The first few weeks of any NBA season are a roller coaster for NBA Power Rankings — teams rise and fall fast enough to give fans whiplash. It takes a month for teams to find their levels, and by then, we’ll have a much better sense of who the contenders are, who might reach that status, and who is just along for the ride. Until then, teams rise and fall fast.

One thing we know is that the three at the top of this week’s rankings are likely to be in the contender category all season long.

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1. Boston Celtics (4-0, Last Week No. 1). It’s hard to make a statement on opening night, but Boston did exactly that, draining 29 3-pointers and crushing the Knicks, a team that is supposed to be a threat to them in the East. Through four games Boston is averaging 50.3 3-pointers a game and hitting 42.8% of them (numbers that will be records if Boston can sustain them). Jayson Tatum’s shooting slump — which started last playoff and ran through the Olympics — is over. His stroke looks more compact and he is averaging 28.5 points a game while shooting 41.9% from 3.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (3-0, LW 2). Oklahoma City is absolutely shutting teams down to open the season with a league-best defensive rating of 90.8 (for context, that’s almost 18 points better than Minnesota’s league-best defense a season ago). OKC has won each of its games so far by at least 15 points, and they are doing that without center Isaiah Hartestein. His absence hasn’t mattered (yet) with Chet Holmgren having already blocked 12 shots this season (Hartenstein is out until some point next month with a fractured hand). OKC’s offense has been in the middle of the pack, and Holmgren is struggling from 3 (3-of-15), but expect that to turn around in the coming weeks. Does their first loss come Saturday, on the second night of a rough back-to-back coming from Portland to face a feisty Clippers team?

3. Dallas Mavericks (3-1, LW 3). Klay Thompson has been everything the Mavericks could have hoped for early in the season, starting with him dropping 22 points on the Spurs in the opener. He’s averaging 19.7 points a game and shooting 45.5% on 11 3-pointers a game, but more importantly, the Mavericks defense has been 8.6 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court (small sample size alert, but that’s a promising sign). Overall the Mavericks have been strong defensively to start the season, their 107.3 defensive net rating is fifth best in the league.

FRINGE CONTENDERS

4. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-0, LW 11). Cleveland has been impressive with a top-four offense and defense early in the season, but we’re not jumping on the bandwagon quite yet with the first three wins coming against expected lottery teams Toronto, Detroit and Washington. However, win No. 4 in a comeback against a good Knicks team was impressive. There’s a lot to like, starting with Evan Mobley stepping up on offense, and Kenny Atkinson staggering his big four more to give the Cavaliers more depth. Cleveland faces Orlando this week, then two against Milwaukee, a good measuring stick of where both of these teams are early in the season.

5. Phoenix Suns (3-1, LW 9). While Kevin Durant is doing Kevin Durant things and has been a force coming out of the Paris Olympics, the addition of Tyus Jones has proven to be a plus on offense in Phoenix. Against the Clippers, he had 11 points and eight assists, but the real key was that he was a team-best +6 — his presence matters to this team. The challenge becomes that he is undersized, is not a great defender, and gets targeted at critical moments in games (James Harden was doing it). It’s a balance Mike Budenholzer is going to have to find.

6. Orlando Magic (3-1, LW 13). People keep talking about how Orlando needs another shot creator, ideally at the point, and Paolo Banchero keeps stepping up and showing he can do the job just fine, thank you very much. Banchero dropped the first 50-point game of the season on the Pacers. The Magic head out on a tough five-game road trip this week with stops in Cleveland, Dallas and Oklahoma City.

PLAYOFFS OR BUST

7. Golden State Warriors (3-1, LW 15). The concern around Golden State has been, “What will they do if Stephen Curry misses some time?” He is out for at least a couple of games with a sprained ankle and the result from the first night — an impressive 124-106 win at home against the Pelicans — is a sign this team is for real. In that game, Lindy Waters III blew up (21 points off the bench), plus there were 28 points from Buddy Hield, who has impressed to start the season. Jonathan Kuminga came off the bench in that game and has struggled to start the season: 10.3 points a game on 37.8% shooting and 16.7% from 3. Not the way JK wanted to start a contract year.

