TEAM-SPECIFIC STORIES
ATL: Murray delivers for Hawks in convincing win over Timberwolves
Lauren Williams, AJC
BKN: Finney-Smith Contributing To Short-Handed Nets In Ways Obvious And Subtle
Steve Lichtenstein
BOS: With his opening-night dud a thing of the past, Jaylen Brown delivered a decisive Celtics win over the Wizards
Gary Washburn, Boston Globe
BOS: How Jrue Holiday and the Celtics are learning to play through one another
Jared Weiss, The Athletic
BOS: Celtics Bench Play Early Issue Worth Watching Behind Starter Dominance
Bobby Manning, CLNS
The Celtics bench fell to last in the NBA in scoring in a blowout win that the second unit capped by mostly letting the lead dwindle in the fourth quarter
CHA: Mark Williams Is One Of The Best NBA Players The Casual Has Not Heard Of
Mark Deeks, Forbes
CHI: Bulls find winning formula in crunchtime road win
Darnell Mayberry, The Athletic
CHI: A closer look at how the Bulls won a game with only 17 three-point attempts
Will Gottlieb, All CHGO
DAL: Doncic’s torrid start continues. Luka helped Dallas stay undefeated despite the absence of Kyrie Irving.
Brad Townsend, Morning News
DAL: The Mavericks are finally pushing the ball
Ian Levy, The Step Back
DEN: Nuggets' young bench continues strong start to season in win over Jazz
Vinny Benedetto, Denver Gazette
GSW: Curry continues hot start with 42-points in Warriors win over Pelicans
Shayna Rubin, Mercury News
GSW: Second unit thrives again, and Steph locks up unbeaten road trip
Anthony Slater, The Athletic
GSW: Steph Curry and Chris Paul: A harmonious blend of opposing point-guard styles
Joe Viray, Golden State Of Mind
GSW: Steph Curry's ‘white-hot' 2023-24 NBA season start defying age, logic
Monte Poole, NBC Sports
GSW: Four games in, Warriors' depth showing immense promise
Monte Poole, NBC Sports
HOU: Rockets’ simple mistakes vs. Warriors snowball into avalanche of hurt
Kelly Iko, The Athletic
IND: Lessons from how the Bulls bullied the Pacers
Caitlin Cooper, Basketball She Wrote
LAC: Harden joins Clippers as the right player at the right time
Bill Plaschke, LA Times
LAL: Lakers, after promising changes to their rotation, go big to secure another comeback win
Jovan Buha, The Athletic
LAL: D’Angelo Russell’s fourth-quarter surge helps power Lakers to win over Magic
Dan Woike, LA Times
LAL: Sluggish Lakers surge past Magic in final minutes
Khobi Price, OC Register
MEM: Grizzlies showed more firepower, but couldn’t get a complete performance to secure a win
Parker Fleming, SubTsak
MIL: Giannis sets tone, bench provides energy in Bucks win
Eric Nehm, The Athletic
MIL: 5 takeaways as Damian Lillard beats Miami team that wanted him
Steve Aschburner, NBA.com
MIN: Ant Is One Step Away From Fully Unlocking His Potential
Max Kappel, Zone Coverage
MIN: Another Wolves meltdown: Anthony Edwards, KAT, Chris Finch and a bad loss
Jon Krawczynski, The Athletic
MIN: Hero ball from Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns keeps Wolves inconsistent
Chris Hine, Star Tribune
How can a team that played such beautiful offensive basketball in the first half against Atlanta look so miserable in the second half? Old habits die hard
NYK: Mitchell Robinson’s journey to becoming the best offensive rebounder in the sport has been a slow and steady climb
Jonathan Macri, Knicks Film School
PHI: No James Harden, no problem: Tyrese Maxey is a one-cut running back
Mike Shearer, Basketball Poetry
In three games, Maxey is averaging 30 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 6.3 assists while shooting 50% from the field and 56% from deep on high volume. He’s handling more, passing more, shooting more, and turning it over less.
Maxey averaged more 25/5/4 in 13 games without Harden last year, but this is a substantial leap even over that. So what’s causing this surge?
Perhaps the biggest change is in Maxey’s usage. With Harden on the team, just over a quarter of Maxey’s possessions were categorized as “spot up” by Synergy Sports. That’s down to fewer than 10% of his possessions in 2023-24, and it’s been replaced by a massive uptick in plays designed to get Maxey the ball on the move, mostly via handoffs.
Maxey isn’t some ballhandling genius or finishing wizard; instead, he’s like a one-cut running back in the NFL. He is patient but explosive, decisive, and efficient in his movements. Maxey’s bag isn’t the deepest, but he doesn’t need a Mary Poppins purse when the moves and finishes he does have work so well. You don’t put unnecessary accoutrements on a bullet train.
PHI: What’s next is what really matters for Daryl Morey, Joel Embiid and Philadelphia
Sam Amick, The Athletic
PHI: By trading Harden and landing a couple of first-round picks, the Sixers have set up a bigger move
David Murphy, The Inquirer
PHI: Maxey and Embiid are showing that the Sixers can survive minus Harden
Keith Pompey, The Inquirer
PHI: The key to the James Harden trade isn’t who the Sixers got. It’s who they already had: Tyrese Maxey
Mike Sielski, The Inquirer
PHO: How viable is Jordan Goodwin’s offense?
Damon Allred, Bright Side Of The Sun
POR: Scoot Henderson resets rookie season with best showing in victory at Toronto
Aaron Fentress, Oregon Live
SAC: PODCAST: Kings’ opening week recap & a look ahead
Ray LeBov/Nick Agar-Johnson, Kings Weekly
SAS: Wembanyama shows he's unlike anything NBA has seen before
Scott Rafferty, Sporting News
TOR: The Raptors offence isn’t working for Siakam — or anyone else
Eric Koreen, The Athletic
TOR: That struggling Raptors offence is tough to watch right now
Mike Ganter, Toronto Sun
UTA: Jokic and Murray were just too much for the Utah Jazz
James Hansen, SLC Dunk
UTA: Markkanen spent this offseason working to expand his ballhandling — and the results are starting to show
Andy Larsen, Salt Lake Tribune
WAS: Old friend Kristaps Porzingis and the Celtics trounce the Wizard
Ava Wallace, Washington Post
LEAGUEWIDE STORIES
Wembanyama, Duren and other young bigs are story of NBA’s first week
John Hollinger, The Athletic
Hwang In-Tae: The South Korean referee making history
Ben Morse/Gawon Bae, CNN
How the In-Season Tournament went from the drawing board to the court
Tom Friend, Sports Business Journal
Power Rankings, Week 2: Nuggets maintain grip on No. 1
John Schuhmann, NBA.com
What Comes Next for NBA's Top Players Who Didn't Sign Extensions?
Eric Pincus, Bleacher Report
Thunder, Mavs among early playoff contenders; Harden trade lifts Clippers
Zach Harper, The Athletic
For Paid subscribers: links to Harden trade analyses and to Draft stories follow, below