NBA Power Rankings: Lakers crack top three, Clippers' season hits new low with Chris Paul move
Elsewhere, the Spurs are surviving just fine without Victor Wembanyama
By
Brad Botkin
•
1 min read
If you win seven straight games you're not going to fall in the Power Rankings just because your most recent game was a loss to the Suns on a back-to-back. Here's looking at you, Lakers. It's a different story across town in L.A., though. The Clippers are down to 25th in this week's Power Rankings as the NBA world woke up Wednesday to learn they decided to part ways with future Hall of Famer and team legend Chris Paul in the middle of the night.
Meanwhile, in the East, the Magic and Hawks, are looking like the teams they were supposed to be after sluggish starts and they're both doing it without an All-Star player (Trae Young with Atlanta and Paolo Banchero in Orlando). If you're not paying attention to the Celtics and Suns, you need to. And if you though the Spurs being a good team was tied only to Victor Wembanyama, think again.
NBA quarter-season grades for every West team, from obvious 'A+' to alarming 'F-'
James Herbert
- Note: As a general Power Rankings rule, we're going to try to strike a balance between what we've seen in the last week, the season as a whole so far, and what can reasonably be expected to play out over the next few weeks.
- We will not go so far as to rank these teams based on championship expectations, because in that case it would take a lot more to alter, at least in tiers, the generally accepted hierarchy. Winning matters, and it will get you on the move up this board form week to week. But if you're beating bad teams, just as an example, and probably playing a little above your head, it's not necessarily going to be reflected in a completely commensurate climb up the rankings. Or vice versa.
Biggest Movers
7
Celtics
5
Cavaliers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | The 2015-16 Warriors that won an NBA record 73 games were 24-1 after 25 games. The Thunder need three more wins to match that start and two of those games are against the Jazz and Mavericks. 74 wins is in play. | -- | 21-1 |
| 2 |  | Call it a schedule loss to Utah on a back-to-back doubleheader after beating the pants off the Jazz the night before. I love this team. Top-three offense and defense. Denver won the lone head-to-head thus far, but it was a photo-finish war and given Denver's recent slide means Houston has earned the higher ranking. | 1 | 13-5 |
| 3 |  | This offense is basically unstoppable. Mismatches everywhere with two stars in Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves and now LeBron James to bring some fast-break force. Their seven-game winning streak came to an end with a loss to the Suns. Big deal. The Suns are good and play their butts off. It happens. If the Lakers make a trade for a defensive needle mover, this is a top-shelf title contender -- at least in the non-OKC division. | 2 | 15-5 |
| 4 |  | First tough stretch of the season for the Nuggets. Three losses in their last five with the latest coming against the Mavericks when they didn't score a single point between the six-minute and two-minute marks of the fourth quarter. That makes them 2-6 in Clutch games. | 2 | 14-6 |
| 5 |  | Everything was roses for the Pistons on a 13-game winning streak, but what I loved to see was that when that streak turned into a little two-game skid in two tight losses against Boston and Orlando, they turned around on a back-to-back and beat Miami on the road and then backed that up with a win over a good Atlanta team to get right back on track. That's the mark of not just a good team, but a tough team. | 1 | 17-4 |
| 6 |  | San Antonio is for real. We know this when Victor Wembanyama is out there, but now the Spurs gave gone 6-2 since his calf strain and 5-2 without both Wemby and Stephon Castle with wins over a good Atlanta team and a great Denver team. De'Aaron Fox has taken the scoring reins and Devin Vassell is having a sensational season. | 2 | 14-6 |
| 7 |  | This is the Magic team we thought we would see to start the year. It's been a talking point that it's happening without Paolo Banchero and what that may or may not mean, but note that they had won five of seven when he went out. Jalen Suggs is at the top of the "we should be talking way more about this guy" list. Nine wins in their last 11 games with a top-five offense and defense over that three-week stretch. | 4 | 13-8 |
| 8 |  | Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram and Immanuel Quickley combined for 72 points in a win over Portland on Tuesday to get Toronto back on track after its first two-game losing skid in over a month. Make that 14 wins in their last 17 games. | 2 | 15-7 |
| 9 |  | The Celtics are the fourth-ranked offense in the league with Payton Pritchard and Derrick White having down 3-point seasons, which is going to, and has already started to, normalize. This is a legit team even without Jayson Tatum. Seven wins in their last nine games, and four of their last five have been over the Magic, Pistons, Cavs and Knicks. That's as good a run as you'll find in these rankings. You cannot ignore how good the Celtics have been since their 0-3 start. | 7 | 12-9 |
| 10 |  | How can you not love love this team? The Suns have won 10 of their last 14. In the last week they played the Nuggets tough and took the Thunder to the wire. Those are probably the two best teams in the league, and then they beat the Lakers, one of the five best teams. So many Suns are having incredible seasons and not getting talked about enough. Dillon Brooks, Grayson Allen, Mark Williams and Collin Gillespie chief among them. | 3 | 13-9 |
| 11 |  | Wins in seven of their last eight with the only blemish being a one-possession loss to the East-leading Pistons. Tyler Herro has been on fire in his first games back, and so far the defense has held up fine with him on the court. | 2 | 14-7 |
| 12 |  | The Knicks blew out the Raptors on Sunday before they had their four-game winning streak snapped by Boston on Tuesday. Josh Hart has been on a tear as he's back in New York's starting lineup with Mitchell Robinson coming off the bench. New York should pick up couple wins in its next two vs. Charlotte and Utah before a big matchup with Orlando on Sunday. | -- | 13-7 |
