Western Conference Power Rankings: Early-December Edition
1. Golden State Warriors (19-4) — prev. rank #1
The Warriors lost to the Spurs on Saturday night, a game where Steph struggled shooting the ball (he still scored 27), however, they remain atop the power rankings after defeating the Suns on Friday night, ending Phoenix’s 18-game winning streak, but more importantly: the Warriors have the #3 offense in the league and the #1 defense by a super-wide margin.
It’s impossible to stop comparing this version of the Warriors with the old Strength in Numbers Dubs of the past due to their depth, bench, and the fact that it’s defense that is actually the backbone of what they do. The Warriors #1 defensive rating of 101.1 is an entire 4 points higher than the #2 Suns. That 4-point gap is the same gap between the 2nd and 16th-ranked defense.
Jordan Poole is more known for his 3-point shooting, but it’s important to note that he’s shooting 59.7 percent on 2s.
The latest is that Klay Thompson should return in the next couple of weeks, adding more firepower to an already loaded cavalcade even if he’s not exactly 100% the Klay we used to know.
The Dubs next two are at home, the Magic and Blazers, before heading out on a five-game Eastern roadie: @Philly, @Indiana, @MSG, @Boston and @Toronto.
2. Phoenix Suns (19-4) — prev. rank #2
The Suns incredible franchise-record 18-game winning streak was snapped by the Warriors on Friday night, but they didn’t have Devin Booker, still out with a hammy. The Suns most impressive win of the season was against the same Warriors last Tuesday night when Phoenix put on a defensive masterclass against one of the best offenses in the league, and Book missed most of that game, too.
More specifically, it was Mikal Bridges who locked up Steph in that first matchup, holding Curry to one of his worst games ever, just 4-of-21 shooting. Bridges really put himself on notice with that one, but he’s been putting dudes in the ringer all season.
Deandre Ayton has been playing some really good ball, averaging 16 and 11 on 62.9 percent shooting on 2s — more attempts than last season with almost the same level of efficiency. Except for his free throw shooting which has dropped from 77% to 62%.
The Suns bench has figured some things out and is already back in the top-10 in net rating after beginning the season in the bottom-10. A big part of that is JaVale McGee, currently posting the highest PER and true-shooting percentage of his 14-year career.
Phoenix has the next two at home, two on the road, and then two more at home: Spurs, Celtics, @Clippers, @Portland, Wizards and Hornets.
3. Utah Jazz (16-7) — prev. rank #3
Utah’s offense has been absolutely EN FUEGO over the last two weeks, scoring 122 points per 100 possessions in non-garbage-time minutes per Cleaning the Glass. The schedule hasn’t been particularly tough, but the Jazz are two one-point losses away from a 10-game winning streak.
Something that really stands out from the current 8-2 stretch is that the Jazz have had four different leading scorers: Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson and Rudy Gay. It’s been D. Mitch in the last four. He’s no doubt the main guy, but it’s helpful to have other guys who can fill it up.
Rudy Gay made his season debut on November 18th (right at the beginning of this recent surge) and he has definitely opened up a new world of lineup flexibility for Quinn Snyder as we knew he would.
Rudy Gobert got a LOT of shit in the playoffs (and rightfully so!), but he’s having another tremendous regular season, seemingly everywhere on defense and leading the league with 14.7 rebounds a night.
The Jazz finish up a current 4-game road trip this week @Minnesota, @Philadelphia and @Washington. Yesterday’s win in Cleveland was a WILD game, one that the Jazz led by 15 before a 4th quarter frenzy by the Cavs. The Jazz have had three games within one point over the last two weeks, and that was the first one they actually pulled out.
4. Memphis Grizzlies (13-10) — prev. rank #9
The Grizzlies now own the largest margin of victory in NBA history, a 73-point complete evisceration of the Thunder. It’s a truly astounding feat, but more importantly: the Grizz are 4-0 since Ja Morant went down with a sprained knee. And all four of those wins have been wire-to-wire victories.
Jaren Jackson Jr. has surged after a slow start. JJJ’s 3-ball has been dialed in, ten games with three or more made 3s already. When he gets hot from deep, the Grizz are at their peak.
