BDL’s Most Interesting Power Rankings: Warriors, always
Let’s face it — the best and most powerful teams in the NBA don’t really change from week to week. A handful of results in the middle of winter can only mean so much to a franchise’s championship hopes. What does shift regularly, though, is how much interest a squad can hold over the course of a season. Every Monday, BDL’s Most Interesting Power Rankings track the teams most worthy of your attention.
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THE TOP 15
1. Golden State Warriors (26-1; last week: 2):
I adore our man Dan Devine as much as I adore the San Antonio Spurs, and respect the Spurs as much as I respect Dan Devine. However, any “Interesting Power Ranking” that leaves the Warriors out of the top spot, at least in this guy’s eyes, needs to have a rather compelling argument. Dan made one with the Spurs, and I get it – this team is as formidable as any other No. 2 that we’ve seen in years. With the Lakers? I get it – Kobe Bryant and Byron Scott are wack-a-doodle. “Wack-a-Doodle” is probably some game that actually exists that they play after practice.
The Warriors are in their own realm, though, successfully pairing panache with precision and potentially making it to the Christmas Day showdown with Cleveland – one we were salivating over in August – having lost one game in 197 days that’s one-niner-seven guys.
I’m still trying to figure out how the Warriors made it out of its recent road trip with just one blemish to its name. We’re not here to tell you that this team is better than the greats we’ve seen in the past, it’s too early for that, but …
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (18-7; LW: 5):
Things are about to get even more interesting with this team.
Kyrie Irving’s return produced a win over the Philadelphia 76ers, no surprise there, and modest debut numbers of 12 points (on 12 shots) and four assists in 17 minutes. The Cavaliers didn’t need Irving to topple the lowly Sixers – they wouldn’t have needed both Iman Shumperts as long as LeBron James and Kevin Love were around – but it was good for Irving to get some reps in prior to Friday’s showdown with the Warriors.
He’ll have another game on Wednesday prior to that pairing. Meanwhile, Richard Jefferson remains the most fascinating single-digit Player Efficiency Rating player in the league to me. He’s not really out there doing anything save for sound and stat-less defense, and yet he looks as if he’s earned every single second of his 23.1 minutes per game. All hail Keith Bogans 2.0.
3. San Antonio Spurs (23-5; LW: 1):
The Spurs had themselves a merry, little undefeated week, and if your family asks at the dinner table o Friday why, exactly, they’re still so damn good, here’s the accessible take:
San Antonio’s 2003-04 and 2004-05 teams basically laid out the blueprint for how teams should defend in the modern, “can’t shove a point guard” (sometimes, at least), era. They mind the three-point line, they try not to foul, and they encourage you to take that two-point jumper while you yell “Kobe!” While all your friends were watching that ‘Chappelle Show’ DVD for the 192nd time, they were sweating over game tape, realizing that until the NBA mixes up its rules, this is the way to play things. They’ve literally been doing this since before YouTube.
Over a decade later, this is more or less still the game plan. It doesn’t hurt that the team has heady, massive big men on its side, and that the offense has gone through the roof over the last three weeks.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder (18-9; LW: 3):
It took a road setting and a regression from the helpers for OKC’s six-game winning streak to fall short this week, as the team fell by four points in Cleveland on Thursday. The loss reminded of some of the Thunder’s more worrying times, as Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka and Russell Westbrook all scored over 20 (with Ibaka showing off what has become a 41 percent three-point stroke), and yet it still not standing up as enough in the end.
This is working, though. The team dutifully responded with a 40-point win over the Lakers on Saturday, and lineups featuring even Dion Waiters are working thus far. This team could be on the verge of a massive run.
5. Miami Heat (16-8, LW: unranked):
Mainly for this:
The defense has gotten a little softer and the squad lost four of seven prior to Sunday’s win over Portland, but seeing someone like Chris Bosh comfortable in his own skin will forever remain one of the happier blessings of the last five NBA years.
6. Los Angeles Clippers (16-12; LW: unranked):
(You and I both know that I’m totally doing a Hubie Brown voice right now.)
First, you got your J.J. Redick:
“We know where we’re at. We’re not as good as San Antonio or Golden State. Obviously, Monday (against Oklahoma City) will be a test. But, we’re not there,” J.J. Redick said. “We know that.”
