Results included through every game played Monday, November 2, 2026. The NBA did not schedule games on Election Day, November 3.
The league has supplied enough evidence to demand a real correction. Philadelphia has won three straight since its only loss and takes over at No. 1 with a 7-1 record, Houston answered its first defeat by beating Oklahoma City and Boston by a combined 47 points, and Detroit keeps flattening the teams placed in front of it. The Sixers, Rockets and Pistons have separated from the field without requiring anyone to pretend eight games constitute a geological era.
Memphis and Portland also forced their way into the top five. The Grizzlies handed the Trail Blazers their only loss before New Orleans returned the favor in overtime, while Portland responded by winning in Utah and Denver. Golden State is the other necessary correction after beating the Lakers and Suns, and Washington has quietly reached 4-3 behind consecutive defensive wins. Last week’s board was cautious. This one has received additional paperwork.
That does not mean every losing record deserves public execution. The defending champion Knicks are 3-4, but their last two losses came by a combined eight points and their ceiling did not disappear during a difficult opening schedule. They land 10th—not third, not fourth and not somewhere beneath Sacramento because a spreadsheet briefly became emotional. Denver, Miami, Orlando and the Clippers receive similar context, although patience and approval remain very different benefits.
Wednesday provides immediate arguments throughout the rankings. Philadelphia visits Detroit in a meeting of the East’s two best records, Minnesota travels to Houston, Cleveland gets another shot at Oklahoma City and Dallas visits San Antonio. Fourteen games follow the league’s night off. Apparently democracy was the calm portion of the week.
1. Philadelphia 76ers (7-1)
Last: 2 Change: 🟢 +1
Philadelphia takes No. 1 after beating New York 98-93, Charlotte 109-104 and Chicago 126-107. Tyrese Maxey finished the latest win with 26 points and 11 assists, and the Sixers have continued winning even when the offense becomes less a system than a committee of famous people taking turns.
Philadelphia visits Detroit on Wednesday in the clearest possible test of the new ranking. The Pistons handed the Sixers their only loss, so No. 1 arrives with both evidence and a conveniently scheduled appeals hearing.
2. Houston Rockets (7-1)
Last: 5 Change: 🟢 +3
Houston lost its first game 116-111 in Dallas, then responded by beating Oklahoma City 119-98 and Boston 109-93. Alperen Şengün produced 26 points and 10 assists against the Celtics, and the Rockets have now answered their only disappointment by dismantling two teams that began the week in the top eight.
Minnesota visits Wednesday with a defense capable of making Houston work for every clean possession. The Rockets have the league’s most persuasive recent résumé; the Timberwolves will test whether the persuasion survives contact with actual resistance.
3. Detroit Pistons (6-1)
Last: 6 Change: 🟢 +3
Detroit beat Brooklyn 110-94 and demolished Charlotte 124-91, extending its winning streak to three. Cade Cunningham scored 33 in Charlotte, and the Pistons have paired their elite defense with enough controlled offense to make lesser teams disappear before the fourth quarter.
Philadelphia visits Wednesday for a matchup between teams with one combined loss. Detroit already owns a win over the Sixers, but beating No. 1 twice would move this discussion from “impressive start” to “please clear space at the front.”
4. Memphis Grizzlies (6-1)
Last: 19 Change: 🟢 +15
Memphis finally receives the correction its record demanded. The Grizzlies beat previously undefeated Portland 124-103 and buried Sacramento 136-105 before losing 135-134 in overtime to New Orleans, with Ty Jerome scoring 40 in defeat. One one-point loss does not erase six wins or the most convincing result of their season.
Indiana visits Wednesday before Oklahoma City arrives for Friday’s NBA Cup game. Memphis spent last week proving the cautious ranking was obsolete; now it gets two chances to demonstrate that fourth is not an apology written too enthusiastically.
5. Portland Trail Blazers (5-1)
Last: 16 Change: 🟢 +11
Portland’s undefeated start ended in a 124-103 loss to Memphis, but the response was excellent: a 112-90 win in Utah followed by a 118-110 victory at Denver. Deni Avdija scored 28 against the Nuggets, Donovan Clingan grabbed 18 rebounds and the Blazers demonstrated that one bad night did not interrupt the larger argument.
