The first week of the NBA season is now in the books, and while the Boston Celtics still appear to be the team to beat, here are some other takeaways from the first week of basketball.

October 24, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) drives to the basket as Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) defends in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

And just like that, the first week of the NBA season is in the books.

Joel Embiid and Paul George have yet to play together for the Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry sprained his ankle and could miss several games and the New Orleans Pelicans are already without their prized offseason acquisition. Dejounte Murray, who fractured his left hand.

Not all teams have been hit by adversity early in the season.

Three are off to perfect starts, including the defending champion Boston Celtics.

There’s a lot of basketball left, but here are three things we’ve learned so far:

The Celtics are still the team to beat

The player who has been on the bench for most of the United States’ gold medal run at the Paris Olympics has clearly been Boston star Jayson Tatum, who has made all the critics of his game stand up. swallow their words with an average of 28.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists. He is making 51.3 percent of his field goals and 41.9 percent of his attempts from the three-point line.

Tatum has been the driving force behind the Celtics’ 4-0 start, but whichever opposing team they decide to leave behind can continue to cause damage. What Payton Pritchard did Monday night in a 119-108 win over the Milwaukee Bucks is a perfect example. He came off the bench, hit eight three-pointers, finished with 28 points and went to bed at midnight.

If you’re only as good as your weakest link, Boston has nothing to worry about. Everyone is contributing and the Celtics are averaging 124.3 points per game despite being without center Kristaps Porzingis (ankle).

Once I return the sky will truly be the limit for this team.

Tyrese Maxey is the most important piece of the 76ers

October 27, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) looks toward the basket in front of Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (2) during the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Signing Embiid and George is all well and good for Philadelphia, but that duo can only have an impact if they’re on the court.

So far that hasn’t been the case, so Maxey is the leader of the Sixers for the moment. He fully embraced his role on Sunday, scoring 45 points as Philadelphia beat the Indiana Pacers 118-114 in overtime for its first win of the season.

Sure, Embiid and George missing three games right now may not be a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but they’re not going to come out and have a clean bill of health for the remaining 79 games. It’s not a question of whether injuries will plague them again; is when.

Maxey could end up logging the most minutes for the 76ers this season, so don’t be surprised if he completely steals the spotlight.

This draft class is brutal

October 23, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (10) reacts with guard Trae Young (11) after scoring a three-point basket to score his first points in the NBA against the Brooklyn Nets during the first half at State Farm Sand. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Last year’s draft gave us Victor Wembanyama, and now it seems like the basketball gods are making us live in misery.

Zaccharie Risacher and Alexandre Sarr, the top two picks in the class of 2024, have been, well, uh, disappointing, to say the least. Does it help that Risacher is on the Atlanta Hawks and Sarr is on the Washington Wizards? No. But still, you’d think one of these guys would have shown us something by now.

Risacher, who placed first overall, and Sarr met for the first time Monday, when Washington beat Atlanta 121-119. Instead of fireworks, we had dollar store sparklers, as Risacher finished with more fouls (five) than points (four) and was 1-for-8 from the field.

Sarr wasn’t much better, scoring seven points and making three of eleven shots. He also had nine rebounds.

It will take a Hall of Fame career from Bronny James to save this draft class.