Just about 2.5 weeks into the 2025-26 NBA season, slight separation is beginning to crystallize across each conference’s playoff picture. Some teams already have ground to make up while others are staking themselves a small lead, thanks to a strong start. So, among those teams off to rosy beginnings, which are most continue curating good vibes? The Sportscasting crew banded together to answer exactly that.
Let’s get to it.
Detroit Pistons
After a bumpy opening week, the Detroit Pistons have rattled off four consecutive wins to sit second in the East at 6-2. A favorable schedule has surely helped, notching wins over the rebuilding Utah Jazz, crisis mode, injury riddled Memphis Grizzlies and despondent Dallas Mavericks during this winning streak.Â
But the Pistons are also expanding upon the defensive-minded identity they established last season under head coach J.B. Bickestaff. Led by a ferocious group with Isaiah Stewart, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland II, Javonte Green, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren, they’re third in defensive rating after finishing 11th in 2024-25.Â
Detroit absolutely siphons off the rim. It allows the league’s fourth-lowest rate of field goals within 4 feet (26.4 percent), where opponents convert an NBA-worst 55.5 percent of those looks. While the latter mark will regress (the Oklahoma City Thunder led the league at 61.9 percent last year), the Pistons’ personnel should continue imposing their will inside.
They rarely let teams venture to the hoop. When they do, an army of stalwarts awaits. Stewart is among the game’s most vaunted rim protectors and flanked by complementary interior enforcers. Through eight games, Cunningham (21.7 percent), Stewart (19.4), Duren (17.1) and Thompson (15.7) are all holding players to 15 percent or more below their average on shots within 6 feet, according to NBA.com.
Much like 2024-25, offense remains a rickety adventure, traveling about as far as the tireless Cunningham can explore. Yet Jaden Ivey’s eventual return, as well as some shooting luck (23rd vs.10th in actual vs. expected effective field goal percentage, per Cleaning the Glass) should help Detroit perk up from 16th in offensive rating, even if the defense slips below the top three.Â
I don’t expect the Pistons to maintain their 61-win pace but a 50-win season behind a great defense and do-just-enough offense with Cunningham at the helm feels absolutely plausible. -Jackson Frank
Portland Trail Blazers
Offseason win projections viewed the Portland Trail Blazers as a Western Conference bottom-feeder, good for around 35 wins. Despite showing some promise last season, many thought the Blazers lacked the talent to compete for a true playoff spot. Through 2.5 of the NBA season, they’re 5-3 with the 14th-best net rating (plus-2.4), a tenuous half-game back of the second-seeded Houston Rockets.
From Jan. 1 to the end of the 2024-25 regular season, the Blazers owned the NBA’s seventh-best defense (112.4 defensive rating) and they currently rank ninth (113). They’re spearheading the league’s pressing defensive meta, extending their pressure into the backcourt more than any other defense. As a result, Portland leads the NBA in opponent turnover rate (20 percent).
That absurdly high turnover clip could regress some but there’s also room for its 17th-ranked offense to improve. According to Cleaning the Glass, Portland’s offense, based on shot location, owns the second-most efficient expected effective field goal percentage. In reality, however, it ranks just 25th in effective field goal percentage (52 percent), suggesting some positive regression in the near future.
The Blazers aren’t a supremely talented offensive roster and there’s no scoring juggernaut to bank on. Among Jrue Holiday’s point revival at guard, Deni Avdija’s ascension and a potential Scoot Henderson return from injury, there are enough pathways to passable offense to buoy a strong defense.
Without any true offensive superstars, the Blazers likely can’t make a deep playoff run in the West. But with a defense anchored by cornerstones like Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan, Portland is a legitimate playoff team in the Western Conference with a strong chance to avoid the Play-In Tournament altogether. -Ben Pfeifer
San Antonio Spurs
After looking at past preseason data, I became quite keen on the San Antonio Spurs. Every year, there seems to be a team that didn’t make the playoffs the season before, plays great in the preseason and becomes a playoff team that year. The Spurs were first in net rating during exhibition play this season.
Now, here we are and the Spurs are 5-2 with the NBA’s fourth-best net rating. More than that, they look like a legitimate player in the Western Conference playoff picture.Â
It all starts with Victor Wembanyama, who is fulfilling his destiny as a potential GOAT candidate. After looking like a borderline top-10 player last year (fifth in Estimated Plus-Minus), Wembanyama has somehow managed to take another leap – firmly vaulting himself into the top-five conversation.Â
He looks stronger (evidenced by his increased rebound rate), he’s scoring more (up 1.3 points per game) and getting to the free-throw line more frequently (up 4.3 free-throw attempts per game), he’s more efficient around the rim (up 2.9 percent) and his defensive impact continues to be the best in basketball (he’s currently the anchor of the league’s second-best defense).
Having a top-five player gives you an incredibly high floor and the Spurs are doing this without their second-best player, De’Aaron Fox, yet to make his season debut. Once he enters the fold, Wembanyama will have another setup artist to feed him interior passes and a torchbearer to buoy the Spurs’ offense when the prodigy needs to catch his breath.Â
History is also on the Spurs’ side. Remember how I mentioned their net rating? Over the last 10 seasons that started on time (2020-21 started in December because of COVID-19), 85 percent of the 60 teams that were among the top six in net rating on Nov. 5 made the playoffs.Â
Now, the Spurs aren’t without flaws. Namely, they are sorely lacking in spacing (22nd in 3-point attempts per game) and without Fox in the rotation, they don’t have much by way of established on-ball creation. Still, even in their imperfect state, I feel confident calling this Spurs group a true playoff team in the Western Conference, so as long as Wembanyama stays healthy (*knocks wood aggressively*), they will carry that designation for quite some time. -Mat Issa
