Official /r/nba Power Rankings #3 (11.29.2021) - Cyber Monday

26/30 rankers reporting this week. /R/NBA's Power Rankings are published every two weeks which is a bit different from most rankings. Other than that we rank the teams the same way as our competition. If write ups are left blank the team rep decided not to submit. We encourage any user to fill in the blanks in the comment section.

#	Team	Δ	Record	Comment
1	Warriors	--	18-2	Warriors have beat more teams at .500 or more than they have below .500: BKN, CHI, LAC, POR, CHA, ATL, MIN, CLE, PHI and LAL. Curry is in MVP form. Over the past two weeks Wiggins has put up 21/4 on 63 TS%. Poole looks to be out of his slump. Looney has looked sneaky good and Draymond might be DPOY front runner. The bench productivity has been passed around offensively speaking. Leading scorers by game off the bench: Kuminga (7) @ BKN, Bjelica (14) @ CLE, Bjelica (14) @ DET, OPJ (15) vs TOR, JTA (13) vs PHI, JTA (8) vs POR, OPJ (18) @ LAC. This mini series against the Suns should be fun.
2	Suns	+1	17-3	This sub loves piling on the Lakers, but why is no one talking about the defending Western Conference Champion Suns being 1-3? I didn’t realize until now that the Suns are currently 1-3. why is no-one talking about this? They lost to a mediocre Kings team a couple days ago and nearly lost by 30 pts to the Trailblazers with a struggling Damian Lillard. And from what I know they’re just about fully healthy. For anyone actively watching the Suns this season, what’s the main reason for the early season struggles? You would think they’d have a bunch of momentum to start the season after their amazing Finals run.
3	Nets	-1	14-6	By all accounts, the Nets have played pretty average basketball. The eye test alone has showed that Harden is a very inconsistent scorer and our role players outside of Mills and Aldridge can give us 0 points on any given night. However, through all this, they sit at 14-6 and atop the Eastern conference. They are starting to beat up on bad teams rather than keeping it close, an issue that has plagued us since last year, but they are also now losing with regularity to elite teams. Last year, the Nets were among the best against top teams but it hasn't come together with the extended absences of Joe Harris, Claxton, Bruce Brown, and of course... Kyrie Irving. They will need James Harden to step his scoring up and finish better at the rim, he is having his worst finishing season of his career due to his lack of burst to the rim - hopefully he can continue to condition himself back to his normal self.
4	Bucks	+10	13-8	On a 7-0 run since our last rankings, the Bucks have been on a tear despite still not being totally healthy. Giannis is putting himself back in the MVP convo, while Pat, Bobby, and Grayson continue to outplay their contracts and fill their roles perfectly, and Bud continues to tweak the offensive and defensive schemes for the better. The biggest news out of the Cream City has been the signing of 4-Time All-Star Center DeMarcus Cousins. Despite Cousins' decline, this excites Bucks fans as Brook Lopez is still out indefinitely with a back injury, which has forced Giannis to practically become a full-time center. While Giannis' increased in-game experience at the 5 may be a blessing in disguise, as it will help him in small-ball closing lineups (he's improved his C play a lot already this season), bringing in a big body to soak up some of the minutes (and punishment) at the 5 has been seen as a necessity by many fans if Brook won't be back soon, which seems to be the case. If Cousins can show off some of his offensive skill and move his feet just well enough to play drop-scheme-defense, this could prove to be a big signing for the reigning champs.
5	Jazz	+1	13-7	Poor late game execution has prevented the Jazz from currently being on a 7 game win streak as the team has recently lost games up 4 with 0:30 remaining and up 4 with 0:40 remaining. The team has seemingly failed to play string together three consecutive games of their best basketball but have done enough to enter this weeks power rankings with the 4th best WL record in the NBA and the best overall ORTG too. There isn’t a whole lot else to talk about the Jazz who are effectively meeting expectations with their standing in the league, no career best years for their players and no dramatic storylines.
