We’re back with yet another edition of the weekly Power Rankings, and for another week, things have changed drastically around the NBA, and not just on-court.
The blemishes left from the risk of operating a full season in the midst of a global pandemic without a bubble is taking their toll on an uncharacteristic season full of its own surprises and unforeseen circumstances. Rarely is there ever conventionality, and that’s nary been more apparent than this week since a league-wide COVID-19 outbreak could be on the horizon. Commissioner Adam Silver has mentioned an apprehensiveness to pause the season for competitive purposes, as nearly 1/4 of the teams in the NBA have been affected by a player having to sit out as a result of health and safety protocols.
The season is young, and while losing a few bodies for the moment being isn’t too injurious for the entire league to garner another shutdown, in the long run, the bottom line is that the current plan of keeping the season going while being remissive of how this is affecting the fairness of the game may not be sustainable, pending the severity of the pandemic in the early wintry months of 2021.
Back to basketball for a second, the Golden State Warriors might not be of laughing matter anymore, as if they’ve ever been. The previous struggles both Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre had are starting to fade, and it is wearing off on the rest of the entire supporting cast and crew around Stephen Curry with them winning six of their last eight contests. As for the top of the Western food chain, the Lakers continue to reign as the league’s best team even with injuries stacking up. But for teams like the Nets and Hawks, a blend of chemistry issues and external distractions have led to their regression.
Now that we’re approaching the fourth week of play, let’s take a look at where each team stands.
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1. Los Angeles Lakers (8-3, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)
Excusing a loss to the San Antonio Spurs at home even with LeBron James and Anthony Davis combining for 50 points, the Lakers, whenever they feel like flipping the switch, still look like the league’s most dangerous team. Which is, of course, frightening, considering they’re getting better by the minute as soon as new pieces Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrel continue to get more acclimated to their new team. Following the loss to the Spurs, they survived a 35-point explosion from Bulls star Zach Lavine to hold on for a 117-115 home win, and remained perfect on the road by giving it to the Rockets in a home 120-102 blowout in which Markieff Morris and new Rocket DeMarcus Cousins were ejected after an altercation.
Their late-game defense is questionable, but always compensated for by game-breaking offense, and they’re not just getting it from their arduous LBJ-AD frontcourt; 2nd-year talent Talen Horton-Tucker had a breakout game against Houston on Sunday night, scoring 17 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing 3 assists and swiping the defense loose for four steals in 21 minutes.
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2. Phoenix Suns (7-3, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)
For the team with the second-best record in the West, they could’ve very well overtaken the top spot had it not been for their failed comeback against the Clippers last Sunday. Still, they saw some good competition come their way, and they answered the call in exceptional fashion, going 3-0 against the Pelicans, Jazz, and Nuggets. Now winners of four of their last five, the Suns look like a well-oiled machine, and Chris Paul’s influence is not to be understated.
Ball movement is their M.O., evident in them going 2-1 in their last three games, as Villanova standout Mikal Bridges found his groove against the Pacers in this system revitalized by Paul’s presence. He would end up going off for a career-high 34 points off 12-18 shooting from the field and 6-8 shooting from downtown.
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3. Los Angeles Clippers (7-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)
Aside from the Clips going 3-1 this past week and avoiding blatant disaster in blowing a huge lead to the Suns, they’re still in the driver’s seat, getting solid contributions from the likes of Serge Ibaka and Lou Williams. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are doing their part, obviously, but the help from new Clipper Nicolas Batum, who’s averaged 10.3 points and 4.5 rebounds off of 53 percent shooting from deep, has been greatly appreciated. Defense seems to be an issue, surprisingly evident in their loss of a 22-point lead against the Warriors, and their lack of a true point guard that is a consistent scorer is felt when their two stars get cold.
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4. Utah Jazz (6-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)
Well, it seems like Donovan Mitchell’s cold spell has worn off completely. Since his abhorrent start to the season, he’s averaged 26 points in the last three games he’s played. And with Mike Conley, who has picked up the slack for this low-scoring backcourt by averaging over 21 points and six assists on 47 percent shooting this past week, he’s finally getting the assistance he needs. Bojan Bogdanovic has snapped out of his cold streak, also going 6-of-7 from deep in a 28-point scoring effort against the Spurs.
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5. Philadelphia 76ers (7-3, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)
On Thursday, the Sixers possessed the league’s best record, and promptly, four days later, they’d only cycle eight players onto the court to create a makeshift Sixers team that was crushed by a visiting Denver Nuggets team, all due to the huge hit the team took from the health and safety protocols. Since last Thursday, they’ve dropped two consecutive games. When healthy, the 76ers are a sure-as-day top-three team in the NBA but now that they facing a few games without Ben Simmons, who is tending to a knee issue, things may get even more difficult. Barring postponement, a game against the struggling Hawks should get them back into winning shape.