Then, on the other side of the court, here’s Chris Paul:
“We’re not a team that anybody needs to worry about, not right now,” said Paul, whose team plays host to Oklahoma City on Monday night at 7:30 at Staples Center. “I think we still have a lot of work to do. Being how our team was last year, we are behind, as far as figuring out that trust and stuff like that, so we just have to keep building.”
They’re not wrong, folks. They’re not wrong!
(We’re still gonna stay up to see that late Clipper game on Friday, though. To say nothing of that Thunder game on Monday.)
7. New York Knicks (14-14; LW: unranked):
Four wins in a row including victories over a rebuilding team from Portland, the team that had the worst record in the NBA last season in Minnesota, a team that hates the sport of basketball from Philadelphia, and a sniping Bulls team that flew almost halfway across America after a four overtime loss.
Don’t care. The idea that the NBA needs the Knicks to be successful in order to thrive is bonkers – the Knicks have been mostly terrible since 2001 and the NBA has improved and thrived in myriad ways in the years since then. It’s fun to watch the team learning how to find seams in early offense after walking the ball up last year. It’s fun to watch Carmelo Anthony in what could be his last All-Star level year. Kristaps Porzingis is adorable and he’ll also dunk on you.
It’s fun to watch competent New York Knick basketball in Madison Square Garden. If you don’t linger there with remote in hand, even if the Cavs and whomever are playing just a few channels over, there’s something wrong there.
8. Houston Rockets (14-14; LW: 12):
We’re either about to see the complete and total destruction of what was once a legitimate championship contender – a team just seven months removed from the Conference finals – or one of the great re-births in recent years.
The Rockets’ upcoming schedule is one of the tougher slates we’ve seen in years, the push-back from one of the easiest starts to a season that we’ve seen in, um, years. The team’s .500 record is in no way indicative of a yin/yang scenario; this team loses to good teams, and it beats bad teams (sometimes barely). Even with James Harden still dropping nearly 30 a night, these Rockets might be done by mid-January.
We don’t enjoy this, but it’s still worth watching.
9. Indiana Pacers (16-10; LW: unranked):
Listen, I know we tried this already with the Golden State Warriors. The Pacers weren’t just the hip pick to knock a dent into GSW’s winning streak, they legitimately were the team’s best most-recent opponent, and probably the real reason (we factor a late-game comeback and Klay Thompson injury over a too-long overtime game) why the Warriors eventually fell in Milwaukee.
Indiana will be in San Antonio on Monday, working in a pairing that should have acted as the 2005 NBA Finals. Admittedly, San Antonio’s five-game streak isn’t as impressive as Golden State’s then-23-game streak, but the Spurs are the Spurs.
The Pacers? They just stole the ball from you when you weren’t looking, they remain a great defensive team despite defensive rebounding woes, and until Hack-a-Mahinmi becomes a thing, they’ll be worth your viewing time.
10. Memphis Grizzlies (15-14; LW: 13):
The Grizz were gifted with their ideal matchup on Saturday as the team took on the small-ball Pacers. It was an odd and somewhat upsetting pairing, watching Jeff Green and C.J. Miles fly around in spaces that Roy Hibbert, David West, and Zach Randolph used to occupy, but the Grizzlies prevailed.
Memphis plays three of four on the road this week but it will be a very sweep-able run as they line up against Philly, an equally small-ish Wizards squad, a potent-but-beatable Hornets team, and the Lakers at home. A home game against Miami follows, and if the Grizzlies can enter 2016 with 20 wins, it will make you wonder what, exactly, will be enough to drive this team out of the Western playoff bracket.
11. Portland Trail Blazers (11-18; LW: unranked):
This is not a great or even good basketball team. Damian Lillard is down to 41 percent shooting, Al-Farouq Aminu’s rebounding (one of my favorite things to watch) is down, and the team is in the middle of a stretch that could result in a six-game losing streak.
This is still a fun watch, a top-ten offense that competes every night, and they even manage to make Gerald Henderson look like appointment viewing:
12. Detroit Pistons (16-12; LW: unranked):
The Pistons were gifted the most needed break in NBA history – three days off following the team’s four overtime win over the Chicago Bulls. The spate allowed them to consider how, exactly, to fit returning point guard and former starter Brandon Jennings into the rotation as he recovers from an Achilles tear and a one-game stint with the team’s D-League affiliate.