Portland visits Phoenix on Wednesday. The Suns have lost four of five, so a top-five team should handle the assignment without transforming Devin Booker into a community emergency.
6. Los Angeles Lakers (6-2)
Last: 11 Change: 🟢 +5
The Lakers lost 112-95 at Golden State, then recovered by beating Miami 138-117. Luka Dončić finished the win with 42 points and 13 assists, an efficient reminder that Los Angeles can survive defensive imperfections by employing a man who treats 40-point games like calendar notifications.
The Lakers visit Sacramento on Wednesday. The Kings finally won their first game, which makes them more credible than they were 48 hours ago and approximately no less dangerous to a team that should still beat them.
7. Oklahoma City Thunder (5-2)
Last: 1 Change: 🔴 -6
Oklahoma City was routed 119-98 in Houston, then steadied itself with a 117-112 win at Cleveland behind 43 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The defending Western champions remain short-handed, and the absence of Jalen Williams continues to limit a rotation that no longer has overwhelming depth available on command.
Cleveland visits Wednesday for an immediate rematch. Oklahoma City won the first meeting on the road; doing it again at home would suggest the Houston loss was a pothole rather than a change of route.
8. San Antonio Spurs (5-2)
Last: 3 Change: 🔴 -5
San Antonio beat Minnesota 121-111 and followed it with a comfortable 119-97 win over Utah. The Spurs have won four straight, Victor Wembanyama continues controlling the defensive geometry and Dylan Harper supplied 17 points and eight assists in the latest victory.
Dallas visits Wednesday in a matchup between teams moving in opposite emotional directions. San Antonio is rolling; the Mavericks just became Sacramento’s first victim, a phrase that generally arrives with additional luggage.
9. Boston Celtics (5-2)
Last: 8 Change: 🔴 -1
Boston handled Chicago 125-111 before Houston held it to 93 points in a 16-point loss. Jayson Tatum scored 19 against the Rockets, but the Celtics never solved Houston’s physical defense and suffered their first defeat since opening night.
Milwaukee visits Wednesday with a 1-6 record and a defense that has spent the season distributing confidence. Boston should recover quickly. If it does not, the problem will require more analysis than can be safely printed before breakfast.
10. New York Knicks (3-4)
Last: 4 Change: 🔴 -6
New York lost 98-93 in Philadelphia before beating Brooklyn 103-90. The defending champions have dropped two of three and remain below .500, but those two losses came by five points to the No. 1 Sixers and three points to Boston. The current form deserves a fall; the roster and championship baseline prevent an overreaction.
Chicago visits Wednesday with one win and six losses. The Knicks do not need a statement so much as a professional evening in which nobody spends the fourth quarter attempting to explain the first three.
11. Golden State Warriors (5-3)
Last: 24 Change: 🟢 +13
Golden State’s earlier climb was too cautious, and consecutive home wins over the Lakers and Phoenix finish the correction. Stephen Curry scored 34 in the 116-113 win over the Suns, and the Warriors have won four straight after opening 1-3.
Miami visits Thursday after playing the Clippers on Wednesday. Golden State gets the rested side of the arrangement, a scheduling advantage the veteran roster will surely accept after briefly pretending age was merely a rumor.
12. Toronto Raptors (4-3)
Last: 7 Change: 🔴 -5
Toronto lost an NBA Cup rematch to Orlando 121-114 but recovered with a 125-118 win over the Clippers. Immanuel Quickley scored 27, Scottie Barnes collected 15 rebounds and eight assists and the Raptors again showed enough defensive versatility to survive an uneven shooting night.
Toronto visits Denver on Wednesday. The altitude and Nikola Jokić are separate problems that Denver has inconveniently bundled into one subscription.
13. Minnesota Timberwolves (5-3)
Last: 15 Change: 🟢 +2
Minnesota crushed the Clippers 127-101, lost 121-111 in San Antonio and beat Milwaukee 112-100. Playing without Anthony Edwards still reduces the offensive ceiling, but a 2-1 stretch and LaMelo Ball’s 34-point performance against the Bucks show the Timberwolves possess more creation than the injury initially suggested.
Minnesota visits Houston on Wednesday for its most difficult test without Edwards. The defense can keep the game close. The offense must avoid treating every fourth-quarter possession like an escape room with 14 seconds remaining.
14. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3)
Last: 9 Change: 🔴 -5
Cleveland lost 114-111 in Atlanta, crushed Milwaukee 136-111 and fell 117-112 to Oklahoma City. The Cavaliers remain talented and balanced enough to stay in the upper half, but two close losses against good teams and a defense that has not consistently controlled the perimeter justify the measured slide.
Cleveland gets Oklahoma City again on Wednesday, this time on the road. Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers already saw the exam questions Monday. Whether they studied is a more expensive matter.
15. Denver Nuggets (3-3)
Last: 10 Change: 🔴 -5
Denver beat Phoenix 127-120 before losing 118-110 at home to Portland. Jamal Murray scored 35 in the loss, Nikola Jokić added nine rebounds and eight assists and the Nuggets continued to look like a contender whenever the starters are operating and a public experiment whenever they are not.
Toronto visits Wednesday with enough length to make Denver’s half-court offense work. Jokić keeps the ranking from following the record downward; the bench keeps testing how much weight one safety net can hold.
16. Dallas Mavericks (4-3)
Last: 17 Change: 🟢 +1
Dallas handed Houston its first loss with a 116-111 win, then immediately gave Sacramento its first victory in a 115-100 collapse. Beating the Rockets matters. Losing by 15 at home to a team that entered 0-6 also matters, because the rankings department cruelly refuses to close after good news.
The Mavericks visit San Antonio on Wednesday. Dallas has already shown it can beat elite opposition and lose to the bottom; the Spurs offer another opportunity to reveal which hobby it prefers.
17. Washington Wizards (4-3)
Last: 23 Change: 🟢 +6
Washington beat Charlotte 95-79 and Orlando 103-94, climbing above .500 before settling at 4-3. Anthony Davis scored 27 with nine rebounds against the Magic, and the Wizards have allowed fewer than 100 points in consecutive games after opening the season as a far more generous host.
Atlanta visits Wednesday and returns home for Friday’s NBA Cup rematch. Washington has earned a real rise; now it must avoid turning two games against the same opponent into a week-long group project.
18. Atlanta Hawks (4-4)
Last: 13 Change: 🔴 -5
Atlanta upset Cleveland 114-111, lost 121-99 in New Orleans and survived Indiana 108-104. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 34 in the latest win, but the Hawks have alternated convincing offense with long defensive stretches that appear to have been organized through a group text.
Atlanta visits Washington on Wednesday before hosting the Wizards on Friday. A home-and-home is an efficient way to settle the ranking argument and an even more efficient way to become tired of Anthony Davis.
19. New Orleans Pelicans (3-4)
Last: 26 Change: 🟢 +7
New Orleans has transformed an 0-4 start into a three-game winning streak. The Pelicans beat Sacramento 132-120, routed Atlanta 121-99 and handed Memphis its first loss 135-134 in overtime. Beating bad teams begins a recovery; winning in Memphis gives it credibility.
Utah visits Wednesday before New Orleans travels to Minnesota for Friday’s Cup game. The Pelicans have finally located momentum, and the Jazz are arriving with the sort of defense momentum prefers to meet.
20. Miami Heat (2-5)
Last: 12 Change: 🔴 -8
Miami scored 145 in a 20-point win over Indiana, then allowed 138 in a 21-point loss to the Lakers. Giannis Antetokounmpo produced 30 points and 12 rebounds in Los Angeles, but the Heat could not defend Dončić or create enough stops for the star power to matter.
Miami visits the Clippers on Wednesday and Golden State on Thursday. The record is ugly, but the roster is too good for a basement ranking; the back-to-back will determine whether that sentence is analysis or an increasingly expensive act of faith.
21. Orlando Magic (2-5)
Last: 18 Change: 🔴 -3
Orlando avenged its 30-point loss to Toronto with a 121-114 win, then fell 103-94 at home to Washington. The injuries to Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs still explain the unstable offense, and beating a solid Raptors team is enough to prevent another severe drop.
The Magic visit Phoenix on Thursday. Both teams have one functional win and several persuasive explanations, so somebody will leave with a result more useful than context.