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6. Milwaukee Bucks (6-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)
Though Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out in the Bucks’ 10-point win over Cleveland after sustaining a nasty fall against the Jazz a couple of nights before, the Bucks star scored a rousing 27 points in one half against the Jazz for a total of 35 points off 14-25 shooting. It’s been a rather gradual welcoming into the fold for new acquisitions Jrue Holiday, but the mindset of defensive tenacity stays the same. In fact, all of Milwaukee’s wins have come by a winning margin of 10 points or more.
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7. Boston Celtics (7-3, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)
It seemed as if the Celtics had got the ball rolling being led by their two superstar wings in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (combined 25.1 ppg through 10 games) as they reeled in four straight convincing wins without a starting point guard. Only trailing the Philadelphia 76ers for the Eastern lead, the C’s then became included in the slew of teams impacted by the health and safety protocol fiasco, losing both Tatum and Brown as well as Robert Williams III and others due to a team outbreak likely caused by close contact with the reportedly-contagious Washington Wizards.
Two upcoming games of theirs against the Heat and Bulls have been postponed, and with Jayson Tatum recently testing positive for the virus, many bodies won’t be available for the next 2-to-3 weeks for a Celtics team that finally looked like it found its stride.
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8. Indiana Pacers (6-3, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)
Though not moving an inch in this week’s rankings due to a loss against the Suns in which they allowed Mikal Bridges to score a career-high 34 points, Domantas Sabonis has really shined, scoring 28 points and snatching 22 boards off the glass to become the first player since Jermaine O’ Neal in 2003 to post the 20-20 stat in a single game in a Pacers uniform. It’s a testament to the work he has put in to be one of the game’s youngest and most promising bigs, and with games against teams like Sacramento and Portland who are equally insufficient at defending the paint, more opportunities for achieving more personal records will arise.
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9. Miami Heat (4-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)
A 2-1 week with a career-high performance from Tyler Herro against the Wizards resulted in a murky future for the Heat, at least in the immediate sense. Though they were supposed to have a rematch against the Celtics on Sunday, the game got suspended and even worse, Avery Bradley’s status, for at least another game due to health and safety protocols, will be in doubt. Combined with the ankle ailment of Jimmy Butler, they face higher hurdles to climb with increasingly difficult scheduling with back to back games against Philadelphia coming up.
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10. Dallas Mavericks (5-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)
Alongside Luka Doncic, who seems to have turned the corner in overall productivity and consistency, has been the play of Tim Hardaway Jr., who’s gained a lot of respect from his coaching staff and organization for his devotion and work ethic as well as his desire to not just be “the third or fourth option” on a talented roster. He’s stepped up during Dallas’ three-game winning streak and revival, first by scoring 30 points off 11-14 shooting against Houston, and then he had his highest-scoring game as a Dallas Maverick – a 36-point superstar showcase against the Magic. Dallas is one of the teams that will also have a game or two postponed as a result of the COVID outbreak affecting the league, since power forward Maxi Kleiber will be quarantined 10-14 days with a positive virus test.
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11. Portland Trail Blazers (5-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)
Portland’s backcourt can score, if that needed any further confirmation, and while it’s been a little inconsistent as both Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum take turns putting up all-world numbers on a nightly basis, both guards lead their teams in scoring nearly every night. Defensively, it’s been anything but stellar, now as the 23-ranked team in all of the NBA. Their second unit’s frontcourt also remain incapable of getting stops; Enes Kanter and Carmelo significantly lower the team’s defensive prowess, allowing 115.9 points per 100 possessions when sharing the court.
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12. Denver Nuggets (5-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)
Another team caught up in the web of the health and safety protocol problem, Denver was supposed to get Michael Porter Jr. back from a short quarantine period, only to end up losing him even longer because of protocol. Despite not having their third-best player, it hasn’t directly affected the Nuggets, since they’ve been able to win without him, now winners of four of their last five. Nikola Jokic still looks insurmountable as a matchup nightmare, Jamal Murray’s shot has finally returned from the bubble, and Gary Harris, whom they’ve announced would not be in trade talks, has been impressive, averaging 16.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and one assist in his last three games.
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13. Golden State Warriors (6-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)
The Dubs raise two spots in this week’s rankings, and for good reason. Imagine a world where Stephen Curry has the most forgettable performance from the field in his career…and the Warriors, down a backcourt compadre in Klay Thompson, win against a respectable opponent that could very well be in the playoffs a few months from now? That’s what’s happening in the good fortune of the Warriors at the moment, as Curry shot 2-for-16 from the field in a Warriors two-point win over visiting Toronto. The reason? Andrew Wiggins, now visibly gaining more confidence by the day, led them in scoring with 17. Winners of four of their last five, the only thing holding them back has been the rough outside shooting from Kelly Oubre, who is now 7-of-50 from downtown on the season.