Speaking of a dialed in 3-ball, Desmond Bane is still hitting 40 percent from distance on good-volume, 6.4 attempts per game. Bane is fresh off a career-high 29 points in Dallas on Saturday night, his sixth game of the season with 20+ points after only having three such games last year as a rookie.
Tyus Jones has done a fine job stepping into the starting lineup as the lead point guard with Morant out. Jones has led the Grizz in assists in each game, averaging 7.5 dimes over the four-game winning streak.
The Grizz are in Miami tonight, and then it’s back to the FedEx Forum for four: Mavs, Lakers, Rockets and Sixers.
5. Denver Nuggets (11-11) — prev. rank #4
Completely ravaged by injuries, the Nuggets suffered a recent 6-game losing streak, but then Jokic returned to the lineup and Denver has won 2 out of the last 3 while still being severely undermanned.
The Joker’s numbers continue to look almost identical to his MVP season a year ago. The assists are down (8.3 to 6.4), but they are climbing back up. However, Jokic certainly isn’t playing every game this season considering that he’s already missed five.
Zeke Nnaji is the latest Nugget to step up to the plate, scoring a career-high 21 points against the Knicks on Saturday afternoon while the Nuggets were without Bones Hyland and Austin Rivers due to the protocols.
The Nuggets are also without Michael Porter Jr. for the rest of the season due to back surgery. When we saw his massive contract extension before the season, we thought for sure there would be some disclaimers in the fine print in relation to his back-injury history. But that doesn’t appear to be the case, and the Nuggets will be on the hook for a guaranteed $145 million. Here’s to hoping he can get back to anywhere close to the same level he reached over the last month of last season.
The Nuggets still have five games left on their current 7-game road trip: @Chicago, @New Orleans and @San Antonio twice.
6. Los Angeles Lakers (12-12) — prev. rank #7
The Lakers still have a bottom-10 offense and bottom-10 defense overall for the season, but over the last two weeks with LeBron mostly back in the lineup (he missed two games), the Lakers have improved to the 15th offense and 9th defense. A definite defensive step in the right direction.
In 215 minutes, the Lakers 3-man lineup of LeBron, AD and Westbrook is getting outscored by 2.8 points per 100 possessions. The Lakers best 3-man lineup that has played at least 100 minutes together? Westbrook, Wayne Ellington and Malik Monk — with a ridiculous net rating of 32.0.
The AD-sucks-at-shooting-3s memes have been circulating the internet, and rightfully so — 18.8 percent from 3 would be the worst mark of all-time — but we just want to say that he is still averaging 24 and 10 while being 2nd in the league in blocks per game and he leads the league in points in the paint. Now if only he would take even more shots at the basket!
Rondo and Kent Bazemore have been removed from the rotation over the last two weeks, only playing in garbage-time against the Kings when the Lakers blew the roof off Sacramento’s doors in that 3rd quarter. A sigh of relief for Laker fans that Vogel is seeing some of the light.
On Tuesday night, the Lakers get a chance to avenge the loss that the Celtics handed them a couple of weeks ago. Then it’s off to Memphis to play the Ja-less Grizz and over to OKC to exact revenge on the Thunder who have beaten the Lakers not once but twice already this season.
7. Los Angeles Clippers (12-12) — prev. rank #5
The Clippers are 3-7 in their last 10 games. They did beat the Lakers in the first Battle of LA, but they also lost to both the Kings and Pelicans twice. Offense has been the biggest issue for the Clips, ranking bottom-10 at 23rd while their 3rd-ranked defense has kept them afloat.
Paul George hasn’t been on top of his game lately, and that’s usually going to be a doom to the Clippers chances on a nightly basis. Over the last five games, PG is shooting just 36.5 percent from the field (25% from 3) while averaging 5 turnovers a game.
Nicolas Batum has missed a chunk of time, out in the protocols since November 20th. We have said it a lot and we’ll say it some more: it’s crazy how important Nic Batum is to this team.
In addition to drilling daggers into the Lakers heart on Friday night, Luke Kennard is featured in four of the top-five 3-man Clippers lineups that have logged at least 200 minutes (based on net rating). Kennard has the highest plus-minus of all Clippers this season at +91. The lowest Clipper? Eric Bledsoe at -91.
