NBA Power Rankings: Week 2
The 1st week of the NBA season has finished. Just as we all predicted the Knicks and Heat are a combined 0-6 and the Memphis Grizzlies are 3-0. Speaking of the Memphis Grizzlies Ty Jerome leads the league in scoring, again as we all predicted. The Warriors might be 0-3 but Yaxel Lendeborg made waves by standing up to Luka Doncic which was fun. Here are my week two power rankings, I have cut it down to 15 teams. If you want more teams, share the podcast, so I can quit my day job and I will have more time to write power rankings.
1 - Oklahoma City Thunder (Last #1)
Oklahoma City started their season almost as well as they could have hoped. Two big wins over the Spurs and Nuggets. But Jalen Williams suffered a brutal injury against the Clippers and is out for a while to say the least. The defense is going to keep them in games, but surprisingly the offense has just been average to start the season.
2 - Detroit Pistons (Last #7)
The Pistons are no joke, wins over the Celtics, Heat and 76ers are impressive. Jalen Duren is already going to miss sometime with an injury and Ausar Thompson has a mild ankle sprain. The Pistons have a fun matchup with the Knicks this week, a team they swept in last year's regular season.
3 - Minnesota Timberwolves (Last #6)
The Ball and Edwards era is off to a great start in Minnesota. They ruined Giannis’s Heat debut by blowing them out and then continued by blowing out their next two games. The Wolves currently have the best defense in the league and LaMelo even seems to be bought in on defense.
4 - Houston Rockets (Last #10)
Houston has also had a fantastic start to the season, taking care of both of their inter-state rivals and then a feisty Hawks team to start the season 3-0. The offense is humming with Fred VanVleet coming back, he himself is not having a great start offensively but has not turned the ball over once yet.
5 - Philadelphia 76ers (Last #4)
Tyrese Maxey for MVP? He has been the best player for the new look 76ers and helped ruin the ring ceremony for the Knicks on opening night. The offense was the talk of the off-season but in reality the defense is going to be more of a concern. When Embiid plays he can affect the defensive side, but don’t expect him to affect it much when he isn’t playing, ya know?
6 - San Antonio Spurs (Last #2)
I would call it a rocky start at best for the Spurs. Victor Wembyanama had a rough start against the Thunder and they barely got past the Mavericks who didn’t have Kyrie or Cooper Flagg. The Spurs should be just fine, but a slow start is not too big of a surprise after playing into June last year.
7 - Los Angeles Lakers (Last #11)
The Lakers have had some “softer” opponents to start the season but are 3-0. Two double digit comebacks against the Clippers and Jazz are good signs about the offense, which ranks 1st in the NBA currently. Luka, Walker Kessler and Austin Reaves have all been fantastic to start the season and their combined offense might be able to overcome any defensive woes, currently 16th in the NBA.
8 - Boston Celtics (Last #6)
Up and down week in Boston for the Celtics, positive Paul George turned back the clock in game 1 against the Pistons and dropped 38 points. Not positive they blew a 22 point lead in that game and lost. They are so far a terrible rebounding team with Mitchell Robinson getting off to a slow start, but they should be fine moving forward.
9 - Toronto Raptors (Last #12)
This is my team this year, it has been the Magic for the last couple of years, but I picked Toronto to win the whole thing this year. Kawhi already has knee swelling and without him they got blown out by the Wolves, but in the two games that he played they never trailed. You can see how it can work, but just need Kawhi healthy for the playoffs.
10 - New York Knicks (Last #3)
Not the start the defending champs wanted after going 0-3 to start the season and losing to the rival 76ers on opening night. Somehow this is the first time in seven years the Knicks have gone 0-3 to start the season. The offense just has not gotten going, it could be a mixture of a shorter offseason and a very busy offseason for the Knicks or just a funk that is magnified in the first week of the season.
11 - Cleveland Cavaliers (Last #9)
The Cavs blew a huge lead to the 76ers in their first game of the season and almost did it again against the lowly Nets. They are having an issue with turnovers, averaging 22 a game so far to start the season. A huge matchup with the Wolves will be a good test for this offense that has not gotten it going at all, that game might be over by the time this is posted by the way.
12 - Denver Nuggets (Last #8)
So far this Nuggets team is showing some of the signs that we were worried about in the pre-season. The depth is not there and with an injury to Cam Johnson already that is a worry. They have the best player in the world, but the offense is ranked 23rd to start the season and they needed a huge comeback against the Pelicans to not start the season 0-2.
13 - Atlanta Hawks (#15)
An opening night thrashing against the Hornets have somewhat skewed what the Hawks have done to start the season, but a win is a win. Dyson Daniels is a monster on the defensive end, but man can he not shoot a lick. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is off to a strong start this season and they have a tough stretch of 5 games in 7 days coming up.
14 - Indiana Pacers (Last #13)
A disappointing loss to the Mavericks, but the Pacers are 2-1 and Haliburton looks good. They are going against the grain in today's NBA and taking more shots in the paint than ever before. But Hali and Siakam have taken over offensively and they should get better as the season goes on.
15 - Portland Trail Blazers (Last #17)
So far so good in Portland, I mean hey keep it weird right? They absolutely destroyed the Suns in their opening game of the season at one point leading 21-0. Then got past the Kings with relative ease. Damian Lillard and Ja Morant have done well on the court together and the reserves are doing what they should. Portland plays the Lakers next.