22. Indiana Pacers (2-6)
Last: 14 Change: 🔴 -8
Indiana allowed 145 points in a loss to Miami, beat Brooklyn 98-90 and then fell 108-104 to Atlanta. The Pacers remain capable of competent stretches, but a 2-6 record and repeated defensive breakdowns have made “average” an increasingly nostalgic description.
Indiana visits Memphis on Wednesday. The Grizzlies just scored at least 124 points in three straight games, so this would be an unfortunate evening to continue treating transition defense as a suggestion.
23. Charlotte Hornets (3-5)
Last: 20 Change: 🔴 -3
Charlotte lost 95-79 to Washington, pushed Philadelphia in a 109-104 defeat and was overwhelmed 124-91 by Detroit. Coby White made his season debut in the latest loss, but one returning guard cannot immediately repair an offense that has produced 274 points across three games.
The Hornets visit Brooklyn on Wednesday. Charlotte needs a win, an organized half-court offense and perhaps a temporary restraining order against teams from the top three.
24. LA Clippers (1-6)
Last: 25 Change: 🟢 +1
The Clippers remain near the bottom after losses to Minnesota and Toronto dropped them to 1-6. They showed more offense in the 125-118 defeat to the Raptors, but moral improvement has yet to negotiate a conversion rate with the standings.
Miami visits Wednesday. Both teams entered the season with serious expectations and arrive with two combined wins, making this less a marquee game than a meeting between two highly credentialed people outside a locked office.
25. Phoenix Suns (1-4)
Last: 21 Change: 🔴 -4
Phoenix lost 127-120 to Denver and 116-113 at Golden State, remaining competitive without changing the result. Devin Booker scored 26 against the Warriors, but the Suns have not produced enough stops to reward an offense that is at least beginning to function.
Portland visits Wednesday before Orlando arrives Thursday. The schedule offers no rest and one clear demand: eventually, a respectable loss must become something that appears in the left column.
26. Utah Jazz (1-6)
Last: 22 Change: 🔴 -4
Utah lost 112-90 to Portland and 119-97 in San Antonio. Lauri Markkanen scored 22 against the Spurs, but the Jazz have dropped five straight and surrendered another decisive second half while failing to create efficient offense of their own.
Utah visits New Orleans on Wednesday. The Pelicans have won three in a row, which means the Jazz somehow encounter them at the exact moment “New Orleans is the easier game” stopped being useful advice.
27. Sacramento Kings (1-6)
Last: 30 Change: 🟢 +3
Sacramento finally escaped last place by beating Dallas 115-100 on the road. The Kings had lost to New Orleans and Memphis by a combined 43 points, but rookie Darius Acuff Jr. scored 25 against the Mavericks and turned the league’s last winless team into somebody else’s problem.
The Lakers visit Wednesday. Sacramento has proof of life; Los Angeles is bringing Luka Dončić to verify the paperwork.
28. Chicago Bulls (1-6)
Last: 27 Change: 🔴 -1
Chicago lost 125-111 in Boston and 126-107 in Philadelphia. The Bulls have dropped six straight since opening night, and allowing 251 points across the last two suggests the league’s elite offenses have stopped viewing them as an opponent and started viewing them as a reservation.
Chicago visits the Knicks on Wednesday. Madison Square Garden is an unkind place to repair a defense, but the Bulls have reached the portion of the schedule where kindness is no longer included.
29. Brooklyn Nets (1-6)
Last: 28 Change: 🔴 -1
Brooklyn lost 110-94 to Detroit, earned its first win 98-90 in Indiana and then fell 103-90 at Madison Square Garden. The breakthrough matters, but scoring 90 points in consecutive games keeps the celebration appropriately contained.
Charlotte visits Wednesday in a game between teams desperate for functional offense. Brooklyn has already proven it can score 90. The ambitious next step is discovering 91.
30. Milwaukee Bucks (1-6)
Last: 29 Change: 🔴 -1
Milwaukee lost 136-111 to Cleveland and 112-100 in Minnesota, extending its losing streak to six. The Bucks own one of the league’s least effective defensive profiles and have not found enough efficient creation to compensate, a combination that makes every opponent look suspiciously well coached.
Milwaukee visits Boston on Wednesday. The Celtics are coming off a loss and the Bucks are coming off October, neither of which qualifies as a favorable matchup condition.