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14. San Antonio Spurs (5-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)
The Spurs picked up a signature win up against the Lakers in the midst of their third week of play, but they’ll have to find a way to earn their sixth win without DeMar DeRozan, who in his own accord is having a noteworthy year worthy of praise. He is averaging 21.2 points per game off 49 percent shooting, and a true shooting percentage of 59.9 percent this year with a career-high 7 assists per game that he’s also putting up, but will not be in the Spurs’ rotation against Minnesota this week as he tends to personal matters. Also worth the mention, he’s confidently shooting – and making – as many threes in nine games this year that he made all year last season.
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15. Brooklyn Nets (5-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)
The Nets drop a spot in this week’s ranking, and it’s more to do with the behind-the-scenes drama mixed with the health and safety protocol holdouts to key pieces. Kyrie Irving, who sat out in consecutive contests for “personal reasons of not wanting to play” and Kevin Durant, who also sat out but for COVID-19 protocol reasons, missed three games in a row, are now having their work cut out for them as the Nets are now under .500 for the first time this year.
Caris LeVert has been responsible for picking up their workloads as the third best player on the team, averaging 23.2 points, 6.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds in the Nets’ last five games. If the Nets cannot get back to full strength soon, Denver, Orlando, New York and Milwaukee will make things harder for a Nets team that’s suddenly treading water.
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16. Houston Rockets (3-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)
Houston drops 11 spots in this week’s rankings, and James Harden’s recent struggles. Since returning from an ankle sprain, Harden’s been mediocre, per his standards, averaging 17.8 points off an underwhelming 39.8 shooting percentage. In three of those contests, his poor scoring performances have resulted in losses, and after being shellacked by the Lakers on Sunday night, another showdown with the Lakers await, as well as a back-to-back series duel with the Spurs.
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17. New Orleans Pelicans (4-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)
It’s been a rough go of it for the Pelicans, who had three very winnable games with multi-possession leads against the Pacers, (up six with 21 seconds) the Thunder (up four with 2:00 left) and the Hornets (up 18 at one point) but dropped all three. It also looks like, from a defensive standpoint, they struggle to understand and enact their defensive schemes against opponents. The outside shooting as a team (32.2) has been worrisome as well, as it’s greatly shrunk driving lanes and creation spots on the wings for both Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram this season.
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18. Atlanta Hawks (4-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)
It’s been a notable fall-off for Atlanta, who’s cooled off since their hot 4-1 start that put the league on notice in the season’s first two weeks. Injuries are becoming too overwhelming to overcome – Danilo Gallinari is still out with an ankle sprain, Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn have played in a combined two games (Rondo’s played both; Dunn hasn’t suited up for them yet) and recently, Bogdan Bogdanovic suffered a fractured right knee and his timetable to return is unknown. Furthermore, Trae Young has a turnover problem, giving away 19 possessions in his past three games.
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19. Orlando Magic (6-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)
The Magic may have “run out of magic”, and have, more or less, become cursed in the past couple of days. After going 4-0 to open the week, they’ve gone a pedestrian 2-4 and have seen Markelle Fultz unceremoniously tear his ACL during last Wednesday’s win over Cleveland. They’re now down two starters with Jonathan Isaac suffering the same injury back in the bubble this past summer, and now have to rely on the tandem of rookie Cole Anthony and Terrence Ross to supply backcourt offense with quite possibly the worst cour game stretch of any team in the NBA right now – Milwaukee, two games against Boston and one game against Brooklyn is next up on the schedule.
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20. Charlotte Hornets (5-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)
Raising seven spots are the Charlotte Hornets, who have shown they’re better when they start their fourth overall pick LaMelo Ball, or just overall have him on the court. While matched up against the Pelicans and his brother Lonzo for the first time in the league, as well as being on a primetime ESPN broadcast, Ball dropped 22 and was the catalyst to the Hornets overcoming an 18-point lead to knock off the Pelicans on the road. One game later, he became the youngest player in league history to record a triple-double in a win against the Hawks.
The Hornets finished their week on a positive note, going 3-1 to finish it while being led by Gordon Hayward, who’s undergoing a career revival on a new team, as he has averaged 25.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 4 games.
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21. New York Knicks (5-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)
Though expected, the Knickerbockers have floated back down to earth, following two blowout losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder and an ugly home loss to the visiting Nuggets. However, Julius Randle, though a likely trade asset if all goes well and the Knicks end up as a tenth seed or lower in the East at season’s end, is playing like an All-Star, playing like a walking-double-double with averages of 23.4 points, 13.2 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 5 games.
