NBA: Power Rankings 17-26 January 2016

Kemba Walker (left) and DeMarcus Cousins were named Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week for last week.Well we finally had the tilt NBA fans have all been waiting for on Monday night when the San Antonio Spurs travelled to Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors, and what we got was a no contest beatdown by the defending champs. Silly me for putting the Spurs number one in the power rankings last week, as the Warriors quickly put to bed any notion that the Spurs should currently be ranked ahead of them with a 120-90 win. The Warriors continue to show that when people begin doubting them, they lock in their A+ game on both sides of the court and can run away from any team.In the rest of the league, we have movement around the power rankings as well, as the streaking Toronto Raptors continue to show they are the second best team in the East, while the jumble of East teams from 5-9 are constantly switching with each win and loss. In the West, the Houston Rockets could be close to finally breaking into the power rankings, while the Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks are doing their best job to keep them at bay in the seventh spot.

#10 Houston Rockets

James Harden has the Rockets starting to roll.

Last Week: 3-2

The Rockets make their first appearance in the Power Rankings, as they have rebounded from their low point of 5-10 to go on a current 20-12 run and climb to within a game and a half of the 5th place Memphis Grizzlies. While they have a worse record and point differential than some teams not in the Power Rankings, I can no longer ignore them as one of the top 10 teams in the league. As they have been playing better ball, it is apparent that they aren’t quite as bad as their record, and with James Harden leading the way, I see them continuing their hot streak.

Next Week: @ San Antonio, @ Oklahoma City, vs Washington

The road to the five seed isn’t easy this week as they take on two teams ahead of them in the standings who are also two of the top four teams in the league. Realistically, a 1-2 week would be fine for the Rockets as wins on the road will be tough sledding against great competition, but if they can manage to get a victory in San Antonio or OKC. It will be interesting to see how Josh Smith does against top flight competition after a big game against Dallas this past week.

#9 Chicago Bulls

The Bulls need Pau Gasol to help get the team to play more consistently.

Last Week: 2-3

The Bulls seem to be the team that will take a step back every time they take a step forward this year. Between injuries, Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose are currently shelfed, and inconsistent play, the Bulls can’t seem to put a string of games together that matches the talent they seemingly have on their roster this year. Case in point, they got shellacked by the Warriors on Wednesday, losing by 31, before heading to Cleveland and beat the Cavs, building a lead as big as 17, who supposedly would be getting a boost after they fired their coach.

Next Week: @ LA Lakers, @ LA Clippers, @ Utah

The Bulls have an all road schedule this week as they begin a seven game road trip. The first game against the Lakers should be a cakewalk, but then they face tough games vs the Clippers and Jazz, games they must get a split in. The Bulls only face one team with a winning record on the trip and they need Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol to lead the way and show the younger Bulls how to be consistent during the dog days of January.

#8 Boston Celtics

Isaiah Thomas might get selected for the All Star team on Thursday.

Last Week: 3-2

Not my most confident pick, as the Celtics record (25-21) continues to lag behind their statistical profile (6th in point differential, 7th in net rating), but they have gone 6-2 since they last hig .500 and have climbed up to 5th in the East. Now they are still only one game up on the 8th place Pacers but they are just playing better than the rest of the teams below them. They got a huge win vs the Bulls this week, winning by nine as Isaiah Thomas continued to bolster his All Star candidacy with a 22 point, 5 assist performance. Between Thomas and Jae Crowder, the Celtics could very well end up with an All Star this year.

Next Week: vs Denver, vs Orlando, @ Orlando

The Celtics have a light week coming up with only three games, and all three are against teams currently outside the playoff picture. The Celtics really need to get a split at worst with the Magic, as a sweep of the two game mini series would result in thrusting the Magic right back into the playoff picture and making me once again question putting the Celtics into the Power Rankings.

#7 Atlanta Hawks

It is not good for the Hawks when All Star Paul Millsap sits out.

Last Week: 3-2

The Hawks completed a four game West Coast trip last night with a 119-105 win in the altitude of Denver. This was much needed after they dropped a game to the Phoenix Suns on a buzzer beater by Archie Goodwin, a play that was especially disheartening because they had played such great defense before he hit the prayer. Paul Millsap was out for the game but the Hawks had no business losing to a Suns team that already wants the season to be over. If they can get Kyle Korver rolling from deep, the Hawks are poised to create separation between them and the lower tier playoff teams of the East.

Next Week: vs LA Clippers, @ Indiana, @ Miami, vs Dallas

The Clippers game will probably get the most publicity because they are the biggest national team of the four the Hawks play this week, but I am looking at those middle two road games as the most interesting games for the Hawks. Wins vs both of those teams would do wonders for the Hawks in the standings, as they could put more distance between themselves and their immediate competitors, while also gaining a potentially valuable tiebreaker.

#6 Los Angeles Clippers

Chris Paul (3) and J. J. Redick need to step up with Blake Griffin out at least 4 more weeks.

Last Week: 2-2

The Clippers, still without Blake Griffin stumbled through last week after the Kings snapped their 10 game winning streak the week before. One of the wins they did get, a 140-132 overtime win vs the Houston Rockets could be big when it comes to playoff seeding. However, just as you will see with a team higher on these rankings, the biggest news in Clipperland has nothing to do with on the court, as it was announced Monday that Griffin will miss more time due to a suspected broken hand, which alledgedly occured when he punched a Clippers staffer during an argument. Blake out for another three weeks at least will put a lot of pressure on Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, and J.J. Redick to keep the Clipper ship floating.

