NBA: Power Rankings

The Spurs just might be the best team in the league.With the calendar now flipped to January, we have two months of data to look at now that can help us suss out the top 10 teams in the leage. It currently seems the league’s top 10 is breaking down into three tiers, with three, maybe four title contenders, a few teams that a ways below the title contenders and then a bunch of good Eastern Conference that don’t have what it takes to truly make a title push.The most confounding team that doesn’t make the power rankings are the Boston Celtics, who currently sport the fifth best scoring margin in the league, but can’t seem to string together enough wins to move higher than the eigth spot in the East.They have been getting very good play from Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas who lead them defensively and offensively, respectively, but, as usually is the case when you rely on 5’9” offensive catalyst, the offenses hits some valleys that the defense can’t overcome. Other teams on the outside looking in are the seventh seed in the East Orlando Magic, the Detroit Pistons, and the Dallas Mavericks, with the Magic along with the Celtics having the best chance to break into these rankings.

#10 Indiana Pacers

The Pacers have not been playing their best ball of late, which is the main reason why they come in at number 10 in the power rankings this week, after being one of the top three Eastern Conference teams for the last month. The Pacers are 3-5 in their last eight games, including close losses to the Bucks and the Bulls over the last week. They need to find more consistent production outside of Paul George, C.J. Miles and George Hill if they want to right the ship.

One person who has been subpar this season is free agent acquisition Monta Ellis, who has not looked like the player who played the last few years for the Dallas Mavericks. What was supposed to be a pick and roll player to move around the new found space in the Pacers plethora of small ball lineups has instead looked tentative and uncomfortable in this new situation. He doesn’t get to handle the ball quite as much as he used to when in Dallas, and maybe this has led to him not finding his footing. If the Pacers can find a way to get the best out of Ellis, they will be downright scary on offense.

#9 Atlanta Hawks

Over the last 10 games, the Hawks are the second hottest Eastern Conference teams sporting a 7-3 record after briefly dropping out of playoff position. The reason they are still low in these power ranking is because they haven’t been beating teams down like you would hope. They are only at a 1.5 point differential and have suffered some rough losses including a 14 point loss to their usual punching bag the New York Knicks. Their defense has been lagging behind what they showed last year, but if they can lower their defensive efficiency they very well could be the second best team in the East.

What they have been doing well is playing offense, where they sport the sixth best offense and are third in the league in assists per game. As many have said, they look like Spurs-lite, whipping the ball around the court and almost making the right pass every time which is leading to open shooters all over the court. You can tell, in year three of Coach Mike Budenholzer, the Hawks are fully comfortable in his system, even more so on the offensive end than last years edition.

#8 Chicago Bulls

Jimmy Butler called out his coach and has seen the Bulls respond.

The Bulls have been all over the place this season, with their record not fully resembling their point differential. Their glutten of frontcourt players has led to some growing pains of incorporating all of them into the game plan, and the emergence of rookie Bobby Portis has only made this problem tougher. When Joakim Noah comes back from injury, it will be interesting to see what coach Fred Hoiberg does.

Speaking of Hoiberg, after the Bulls lost to the New York Knicks after a losing a quadruple overtime game to the Detroit Pistons Jimmy Butler called out his coach, saying he needed to push the team harder. Hoiberg and the Bulls have responded to this call out by going 5-2 over their last seven games, including big wins at OKC and Toronto and a home win vs the Raptors. Butler has led the charge, playing with his usual determination and toughness, capped by a 40 point second half on Sunday afternoon to lead the Bulls back against the Raptors. The 40 point half now stands as a Bulls record, breaking Michael Jordan’s franchise record of 39 points in a half set in 1988.

#7 Miami Heat

Hassan Whiteside has been playing more consistently of late.

The Heat might play slow, sometimes clunky basketball that can sometimes be tough to watch, especially offensively, but this has allowed them to make sweet music on the defensive end, where they are currently fifth in defensive efficiency, according to NBA.com. They constrict teams by executing Eric Spoelstra’s defensive scheme and being one of the top teams in defensive three point field goal percentage. While not having the best individual defenders, they have a great grasp of what they need to accomplish defensively, and then know they can turn it over to Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh at the end of a close game.

Hassan Whiteside has been playing with more consistency of late, but still finding it tough to see the court late in the fourth quarter due to subpar free throw shooting (53%). He has been gobbling up rebounds bette of late, averaging 13 over his last 10 games, two more than his current season average. He still is chasing blocks, but has been doing a little better job of knowing when he has to stay in sound defensive position over just going after the highlight play.

#6 Toronto Raptors

DeMar DeRozan is playing very well of late.

The Raptors seem to be slowly being an easing into an easy team to figure out, they get to the free throw line in droves, play solid defense, and are good if unspectacular. This is now their third year where they seem to be following the same blueprint, and it leaves you wondering if they are going to be able to hit another gear in the playoffs that could help them win a series or two. As it stands now, they are slightly ahead of the rest of the good but not great Eastern Conference playoff teams due to their 3.4 point differential.

