18) from 3-point range, with that being the largest 3-point differential since that same Knicks-Celtics game on opening night. This season, the Wolves are a plus-16.8 per game from beyond the arc. That would be the fourth biggest differential in the 46 seasons of the 3-point line (though second to the Celtics this season).

Finally, on Sunday, the Wolves becamethe second teamto lose a game (the Bulls were the first) in which it allowed less than a point per possession. After scoringmore than 125 per 100over their three-game winning streak, their offense came up empty against the Heat. Theyve seen the leagues biggest drop in free throw rate from last season and they had just 13 attempts in the one-point loss, unable to make up for a rough night from the perimeter.

The Wolves will play five of their next six games on the road, with both of their road NBA Cup games this week. The second is Friday in Sacramento, where they won by two (on Anthony Edwards free throws with 2.4 seconds left) in Week 1.

Week 4:@ POR*, @ POR, @ SAC*, vs. PHX

OffRtg:116.8 (7)DefRtg:108.4 (5)NetRtg:+8.4 (5)Pace:103.2 (3)

The Grizzlies are 0-3 against the Nets and Bulls but have won five of their last six games, despite absences from three starters.

Regarding health, this season has, so far, been a continuation of last season. Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart have each missed the last six games, while Ja Morant was lost for the weekend (and beyond)with a hip injury. The Grizzlies most-used lineup has still played just34 total minutes.

Fortunately, the Grizzlies have played the leagues easiest schedule regarding cumulative opponent winning percentage. Before Friday, they had beenalmost 23 points per 100 possessionsbetter with Morant on the floor (plus-13.9) than theyd been with him off the floor (minus-9.0). But they got to play the Wizards and Blazers without him over the weekend, and they won the two games by69 total points.

With Morant playing just nine games last season, Jaren Jackson Jr. sawa big jump in usage rateand a big drop in efficiency from the season prior. This season, hes registering a career-best effective field goal percentage of 62.3%, even though hes been assisted on just 56% of his buckets,the lowest markin his seven seasons.

The Grizzlies three-game trip gets progressively tougher with each game and concludes with their NBA Cup opener at Golden State on Friday. A stretch where theyre playing seven of eight at home begins with a two-game series against the Nuggets, with the first game on Sunday.

OffRtg:115.2 (9)DefRtg:110.6 (11)NetRtg:+4.6 (7)Pace:100.0 (12)

The Kings had a hiccup against the Clippers last week, but have still won six of their last eight games, picking up a quality victory in Phoenix on Sunday.

Against Toronto on Wednesday, Domantas Sabonis recorded just the second perfect triple-double (with no missed shots and no turnovers) in (at least) the last 42 years, with the previous coming from Nikola Jokić in 2018. Sabonis has seen a drop in usage rate but is still averaginga career-high 20.5 points per gamebecause of a big jump in efficiency. His true shooting percentage of72.3%would be the highest mark in NBA history for a player averaging at least 16 points per game.

Of course, it wouldnt be good if Sabonis remainedthe Kings best 3-point shooter. DeAaron Fox, Keegan Murray and Malik Monk have all shot below 30% on 3-pointers and the Kings have been outscored by 12.6 points per game from beyond the arc. Only the Blazers have a worse discrepancy.

The Kings loss to the Clippers on Friday counted as a clutch loss, because they got to within four with less than three minutes left, only to have Norman Powell drain a 3-pointer on the next possession to end a 7-0 run. They have a losing record (3-4) in games that have been within five in the last five, but they scored 43 points on 28 clutch possessions in their wins in Miami and Phoenix last week. Fox, Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan have combined to shoot30-for-50(60%) in the clutch this season.

The Kings overtime win in Phoenix on Sunday started their first stretch of five games in seven days, with their first rest-disadvantage games of the season coming on Monday in San Antonio and Saturday against the Jazz. They were 5-7 (2-3 at home, 3-4 on the road) in rest-disadvantage games last season.

Week 4:@ SAS, vs. PHX, vs. MIN*, vs. UTA

OffRtg:113.7 (11)DefRtg:117.2 (25)NetRtg:-3.5 (21)Pace:99.7 (15)

The Pacers have been a little shorthanded, and they laid an egg in Charlotte on Friday. But their offense has been otherwise sharp as theyve wonthree of four(beating the Mavs and Knicks along the way) to climb back to .500, which is good for third place in the East.

The Pacers scored an anemic 83 points on 94 possessions in the loss to the Hornets but scored127.2 per 100over their three wins last week. Bennedict Mathurin has been starting in place of Aaron Nesmith (ankle injury) and has averaged24 pointson an effective field goal percentage of 67.6% over the four games total.

Mathurin is shooting (an unsustainable)19-for-38(50%) from 3-point range this season. But hes also seen improvement inside, shooting 37-for-58 (64%) in the paint, up from 49% through his first two seasons. He has also always been able to get to the line, with his free throw rate of 54 attempts per 100 shots from the field ranking third (behind only Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson) among 99 players with at least 100 field goal attempts.

There were eight seconds of clutch time on Sunday (before a Myles Turner 3-pointer put Indiana up seven with 4:52 left), so the Pacers remain one of two teams the Sixers are the other without a win that wasnt within five points in the last five minutes.

