These are not the top 10 teams in the NBA. These are the top 10 teams in the NBA last two weeks.
We missed Week 3, so we’re combining them into a brief — it’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and we want to chill with our family — look at who did what over the last 14 days through Tuesday night. A number of teams are riding the top of the success wave, but none more than the 16-0 Warriors, who are setting their sights on a record they’re still less than halfway towards matching.
But before we start talking Miami’s penultimate 27-game streak, or LA’s still unfathomable 33-game stretch, lets stop and appreciate what the Dubs have done in the season’s first month. Everyone was tripping over themselves to crown a Western successor before this season with Kevin Durant returning from injury, Ty Lawson clubbing in Houston, the Clippers’ reloaded bench, and LaMarcus Aldridge heading to the Alamo. But while the Spurs are right there, the Warriors are on another plane of play, and that’s forgetting to mention Steve Kerr is still recuperating from that spinal fluid leak during back surgery over the offseason.
It might be foolish to talk about them getting even better, but we thought it was foolish to expect them to replicate last season’s 67-win delicacy. Turns out they were just getting started.
So are we.
Week 3-4 Power Rankings
All games from Nov. 10 – 24.
1. Warriors (record the last two weeks: 8-0)
We’re almost tired of them. Their net rating of 16.3 is seven points higher than the next-closest, San Antonio. Their small-ball lineup when Draymond Green moves over to the five, Harrison Barnes plays power forward, Andre Iguodala acts as a point-forward of sorts at the three and Steph and Klay cause all sorts of kinetic damage coming off screens and whipping the ball around perimeter, is the best five-man unit in the NBA with at least 10 games under their belt.
The Warriors aren’t fair. Everyone knows it, but right now only fate can intercede. The rest of the Association is largely powerless. Maybe one of the other ascending teams on this list, who happens to be a stop on Golden State’s upcoming seven-game road trip, will have an answer. Until then, sit back and enjoy. You’re going to be telling your kids about this Warriors team.
2. Spurs 6-1
LaMarcus Aldridge is working through his assimilation issues with the Spurs, which is probably what Popovich envisioned this regular season. No one cares less about the league’s annual six-month slugfest, and no one prepares his team for the late-April peak better than Pop. Thankfully for their home-court in the spring Kawhi Leonard is making that proverbial leap unoriginal people allude to so often on Twitter. He’s really doing it on the offensive end this season, unleashing the potential Spurs fans have seen tiny glimpses of for the last two seasons — most especially with that Finals MVP in 2014.
While their offense sputtered a little over the last two weeks, Kawhi has morphed into a do-everything wing who can defend the opponent’s best player, and perhaps just as importantly now, Klaw can now attack them like a real MVP candidate on the offensive end. You can be sure when Cleveland is matching up against San Antonio, LeBron will be switching Kawhi off to a teammate so he can get some respite.
Leonard ranks in the 95th percentile for points per possession that end in a shot, turnover, or foul, per Synergy data, and he’s in the 70s when you take into account assists; although, a scary notion for opponents: he can still clean up an assist-to-turnover ratio that’s a pedestrian 1.6. If Steph Curry wasn’t drenching the league in gasoline and dropping the butane lighter, then Klaw would be an MVP frontrunner. If he doesn’t get selected to start in his first All-Star game, Spurs fans will have every reason to revolt.
3. Pacers 5-1
Oh hello Indiana. Nice to see you again. What a fun couple of weeks you’ve had. The Warriors, Spurs, Raptors and now Pacers are the only four teams to rank in the top 10 for defensive and offensive rating so far this season. (After ironically struggling to score to start the season following an overt attempt to beef up their offense over the summer and play faster, Indiana is now No. 9 in points per possession, while allowing the fourth fewest on the other end.). Over the last two weeks the Pacers have a better net rating than, gulp, the Warriors. What? It’s true!
A lot of that can be credited to their still-strong defense (they gave up the fewest points per possession in the NBA the last two weeks) and a barrage of three-pointers reaching a crest of sorts during Tuesday night’s beat down of the Wizards, when they made 19 of them in a 123-106 win. The Pacers are coming. Cleveland, Chicago, Miami and Atlanta better watch out. Indy is back, and Roy Hibbert, Lance Stephenson and David West have nothing to do with it.
Quick bit of props to C.J. Miles, who is shouldering the power forward duties so Paul George doesn’t have to. His net rating (9.2) is only slightly lower than George’s (9.4) and we love how he’s fixed their small lineup with Ian Mahimni turning into the stout rim protector Indiana envision for sweeting-shooting Myles Turner when they dealt Roy. Sure, Mahimni doesn’t do anything sweet, but that’s part of why Indiana is so dangerous now.
4. Cavaliers 5-2
LeBron’s playing facilitator while Kyrie works to come back. Kevin Love exploded for 20 points in the second quarter earlier this week and J.R. Smith has gotten his groove back despite no Stella and an odd alleged incident from his time in New York acting as his only albatross.
We still think Love gets ignored too much late in games, but LeBron’s at least giving him the touches he appeared to foretell in the preseason. Except, what does the addition of ball-dominant scorer, Kyrie Irving, do? A question for another time.
5. Heat 5-1
Miami has the fourth-best net rating over the last two weeks and that’s primarily because of Hassan Whiteside’s nightly block party. The Heat big man is turning into an elite rim protector, which is a good thing because Miami’s spacing issues — they have less outside shooting than you might imagine — are still a work in process. Goran Dragic isn’t as effective if he can’t get out and run, and Wade, Whiteside and Luol Deng just aren’t the wings to do it with him.