8. Los Angeles Lakers (3-1, LW 17). It’s only four games, but give J.J Redick his due — the Lakers look dramatically better coached this season: More activity and pace, more off-ball motion, and Anthony Davis is getting the ball in much better positions to thrive in the offense (Davis scored 35 in each of the Lakers first two games). Redick even handled the Bronny James minutes perfectly (at the end of the first half, with the Lakers up 16, so real minutes not garbage time, but not clutch moments either… although he was -5 in 2:39 of play in a game that went to overtime). LeBron is still the tone-setter for this team at age 39 in season 22. His 16-point fourth quarter outburst vs. the Kings Saturday night sparked a comeback win, but he struggled with his shot in Phoenix and L.A. lost despite a strong night from Anthony Davis (who leads the league in scoring at 32.8 points a game). The Lakers go as LeBron goes.

9. Minnesota Timberwolves (2-2, LW 7). It’s tough to get a read on this team. The Julius Randle pairing with Anthony Edwards looked great when both dropped 30 on the Kings in a win, but Randle has clogged the lane and looked lost at other times. Also, Donte DiVincenzo, who is averaging 9.5 points a game but shooting 26.7% from 3, has not played up to his standards. It’s going to take time for Minnesota to come together, but after facing Denver on Friday the Timberwolves have a stretch of winnable games.

10. Memphis Grizzlies (2-2, LW 10). Ja Morant is back and Memphis again has a top-10 offense in the NBA — although Desmond Bane leads the team in scoring (21 points a game while shooting 40% from 3). The challenge is the Grizzlies also now have a bottom 10 defense in the league, that end of the floor was their calling card a couple of seasons ago. Zach Edey staying out of foul trouble would go a long way to helping the defense solidify. Memphis needs Marcus smart to step up his game, he’s shooting 23.5 % on the season and is 3-of-18 from beyond the arc. They need more from the veteran.

11. New York Knicks (1-2, LW 4). We knew it would take some time for the Knicks to find a groove after the Karl-Anthony Towns trade. That is evident at the start of the season — the eye test and the numbers don’t really match up. New York has the third-best offense in the NBA and third-best in the half-court statistically (based on Cleaning the Glass’ numbers), but watch them and the spacing is off, KAT’s not getting enough 3s (teams are putting guards on him), and the team seems focused on hunting mismatches at the expense of good shots. The offense just looks clunky, and the defense is 29th in the league. Their two losses are quality teams (Celtics and Cavaliers), so we’re cutting them some slack for now.

12. Los Angeles Clippers (2-1, LW 19). The Intuit Dome lives up to the hype. I was skeptical of “The Wall” and some of the technology innovations (which have not been seamless, although what software version 1.0 ever is), however, it all works for a great experience. On the court, the Clippers are flawed, especially without Kawhi Leonard — he’s weeks away, at least — and it puts a lot on 35-year-old James Harden to carry this offense. He can’t do it the way he used to do it and Houston, but the Clippers are deep with quality players, play hard nightly, and that plus Harden and an impressive few games from Norman Powell to open the season has the Clippers competitive in a deep West.

13. Denver Nuggets (2-2, LW 6). Every concern from this summer about the Nuggets — primarily lack of depth and shooting — seemed to get validation with the team’s opening season losses to the Thunder and Clippers. The Nuggets record evened out thanks to a soft patch in the schedule (which continues next week), but needing overtime to get wins over Toronto and Brooklyn didn’t alleviate those concerns. Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: The Nuggets are good when Nikola Jokic is on the floor — he has two triple-doubles this season, and in the other two games, he scored 40+ points — but gets destroyed when he sits. Part of that is Russell Westbrook started the year 2-of-18 from the field (but was better against Brooklyn). Denver’s go-to bench unit for the last few years has been Jamal Murray plus bench guys, but that was -30 through the first two games. Even with Jokic, is this team a contender?