Its been a somewhat disappointing start, but the Pacers might be finding their stride and have a good chance to reach the NBA Cup elimination rounds for the second straight year because the rest of East Group B is the Pistons, Heat, Bucks and Raptors. Their toughest game of the four could be Friday against Miami.

OffRtg:114.2 (10)DefRtg:110.3 (10)NetRtg:+3.9 (10)Pace:99.9 (14)

The Mavs went just2-3on their longest homestand of the season, then beginning a three-game trip with a loss in Denver.

The Mavs two weekend losses wereby a total of three pointsto the Suns and Nuggets, and all four losses in this 2-4 stretch have been within five points in the last five minutes, while the two wins have each been by 20-plus. Thats how Dallas is 5-5 with top-10 marks on both ends of the floor.

But defense could be a concern, with the Mavs having allowed124.6 points per 100 possessionsover their three losses last week. The three offenses those of Indiana, Phoenix and Denver all have the potential to rank in the top five by seasons end, but none of the three have started the year on fire.

The Mavs have been shorthanded on the frontline, with P.J. Washington and Dereck Lively II having missed the last three and four games, respectively. Maxi Kleber was available (for the first time since Week 1) on Sunday, but didnt play, with Daniel Gafford logging a season-high 34 minutes against Nikola Jokic (who scored 37 points and grabbed eight offensive rebounds). Dallas has now registered a rebounding percentage below 50% ineight of its 10 games.

With their longest homestand of the season in the books, the Mavs loss in Denver on Sunday began a stretch where theyre playing 11 of 15 on the road. That stretch continues with their NBA Cup opener at Golden State, with the Mavs having lostbothof their Cup road games last season.

Week 4:@ GSW*, @ UTA, vs. SAS, @ OKC

OffRtg:113.4 (12)DefRtg:109.0 (7)NetRtg:+4.4 (8)Pace:97.8 (26)

The Rockets are staying afloat in the deep Western Conference, winning with the same defense that made them the leagues most-improved team a year ago.

The Rockets ranked 10th defensively last season and have seen the leagues 10th-biggest drop in points allowed per 100 possessions. They couldnt stop the Thunder on Friday, but otherwise allowed just 101.7 per 100 possessions as they went 3-1 last week. Houston ranks third in opponent field goal percentage in the paint (53.2%), having held the Knicks to just 19-for-50 in the paint on Monday.

The Rockets starters have playedthe fourth most minutesof any lineup in the league (150), but Amen Thompson and Tari Eason have sometimes been on the floor as seven of the Rockets 10 games have been within five points in the last five minutes. Thompson (who was guarding Jalen Brunson down the stretch) might have had the biggest play in their win over the Knicks when he rolled to the rim, faked a kick-out pass andput the Rockets up five with a dunk. Eason then made the biggest play on Sunday,saving a loose balland finding Dillon Brooks under the basket with a little less than two minutes left.

The team has outscored its opponents by12 points per 100 possessionsin 171 total minutes with both Eason and Thompson on the floor together. (It was plus 20.3 in just 72 minutes last season.)

The Rockets win in Detroit on Sunday was the start of a stretch of six straight games against teams that rank in the bottom 12 offensively, and they return to Houston for a three-game homestand that includes two big games against the Clippers. Their visit to Chicago on Sunday is the start of their first stretch of five games in seven days.

Week 4:vs. WAS, vs. LAC, vs. LAC*, @ CHI

OffRtg:117.0 (5)DefRtg:117.5 (26)NetRtg:-0.5 (15)Pace:99.6 (16)

The Lakers went 1-4 on their first road trip of the season but improved to 5-0 at home with wins over the Sixers and Raptors over the weekend.

It was a pretty good week for LeBron James. After scoring a season-high 39 points in Memphis, he recordedtriple-doublesin the two home wins. Within his 16 assists against Toronto on Sunday were some, and his assist/turnover ratio of 3.18 would bethe highest of his careerby a pretty wide margin.

The 39-point performance came with Anthony Davis missing a game for the first time this season, while the triple-doubles coincided with Cam Reddish replacing DAngelo Russell in the Lakers starting lineup. The new lineup wasnt bad over the weekend, but the Lakers wereat their bestwith reserves (including Russell) on the floor.

The Lakers remain in the bottom five defensively, having allowedmore than 121 points per 100 possessionsover the five-game trip. But they should be able to move up (playing four straight games against bottom-10 offenses) in the next few weeks.

The Lakers begin the defense of theirreigning NBA Cup titlewith the first of two visits to San Antonio in the next 17 days. Theysplita two-game series in San Antonio last season, winning the game that Davis played in and getting clobbered in the one he missed.

OffRtg:110.5 (20)DefRtg:107.7 (4)NetRtg:+2.8 (11)Pace:97.4 (28)

The Clippers might be pretty good. Theyve won four straight games, including one in which they came back from 26 points.

Defense can make up for a lack of top-line talent, and while two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard remains a spectator, the Clippers have a top-five defense. They have some dogs on the perimeter, but rebounding is also a big part of the defense, and the Clippers have seen the leagues biggest jump in defensive rebounding percentage. They won in Sacramento on Friday, improving to 3-0 on the road by (in part) holding the Kings to justseven second-chance points.