One Raptor who has been upping his play of late is DeMar DeRozan, who is averaging 26 points and 45% shooting over his last 10 games. What’s been most impressive is how DeRozan has toggled back and forth between shooting from the midrange and using his herky jerky game to get to the free throw line. He has been consistently getting to the line 7+ times a night where he knocks down 85% of his shots, allowing him to be an above average scorer despite almost never shooting threes.

#5 Los Angeles Clippers

DeAndre Jordan plays very well when Blake Griffin is out.

The Los Angeles Clippers make their first appearance in the top five this season, as they have responded from a three game losing streak with a current six game winning streak. They have feasted on some lesser lights of the league, including the worst two teams the Los Angeles Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers. This fits with the widespread thought that they are a front running team, who plays well when they are going against bad teams and able to do all of their fun things like hoot, holler and dunk.

What is very interesting, in light of the recent Blake Griffin injury, is that the Clippers are 26-12 over the last three years when either Griffin or Chris Paul is out. This year they are currently 5-0 without Blake and getting contributions from up and down the roster. DeAndre Jordan specifically benefits from Blake being out, as he has more room to operate on his pick and rolls with Paul with three point shooters spacing out around them. With Portland, Charlotte, and New Orleans up this week, the Clippers have a very good chance of winning three more games and upping their win streak to nine.

#4 Oklahoma City Thunder

Kevin Durant has let everyone know he is still a force to be reckoned with.

The Thunder are lurking, itching to nudge themselves into the championship contender conversation as they are scoring points in droves and blowing out more and more opponents. However, they are still lacking in the defensive and three point shooting departments for me to confidently say they are on the level of the next three teams. After their top two players, who are playing as good as any top twosome in the league right now, they need to find some more defensive consistency and shooting.

Speaking of their twosome, Kevin Durant is once again an MVP (or maybe MVP runner-up candidate with how Stephen Curry is playing), a year after missing most of the season with a broken foot. While he hasn’t been scoring quite as much as we are used to, currently sitting at 26.6 points per game, he is shooting as well as he ever has looking to lock up his second 50-40-90 season of his career. He seems to be finding a perfect equilibrium when playing with Russell Westbrook of when to attack and when to let Russ do his thing.

#3 Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs are easing Kyrie Irving back into the fold.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are slowly pulling away from the Eastern Conference, sporting a 8-2 record in their last 10 games, including a 35 point blowout of the Orlando Magic in their last game. They now have a 2.5 lead over the second place Chicago Bulls, and it seems like the execution gap is widening as the Cavs finally get their full team back. And this is all with LeBron biding his time before he flips his turbo switch, usually after the All Star Break.

Kyrie Irving has now been back for five game, missing two games on the second night of a back to backs so far. Coach David Blatt has been playing him in the low 20 minutes, cafeful not to put to many minutes on Irving’s knee in the early going. When you watch Kyrie, he still looks like his finding his comfortablitity on the court, essentially using these games as his own exhibition season. You can see he still isn’t totally comfortable, only shooting 34% from the field including 20% from three. As he goes through January, it will be interesting to see how his shot progresses.

#2 San Antonio Spurs

LaMarcus Aldridge is rounding into form.

The Spurs are fresh off an 18 point beatdown of the Houston Rockets, avenging their narrow 88-84 Christmas day loss. Early in December it was chic to say that the Spurs were playing nearly as good as the Warriors, but that is no longer true as the Spurs are playing as good, and maybe better than the Warriors. Case in point, they now lead the league in point differential at 13.6 per game. If the Warriors don’t hike their play back up to all time levels, we could see the Spurs take over the front spot.

One reason the Spurs are humming along at such a great pace is LaMarcus Aldridge, who seems to be getting more and more comfortable playing with the Spurs in their pass heavy offense. Aldridge, a natural ball stopper for lack of a better term is now finding the right balance of when to pass and when to look for his shot, and it shows as he is shooting a robust 53% from the field over the last ten games, a rise from his 48% on the season. If Aldridge stay in the 50% range while taking his steady diet of midrange jumpers, look out.

#1 Golden State Warriors

Draymond has plenty of reasons to smile lately.

Oh no! The Warriors are “only” 8-2 in their last 10 games and are watching their point differential almost drop daily, now down to 11.8 on the season. Stephen Curry has missed a few games of late, including their last loss to the Dallas Mavericks on December 30th, and had to leave their game the other day with a shin bruise in which the Warriors lost a 24 point lead before winning in overtime.

Despite these struggles, the Warriors have one player who is playing at a ridiculously high level in Draymond Green, their resident trash talker and do everything forward. Since the Warriors Christmas day win Green is averaging 18.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game including a 29 point, 17 rebound, 14 assists tour de force on Saturday in their overtime win against the Denver Nuggets. It is no longer a question if Green deserves to go to the All Star game, as he is answer any and all questions with an emphatic yes. He has showed over the last week that he is capable of carrying the Warriors when Stephen Curry has to sit out.