6	Heat	+2	13-7	After the hot start to the season, the Heat have cooled off a little but they're still doing a good job of not losing by huge margins. Not much to celebrate at the moment except Herro's continued excellence in consistency and Duncan Robinson being on a scoring streak of 10+ points a night (only 3 games atm). It feels weird to focus only on these two but everyone else has been as expected for the most part. Our bench will be an issue if Herro cools down or if something happens injury-wise so it'd be nice if there were a way to address that before it becomes an issue. Whether that's by players like Max Strus and Gabe Vincent improving in consistency and performance or by trading down the line for the necessary reinforcements. It's a shame Markieff Morris is still out with injury because he'd be helpful, but outside of that everything is smooth sailing so far.
7	Bulls	--	13-8	And breathe. The Bulls came out of a long stretch without Nikola Vucevic still in Real Contender positioning. While fatigue did catch up to us leading to two baffling losses to the Pacers and Rockets, the Bulls keep proving themselves to be legit even in defeat. DeMar and Zach are an elite scoring duo. Lonzo and Caruso have not slowed down on D. The bench is full of distinct plug-and-play specialists. Barring a sudden McCaskey-esque meltdown in leadership, put down Chicago for a playoff spot this year.
8	Wizards	-3	13-7	The past two weeks have been out of a scene of a horror movie – kind of. The Washington Wizards have been the person that is getting chased down, their leg gets slashed, you think its over. But then they get back up and run for a bit. Somehow, they’re not dead yet. Bradley Beal has returned to his old form – which has been both great and bad. Wes Unseld Jr has relied on his franchise guy much more in recent weeks – which has been great in victories and concerning when they aren’t able to pull it together. Their search for consistency around the perimeter remains their biggest concern – with Davis Bertans having worse three-point attempts than a student driver. But their ability to not succumb to a three-game losing streak speaks to just how their talent can fix their woes. Daniel Gafford remains of the best rim protectors that the NBA media doesn’t like to talk about, Montrezl Harrel continues to be excellent, and the rest of the off-season additions are continuing to be steals. In a season where any win sort of feels like icing on the top of the cake given their amazing start, it is still a good time to be a Wizards fan.
9	Hornets	+7	13-9	The Hornets continue to win games with electric offense. As of Nov 29, the Hornets are the highest scoring offense in the NBA. You have to say Coach James Borrego has gotten the most out of this group of players, and give tons of credit to the player development staff he’s put together. If this team wants to graduate from fringe playoff team to contender, though, it’s going to have to be done with defense. Getting this team to defend at a high level consistently will be the true test of this coaching staff. We have the athletes to do it, we just have to put it all together over the next few months. It’s the most exciting Hornets team that most Hornets fans have ever seen.
10	Clippers	-1	11-9	I'm not sure you could ask more of Paul George, who's averaging 25-7-5. The trouble now is the inconsistency in the other players. Any night, 5+ players could score over 20, but some nights none of them do, and shots struggle to fall. On the bright side, with 3 center and a bunch of big men, the clippers are well positioned against a lot of teams for once.
11	Hawks	+11	11-10	The Hawks had the second longest winning streak in the NBA before laying a dud against the Knicks in what could turn out to be a very costly game. Bogdon Bogdonvic sprained his ankle and will be out at least two weeks and Cam Reddish injured his wrist and could be out for an extended period as well. What was previously maybe the deepest wing rotation in the league is now down to just Kevin Huerter and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot for the time being. On the bright side of the injury front, Clint Capela finally looks like himself again, averaging 15 points and 15 rebounds over the Hawks last 8 games. Unfortunately, he can't single-handedly turn the Hawks defense around. Over the Hawks 7 game win streak they were winning by an average of over 17 points per game, but that's only because they currently have the 3rd best offense in the NBA. If they want to keep winning, they need to start playing some defense.