James Harden has shot just 15-for-48 (31%) (and has 17 turnovers) over the last three games, but Norman Powell continues to score efficiently, shooting an incredible19-for-31(61%) from 3-point range over the winning streak. Powell has shot better than 50% on both pull-up 2-pointers (13-for-25) and pull-up 3s (21-for-40).

The Clippers starting lineup was outscored by 14 points in 16 minutes against the Spurs on Monday whenthe leagues fifth-ranked benchfueled a comeback from 26 points down. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, the Clips have five wins in games theyve trailed by at least 25 points, while no other team has more than two.

The Clippers are one of only two teams (the Cavs are obviously the other) without a road loss but will face a tough road test on Monday when they visit the Thunder. Theyll have a rest advantage, but also had one (at home) against OKC nine days ago, when they hadtheir worst offensive performance(92 points on 100 possessions) of the season.

Week 4:@ OKC, @ HOU, @ HOU*, vs. UTA

OffRtg:119.5 (2)DefRtg:115.5 (21)NetRtg:+4.0 (9)Pace:96.1 (30)

Only three Eastern Conference teams are .500 or better, and the Knicks arent one of them, having lostthree of their last four games.

That the Knicks are 4-5 with the leagues second-ranked offense tells you where their issues begin. Their starting lineup has allowed 122 points per 100 possessions,the worst markamong 10 lineups that have played at least 100 minutes. Some of that is 3-point shooting (42.2%) which should drop with time, but opponents have also shot 63% inside the arc with the starters on the floor.

The Knicks are also 4-5 with a positive point differential, having lostfour of their five gamesthat were within five points in the last five minutes. Theyve grabbedless than 30% of available reboundswith the score within five in the last five and their inability to grab a board (without fouling) hurt them down the stretch in Atlanta on Wednesday.

They didnt have to worry about clutch time on Friday when they beat the Bucks by 22 (when Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart combined for 16 assists and zero turnovers). Brunsons scoring efficiency is down a little from his first two seasons in New York, but his assist/turnover ratio of 3.69 isthe best mark of his careerby a wide margin. Hart, meanwhile, is averaginga career-high 5.1 assists per game, having dished out28over the last four.

The Knicks and Sixers are two of the three teams (Miami is the other) that have yet to play a back-to-back. Theyll both begin their first back-to-back of the season when they open Emirates Cup play in Philadelphia on Tuesday, also the start of the Knicks first stretch of five games in seven days. The last four games of that stretch are at home and against the Bulls, Nets (x 2) and Wizards.

Week 4:@ PHI*, vs. CHI, vs. BKN*, vs. BKN

OffRtg:111.1 (18)DefRtg:112.4 (15)NetRtg:-1.3 (17)Pace:97.9 (25)

After losing their first three games against the Western Conference, the Heat got an impressive win (without Jimmy Butler) in Minnesota on Sunday.

The win came viaa great inbounds playfor a Nikola Jović and-one layup in what was the first game that Jović didnt start. The Heats regular lineup has been outscored by20.8 points per 100 possessions, one reason why both Haywood Highsmith and rookie Pelle Larsson had playedmore minutesthan Jović through the Heats first four November games. Highsmith and Kevin Love (making his season debut) started in place of Butler (ankle) and Jović on Sunday when Jaime Jaquez Jr. also returned from a three-game absence.

When Tyler Herro hit Jović for the big bucket on Sunday, three players on the floorcelebrated toward the bench(because of the play design) instead of with the guy who just scored. Ultimately, the play was just a single back-screen that should have been switched, but the initial formation clearly had the Wolves confused.

The Heat also played a lot of zone on Sunday, having also played a lot in Denver two nights earlier. Their 9.9 possessions of zone per game leads the league but is still down from 12 last season and 18.8 the season prior, according to Synergy tracking.

The second half of the Heats six-game trip is against the Eastern Conference, with their first two NBA Cup games in Detroit and Indiana. They beat the Pistons in Week 2 despite the starting lineup getting outscoredby nine pointsin its 11 minutes.

OffRtg:109.0 (25)DefRtg:106.8 (2)NetRtg:+2.2 (13)Pace:99.3 (18)

After losing their first four games without Paolo Banchero (the last four games of an 0-5 trip), the Magic have won two straight, handling their business against the Pelicans and Wizards.

Games 3 and 4 of the Magics 0-5 trip losses in Dallas and Oklahoma City were two ofthe five worst offensive gamesfor any team this season. They made 17 3-pointers on Sunday, but have still shot just 26.3% from beyond the arc over these six games without Banchero. Orlandos bigs Jonathan Isaac, Mo Wagner, Goga Bitadze and Wendell Carter Jr. shota combined 5-for-35on 3-pointers.

Carter has also missed five of the last six games, but the absence of the starting frontline hasnt hurt the Magic inside, as theyve outscored their last four opponents by 102 points (25.5 per game) in the restricted area. Franz Wagner was one ofsix playerswith at least 20 restricted-area buckets last wee.