NC Power Rankings: Cavaliers Finally Top the League, Shaw-Less Denver Bottom Out

Mar 1, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a play during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Cavaliers 105-103. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome back to the Nylon Calculus power rankings, after our several week All-Star hiatus. There’s a lot to catch up on: two weeks and more worth of games, the trade deadline deals, and a huge collection of teams slumping after their time resting.

The biggest story here is that the Cavaliers have been lighting up the league over their last 30 games at a rate only comparable to the Golden State Warriors…except the Warriors have also been slumping by their standards over the last 15 games or so, so the Cavaliers have really been playing at a truly incomparable rate. Finally, LeBron’s team tops the power rankings.

Lets see how the whole league shakes out.

The Top Ten:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron’s shooting hasn’t been ideal over the last few games — ~28% from 3 and 67% from the FT line — but he’s finally truly back to himself since taking a few weeks off a while ago, shooting 73% from the paint again, scoring like a madman, and passing/assisting at near-career rates. The team has exploded in kind, putting up a historic point differential over their last 25 games. LeBron is probably still the best player in the world, even if he hasn’t played like it long enough to earn MVP.
2. Golden State Warriors: The Dubs are still probably the title favorites (or they should be), but they haven’t played their best basketball over their last 25 games, and especially since the break. Admittedly they’ve only lost to the Cavaliers, Hawks, and…Indiana over their last 10 games, but going 7 for 10 over their last stretch is still below their season average (which is ludicrous), and they’re not beating teams by as much as they were.
3. Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks are still really, really, really, good, but they too have struggled lately by their standards. They lost big to Toronto and to the Grizzlies, but they’ve also barely beaten the likes of Orlando and Miami lately. Their fine (more than fine, they’re awesome) but it’ll take a few more games before they get back into their rhythm.
4. Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers have kept more than afloat with Blake Griffin out thanks to DeAndre Jordan playing like an absolute freaking madman. This team is still a lowkey contender that doesn’t seem to be getting the respect it deserves.
5. Oklahoma City Thunder: It’s hard to get a handle on how good this team actually is with all their injuries…but Russell Westbrook, who has absolutely played like an MVP in the time he’s been on the court, is back tonight, and they’ve finally (at least, most likely) secured a playoff berth for themselves. Their struggle to get a playoff spot, plus their injuries, have probably made people think they’re worse than they are. Even just Russ with the rest of the supporting cast is competitive half the rest of the Western conference playoff bracket.
6. Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies have lost 3 of their last 7…but they’ve mostly lost to the likes of the Clippers and Thunder (the Kings, who had quite the grudge, excepted). They’re still a title contender, waiting for someone in the playoffs to not take them seriously.
7. Houston Rockets: It’s hard to know how good this team actually is. Is Dwight coming back, is he not, is the James-Harden-solo-offense sustainable are all up in the air, but James Harden might very well be the best MVP choice right now and the team is excellent if not elite. They’re a fun, fun team to watch, they just have some obvious holes.
8. Portland Trailblazers: The Blazers are doing pretty well behind a Damian Lillard resurgence. LaMarcus is still probably only 85-90% if that, Batum has struggled, and the bench might not be great (but who knows if Afflalo will help) but they’re still a dangerous team.
9. Utah Jazz: THE JAZZ ARE IN THE TOP 10 HOLY WHAT?!?! SERIOUSLY? Yes. Seriously. Since the trade deadline they’ve been the second best team by point differential and even still elite by win%. It’s totally possible that the difference between Enes Kanter and Rudy Gobert is just that large. All hail the Stifle Tower.
10. San Antonio Spurs: Kawhi Leonard isn’t playing like you’d expect last year’s Finals MVP to, but Tony Parker’s epic struggles are probably the biggest problem with the Spurs. They’re good though, and every Western team is hoping so desperately that they don’t figure it out before the first round.

Other Teams of Interest:

• Milwaukee Bucks: It’s sad that the Bucks have dropped out of the top 10, but probably not a surprise given that Michael Carter-Williams is a massive drop off from Brandon Knight, even if he could be a cornerstone of a league best defense. Here’s hoping the team pulls it together sometime before the playoffs.
• Charlotte Hornets: They improved marginally from last week, but ultimately they’ve performed poorly over their last 10 games or so. Still, the power rankings model — based on their last 25 games — isn’t ready to give up on them. They’re probably pretty bummed that they didn’t dump Lance at the deadline.
• New Orleans Pelicans: They pounded out a 5 game win streak without Anthony Davis to stay interestingly close to the Thunder for the 8th playoff seed, but who knows if this is legit or an anomaly, and if they’ll keep up the performance with Davis back into the fold. Interestingly, they’re way better without Jrue Holiday, who is out for the season, so maybe.
• Dallas Mavericks: The Mavs have struggled under various injuries — first Rondo and now Parsons and Tyson Chandler — but for all the improvement their defense has seen with Rondo, they appear to be just a generally worse team over their last large sample of games. They don’t seem to know what they want to do, but if they want to be a threat in the playoffs they need to figure it out soon.
• Boston Celtics: Since getting Isaiah Thomas, the Celtics have been a lot better (3 game win streak) and — maybe more importantly — wayyyy more fun. Expect them to rise in these rankings even more over the next few weeks.
• Toronto Raptors: The Raptors have just, just barely even had a positive point differential over their last large sample of games, and they’ve been trending downwards, at that. They’re reminiscent of the Bulls in the sense that they’ll rip off a great win every once in a while (they’re decimation of the Hawks is a great example) but they just can’t put together a great run otherwise.
• Miami Heat: The Heat are a lot better with Goran Dragic, which isn’t a surprise since Dragic is a very, very good basketball player. They’re hunting that playoff spot pretty hard, but it’s hard to know if they’ll get it without Chris Bosh. It’s a bummer that even with Dragic, (mostly) Wade, Deng, and Whiteside they can’t really put together any streaks, but their bench is just untenably bad.
• Phoenix Suns: There’s a certain karmic justice in the Suns falling just behind the Heat in the first rankings post-deadline. Brandon Knight could be really good in that system, but he’s reallyyyyy struggllleeeedddd in his first few games with the team, and they miss Thomas’ spark off of the bench. It’s sad to see them drop out of the playoff race so rapidly.
• Washington Wizards: Jesus the Wizards are so bad suddenly. They can’t win anything at all. They lost to the freaking Sixers after a huge losing streak. They look confused and inept. Whittman’s probably sweating all the time right about now.
• Denver Nuggets: It’s fitting that the Nuggets fired Shaw right as I finished up writing these rankings. The Nuggets are atrocious, and they’ve been a borderline joke since the All-Star break, losing by margins equivalent with the Sixers at their very worst. You’d have to imagine that they’ll get at least somewhat better than this eventually (maybe even the Shaw firing with inspire them!) but good god this has been an atrocious team.