Jennings (the team’s second-highest paid player) has already claimed that he wouldn’t mind in the slightest if coach Stan Van Gundy brought him off the bench in back of Reggie Jackson. Now he’s going for uber-mensch status in pointing out that he still feels as if he has to earn the right to play backup point guard with Steve Blake on the roster.
“If I’ve got to earn my second spot, then let’s practice for it. Let’s go play for a spot. I’m with it. I’m up for it,” Jennings said.
Brandon was a starter the last time he put on a Piston uniform. Even if this is false modesty, just admitting that he needs to prove his worthiness as a backup point guard is a textbook example of saying the right things.
13. New Orleans Pelicans (8-19; LW: 15):
The Pelicans probably didn’t have a day to practice in between the team’s games in Phoenix on Friday and Denver on Sunday. New Orleans won the second of those contests, but the squad’s road trip saw them going 2-3 as it attempted to stay afloat in a league that doesn’t really know what to do with guys like Omer Asik anymore.
They’ll have a few days of practice, at home, before playing against the Portland on Wednesday. The team is four games out of the last playoff spot in the West, a spot that (at the current pace) 37 wins will take. This is do-able.
14. Chicago Bulls (15-10; LW: 26):
As a Chicago Bulls fan, and someone who sleeps a good 20 feet from train tracks, it pains me to say that the Bulls are only included in this top 15 due to the trainwreck nature of what has been the first 25 games of the Fred Hoiberg era. Derrick Rose can’t be bothered on nights that aren’t televised by TNT, the team’s offense is a starchy mess, and Jimmy Butler just called out his coach for not holding his players’ feet to the fire.
It’s not the fan in me that is pointing out that this team is one of the league’s great disappointments.
15. Dallas Mavericks (15-12; LW: 9):
The Mavs popped off yet another 2-1, and that seems appropriate. Save for Wes Matthews (who understandably continues to pair awful with terrible in his beyond-admirable return from an Achilles tear) this is a team on a routine.
Once a week, they’ll let someone else do the cooking – medium prime rib for her, medium rare rib-eye for him. They’d prefer a booth. They’re more than happy with the Sarah Vowell book and the mulled wine package you bought them on Christmas, and they know not to check your Facebook that often and certainly not your Twitter. Every so often Raymond Felton and Deron Williams will share the same backcourt they’ll stay up a little late and everyone will have a great time but, ouch, they’re going to feel that in the morning.
The Mavericks are the respectable version of whatever the hell happened to the Los Angeles Lakers.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
26. Washington Wizards (11-14; LW: 14):
There’s absolutely no shame in splitting a four-game schedule that includes road games in Memphis, San Antonio, Dallas, and a home game against Charlotte. Still, why do I feel so shameful for watching this team’s games?
27. Los Angeles Lakers (4-23; LW: 29):
This is a grown man in charge of a basketball team:
Here are the people that are half his age:
It was always OK for the Lakers to punt Kobe’s final season. This part shouldn’t have been part of the package, though. Better lottery odds are not worth this.
28. Brooklyn Nets (7-20; LW: 27):
The Nets have lost four straight, the apparent bump in the team’s defensive fortunes appears to have been a bit of a blip rather than a trend, I know nobody is reading this part of the column and it’s taking all the tea in Indiana to keep me awake long enough to write this.
29. Philadelphia 76ers (1-28; LW: 30):
I’ve always had an issue with violent imagery – ads for movies or TV shows – stuck during commercials for sports games mid-afternoon. My daughters are usually around, and in most instances I’d rather them see some model eat a Carl’s Jr. burger in a bikini than some shoot ‘em up commercial.
What happened on Sunday afternoon, though, was unacceptable.
One of my daughters wanted to see LeBron James play, and to do as much she had to watch the Philadelphia 76ers. I don’t know how any parent could support this, and I’m considering writing a sharply-worded letter to the FCC in order to prevent as much from happening in the future.
30. Sacramento Kings (11-16; LW: 13):
I do not know, in light of what we’ve learned, how one can watch this team and its point guard and enjoy the experience. I have to watch, it’s my job, but I’m waiting for someone to tell me how to not hate this.
Actually, to anyone who is thinking of telling me how to, don’t. No emails, no tweets, I’m not on Facebook.
I apologize for ending this on a downer. What’s more important is that, for those that celebrate Christmas, have a very happy holiday. I thank you as always for reading, and please do enjoy the rest of the sporting world’s “holy cow, this game is great!”-reaction to the games we’ll all be watching on Friday.
Cheers.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
