How NBA title, MVP race has become wide open in two weeks - ESPN

The 2026-27 NBA season was projected to be abnormally competitive, as previously rebuilding teams turned the corner and new draft lottery rules gave all 30 franchises an incentive to win.

At the top of the standings, though, three juggernaut rosters towered above the rest: the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, who both won more than 60 games before clashing in a seven-game conference finals last season, and the defending champion New York Knicks, who reeled off arguably the most dominant stretch in NBA history en route to the title.

Those three teams were excellent last season, and they returned 14 of their combined 15 starters this fall. So even as the rest of the league's floor rose, the highest ceilings still appeared to reside in New York City and the Southwest.

But surprising developments have changed that narrative less than two weeks into the new season and challenged the triumvirate's hegemony atop the league. Most importantly, a wave of injuries to star players already has altered the league's most important races.

Jump to a section:
How title odds have shifted
The injured stars so far
Is the MVP race wide open?

Oklahoma City opened its season with a firm statement of intent, with 12-point wins over the Spurs and Nuggets — possibly the Thunder's closest competition in the West.

Then disaster struck. Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace both suffered potentially season-ending injuries in the same game, and Alex Caruso sprained his right ankle the following night. At the same time, Chet Holmgren suffered a patellar tendon tear in his right knee, which will sideline him for at least two months

So Oklahoma City has played its past couple games without four of its top six players, to predictable results: a