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30. Golden State Warriors (Last Week's Ranking: 19)

The Warriors managed to break into the win column with last Monday's 134-123 victory over a then-winless New Orleans Pelicans team, and they'd better treasure that result. With Stephen Curry sidelined at least three months following surgery on his broken left hand, successes like that will be even harder to come by.

It's difficult to overstate the impact of Curry's injury. Golden State's glaring lack of depth and reliance on youth made it especially dependent on the two-time MVP's defense-warping gravity. Now, one of the league's worst defensive teams is also short its most important offensive weapon. Oh, and Draymond Green is out at least a few games with a torn ligament in his left index finger.

When it rains, it pours.

The only silver lining in all this for the Warriors is that it clarifies this season's purpose. The Dubs will never admit to tanking, but they've done it before (see: 2012), and they've got every incentive to win the race to the bottom now. A high lottery pick is one of the only ways for this cap-strapped organization to add premium talent.

If the losses mount and a handful of young players develop (Eric Paschall is off to a fine start), the Warriors will take it.

Bottom line, though: The team Golden State will put on the floor for the foreseeable future will be the least talented in the league.

29. New York Knicks (30)

The Knicks got on the board with their first victory of the season last Monday, a 105-98 win against the Chicago Bulls that was best labeled as the Bobby Portis Revenge Game. Portis, who spent his first three-and-a-half years with the Bulls, hung 28 points and 11 rebounds on his former team, even hitting the go-ahead trey with 1:47 left in the fourth quarter.

Rookie RJ Barrett continues to get to the rim with great frequency despite playing in lineups that clog the lane. If he can iron out his shaky free-throw stroke, he could be one of the more efficient high-usage rookies we've seen in a while.

New York is just 1-6 following Sunday's loss to the visiting Sacramento Kings.

28. Washington Wizards (27)

Washington is off to a predictably rough start, but its 159-158 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday at least offered some entertainment. The third-highest combined regulation score in league history during a game decided by just a single point? Now that's how you give fans their money's worth.

Also: Is Isaiah Thomas...good again?

After two full seasons of injuries, the two-time All-Star has some zip again. Thomas scored 16 points against the San Antonio Spurs last week and added 17 more in that track meet against the Rockets. Toss in the 16 he scored in Saturday's 131-109 rollover loss to the Wolves, and you've got Thomas' highest-scoring three-game stretch since March 2018.

Washington needs to find more minutes for Davis Bertans, who's 18-of-36 from deep to start the year.

27. Memphis Grizzlies (29)

Ja Morant led all Grizzlies scorers in both their games this week, though Memphis fell to the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns to drop to 1-4.

Memphis is playing with a top-five pace, which raises the possibility of fatigue torpedoing its second-half play. At minus-32.8 points per 100 possessions, the Grizzlies are, by far, the worst second-half team in the NBA.

Of course, there's also the possibility that Memphis is young, inexperienced, not all that savvy about its post-break adjustments and, perhaps, falling victim to opponents that don't take it seriously at the outset. Either way, the Grizzlies are going to have a hard time surviving if they keep getting obliterated in third and fourth quarters.

26. New Orleans Pelicans (21)

The Pelicans are unusually reliant on youth, and they've had three key starters—Jrue Holiday, Zion Williamson and Derrick Favors— miss time, so it doesn't make sense to get too worked up over a 1-5 start.

The lone win came on Halloween against the Denver Nuggets, a 122-107 result driven by Holiday's return to action following two nights off with a sore left knee.

If there's any cause for concern, it should stem from the Pelicans allowing perhaps the worst shot profile of the early season. Pels opponents have gotten to the rim at will and been forced into the lowest mid-range-attempt rate in the league. That has to change if New Orleans wants to sniff the playoff race.

In more positive news, Brandon Ingram continues his breakout, blowing away his previous career best in three-point-attempt rate and making much quicker decisions with the ball. For his career, Ingram has produced five games with at least 25 points, five assists and two made threes. Three of them have come in the last two weeks.

Fortunately for New Orleans, the head injury that knocked Ingram out of action during Saturday's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder didn't result in a concussion.