Western Conference Power Rankings: Early January Edition

1. Lakers (6-2) — prev. rank #1

The Champs are still on top, reigning supreme. But we’ll be the first to admit that the schedule has been pretty soft and will remain so. The schedule gods were very kind to the Lakers (you might have heard they had a short offseason) who will next play the Spurs (for a third time already), the Bulls, the Rockets twice in Houston and the Thunder before a fun and more difficult stretch against the Pelicans, Warriors and Bucks. KCP and Caruso have missed some time, ain’t no worry for the Lake Show with a deep roster and sound supporting cast. You gotta love the way Kyle Kuzma has looked so far, and Schroder and Trez have been consistent as hell.

2. Clippers (6-3) — prev. rank #3

Aside from the 51-point embarrassment handed to them by the Mavs (it should be noted that Kawhi did not play), the Clippers have been steady rollin’ with a couple of minor hiccups against the Jazz in Utah and the Spurs without Paul George. Speaking of PG, The Paul George Revenge Tour is well under way, kicking ass and taking names. Say what you will about him, but when PG is at the top of his game, he’s one of the smoothest in the biz. Masked Kawhi is somebody you don’t want to fuck with. You know a player who has been a lot better than anybody thought? Nicolas Batum, who has proven that he owes Charlotte about 100 million dollars. Batum is apparently able to knock down a wide open 3 and allow for switchability on defense, but is he really the starter and crunch time player on a team trying to win a chip? Batum’s 44.8 percent from 3 will surely decline… Surely.

3. Suns (6-2) — prev. rank #8

Welp, the Suns are doing this whether we are behind them or not. Listen, it’s tough to turn on a Suns game this year and not see OUR Suns out there. We miss Rubio, Oubre and Baynes! But Chris Paul is still a damn good player, there is no doubt about it. And come winning time in the 4th quarter, he’s somebody you want on your side (in the regular season). The Suns rank 2nd to last in the league in pace, down from a top-10 mark a season ago. They are stout defensively with the 3rd highest defensive rating in the NBA at 103.4. This team spreads the ball around, too, sporting seven players averaging double-digit points. Mikal Bridges has very much broken out in Year 3 and might even be an early early frontrunner for Most Improved Player. One knock here and it’s a big ‘un: Phoenix really fucked up by not drafting Haliburton. They’d be a lot more likely to still be our Suns. We still love Book, but it’s just not the same.

4. Mavs (3-4) — prev. rank #4

The Mavs started in a rut with losses to the Suns and Lakers, and then there was the historic 51-point shellacking they handed the Clippers, followed by the stunning loss at home to the Hornets and bounce back win vs. the Heat. Then Luka didn’t play and Dallas lost to the Bulls before beating the Rockets in Houston. So it’s been a wavy beginning, but the seas should hopefully smoothen soon with the return of the OG unicorn himself, Kristaps Porzingis. Luka has still been brilliant, but his three-point shooting has been quite bad, 19.5 percent (!!) on 6.8 attempts per game. Can you imagine when that number starts to climb and he gets KP back? That’ll be when we can really evaluate Dallas.

5. Nuggets (3-4) — prev. rank #2

A 1-4 record stared Denver in the face, but back-to-back wins against Minnesota has helped even things out. The Nuggets have looked sluggish, perhaps from the short layoff from their deep playoff run. (Don’t forget that the Nuggets played a shit ton of games in the bubble and a bunch of elimination games to boot!) Jokic has looked as good as ever, averaging a triple-double: 24 points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds is bonkers even by the Joker’s standards. It’s Jamal Murray who needs to step up. He’s still been scoring (22 points per game) but his 3.0 assists per game is trending in the wrong direction. JaMychal Green is an underrated bench player who you can always count on to give you 100% when he checks into the game. Denver’s defense has been horrid, 29th in the NBA in defensive efficiency. Surely that will improve… Surely.

6. Warriors (4-4) — prev. rank #9

You have to take the beginning of the season blunders with a giant grain of salt now that Draymond is back. Things have changed drastically with him on board. And don’t forget that the Warriors scraped out two wins without him (vs. the Bulls and Pistons, but still). If Draymond can play at this level all season long and Steph stays healthy, the Warriors should be able to hang. We know what Steph is capable of on any given night. Kelly Oubre began the season in the funkiest of funks, and it looks like those shooting woes might be behind him. Wiggins has had some moments where his recognition of when to attack has really improved. James Wiseman looks like he has the raw skills and the tools to really excel in this lineup. Dare we say it, but could Damion Lee be the 3-point marksman (currently 50% from 3 on 3.4 attempts per game) to help with spacing? Beware of Pascanimal!

7. Blazers (3-4) — prev. rank #5

The Blazers ought to be ashamed of themselves. Not for giving up Steph Curry’s 62-point explosion, but for giving up a 20-point lead at home to the freaking Bulls! (We might or might not have lost a wager on that game, the very game after we had the Blazers vs. Steph’s 62) There was the very solid win vs. the Lakers but that feels negated now. (We had the Lakers that night, so remind us not to bet on the Blazers any more this season. Thanks!) Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr. were supposed to help out the Blazers putrid defense. The problem is that hasn’t happened yet as Portland is 28th in the league in defensive efficiency. Zach Collins is also still out indefinitely after revision surgery on his ankle. No bueno.

