Welcome to Def Pen’s NBA Power Rankings. These rankings will be updated every Monday from here on. These rankings aren’t necessarily based solely on talent level or team potential.They’re about who’s better right now/who has played better as of late. If a team has lost their last 5 games, they’re probably going to drop (at least) a few spots, even if they’ve got “better” players than a team ranked above them. Alright, let’s jump in.
Biggest Jump: Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers: Up 5
Biggest Drop: Sacramento Kings: Down 6
1. Golden State Warriors
Record: 43-4
Last Week’s Ranking: 1
The Warriors are still the most dominant team in basketball by a long shot. They’ve won each of their last 6 games, including big wins over Chicago, San Antonio, and Cleveland. Enjoy watching this Warriors team while you can, because they are very, very special.
2. San Antonio Spurs
Record: 39-8
Last Week’s Ranking: 2
The Cavs beat the Spurs, but the Spurs are still the superior team. Gregg Popovich would be the first to tell you that it was just a regular season game. The Spurs are a different animal come playoff time. San Antonio has now lost two of their last three, but those losses were to Cleveland and Golden State. Tim Duncan didn’t play in either of those games, which was obviously a huge factor.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
Record: 34-12
Last Week’s Ranking: 4
The Cavs have won 4 straight, and 7 of their last 10. They seem to be adjusting well to their new head coach. They went up a spot from last week due to their impressive win over the Spurs. That was, in my opinion, the first time all year that the Cavs have truly looked like a title contender. If they can continue to play at that level, they’ll be a very scary team.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
Record: 36-13
Last Week’s Ranking: 3
The Thunder are rolling. They’ve won 9 of their last 10 now. The one loss was an out-of-character 10-point defeat by the Brooklyn Nets. A lot of the Thunder’s games against bad teams have been oddly close games, but they’ve been winning(except against the Nets). The Thunder are one of the best teams in the league, and they will be as long as they stay healthy.
5. Toronto Raptors
Record: 32-15
Last Week’s Ranking: 5
The Raptors are the hottest team in the league. They’ve won 11 straight, now, and I’m not sure when that streak ends. Their next 5 games — vs. Denver, Phoenix, Portland, Detroit, and Minnesota, are all definitely winnable. They play the Bulls in Chicago on February 19th, which should be a good game. Toronto is 0-2 vs. the Bulls this season
6. Los Angeles Clippers
Record: 32-16
Last Week’s Ranking: 6
The Clippers have won 7 of their last 10, and 4 in a row. This team hasn’t really impressed me without Blake Griffin, except for last night against the Bulls. That was a good win.
7. Memphis Grizzlies
Record: 28-20
Last Week’s Ranking: 8
The Grizzlies have won 8 of their last 10. Their wins haven’t really been too impressive though. The best team they beat in that 10-game stretch was Boston, and that was only a 3-point win. My feeling for this Grizzlies team is that they’re a good, solid team, but they don’t really play up to competition. They beat teams that are worse than them, and generally lose to elite teams.
8. Boston Celtics
Record: 27-22
Last Week’s Ranking: 10
First off, I’d like to congratulate Isaiah Thomas on his All-Star selection. He’s had an excellent season, and truly deserves it. The Celtics have been doing well lately. They had won 5 in a row, until last night’s loss to Orlando. That was a rough loss. The Celtics shot way more 3s than they should ever shoot, and really just played horribly down the stretch. Aside from that game, they’ve been playing some really solid ball lately. Kelly Olynyk has been lights out from deep this year, which has been a big help for the team.
9. Dallas Mavericks
Record: 27-22
Last Week’s Ranking: 11
Chandler Parsons has been great for Dallas recently, finally playing like his old self. Despite Parsons’ excellent play, the Mavs have cooled off a bit since their hot start to the season. They have had a pretty tough schedule lately, though. In the month of January, they’ve had to go up against Cleveland, Golden State, San Antonio, and OKC twice. February will be a bit better for the Mavs, but still not too easy.
10. Miami Heat
Record: 27-21
Last Week’s Ranking: 15
When I ranked the Heat last week, they looked awful. They had lost 4 in a row, and 8 of their last 10. Since then, they’ve won 4 in a row. They pulled out a nice win against Chicago, and blew out the Hawks last night. Those are a couple of big wins, and just like that they’re back at 4th in the East.