The Clippers play the Blazers at Moda tonight which is somehow already the fourth and final Clippers-Blazers matchup. (The Clippers lead the season-series 2-1.) Then it’s back to Staples for the Celtics, Magic and Suns.
8. Dallas Mavericks (11-11) — prev. rank #6
The Mavs are 3-7 in their last 10 games which includes an 0-4 record with Luka out of the lineup.
When Luka scores 23 or more points, the Mavs are 11-3. When Luka does NOT score 23 or more points, the Mavs are 0-8. We know that Luka is everything to the Mavs, but when you see that stat, you realize that Luka IS ABSOLUTELY UNDENIABLY EVERYTHING TO THE MAVS.
The Mavs are 8-7 when Porzingis plays. However, in those 15 games, KP has had just four games with a positive net rating. Even so, you can always tell when Porzingis is having a good or even decent game that Dallas feels better about their chances at unlocking the team’s full potential.
Everybody talks about how this summer’s free agency class has been killing it, so they are choosing to ignore the fact that Reggie Bullock has, in fact, not been killing it. Bullock is averaging 5.5 points per game, his fewest in five years, and he’s currently shooting 27.5 percent from 3, by far a career-worst mark.
The Mavs play the Nets tomorrow night on TNT at American Airlines Center, then it’s off to Memphis, Indiana and OKC.
9. Minnesota Timberwolves (11-12) — prev. rank #11
The T-Wolves had won 7 out of 8 games before their current two-game slide to the Wizards and Nets, both on the road. If you dig a little bit deeper, you’ll see that the schedule was favorable during their hot streak, but you’ll also see that defense has surprisingly been Minnesota’s foundation. The Wolves are top-10 in defense over the last two weeks and top-5 on the season. Meanwhile, the offense is 20th and bottom-5 over the last two weeks.
KAT (24.0), Ant-Man (22.0) and D-Lo (19.0) are still averaging 65 points a night. Of all 3-man lineups in the NBA that have logged at least 400 minutes, this Wolves trio is 4th in net rating, outscoring opponents by 10.1 points per 100.
Jarred Vanderbilt has started generating some buzz for his high-energy and hustle on a nightly basis. Vanderbilt is one of these dudes who not only thrives on defense but relishes it. Of all Minnesota’s main rotation players, Vanderbilt has the best offensive/defensive rating combo at 121/101.
A nutty stat: Minnesota is 3rd in offensive rebounding percentage and dead last in defensive rebounding.
A three-game homestand for the Timberwolves begins tonight: Hawks, Jazz and Cavs. Then it’s hitting the northwest division road to Portland and Denver.
10. Sacramento Kings (10-14) — prev. rank #10
They did it! The Kings finally fired Luke Walton. Better late than never. Since Puke Walton was given the boot and Alvin Gentry took over as the interim coach, the Kings are 4-3 and showing signs of life after back-to-back wins against the Clippers.
It starts with De'Aaron Fox who is looking more like the Fox of old, with an extra pep in his step and a softer touch on his jumper. His shooting numbers for the season still look dreary, but they are headed in the right direction. Here’s a stat: when Fox has less than 5 assists per game, the Kings are 0-6.
If only Alvin Gentry can somehow convince Terence Davis that they are playing the Clippers every night. T-Davis just followed up a 23-point five-3 performance against the Clippers on Wednesday night by torching the Clips for 28 points and six 3s on Saturday night, the second-most points of his career.
Marvin Bagley has actually been getting some run. We are very much of the belief that you might as well give the kid a chance. He was a crucial part of a Kings win against the Blazers a couple of weeks ago. That’s not saying a whole lot, but it’s saying something.
The Kings play the Magic at Golden 1 Center on Wednesday night on 3 days rest. Then it’s a three-game east roadie: @Charlotte, @Cleveland and @Toronto.
11. Portland Trail Blazers (11-13) — prev. rank #8
Things were looking up for the Blazers after a nice little 4-game winning streak. Since then? Portland has lost 5 of the last 6 games, fired its GM and now has the worst defensive rating in the NBA.
Dame is currently on the shelf with an abdominal injury that has clearly been bothering him for a while now. Without Dame, the Blazers are 1-3 and the three losses have been by an average of 29 points.