14. Philadelphia 76ers (1-2, LW 5). Can Tyrese Maxey keep the 76ers heads above water until Paul George and Joel Embiid return to action? (Both are reportedly nearing a return, but no timeline yet.) Maxey is doing his best, scoring 31.3 points a game, but the weight of being the guy at the top of the scouting report shows as he is shooting just 34.9% so far this season. As a team, the 76ers have started the season shooting 27.5% from beyond the arc on 34 attempts a night. Things do not get easier with Memphis on Saturday night then a three-game road trip against Phoenix and both Los Angeles teams.

15. Houston Rockets (2-2, LW 20). Ime Udoka has a jigsaw puzzle to figure out this season: There’s a lot of young talent on this roster, some quality veterans, a lot of skill sets that overlap, and more players who need time on the court than there are minutes to give. One lineup we know works is the starting five — Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. — who have played 70 minutes already this season (third most used lineup in the league) and have a +14.5 net rating.

16. Sacramento Kings (2-2, LW 16). It’s no shock the Kings have a top-10 offense behind 24.3 points a night from Domantas Sabonis and another 23 from newcomer DeMar DeRozan — they have a real identity on that end. The defense struggled against quality teams (close losses to the Timberwolves and Lakers) but looked much better in the last couple of games against Portland and Utah. Sacramento remains in a soft part of the schedule this week, but on the road (including Miami). We’ll see if the defense can keep it up, we know the offense will be good.

17. Miami Heat (2-1, LW 18). Shooting is what should concern Heat fans — this is a good shooting team inside the paint, and they are taking more than 47% of their shots from there, but outside the paint Miami is shooting 34.3% as a team (they have been strong from the left corner, but that’s about it). Jimmy Butler is averaging 17.3 points a game (third on the team) with a pedestrian 55.1 true shooting percentage — already his name is coming up in trade rumors. Pat Riley wanted to see more from Butler in the regular season before shelling out for his next contract, this start to the season has Butler’s name already coming up in trade rumors.

18. New Orleans Pelicans (2-2, LW 14). The bad news: Dejounte Murray is out until December with a fractured hand, and without him (and Trey Murphy III) the Pelicans offensive rating is 108.4, which is 22nd in the league. With the unlucky injuries to Murray and Murphy, not trading Brandon Ingram (despite the front office’s best efforts) this summer works out for the team that suddenly needs more shot creation. The good news: Rookie center Yves Missi has impressed to start the season. If he can provide much-needed minutes at the five, it would be a huge boost for New Orleans, who has started Daniel Theis at center.

19. Milwaukee Bucks (1-3, LW 8). Near the top of the list of ominous signs is when your star player says, “Right now, we don’t have an identity.” Except, Giannis Antetokounmpo is right — and that falls on Doc Rivers more than anyone. Milwaukee has struggled in transition defense and on the glass, which are two hustle categories — they got outworked by Chicago and Brooklyn, not exactly Eastern Conference powerhouses. Then there’s the lack of a bench (which is more on the front office than Rivers). We knew depth and defense would be issues going into the season but watching Coby White, Cam Thomas and Payton Pritchard torch the Bucks in the opening week was eye-opening. If one team should be reaching for the panic button after one week, it’s the Bucks.

20. Indiana Pacers (1-3, LW 12). Tyrese Halliburton is struggling with his shot — 26.5% from 3, 10 points lower than last season — but more concerning is just 5.3 assists a game from the guy who led the league last season at double that number. Their offense isn’t clicking — bottom 10 in the league — and they don’t have much of a defense to fall back on. The schedule doesn’t get easier this week with Boston, then at New Orleans and Dallas.

PLAY IN HOPEFULS

21. Atlanta Hawks (2-2, LW 22). As expected, it is the Trae Young show in Atlanta: Through four games, Young is second in the league in touches, behind only Nikola Jokic. That, however, has led to a league-average offense so far this season, and the question still looms of how No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher can develop next to Young. Injuries have hit the Hawks hard early, the most concerning of those is Bogdan Bogdanovic being for the next month, at least, after he had a procedure on his troublesome left hamstring. That is not ideal.