Justise Winslow, on the other hand, is turning into more and more of a steal as the season goes on. This is where the kids insert a crying MJ meme that’s literally lost all meaning for us because we’re old and cranky and the young masses always seem super silly to us.
The Heat have the league’s hardest defense to score on so far this season, which is the inverse of where we thought they’d be before the season began. If they can figure out how to mash Goran, Wade, Gerald Green, Josh McRoberts, Bosh, Deng, Winslow, and Birdman Chris Anderson into some semblance of a first and second unit that can actually score, the Pacers won’t be the only Eastern Conference team sneaking up on Atlanta and Cleveland.
But so far, only a five-man unit without Bosh — Wade, Dragic, Winslow, Whiteside and Deng — is showing a real net positive, so we’re not sure how sustainable that is with their max player on the bench. But they have to find a way to get out and run, without sacrificing that suddenly impermeable defense.
6. Bulls 4-1
Similar to Miami, and somewhat like Indiana, the Bulls aren’t the team we thought they’d be under new coach Fred Hoiberg. The former Iowa State offensive maestro has included just as many transitional drag screens and “QUICK” sets as he did at the college level, but the Bulls were ranked No. 24 in points per possession over the last two weeks and are even worse (No. 25) when you look at the full season.
Thankfully, they’re also defending at a top-five level, which is what explains their 4-1 mark over the last 14 calendar days. But why the hell hasn’t Holberg played Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Doug McDermott, Nikola Mirotic and Joakim Noah more? It’s a five-man group that’s been on the court for about a minute this season, but it could be the key to unlocking their moribund offense without sacrificing that OG, Tom Thibodeau defense.
7. Mavs 6-2
Dirk. Dirk. Dirk. Well, Zaza Pachulia has turned into a steal of a signing over the summer to supplant the loss of DeAndre Jordan. He’s fourth in defensive real plus-minus (DRPM) among centers (try to ignore the fact DJ is No. 2 Mavs fans), and the Mavs are right on the cusp of cracking the top-10 in offensive and defensive rating.
Deron Williams is even starting to resemble a starting point guard again. Wesley Matthews is holding firm despite some shooting ills.
Oh yeah, did you know Dirk is shooting 52 percent from beyond the arc? The Mavs are as frisky as Mark Cuban at an entrepreneurial trade show, and it’ll be interesting who among them, Memphis, Houston, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers can make the jump to elite title contender status with San Antonio and Golden State.
8. Grizzlies 5-2
Speaking of, the Grizzlies are back on track after the addition of Mario Chalmers. For the year, Dave Joerger’s squad is ranked in the league’s bottom third in offensive AND defensive rating, which is not so good, but over the last two weeks that’s significantly improved (No. 11 on offense and No. 8 on defense). Again, we can’t help but note ‘Rio.
He’s got a +12.8 net rating in 119 minutes through six games with them, and no other Grizzlies teammate is even above 6.0. That’s partially because the Grizzlies are playing better as a whole since Miami traded him, but the Grizzlies likely would have righted themselves even if Chalmers hadn’t showed up. Yet again, they’ll finish between No. 3 and No. 6 in the fatiguing West, and then they’ll either advance to the Conference Semifinals, or not. They’re the slightly smaller tiger lying in the grass, waiting for a significant injury to the Warriors, Thunder and Spurs before they pounce on a championship boar.
9. Thunder 4-3
Kevin Durant is back, and the layoff to recover from a strained hamstring treated him just fine. The Thunder went 3-3 in his absence, with Russ doing his Ubermensch routine with KD in street clothes. They’re a borderline all-star team with Durant out of the lineup, and a title contender when he’s healthy.
The NBA and all it’s fans are better off when they’re a title contender and KD is healthy. Despite the loss of Durant, though, they were in the top 10 for net rating over the last two weeks and ranked in the top 10 on both sides of the ball.
For the year, it’s their defense that’s been the issue (they’re No. 18 overall) because they’re scoring near Golden State on a per possession basis. Billy Donvoan will have to figure something out about Enes Kanter, who continues to be one of the worst low-post defenders in the league, despite an oh-so-soft touch around the rim.
But with Russ and Durantula healthy together again, the Thunder will always be at the top of the Western Conference standings.
It’ll fall on Donovan to turn that into postseason success, and home-court in the first couple of rounds is the surest way to facilitate that result. They all better hope Durant and Russ both stay healthy now.
10. Hornets 5-2
Steve Clifford totally deserves the multi-year extension he recently signed because the Hornets have been a really fun team this season, despite whiffing in the draft. They’re No. 4 in offensive rating through the season’s first month and they’ve had the fifth best overall net rating over these past two weeks.
Jeremy Lin has turned into a huge offseason steal, and is perhaps the most underpaid player in the NBA, which is a shocking twist to a tale that’ll get the Disney treatment within the next 20 years.
The Hornets take a ton of three-pointers and shoot them at a good clip. They’re a pleasure to watch with an intelligent coach, and a five-man unit of Kemba Walker, Al Jefferson, Nic Batum, Marvin Williams, and rookie P.J. Hairston that’s leading their team in net rating while playing a spectacular 129 minutes together on the court.
This team could make some noise in the East, and it might very well be deafening for those non-Cleveland squads looking to knock LeBron off.