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22. Cleveland Cavaliers (5-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)
A 1-3 week is probably a good enough reason to drop the Cavaliers ten spots in this week’s rankings, as they’ve also fallen back down to earth with a fairly easy schedule including the likes of Milwaukee – who they lost to by 10 even with them not having Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court – Orlando and Memphis. Though Andre Drummond fought his hardest to compete with him scoring 26 points and grabbing 24 rebounds, Cleveland’s true lack of talent (that’s still developing) showed against good teams this past week.
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23. Oklahoma City Thunder (5-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)
It seems that the first year under Chris Paul that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had done a bunch of good for the confidence of the third-year guard of Kentucky. After expectedly starting the season 1-3, OKC went 4-1 away from Chesapeake Energy Arena, and during their recent road trip, SGA averaged 20 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists.
He capped off their road trip with a signature 31-point, 6-assist, and 7 rebound night against the Nets this past Sunday, and in retrospect, it feels like last year watching these Thunder; we are once again seeing a blend of young, impressionable lottery-pick players working with grizzled veterans to engineer some trap wins against top talent when teams who think they’re getting an easy game on the schedule are least expecting it. But, their upcoming schedule that includes the likes of the Lakers, Spurs and Sixers will likely curb their expectations.
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24. Sacramento Kings (4-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)
Sacramento drops three spots this week, and they’ve only won one game since their 3-1 start leftover from the beginning of the season. One thing that’s solid: new GM Monte McNair hit a home run with selecting Tyrese Haliburton in the first round of the 2020 draft. The Iowa State guard is a starter already, and scored 12 points off 5-8 shooting with eight assists in a 144-123 road loss to the struggling Raptors. His poise, control and equanimity as a rookie is exemplary, and Kings fans have to wonder how he slipped outside of the top-10 and to them in the draft.
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25. Chicago Bulls (4-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)
The Bulls have to be commended for how much they’ve stayed in games, but they, understandably, have problems closing those tight contests, and during their West Coast voyage, went 1-3 as a team while only beating the Blazers and losing to the Lakers, Clippers and Kings by a combined nine points. Zach LaVine has been the sole reason they’ve even been competitive, scoring 35 against the Lakers to lose by two points and subsequently dropping 45 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the three-point loss to the Clippers two nights later. He’s set records during this hot scoring streak, becoming the second Bull since Derrick Rose to post a stat-line of 40-5-5 for five games in a Bulls uniform.
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26. Toronto Raptors (2-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)
It’s gone from bad to worse for the Raptors, who have more than struggled out of the gates for the worst start of the Nick Nurse era. Aside from slightly recalibrating with a 144-123 win over Sacramento, they’re well on the outside looking in as a fringe lottery pick team, or at least that’s what they’ve looked like.
The loss of Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol has really done them in, and they’re without both facilitation from inside the paint and rim protection with the both of them playing elsewhere. They’re still a competitive team, but without a true shot creator anywhere other than the guard spot, they cannot trust Pascal Siakam, who in all means is performing optimally with an averaged 24 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in the Raps’ last four games, to be that guy especially when he has such a limited scoring acumen.
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27. Memphis Grizzlies (3-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)
During what’s been a tumultuous period of turbulence on the Grizzlies’ season so far, injuries have ravaged a promising young team that is set to make a run for the playoffs. A bright spot for their dark times: Desmond Bane, the 3-and-D prospect out of TCU and their first-round pick, has done quite well in the beginning of his career, averaging 8.9 points while shooting 48 percent from deep – the second-best average of all rookies this season.
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28. Minnesota Timberwolves (3-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)
Dropping two spots in this week’s ranking are the Timberwolves, who got Karl Anthony-Towns back from a wrist injury. Prior to his return, the Wolves were still in the midst of an seven-game losing streak, and even with him coming back, they were unable to scrape away a win against the Spurs. Two games against the equally-unhealthy Grizzlies will tell the story on whether or not these Wolves can be taken seriously with their health improving by the day.
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29. Detroit Pistons (2-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)
The highlight of the Pistons’ week was a 110-105 win over the Suns at home after trailing by 23 points in the second quarter, but they’ve gone only a mediocre 1-3 since then. Jerami Grant is a walking highlight and Blake Griffin’s knee seems intact, but the rest of the roster is still in the process of developing, and aiding in the development of their younger teammates.
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30. Washington Wizards (2-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)
This is starting to look – and feel – like last season all over again, but way worse. 2-8 is pretty bad, and now Thomas Bryant, their starting center, is out for the season with a torn ACL. Bradley Beal cannot catch a break, and though the star is practically putting up 45+ points a night without any help (Russell Westbrook is going to be out “at least a week” with a quad injury) they continue to look lost on defense, now having the 27th ranked defense in the NBA.
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