Just two weeks ago, a “here we go again” vibe was circling the Brooklyn Nets. Kenny Atkinson’s team lost eight games in a row to fall to 8-18 on the (still young) season and, considering the recent past for the franchise, there weren’t many NBA observers were stunned by the development. After all, Brooklyn failed to reach even 30 wins in each of the past three seasons and, despite rave reviews for their off-season performance, this is still a roster largely filled with rather anonymous pieces from a league-wide perspective.
Since then, however, the Nets have reeled off five consecutive victories and they have done so in impressive fashion. Brooklyn’s winning streak does include triumphs over the Knicks and Hawks but, in the same breath, the Nets also toppled the Raptors, Wizards and Sixers along the way, generating wildly impressive offense in doing so. Over that five-game stretch, Brooklyn posted an NBA-best 119.2 offensive rating (with 61.9 percent true shooting) and, in short, flashed some of the intrigue that die-hards have had with the team’s culture in recent months.
Five-game samples can be tricky, simply because almost every NBA squad will produce a positive showing somewhere over the course of a full regular season. Still, the Nets should not be seen as a flash in the pan to any degree, as Brooklyn now sports a -0.7 net rating for the season, aligning with teams like the Pistons, Spurs and Wolves. Defense is still a challenge for this group, as they allow 110.7 points per 100 possessions, but Atkinson is often lauded for his offensive aptitude and that is coming through to the tune of a top-10 unit in the league on that end of the floor.
From an individual perspective, Spencer Dinwiddie and Jarrett Allen are receiving due attention, as both players have performed at a high level and Dinwiddie did enough to ink a lucrative contract extension. It isn’t a two-man show, however, as Joe Harris continues to play well in a supporting role and even the oft-maligned D’Angelo Russell is enjoying the best overall performance (18.0 points, 6.0 assists, 17.8 PER) of his career.
There is, of course, a long way to go before entertaining the thought of Brooklyn as a playoff contender in the East but, at the moment, the Nets are just two games out of the No. 8 spot. Considering the level of play from the team’s competition, it suddenly doesn’t feel so crazy that Brooklyn might hang around for a while and, with that in mind, let’s find out where the Nets stack up in this week’s DIME power rankings.
1. Golden State Warriors (21-10, Last week — 1st)
There are weeks in which the No. 1 spot is an easy decision. This is not one of those weeks. In fact, we’re pretty much just running to the default to avoid disaster, as the Warriors are the safe choice after a blowout win over the Grizzlies on Monday. They’re also… the Warriors.
2. Denver Nuggets (20-9, Last week — 7th)
Since dropping a game in Atlanta under explainable circumstances, the Nuggets have been lights-out. Denver toppled both Toronto and Oklahoma City this week and, while both were at home, those are impressive wins.
3. Indiana Pacers (20-10, Last week — 9th)
Seven-game winning streaks aren’t created equal and, if we’re being honest, Indiana’s current mark has come against not-so-great competition. The Pacers did knock off the Bucks during this stretch, though, and that propels Nate McMillan’s team into the top three. They’re playing great basketball.
4. Milwaukee Bucks (20-9, Last week — 2nd)
As Christmas arrives, the Bucks are still leading the NBA in net rating by a comfortable margin. Considering that performance arrives against a top-10 schedule in terms of difficulty, it can’t be overstated how impressive this group has been over 29 games.
5. Toronto Raptors (23-9, Last week — 3rd)
The Raptors boast the NBA’s best record by 1.5 games but there has to be some level of punishment in the rankings for back-to-back losses. It would be silly to worry about Toronto but their offense was kind of a mess in their most recent defeat in Denver.
6. Oklahoma City Thunder (19-10, Last week — 4th)
There was a bit of a tussle on Monday night but the Thunder cruised to a home win over Chicago anyway. If nothing else, Oklahoma City’s league-leading defense provides a heck of a baseline on a nightly basis. Everything simply depends on whether Russell Westbrook, Paul George and company can execute consistent and effective offense.
7. Boston Celtics (18-11, Last week — 5th)
Boston finally saw their eight-game winning streak snapped and, given when these rankings drop, the Celtics haven’t had a chance to avenge what wasn’t a great performance in Detroit. If anything, this perch is too low for Boston but there’s time to correct that.
8. Philadelphia 76ers (20-12, Last week — 6th)
The optics of losing three of four aren’t great but Philly was without Jimmy Butler in half of those contests. It would be inaccurate to say the Sixers were playing all that well at the moment but there is enough safety in the overall profile to avoid big-time worry.
9. Houston Rockets (15-14, Last week — 23rd)
We skewered the Rockets in this space one week ago and, since then, Houston is 4-0. There is nothing overly shocking about a good team breaking out of a long slump but each win came against at least a pseudo-playoff contender in the West and that accounts for the massive jump here.
10. Los Angeles Lakers (18-12, Last week — 8th)
Losing to the suddenly resurgent Rockets is fine but the Lakers dropping an 18-point decision in Washington isn’t great. Quietly, Los Angeles is in for an interesting test in Brooklyn on Wednesday that could reveal a lot about both teams.