11. Chicago Bulls
Record: 26-20
Last Week’s Ranking: 7
Since last week’s rankings, the Bulls have played three games — a win against the feeble Lakers, a loss to the Heat, and last night’s blowout loss to the Clippers. With that last loss, they’ve now dropped 8 of their last 12. A lot of those losses were winnable games, too. I’m not sure how to feel about this Chicago team at all. Sometimes they look like a top-3 team in the East, and sometimes they just look awful. They need to figure out how to perform on a consistent basis.
12. Atlanta Hawks
Record: 27-22
Last Week’s Ranking: 9
There have been all kinds of trade rumors involving the Hawks flying around, but for now, Atlanta still has their same old roster. Atlanta’s been losing a lot lately(they’ve dropped 5 of their last 6). They’ve been sort of hot-and-cold this season, though, so I wouldn’t be too surprised to see them tear off a 5-game win streak next. The Hawks are one of those “pretty good but not title-contenders good” teams. I like some of their pieces, but wouldn’t be surprised to see them make moves this year.
13. Indiana Pacers
Record: 25-22
Last Week’s Ranking: 14
Myles Turner has been playing phenomenally lately, which has been a huge help for the Pacers. The Pacers had been on a bit of a losing streak lately, but they’ve won their last 2, so hopefully that’s over. Monta Ellis, who has struggled to fit in with the Pacers this season, has been really good for the last couple of games as well. With the improved play of Turner and Ellis, the Pacers are trending upwards.
14. Detroit Pistons
Record: 23-21
Last Week’s Ranking: 13
The Pistons have lost their last two, but they didn’t really have a shot in hell of winning either of those games(vs. Cleveland and the red-hot Raptors). The Pistons looked really good to start the year, but have been pretty average lately. They’ll look to get back on track tonight in Brooklyn.
15. Portland Trail Blazers
Record: 23-26
Last Week’s Ranking: 20
The Blazers are surprisingly solid. They’ve won 8 of their last 10 now, which would be a lot more impressive if they had played more than one good team. That one good team was the Thunder. That was a big win for Portland, which probably gave them the confidence boost needed to go on this run that they’re on. They play a winnable game against Milwaukee tomorrow night, but on Thursday they have to play the Raptors, which should be a very tough game to win.
16. Houston Rockets
Record: 25-25
Last Week’s Ranking: 14
Typical on-again-off-again Rockets. In last week’s rankings, I wrote that they’d won 7 of their last 10, and the 3 losses in that stretch were all against above-.500 teams. I had started to think that maybe Houston was turning things around. So, of course, they’ve dropped 3 of 4 since then. Although, I might be premature in criticizing them. After all, they lost to the Spurs and Thunder, which wasn’t a surprise. Losing to the Wizards was a bit surprising, but the Wizards are capable of playing up to competition, with John Wall and Bradley Beal(who can hopefully stay healthy for an extended period of time).
17. Charlotte Hornets
Record: 23-25
Last Week’s Ranking: 19
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has played two games for the Hornets, and his impact is already noticeable. In his season debut he put up 13 points and 7 rebounds in a loss to the Blazers. Last night he went for 19 points and 12 rebounds in a win against the Lakers. Kidd-Gilchrist doesn’t seem to need any time to shake off the rust. He’s one of the best 1-on-1 defenders in the league, and his presence will prove very helpful to this Charlotte team. By the way, prior to last night, Kidd-Gilchrist had only attempted a total of 18 3-pointers throughout his 3-year career(and had only made 3 of those 18). Last night he shot 2-2 from beyond the arc. It could be a fluke, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.
18. Utah Jazz
Record: 21-25
Last Week’s Ranking: 21
I’m a big Rudy Gobert fan. This Utah team is just so much better when he’s healthy and on the court. Utah desperately needs to figure out their point guard situation. Trey Burke and Raul Neto are not the future, and I’m not sure counting on Dante Exum and his ACL is the best idea.
19. Washington Wizards
Record: 20-21
Last Week’s Ranking: 17
The Wizards had lost 5 of their last 6 prior to Saturday’s 1-point win over the Rockets. I expect the Wizards to start playing better if Beal can stay healthy. He’s finally back on the court, and he’s one of the best shooters in the league when healthy. He and Wall together is a deadly backcourt.
