NBA Power Rankings – Week One
1/2/12 – It’s no surprise to see the Miami HEAT, Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder atop the standings with a combined 14-1 record. These three teams were the class of the NBA last year and Conference Finals participants; but what of the Dallas Mavericks who would win the title? Mired in an awful season-starting slump, Dallas has won just one of five tries. Perhaps the team has made the right long-term choices but losing Tyson Chandler, J.J Barea and Caron Butler has not boded well for the immediate future. Meanwhile the Orlando Magic are still strong. The Indiana Pacers may be better than thought. The Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers both have tremendous potential but are still trying to figure it out. The NBA, one week in the books . . .
NBA Power Rankings Week One
| Team | Rank | Last | Standing | Comments | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1 | 2 | 5-0 | The HEAT have a steal in rookie point guard Norris Cole. Could a late first-round pick be the difference come May and June? | ||
 |
2 | 3 | 4-1 | The Bulls are winning games on the road with just one at home in Chicago. The opening night victory over the Lakers was fortunate but not atypical for a tenacious Bulls squad | ||
 |
3 | 4 | 5-0 | The relationship between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook is imperfect but part of what makes this Thunder team so potent. | ||
 |
7 | 3-1 | The Spurs are always going to be a regular season powerhouse, but in this compressed schedule look for trouble on back-to-backs. | |||
 |
13 | 4-1 | It’s easy to forget how much of an impact Dwight Howard makes but the regular season has never been the issue for Orlando with Howard. | |||
 |
11 | 3-1 | The Hawks are out-scoring their opponents by a league-high 12.5 points per game. | |||
 |
7 | 12 | 3-1 | Portland is going to be tough this year and while they did lose to the Clippers, their record and winning margin of 7.5 points per game slots them at seven. | ||
 |
8 | 15 | 3-2 | The dual point-guard mix of Ty Lawson and Andre Miller is very, very potent for the Nuggets. | ||
 |
9 | 6 | 3-3 | The Lakers are finding they can win via Coach Mike Brown’s defensive schemes. The team/rotation is still evolving but no franchise has played this many games (six) so far this season. | ||
 |
10 | 5 | 2-2 | The Clippers have missed Chauncey Billups (groin) but what of Reggie Evans (foot)? For a team that needs rebounding desperately, he’s one of the best board-men (per minute) in the league. Evans should be available within a week or two. | ||
 |
14 | 3-1 | This may be high for the Pacers but so far this season, they’ve earned it with by far the best play per dollar of payroll. | |||
 |
8 | 2-3 | The Celtics get a partial credit for playing games without Paul Pierce. They’ve since won two-straight after an 0-3 start and could very well end up a top-three team in the East. | |||
 |
9 | 2-2 | If Baron Davis is the answer, Clipper fans will tell you you’re asking the wrong question. | |||
 |
16 | 2-2 | Lou Williams is on fire (20.3 points a game). Spencer Hawes is averaging a double-double. Can the Sixers keep this going or is this early season aberration? | |||
 |
17 | 2-2 | Somewhat tumultuous season this far with Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis and David Lee all missing games. The team has improved defensively but the offense has been surprisingly anemic. | |||
 |
10 | 1-3 | As great of a player as Rudy Gay is, was last year’s playoff chemistry better with him on the sidelines? Also, Zach Randolph nursing an injury (knee), how serious? | |||
 |
20 | 2-1 | Based on their play so far this season, 17 may be too low. Brandon Jennings 22.7 points a game have come on an impressive 46.0% from the field, notable since Jennings shot 39.0% last year. | |||
 |
19 | 2-2 | Kyle Lowry has improved each and every year. Has he climbed to one of the top at his position while averaging 11.5 assists a game? | |||
 |
18 | 1-3 | The Suns don’t look right so far this season. | |||
 |
28 | 2-2 | The Cavaliers make a solid jump from last week with steady play. Last year’s LeBron James hangover seems to have finally left . . . | |||
 |
30 | 2-2 | The Hornets have been struggling to keep Eric Gordon on the floor with a knee injury. When healthy, he’s one of the best young shooting guards in the league but the Clippers had trouble keeping him healthy as well. | |||
 |
1 | 1-4 | This must surely be a slow start for last year’s champion but the Mavericks have been dreadful thus far. | |||
 |
23 | 1-3 | If anything, last year was not a fluke for Kevin Love. Ricky Rubio quickly has looked like a very real NBA point guard. | |||
 |
29 | 2-3 | DeMarcus Cousins may or may not have demanded a trade. Short-term, don’t expect the Kings to just dump him. | |||
 |
26 | 1-3 | Andrea Bargnani is averaging 23 points a night on 51.5% shooting but the Raptors still haven’t figure out how to string together wins nightly. | |||
 |
22 | 1-3 | Brandon Knight has shown flashes. Perhaps the future of the Pistons will be a Knight/Rodney Stuckey starting backcourt. | |||
 |
21 | 1-3 | The Jazz have a lot of size but need to improve significantly still at guard. | |||
 |
24 | 1-3 | The Bobcats are getting beat by 15 points a night with little to show for offensively and defensively. | |||
 |
25 | 1-4 | Had Brook Lopez not gone down with a stress fracture (foot), the Nets would be on a very different path. Right now it’s a team without a true low post option. | |||
 |
27 | 0-4 | Still a fun team to watch . . . as they lose. |
Check out last week’s NBA Power Rankings here.
Loading ...