| 13 |  | The Wolves rallied in the second half to beat the Pelicans in overtime on Tuesday. Anthony Edwards went for 44 for his third 40-point games in the last 11 days. Minnesota continues to clean up its schedule slop and is 11-1 against sub-.500 teams. | -- | 13-8 |
| 14 |  | Wins in four of their last six and nine of their last 13. Atlanta is 12-6 without Trae Young with a top-10 defense and an offense that averaged a league-leading (by a mile) 32.1 assists per game in November, a single-month franchise record. Jalen Johnson leads the list of MVP players who have no chance of winning MVP. | -- | 13-9 |
| 15 |  | A little past the quarter mark of the season and the Cavs are sitting right on the East's playoff/play-in cut line. They've been hit pretty hard by injuries, but the good news is every lineup variation of the big four (Mitchell, Garland, Mobley and Allen) is killing opponents. Cleveland needs to get healthy across the board and then we can assess where this team is. Until then, Donovan Mitchell is just going to have to keep hitting a million pull-ups 3s. | 5 | 13-9 |
| 16 |  | Philly has split its last six games including a loss in the first game in which Paul George and Joel Embiid have actually played together -- a double-overtimer against Atlanta. Embiid doesn't look good to me. He cannot, or will not, move defensively. He gets beat up the floor. He can't get off the ground to rebound, where the Sixers are getting killed as a small team with a lot of really good guards who have to play together and George at the four. I want to believe in this team because of Tyrese Maxey, but I don't know. Embiid, even with some supportive offensive juice still in the tank, just doesn't do much for me right now. | 1 | 11-9 |
| 17 |  | This is a .500 team in every way. When they manage to turn the ball over less than their opponents they generally win. When they don't, they almost always lose. It's been a 50/50 proposition. | 2 | 11-11 |
| 18 |  | Portland has lost eight of its last 10 against a string of tough opponents. The Blazers are still the only team to beat OKC and they had a fourth-quarter lead on the league's best team again on Sunday. The Blazers really need Jrue Holiday back. They're now 2-7 without him. | -- | 8-13 |
| 19 |  | Debbie Downer time: The Bulls, after a 5-0 start, might be exactly who we thought they were after all. Losses in five of their last six with the only win coming against the Wizards. That includes a stretch of three straight losses to the Pelicans, Hornets and Pacers, which is about as ugly as it gets. | -- | 9-11 |
| 20 |  | Hey, if the Play-In Tournament started today the Grizzlies would be in thanks to five wins in their last seven games against a super-soft stretch of opponents. The Grizzlies are now 8-0 against teams with losing records and 1-13 against above-.500 teams. One positive note: They are boat racing teams in the Zach Edey minutes. | 1 | 9-13 |
| 21 |  | The Bucks had no chance without Giannis in the lineup, but since he's been back they're just 1-2 with a loss to the freaking Wizards. This isn't a good team. Waiving and stretching Damian Lillard to pay for four years of Myles Turner remains a incredibly desperate move that will not work. | 1 | 9-13 |
| 22 |  | The Jazz have lost five of their last seven. The beat the Rockets on the back end of a back-to-back doubleheader on Monday, but they have a murderous December schedule ahead of them. That's good news for the rest of the league that is rooting for Utah to wind up with a top-eight pick next summer, lest it go to Oklahoma City. | -- | 7-13 |
| 23 |  | Charlotte ended Toronto's nine-game winning streak, but then missed a chance to extend its first winning streak of the year to three by losing to Brooklyn on Monday. The Hornets continue to be better with LaMelo Ball on the floor even though his shooting is in the tank. | 1 | 6-15 |
| 24 |  | Cooper Flagg is starting to take off. He has 59 points and 16 boards over his last two games, both Dallas wins. He is quietly shooting 60% in the clutch with a sparkling 77.8 eFG% on Clutch squared shots, which Inpredictable defines as shots "in the top 1% in potential win probability impact." These are the one-possession-score-inside-the-final-minutes shots, and Flagg has been ultra confident in attacking in these few situations he's been in. | 1 | 7-15 |
| 25 |  | The Clippers are a disgrace -- and that was true before they sent Chris Paul packing in the middle of the night. I can't remember a team with two elite players and a universally heralded offseason going this far in the tank this early, and this isn't because Bradley Beal got hurt. The Kawhi Leonard minutes are a wreck as is the defense in general. This team, and coach, has basically already quit with 14 losses in their last 16 games. The fact that the Thunder are going to get the Clippers' first-round pick next summer is unfair. | 2 | 5-16 |
| 26 |  | Make it 13 losses in 14 games after the Pelicans couldn't hold onto a late fourth-quarter lead vs. the Wolves on Tuesday. And now Zion Williamson is hurt. Again. | -- | 3-19 |
| 27 |  | Everyone is for sale in Sac Town. They're not going to get much for anyone, with the possible exception of Domantas Sabonis. The good news is they own seven first-round picks over the next five years. | -- | 5-16 |
| 28 |  | Wins in two of their last three, and they took the Raptors to the wire only to go down on a Brandon Ingram game-winner with less than a second to play. I don't care that the records look pretty much the same, the Pacers are a way better team than the Nets or Wizards. | 1 | 4-17 |
| 29 |  | The Wizards have actually won two of their last four. They beat the Bucks with Giannis in the lineup and a good Hawks team by way of a 46-point CJ McCollum explosion. It's enough to move them out of the cellar for at least a week. | 1 | 3-17 |
| 30 |  | Michael Porter Jr. continued his super season with 35 points and seven 3s in a win over the Hornets. It was Brooklyn's fourth win of the season. How much can we really say about that. | 2 | 4-16 |
