NBA Power Rankings: Week 5
Week of the NBA Power Rankings, well we are up to week 5 of the NBA season. The Cavaliers might never lose a game, and the Celtics are also really good, the rest of the East not so much. 10 out of the 12 best teams are in the West. I am already so ready for the Western Conference playoffs.
1 - Cleveland Cavaliers
Is there any surprise the Cavaliers are still number one in my power rankings? They are only the 4th team ever to win its first 15 games to start a season; all three of the previous teams made the NBA finals. Their 15 wins is more than the Pistons had all of last year…
2 - Golden State Warriors
I think it's time to say that we officially underestimated the Warriors. They are a top 5 offense and a top 5 defense, and they just keep winning and currently sit atop the Western Conference. So far they look like a lock for their preseason over.
3 - Oklahoma City Thunder
No Chet, no problem for the Thunder, they have won the first three games without their talented big man. They are going to need a big sooner rather than later, they rank close to the bottom of the NBA in defense rebounding and it came back to bite them in a loss to the Mavericks
4 - Boston Celtics
Championship hangover in Boston? Their defense has not been as elite as it was last year, which was evident in their loss to the Atlanta Hawks which didn't have Trae Young. They are giving up a lot of points to teams like the Hawks, Nets, and Raptors.
5 - Houston Rockets
I won’t lie to you, I did not expect the Houston Rockets to ever eclipse my top 5, but they have won nine of their last eleven games, those two losses, OKC and Golden State. As we stand right now the Rockets are a top 3 defense with a close to top 10 offense. They are shooting off at the right time, pun intended!
6 - Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have not been dominant per se, but they have won 5 in a row and have never lost a game in the NBA Cup. Cam Reddish has taken over for D’Angelo Russell in the starting lineup and 75 year old LeBron James had 4 straight triple doubles.
7 - Minnesota Timberwolves
Julius Randle helped save the Timberwolves week after two bad losses to Portland. Randle, one of the biggest pieces of the KAT trade, hit a game winning three to beat Phoenix on Sunday. The Wolves need some consistency but maybe this comeback win will spark something.
8 - Dallas Mavericks
Speaking of consistency, the Mavericks had lost 4 games in a row, before winning two in a row including the latest win over the Thunder. The Mavericks are a much better team at home then on the road and once they also find some consistency, watch out.
9 - Denver Nuggets
Welp, Jokic missed two games last week for personal reasons and the Nuggets lost both of those games. The Joker is already the MVP favorite, when he isn’t on the floor this team isn't remotely close to the same offensively. The bench is the worst in the league and Jamal Murray has not been good.
10 - Memphis Grizzlies
Ja Morant has been out for the last 5 games, but they are starting to get healthy with Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart coming back. They have definitely been inconsistent, but the overall numbers look good and once fully healthy should be a playoff team.
11 - Sacramento Kings
De’Aaron Fox had quite the 24 hours. Scoring 109 points over back to back games, but splitting those games because their defense has just been league average at best. The Kings are best with Malik Monk being the sixth man of the year candidate he was last year, but with him hurt their bench is thin.
12 - Phoenix Suns
The Suns are 1-4 without Kevin Durant and he won’t be back for a little while longer. Bradley Beal has also missed the last 3 games, this was always the problem with the Suns' depth. In the loss to the Timberwolves Devin Booker had 40+, but they fell apart in the second half.
13 - New York Knicks
The Knicks are on the right side of .500 and sweping their “rivals” Nets with two wins this week. The Knicks are going to take some time to find their footing, luckily the Eastern Conference is really top heavy and then a bunch of just eh.
14 - Orlando Magic
I am pretty impressed with the Magic, they lost Paolo Banchero, who could be out until Christmas, and lost their first 4 games without him. Since then they have won 5 in a row and that's with KCP playing really poorly. They have an elite defense and if they can score just closer to league average they will be okay.
15 - Indiana Pacers
If you listened to our preseason preview of this team you would have heard James saying they can score at will and won’t play any defense. So far they are in the bottom ten of the league in defense, but just in the middle offensively, 14th overall. The offense will level out and they should get closer to that top ten we expected.
P.S. I am only doing the top 15 teams, if you want me to talk about you; be better, it’s that simple.