20. New Orleans Pelicans
Record: 18-28
Last Week’s Ranking: 23
Don’t look now, but the Pelicans are winning. They’ve won 7 of their last 9 now, and are clicking on all cylinders. Anthony Davis is playing at an elite level as usual, and Ryan Anderson, Jrue Holiday, and Tyreke Evans have all been stepping up lately as well.
21. New York Knicks
Record: 23-27
Last Week’s Ranking: 18
The Knicks have lost 5 of their last 6, but in their defense, 4 of those losses came against top-6 teams. I don’t think the Knicks have really been playing any worse lately, they’ve just had a tough schedule. Porzingis and Melo are still a great 1-2 punch, and they have some solid role players.
22. Sacramento Kings
Record: 20-27
Last Week’s Ranking: 16
When I ranked the Kings last week, they were in the midst of a 5-game winning streak. I wrote about how much I like their team, and how fun they are to watch. So, of course, they respond to my praise by rattling off a 4-game losing streak. I still stand by what I said about them, and I hope they can figure stuff out and make the playoffs. Rondo and Boogie are a ton of fun to watch.
23. Milwaukee Bucks
Record: 20-29
Last Week’s Ranking: 22
The Bucks have lost 4 of their last 5, but prior to that they’d won 4 of their last 5. Strange. They’ve actually beaten some pretty good teams(Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas) recently. This Bucks team seems like they’re capable of playing up to competition, but I wouldn’t bet on them against many teams. Another inconsistent team, but they have their moments. I’m very high on some of their players, particularly Greek Freak and Middleton. They’re a team that needs to make some moves to be competitive though. I’m not sure how I feel about the fits of Carter-Williams and Monroe.
24. Orlando Magic
Record: 21-25
Last Week’s Ranking: 25
The Magic have been struggling a lot lately(they’ve lost 8 of their last 10), but they pulled out a nice home victory vs. Boston last night. Overall, though, this team has been playing really poorly lately. Things aren’t getting any easier for the Magic, either. Their next 8 games are all against teams over .500. The Magic’s w/l record is probably about to get a lot worse.
25. Denver Nuggets
Record: 18-30
Last Week’s Ranking: 24
Emmanuel Mudiay has actually been playing pretty well for the Nuggets lately, which is encouraging. Gallinari has actually been healthy this season, which is a godsend for this team. They aren’t good yet, but the future is fairly bright.
26.Minnesota Timberwolves
Record: 14-35
Last Week’s Ranking: 27
The Timberwolves went 0-4 this week, but still jump up a spot in the rankings. Why? Because they actually played competitive games. They only lost to Cleveland by 7, only lost to OKC by 3, and only lost to Portland by 3. The Jazz beat them by 13, which is a solid margin, but not a blowout. Zach LaVine has been great lately, and seems to be further along in his development than was expected.
27. Philadelphia 76ers
Record: 7-41
Last Week’s Ranking: 30
The Sixers are bad, but not as bad as they used to be. They won 4 games in January, which doesn’t sound like much, but is more than half of their total wins for the season. Ish Smith has been legitimately good in Philly, and this team is to the point where they aren’t getting blown out every night. Hell, they almost beat the Warriors.
28. Brooklyn Nets
Record: 12-36
Last Week’s Ranking: 26
Nothing’s really changed about the Nets since last week’s ranking. They lost 3 games, that’s about it. They’re still bad, their future is still really, really bleak.
29. Phoenix Suns
Record: 14-35
Last Week’s Ranking: 28
I don’t think that Jeff Hornacek deserved to be fired. It’s not his fault that Eric Bledsoe got hurt. It’s not his fault that the team signed Tyson Chandler’s corpse to a 4-year, $52 million deal. The team doesn’t look interested in winning since Eric Bledsoe’s injury. This is a lottery team.
30. Los Angeles Lakers
Record: 9-41
Last Week’s Ranking: 29
The Lakers have lost 10 in a row, so yeah. They’re the worst team in basketball. They’ll look to end their losing streak at home tomorrow vs. the Timberwolves.