Next Week: @ Indiana, @ Atlanta, vs LA Lakers, vs Chicago

The Clippers get a run of Eastern Conference playoff teams this week, including a game against the Atlanta Hawks who have been slowly rounding back into form they showed last season. A split on the back to back vs Indiana and Atlanta would be soothing to the franchise as they reel from the news about Griffin.

#5 Toronto Raptors

DeMar DeRozan has been on a tear this past week.

Last Week: 4-0

The Raptors are surging after back to back losses earlier in the month, ripping off eight straight wins and doing so against some very good teams. Most impressive were their two wins vs fellow teams in the Power Rankings, first holding off the pesky Boston Celtics by six in a game where DeMar DeRozan looked to cement his All Star status with a 34 point performance. The Boston win was big as it allowed them to keep their cushion over the C’s in the Atlantic Division. They ended the week with an 18 point beatdown of the Los Angeles Clippers, as their bench scored 51 points and feature plus/minus scores of +33 (Cory Joseph), + 31 (Patrick Peterson), +24 (Bismack Biyombo), and +25 (Terrance Ross).

Next Week: vs Washington, vs New York, vs Detroit, @ Denver

The Raptors are looking at a semi tough week, as they get two teams close to crashing the Eastern Conference playoff picture, before taking on a tough Detroit team. The Washington game is of particular interest, as it was the Wizards who thoroughly embarrassed the Raptors in a first round sweep in the playoffs last year. They are currently 3-0 against this rendition of Washington, but each game has been decided by less than 10 points.

#4 Cleveland Cavaliers

Tyronn Lue is now the head coach of the Cavaliers.

Last Week: 3-2

The Cavs were all over the place last week, with some rough home losses to the Warriors (34 points) and Bulls (13 points) sandwiched around a home win vs the Clippers (13 points). However, the biggest news out of Cleveland was the firing of head coach David Blatt, who became the first coach to be fired while coaching a team leading their conference. I do not necessarily think this firing is the end of the world, sometimes when a working environment can be improved internally, it makes sense to make a change despite what the outside results show. Only time will tell if the Cavs made the right choice in firing Blatt and promoting assistant Tyronn Lue.

Next Week: vs. Phoenix, @ Detroit, vs San Antonio, @ Indiana

The Cavs have a relatively easy date vs the Suns before playing three current playoff teams. You know they are going to get the best shot of fellow Central Division foes Detroit and Indiana and must bring the requisite energy in order to maintain their cushion over the second place team in the East, Toronto. The game against the Spurs will be interesting to see if the Cavs can finally topple one of the top two teams in the league, whom they are currently 0-3 against.

#3 Oklahoma City Thunder

Andre Roberson is out for a couple weeks with an injury.

Last Week: 3-1

The Thunder had an up and down week, if that’s possible for a team that went 3-1. They posted a nice sweep of a back to back early on, defeating Denver, a frisky team, on the road before travelling home and dispatching the Charlotte Hornets. The reason they were down this week is an ugly loss to the Brooklyn Nets on the road that saw their stars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant shoot poorly from the field and three, respectively. Now they will be without starting shooting guard Andre Roberson for at least three weeks and it will be interesting to see how this adjusts the Thunder’s rotation and how much it hurts their defense.

Next Week: @ New York, @ Minnesota, vs Houston, vs Washington

The Thunder have a full week, including a back to back on Tuesday and Wednesday. Luckily for them the second game of the back to back is against a Timberwolves team that has really been struggling of late, plummeting all the way to second to last in the Western Conference. The tilt vs the Rockets should be a fun one as these two teams always play entertaining games and each matchup seems to bring out the best in old teammates, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and James Harden.

#2 San Antonio Spurs

Gregg Popovich is pacing his team for bigger things.

Last Week: 2-1

This week saw the Spurs 13 game winning streak come to an end as they fell in the aforementioned beatdown to the Golden State Warriors on Monday. However, lest you think coach Gregg Popovich was overly worried about the game, he sat starting center Tim Duncan to rest his sore knee. Pop knows that winning streaks and beating the current best team in the league is nice and all, but what is really great is winning a title and he will never compromise that for a regular season victory. The Spurs are fine and already have 12 wins of 25+ points, this loss will do nothing to their confidence.

Next Week: vs Houston, @ Cleveland, vs Orlando

The coming week for the Spurs shows no let up as they have to face the surging Houston Rockets, a team that beat them on Christmas day in what should be a heated battle in Texas. Then, they travel to Cleveland in a rematch of a game two weeks ago that saw the Spurs only win by four at home, and you know LeBron will be wanting to get a home win over a team that has beaten him twice for titles.

#1 Golden State Warriors

The Warriors had plenty of reasons to give out high fives this season.

Last Week: 4-0

I’m not sure there has been a more impressive week by a team than the one the Warriors just posted. Not only were they perfect, but the beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, by 34, and the Chicago Bulls, by 31, on the road, before heading home and beatin the Indiana Pacers by 12 and the San Antonio Spurs by 30. That’s four playoff teams and two of the four best teams in the league completely waxed by the defending champs, who seemed to be sending a message to anyone questioning their current status as league alpha dog. Pacing the Warriors in their tour de force this week was Stephen Curry who scored 34 points per game despite not playing in two fourth quarters.

Next Week: vs Dallas, @ Philadephia, @ New York

The Warriors have one more home game against the current 6th seed Dallas Mavericks, the team that handed them their second loss of the season in late December. The main difference is the Dubs will have Curry for the game, and, as he has shown lately, that is a gigantic difference. They close with a game against league worse Philadelphia, possible rest day for some guys, and a trip to the Garden to take on the Knicks who are fighting to break into the playoff picture.