11. Portland Trail Blazers (17-13, Last week — 11th)
Three losses. Two wins. Two losses. Two wins. That is the pattern over the last nine games for the Blazers and the up-and-down nature of this squad is reflected a bit in their overall mark. Still, we’re in the uptick at the moment after victories over the Clippers and Raptors.
12. Los Angeles Clippers (17-13, Last week — 10th)
If you’re a pessimist, you would point to the fact that the Clippers are riding a four-game losing streak. If you’re an optimist, you would certainly note that each defeat came at the hands of a playoff contender. What we know, however, is that Los Angeles isn’t playing very well right now and needs to shake out of this funk to avoid a larger drop next week.
13. San Antonio Spurs (16-15, Last week — 17th)
It is extremely Spurs to see a team that has won five of six with the lone loss coming to the Bulls… at home. That result is an ugly one but, on the whole, San Antonio has come alive, especially on the defensive end.
14. Dallas Mavericks (15-13, Last week — 12th)
Falling short against the Kings at home isn’t as bad as it usually since the Kings are actually solid. With that out of the way, the real crime for Dallas was losing to Phoenix before that.
15. New Orleans Pelicans (15-16, Last week — 18th)
The Pelicans followed an encouraging win over the Thunder with a not-so-encouraging home loss to the Heat. In fact, New Orleans has alternated between wins and losses on a game-to-game basis over their last 11 (!) results and that makes it very tough to judge what’s happening there.
16. Memphis Grizzlies (16-14, Last week — 14th)
An ugly stretch was almost certainly going to happen and it’s here for the Grizzlies. Memphis is 1-5 in their last six games and, while most of those losses are explainable in that they came against good competition, the slide does bring questions about the team’s viability as a playoff contender.
17. Minnesota Timberwolves (14-16, Last week — 16th)
Minnesota recently finished a road trip with an 0-4 mark and that took the wind out of their post-Jimmy Butler resurgence. Fortunately for the Wolves, these rankings are timed to hit after they righted the ship with a lopsided win over the Kings. That helped them avoid a big drop.
18. Sacramento Kings (16-14, Last week — 15th)
Sacramento gets dinged for losing by 23 to the Wolves and that just makes sense. With that said, the first 30 games exceeded any rational expectation and it is more fun to watch the Kings than at any point in a very long time.
19. Brooklyn Nets (13-18, Last week — 24th)
The Nets aren’t suddenly awesome but we’ll reward them for playing very well in the recent past. Somebody at the bottom of the East needs to be shrouded in optimism.
20. Miami Heat (13-16, Last week — 19th)
Are the Heat coming alive? The last two results — wins over the Pelicans and Grizzlies on the road — may indicate that Miami is (finally) turning the corner. Whether that’s true remains to be seen.
21. Detroit Pistons (14-14, Last week — 20th)
The Pistons are 22nd in offense and 12th on defense. The Pistons have a -0.8 net rating. The Pistons have a .500 record after 28 games. Doesn’t that sound like the Pistons?
22. Utah Jazz (14-15, Last week — 21st)
Most people believe the Jazz will turn it around but it just isn’t happening yet. Utah has lost four of five and, while three of the defeats were easily explainable, losing to Orlando (even on a neutral floor) is not.
23. Charlotte Hornets (14-15, Last week — 13th)
Losing two in a row, on its own, isn’t always brutal. Charlotte’s most recent defeats came in ugly fashion, however, as one loss came to the lowly Knicks and the other arrived by 28 points at the hands of the Lakers. The Hornets just can’t get ahead.
24. Orlando Magic (14-15, Last week — 25th)
The good? Orlando swept a back-to-back in Mexico City. The bad? Both games were virtually unwatchable. The takeaway? It’s possible that those games told us exactly nothing about the Magic.
25. Washington Wizards (12-18, Last week — 22nd)
This is the end of a tier, as the five teams below Washington in the standings are four games (or more) clear of everyone else in the race for ping-pong balls. The problem, though, is that the Wizards are actually trying to win. Maybe Trevor Ariza will help in that effort.
26. Phoenix Suns (7-24, Last week — 29th)
It’s not great for their tanking effort but the Suns have quietly won three in a row. That shouldn’t absolve them from a wildly absurd trade process this week but, on the floor itself, there is some improvement happening.
27. New York Knicks (9-23, Last week — 26th)
New York allowed Phoenix to score 128 in Madison Square Garden on Monday. Because the Knicks have been feistier than expected, they’ll get a bit of a pass for that, but this is an awful defensive basketball team at the moment.
28. Cleveland Cavaliers (7-23, Last week — 28th)
Since a 2-14 start that prompted all kinds of shade in their direction, the Cavs have been merely bad instead of objectionably terrible. That’s a difference worth noting, even if Cleveland isn’t playing all that well.
29. Chicago Bulls (7-24, Last week — 30th)
Things are still bad in Chicago but, if you want to be optimistic, the Bulls did win (a road game!) this week. That’s enough to sneak out of the No. 30 spot and that might feel like a victory in itself.
30. Atlanta Hawks (6-23, Last week — 27th)
The Hawks have lost seven of eight and, even with the victory coming against a (very) good team in Denver, it’s tough to spin Atlanta’s recent play in a positive direction. In fact, the Hawks allowed a 123.2 defensive rating over the course of three losses this week. Yikes.