12	Mavericks	-1	10-8	The Mavs played 3 games without Luka against the Clippers and Suns, but they never truly felt overmatched in those games until the 4th quarters. The Mavs' need for a rim-pressuring ball handler continues to grow in these losses, especially with the loss of Jalen Brunson to a foot injury. Porzingis continues to play well, being very good on offense and average on defense, which is a major improvement from the Porzingis we saw last year. As the team continues to click, and Bullock hopefully normalizes his numbers, the Mavs will become more dangerous
13	Knicks	+2	11-9	Fact of the matter is that we seem to be playing to the competition's level. We step up against good teams and step down against bad teams. Tgats the sign of a squad whose discipline/talent ratio is unsteady and unbalanced. A lot of our big men and guards have been injured recently, which has finally given the young fellas room to breathe and play. Grimes has been solid, Obi and IQ speak for themselves. Jericho Sims has been really good as a stop-gap measure. However. The underlying issues are still there. Kemba Walker no longer has the knack to be relied upon game in game out. Randle has to re-learn to play selflessly. Mitchell Robinson has to be more disciplined on defense. We'll get there. Fuck the Hawks.
14	76ers	-4	10-10
15	TWolves	+11	10-10	Wolves are back. Winners of 6 of their last 7 and making waves off the back of the defense. An aggressive style currently leading the league in forced turnovers. With that and their offense rounding out with their shooters coming around the team looks primed for at least a play in berth.
16	Celtics	+2	11-10	December will be a do or die month for the Celtics. Their schedule for December has them going up against the 76ers, Bucks, Clippers, and Suns each twice, as well as matchups against the Lakers, Warriors, Jazz, Blazers, Cavs, and Timberwolves. Come January 1st, the Celtics could very well be closer to the top of the lottery than they are a playoff spot in the East. I say that, and they'll probably end up going above .500 for the month somehow and come out looking strong and ready to make a push into the new year and towards the All-Star break. This team is weird. At this point, nothing would surprise me.
17	Trail Blazers	+3	10-10	If only the Blazers could play all their games at home! 20 games into the season, they are 9-1 at home and 1-9 on the road. It's hard to explain the difference, and part of me thinks it's due to random chance more than anything. The Blazers are just incredibly inconsistent right now; and if I'm being cynical, I might say it has more to do with the innate roster construction more than some mental block on the road. On the plus side, Lillard has definitely improved, though even that praise isn't emphatic. He still doesn't look like he did last year.
18	Nuggets	-14	9-10
19	Lakers	-6	11-11	The Lakers are a mess.The first quarter of the season has been as horrible as one could have imagined for the Lakers, they are a below .500 team and are looking nothing like playoff contenders, let alone title contenders. They have a record of 2-5 against teams above. 500.The injuries are no longer an excuse as they almost have their entire roster back healthy with the exception of Ariza and Nunn, the team has struggled since the preseason and its beginning to look like this might be the identity of this team. Frank Vogel is definitely on the hot seat with his questionable rotations, and lack of offensive schemes but there seems to much more issues with this team than just that. The team needs to do some soul-searching and put together a string of wins, if not, the roster is surely going to see some significant changes.
20	Cavaliers	-8	10-10	We’re 1-5 since the last rankings, but it’s as good as a 1-5 streak can look, with competitive losses against PHX, GSW, BKN(x2), and BOS, all with an injured Evan Mobley. This team is winning the games they’re supposed to, and keeping up with strong teams while the offense continues to adjust to the loss of Collin Sexton. With everyone else healthy again, continue to expect good defense and tight matchups from the Cavs, so long as Darius Garland continues to perform at a high level (22 PPG/ 6.6 APG) since the Sexton injury.
21	Grizzlies	-2	10-10	This is just a good and honest .500 basketball team. I'm not sure what else to say. Ja's injury scarred us all, and while it appers he'll be back in a few weeks the team will have to step up in a big way. Luckily for us we literally can't go a game below .500. It's like the full moon for a saiyan, Dillon Brooks turns into the Maple Mamba, Jaren remembers he's a big dude and attacks the basket. We shoot damn near 50% from 3 and find comfort in a win to bring us back to .500. At some point the team will have to look at the coaching staff to figure out why we can't get over this hump. But for now, we'll take ownership of being a good and honest .500 basketball team.
22	Pacers	-1	9-13	Indiana has yet to find any real consistency in the early stages of this year. After blowing out the Bulls, they turn around and blow multiple double digit leads against the Lakers. Blow out the Raptors, turn around and barely show up against Milwaukee. It's clear there is talent and potential on this team, but until the Pacers can actually start stacking wins, there isn't a ton to be excited about. Indiana will now face 8 teams in a row that are currently in playoff positions.
