The 2023-24 NBA season is officially in full swing as the Los Angeles Lakers have played four games already. That may not seem like much, but the Lakers are already just under 5% through the season after one week of action.
The NBA standings this early in the season do not matter much as there is still so much basketball to play. The eventual one seeds in both conferences might not even be in the top eight as it stands right now. There is no reason to hold any weight with the actual standings.
But what if we ordered the standings by a certain statistic that typically indicates how strong a team is? Again, we are early in the season and there is still a lot of basketball left to play, but it can give fans an idea of who is playing the best out of the gate.
NBA standings ordered by net rating:
For those who do not know, net rating combines a team’s offensive rating and defensive rating into one number. These numbers are taken over 100 possessions. Anything above zero is good, anything below zero is bad.
Western Conference:
- Los Angeles Clippers: +16.6 (2-1 record)
- Denver Nuggets: +14.5 (4-0 record)
- Golden State Warriors: +10.8 (3-1 record)
- Dallas Mavericks: +8.7 (3-0 record)
- Phoenix Suns: +7.0 (2-1 record)
- Sacramento Kings: +4.0 (2-1 record)
- Oklahoma City Thunder: +0.5 (3-1 record)
- Minnesota Timberwolves: -0.4 (1-2 record)
- Los Angeles Lakers: -2.2 (2-2 record)
- New Orleans Pelicans: -4.0 (2-1 record)
- Memphis Grizzlies: -8.0 (0-4 record)
- Portland Trail Blazers: -9.5 (1-3 record)
- Utah Jazz: -11.1 (1-3 record)
- San Antonio Spurs: -13.4 (1-2 record)
- Houston Rockets: -15.0 (0-3 record)
Again, it is early in the season but there are still some pretty big surprises from these numbers. The most surprising teams are the Clippers and Grizzlies. The Clippers have the best net rating not just in the Western Conference but in the entire NBA, while the Grizzlies have struggled immensely out of the gate without Ja Morant.
Eastern Conference:
- Philadelphia 76ers: +11.5 (2-1 record)
- Orlando Magic: +11.1 (2-1 record)
- Boston Celtics: +10.5 (3-0 record)
- Indiana Pacers: +9.0 (2-1 record)
- Atlanta Hawks: +4.6 (2-2 record)
- Detroit Pistons: +3.8 (2-2 record)
- Brooklyn Nets: +2.0 (1-2 record)
- New York Knicks: -2.3 (1-2 record)
- Milwaukee Bucks: -2.6 (2-1 record)
- Toronto Raptors: -3.2 (1-3 record)
- Cleveland Cavaliers: -4.7 (1-2 record)
- Charlotte Hornets: -5.7 (1-2 record)
- Chicago Bulls: -6.9 (2-2 record)
- Miami Heat: -7.9 (1-3 record)
- Washington Wizards: -11.1 (1-2 record)
The Magic having the second-best net rating in the Eastern Conference probably is not something that is going to last throughout the course of the season. Meanwhile, the Miami Heat will likely climb up the standings as well, although the team is not built to be great in the regular season.
Los Angeles Lakers’ net rating isn’t worrisome at all
While the purple and gold finds itself in the middle of the pack in the West with a negative net rating, it should not be something that fans are concerned about in the slightest. Heck, just look at who the Lakers have played already and where their net ratings are in comparison.
Los Angeles has played Denver (+14.5), Phoenix (+7.0), Sacramento (+4.0) and Orlando (+11.1) and has won two of those games. One of the losses even went to overtime and easily could have been flipped.
The Lakers have had one of the toughest starts to the season. A 2-2 record is not a bad thing with that being considered.