8. Jazz (4-4) — prev. rank #7

The Jazz have gotten off to an up-and-down start which is actually better than Utah’s usual dreadful stumble out of the gate. There have been good wins (Blazers and Clippers) and there have been bad losses (T-Wolves, Nets sans KD and Knicks). The Jazz continue to be inconsistent until all of a sudden they aren’t. It will all click and they will hit their stride at some point. Bojan Bogdanovic has yet to find his footing in the flow of Utah’s offense, shooting a measly 36.9 percent from the field. Donovan Mitchell startlingly has also been off at 38.4 percent. Plenty of room for improvement here, but the offense needs work, right now it’s a lot of Don Mitch or nothing.

9. Pelicans (4-4) — prev. rank #11

If this feels too low for the Pelicans, it’s because when you really dig in, it’s hard not to be skeptical. First of all, the Pellies wins have come against the Raptors (twice), Spurs and Thunder. Those Raptors wins don’t feel as prominent given what we know now. And the Pelicans got trounced by the Suns on national TV and handled with relative ease by the Heat on Christmas. Oh, and it looks like their issues closing out games are still prevalent, blowing a 10-point lead over the last two minutes and crumbling in OT vs. the Pacers and losing another close one to the Thunder, both at home. The Pelicans currently have the 5th ranked defense (yes, defense, you read that correctly) in the league and you gotta expect that number to drop considerably. Next up is the Hornets at home on Friday night, and then it’s a 7-game Western Conference road trip that should speak volumes.

10. Rockets (2-4) — prev. rank #6

Figuring out what to make of the Rockets is a long winded exercise. It is starting to feel more and more like the Rockets are stuck with James Harden and Harden is stuck with the Rockets. The good news is that John Wall can still play basketball and that Christian Wood has been even better than advertised. C-Wood really is the perfect big man for The Beard. Eric Gordon is jacking up WAY too many 3’s at 10 per game (!!), but at least he’s making them at a higher rate than last season (33.3 percent, up from 31.7). If only the Rockets could play the Kings every night.

11. Kings (4-4) — prev. rank #14

Sacramento started the season 3-1 with surprising eye-opening wins against the Nuggets twice and the Suns. Then the Kings hit the road and lost to the Rockets twice and the Warriors. But then the Kings handled the Bulls in a shootout, thanks in large part to Tyrese Haliburton who so far is more important and valuable to his team’s success than any other rookie. It’s great to see Marvin Bagley on the court, even if he’s had a couple of stinkers. Bagley has played great in the Kings wins and his consistency will be very important to the Kings success. We would personally like to thank Luke Walton for the Kings playing with an uptempo pace, top ten in the league where they belong!

12. Spurs (3-4) — prev. rank #12

The Spurs snapped a 4-game losing streak with a helluva road win in Staples vs. the Clippers thanks to a career night from Patty Mills who made eight 3’s. The Derrick White injury stings, he has no timetable for return. Aldridge has missed some time, too, he is day-to-day with a knee. If you’ve watched any Spurs basketballin’, then Keldon Johnson has surely leapt off the screen at you. Gotta love to see DeRozan taking and making 3’s, averaging 2.1 attempts per game (his most since 2017-2018) and hitting at a 46.7 percent rate. DeRozan is also averaging a career-high 7.1 assists per game to start the season.

13. Grizzlies (2-5) — prev. rank #10

Just thinking about this team and the Ja Morant injury causes us to let out a big, very big, sigh… It just sucks to be deprived of such a magnificent talent. And the Grizz were already without JJJ and Winslow. Yet that hasn’t stopped the Grizz from giving it their all: They beat the Hornets and played the Lakers as tough as they could. They finally got De’Anthony Melton back in the lineup at least! Desmond Bane is certainly a rookie to keep an eye on.

14. T-Wolves (2-5) — prev. rank #13

We knew, we ALL knew that defense was going to be a problem of epic proportions for this team. Sure enough, eight games into the season and Minnesota is dead last in the NBA in defensive rating. It starts with effort and communication, areas where the T-Wolves are lacking. They have also been playing without KAT which is unfortunately a very common theme these days. The T-Wolves went 2-0 with KAT, including a great win against the Jazz in Utah, before losing 5 straight while giving up an average of 125.6 points per game.

15. Thunder (3-4) — prev. rank #15

Honestly, the Thunder really aren’t that bad. Even more honestly, this is without a doubt the least exciting team in the NBA right now. If you tune in, you’ll get a LOT of Mike Muscala. No offense to Moose, there are just a few better options on the menu these days. But kudos to the Thunder for still playing hard and for having a couple of down-to-the-wire finishes against the Hornets, Jazz and Pelicans that made their games a lot more watchable and enjoyable.

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New Power Ranks dropping every month.

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