23	Raptors	-6	9-12	Raptors struggled heavily throughout the west coast road trip, going just 2-5 since the last power rankings. Injuries to key players such as OG, Birch, and now Gary Trent Jr., have forced us to rely on bench players that have failed to step up to the plate. Overall our bench scores the 3rd lowest points per game of any team this year, which is abysmal in a year where they’re needed more than usual. Even our starters aren’t performing to the level required - while siakam hasn’t necessarily been bad, he’s scoring under 18 points per game, and has had games in which he’s struggled heavily on the defensive end. Although the defensive struggles are certainly a major team issue at the moment, not simply a result of siakam. Overall I’d like to see this team execute their defensive scheme better, or evaluate if this defensive scheme is appropriate for the personnel. With our “long boi” lineups, switching and throwing doubles, on paper, should be the right scheme, but perhaps we need to rely more on man to man defence.
24	Spurs	+1	5-13	Although the Spurs have played several games competitively in the last few weeks, the cracks are beginning to show as well as several of the team's losses have shifted from close losses to proper blowouts. Vassell and Murray continue to be consistent bright spots while Poeltl hasn't missed a beat since returning from his bout with COVID. Keldon also has his fair share of solid-to-great games, including this insane dunk over Grant Williams in a W against the Celtics last week. The Spurs draw the Wizards, @Blazers, @Warriors, @Suns, Knicks, Nuggets, Nuggets and Pelicans over the next two weeks--another tough slice of the schedule for us but hopefully we can make our way out with 3-4 wins.
25	Kings	-2	8-13	Things are slowly looking up for the kangz. Luke Walton was sacked, Marvin Bagley came back, and we beat the lakers in triple overtime! Metu proved to be a revalation, but unfortunately it looks like he will be benched in the near future under alvin gentry. As soon as our shooting splits return to normal (43% from the field and 30% from 3 point land over the last two weeks) we will be back!. :copium
26	Thunder	-2	6-13	Over the past two weeks, Oklahoma City has hit tanking Nirvana:a stretch of games in which we've performed admirably against good teams but ended up with a streak of L's anyway. That streak will be "tested" against Houston tonight, however. One cause for concern in OKC this season has been Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's sharp decrease in shooting percentages, both from 3 and overall. We can hope this decrease is a result of being forced to take more bad shots than ever before due to the team being bad, but it is worth tracking regardless.
27	Pelicans	+2	5-17	And even, and even if we win, if we win, HAH! Even if we win! Even if we play so far over our heads that our noses bleed for a week to ten days. Even if God in Heaven above comes down and points his hand at our side of the field. Even if every BI, JV and Herb held hands together and prayed for us to win, it just wouldn't matter, because all the really good looking Lowry's would still go out with the guys from the Heat because they've got all the culture! It just doesn't matter if we win or we lose. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER! (P.S: Graham wants our name back Utah, y'all don't play Jazz)
28	Pistons	-1	4-16	The most notable part of the last couple weeks was Stewart getting bloodied by the elbow of LBJ. We are the worst shooting team in the league overall and from deep. Not one of our young guys (Stew, Killian, Bey, Cade) are meeting or exceeding expectations. We seem to put together 2 1/2 to 3 good quarters, but then shit the bed with a horrendous quarter. Hard to know if it's purely a talent deficit or coaching, but my money's on both.
29	Rockets	+1	3-16	In the past couple games, we have a 100% win rate (and that's without John "#1 Option" Wall), which by my calculations puts us on track for a 66 win season. The timing of these two wins couldn't have been better for Silas, who was under heavy fire in the media last week. That being said, many still question if he is the right guy to capture the potential of Sengun and Green.
30	Magic	-2	4-17	The refs don't give the Magic any respect and the guys are starting to grow increasingly frustrated. Cole is hurt, Ross is hurt, Bamba is hurt and the bench is atrocious. It'll probably get better when Isaac and Fultz get back and we're not playing third stringers but how much longer that's gonna be no one knows. The schedule is pretty tough through the new year so maybe they'll be back once it lightens up a bit.