22. Chicago Bulls (2-2, LW 24). Zach LaVine would like to remind everyone — especially teams that might want to trade for him — that he is very good at scoring the basketball. Through four games, he is averaging 26 points a game and is shooting 45.7% from 3. The Bulls as a team are launching far more 3-pointers a game this season, 46.8 a night (up from 32.1 last season). Josh Giddey has looked good, averaging 14.3 points and 7.8 assists a game, but he’s getting his buckets driving the lane, not taking 3s, which makes him more defendable.

23. Charlotte Hornets (1-2, LW 26). Charlotte has trailed by at least 14 points in all three of their games this season, but LaMelo Ball sparked a comeback win against the Rockets. It’s just fun to have Ball healthy and back in the league putting on a show, averaging 31.7 points a night (second in the league) with 7.3 assists and 7 rebounds. The Hornets need to get Brandon Miller back healthy (hip issue), but they are playing better than fans realize and a play-in chase looks to be a real possibility.

24. San Antonio Spurs (1-2, LW 23). Victor Wembanyama is shooting 66.6% in the paint this season but 25% on jumpers outside the lane — and he’s taking more of those. Wembanyama is a better shot than that, but Chris Paul and company need to get Wembanyama some touches in the paint, where he remains almost unstoppable. With Tre Jones injured, it has meant more run for Stephon Castle, and his solid play is another sign the Spurs nailed the No. 4 pick, and he can be a big part of what the Spurs are building.

CAPTURE THE (COOPER) FLAGG

25. Toronto Raptors (1-3, LW 21). Toronto is already without Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk and Immanuel Quickley due to injury, and now Scottie Barnes is out for the next three weeks (at least) with an orbital fracture. No Barnes is real trouble for the Toronto offense, which relies heavily on the fourth-year All-Star to create shots. This puts more on the shoulders of RJ Barrett, who just returned to the lineup from an AC joint sprain.

26. Brooklyn Nets (1-3, LW 28). This ranking may be a little low, new coach Jordi Fernandez has them playing hard, they beat the Bucks and played the Hawks and Magic tight. One of my bold predictions coming into the season was that Cam Thomas would be in the top five in the league in scoring — and he’s close. Thomas averages 29.5 points a game and sits sixth in the league, sandwiched between Anthony Edwards and Kevin Durant. All you need to know about Thomas’ game is that he is averaging 2.8 assists a game as well — he’s never met a shot he didn’t like.

27. Portland Trail Blazers (1-3, LW 29). From the silver lining department: This is the best Scoot Henderson has looked. More than his scoring being up (16 points a game), he looks heathy and more explosive getting to the rim — last season just 23.7% of his shots were in the restricted area, this season that is up to 43.1%, and he’s finishing them at a higher rate as well. There’s still a lot of work to do on his jumper, but he looks like his health issues are in the rearview mirror and he is much improved this season.

28. Washington Wizards (1-2, LW 30). Kyle Kuzma is out indefinitely due to a right groin strain — and he’s not going to play the “fit game” walking into the arena anymore, either. Which will be crushing for the oversized sweater industry. Alex Sarr, the No. 2 pick last June, has struggled to score against NBA defenses, shooting 28.6% so far this season. After watching Sarr at Summer League we knew it would be a rough year for him, but what matters most is what his shooting percentage looks like in March and April — does he grow and improve over the season? Does he figure it out?

29. Utah Jazz (0-4, LW 25). The most important thing with Utah: Taylor Hendricks, we wish you a speedy recovery. As for the Jazz, there was a vibe among fans in Salt Lake City that this team could be competitive in the first part of the season behind Lauri Markkanen before falling off into tanking territory. Nope — and this is the first time in a decade the Jazz have started this poorly. Utah is getting outscored by 7.6 points per 100 possessions when Markkanen is on the court, but that balloons to more than 30 per 100 when he sits. Jazz fans, we’ll send you the Duke and Rutgers schedules so you can start scouting now.

30. Detroit Pistons (0-4, LW 27). This is the best Cade Cunningham has ever played: 26.5 points and 7.5 assists a game, shooting 37% from 3. It hasn’t led to a Pistons win — although every game has been within a dozen points. There are real chances for a win this week against the shorthanded 76ers and the not-very-good Nets, but it’s been a tough start in Detroit.