Power Rankings, Week 1: Warriors, Bucks lead the way to begin 2022-23

It remains rather amazing how much better the Western Conference was for so long. Over the 22 seasons from 1999-00 through 2020-21, the West won 56.5% of its regular-season games against the East. Only once in that 22-season stretch (2008-09) did the East have a better record in interconference games.

That remarkable stretch came to an end last season, when the East eked out a victory, going 226-224 in interconference games. And now, the Eastern Conference looks even stronger.

There were 10 East teams that finished with winning records last season. One of them — the Charlotte Hornets — clearly took a step backward this summer. But the other nine remain strong, and two of them — the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers — imported All-Star guards from the West.

At least one of those nine teams is not going to make the playoffs, and at least two others will need to qualify via the Play-In Tournament. Last season, the two Eastern Conference Play-In winners were a team that most general managers picked to win the championship (the Brooklyn Nets) and a team that reached the conference finals the year before (the Hawks).

So who knows how it will shake out this season. All we know is that there will be a lot of must-watch games between those (projected) top nine teams in the East. And there are eight games between those nine teams in Week 1, with only the Hawks not facing one of the other eight. The Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors will each have three games within the group, and they’ll face each other in a two-game series that begins on Saturday night in Miami.

The 2022-23 NBA season is here, and the last two champions sit atop the Week 1 Power Rankings.

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Plus-Minus Players of the Preseason

• Right Way: Jalen Williams (OKC) was a plus-84 in five preseason games.
• Wrong Way: James Bouknight (CHA) was a minus-76 in five preseason games.

Teams of the Preseason

• Make It Last Forever: Sacramento (4-0) — The Kings had their second straight undefeated preseason and the league’s best preseason defense by a wide margin. Take it for what it’s worth.
• Something Just Ain’t Right: Portland (1-4) — The win came against Maccabi Ra’anana, and the four losses came by an average of 21.8 points. And if you discount all games against international teams, the Blazers had the league’s worst defense by a healthy margin.

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Movement in the Rankings

• High jumps of the late summer/preseason: Cleveland (+6), Houston (+4), Orlando (+4)
• Free falls of the late summer/preseason: Utah (-6), Chicago (-5), Oklahoma City (-3)

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Week 1 Team to Watch

• Philadelphia — There’s no better way to test the new and improved Sixers than with games against the Celtics (Tuesday) and Bucks (Thursday), both on TNT at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Sixers will also host the Spurs on Saturday.

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Previous Power Rankings

• Offseason: Celtics atop the East | Warriors lead the West

• This time last year: Bucks, Nets and Suns start season on top — The Lakers went 0-6 in the preseason, while the Mavs won a game in Charlotte by 68 points. Free throws were down and Julius Randle beat the Wizards at the buzzer. Mikal Bridges got a contract extension, but Deandre Ayton did not. Ben Simmons practiced with the Sixers, Marcus Smart missed a flight, and the Nets began the season without Kyrie Irving.

• The archive: NBA.com Power Rankings

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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 averaged 111.4 points scored per 100 possessions and 98.8 possessions (per team) per 48 minutes last season.

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NBA.com’s Power Rankings, released every Monday during the season, are just one man’s opinion. If you have an issue with the rankings, or have a question or comment for John Schuhmann, send him an e-mail or contact him via Twitter.

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