You know it’s bad when your head coach says: "I've never seen a team that needs its bench to inspire our starters. That shit is crazy to me. It's supposed to be the other way around."
On the brighter side of things, the Blazers offense is at least still top-5 on the season. Norm Powell is shooting 43 percent from 3 on 4.4 attempts per game. Not the highest-volume. If you are looking for that, CJ still has you covered at 39.3 percent on 8.2 attempts, dipping slightly from being the #1 guy with Dame out.
The Blazers play the Clippers tonight at Moda where Portland is 10-3. On the road? The Blazers are a startling 1-10. So it’s a good thing that 8 of the next 11 games are at home.
12. San Antonio Spurs (8-13) — prev. rank #13
The Spurs are on a very nice 4-game winning streak right now, taking down the Celtics, Wizards, Blazers and Warriors on Saturday night at the Chase Center.
It has surprisingly been the Spurs defense that has helped carry them recently. Jakob Poeltl is San Antonio’s defensive anchor, averaging 3 blocks a game over the win streak. Getting Poeltl back from his Covid-absence was crucial. He’s also averaging career-best numbers on offense. (Save for free throws where he is shooting a rancid 32.3 percent.)
Dejounte Murray is still averaging 19-8-8 with 2 steals — extremely impressive. We have seen more and more people saying he’s the most underrated player in the league. It’s true! Give Dejounte all the buzz.
Derrick White has been huge for the Spurs over this winning streak, scoring his season-high in points twice, 24 vs. the Wiz and 25 vs. the Warriors.
The game after the Warriors, the Spurs get to play the Suns tonight in Phoenix. Then it’s a five-game homestand: Knicks, Nuggets twice, Pelicans and Hornets.
13. Houston Rockets (7-16) — prev. rank #15
Sooo the Rockets started 1-16 and have now won 6 games in a row — the longest winning streak in the league right now and the first ever team in major sports history to win 6 straight games right after a 15-game losing streak. (!!)
The last four matchups have been favorable: Thunder twice, Magic and Pelicans. However, wins against the Bulls and Hornets are no joke.
It does look and feel a little funky that all this winning commenced as soon as the Rockets prized rookie, Jalen Green, went down with an injured hammy and has been out of the lineup for basically all of this. But Christian Wood started balling out, Stephen Silas improved his rotations and the Rockets finally made some 3s.
Garrison Mathews a.k.a. Garry Bird has been a godsend for Houston, making three or more 3s in four straight games.
The winning streak will seriously be put to the test this week vs. the Nets and Bucks. Then it’s a three-game trip out east: @Memphis, @Atlanta and @Cleveland.
14. New Orleans Pelicans (7-19) — prev. rank #14
The Pelicans are 4-3 over their last seven games, including a 25-point blowout of the Wizards and wins on the road at the Jazz, Clippers and Mavs.
Brandon Ingram has taken his scoring up another notch, averaging 30.0 points per game over the last four, including 40 last night in a loss at Houston. That’s one you would like to have back if you’re the Pellies, but they just couldn’t hit any 3s.
Willy Hernangomez has been a positive contributor off the bench, adding some offense where Jaxson Hayes has not. Somebody who has NOT been contributing despite getting minutes: Garrett Temple. Get GT out of there, coach.
We refuse to believe any more updates on Zion.
The Pelicans are back at the Smoothie King Center for two against the Nuggets and Pistons before a short two-game roadie @San Antonio and @OKC.
15. Oklahoma City Thunder (6-16) — prev. rank #12
The last time that we ran the power ranks, the Thunder were 5-8 and a half-game back of the play-in. An 8-game losing streak and worst loss in NBA history later, and the tank is back on! Sam Presti is back to sleeping well at night once again.
It has been noted, but we would like to emphasize: the 73-point loss happened without SGA, Josh Giddey and Derrick Favors. Not trying to make excuses, just stating facts.
Lu Dort’s 3-point shooting has risen from 28 percent to 32.5 percent over the last two weeks, and he’s over 7 three-point attempts per game now.
The Thunder are tied with the Pistons for dead last in field goal percentage: 40.7% — a.k.a. abysmal.
It’s tank vs. tank tonight as OKC’s 8-game losing streak takes on Detroit’s 8-game losing streak. Somebody’s gotta win!
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