NBA Power Rankings: Warriors, Spurs and everyone else

Here are the latest NBA Power Rankings from the first post-All-Star Game week of action.

The majority of the NBA season is gone and, at this point, we can tell who the real contenders are. There is a case to be made for a few teams that can make a run if everything falls into place, but the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs have separated themselves into a tier of their own.

That, and much more, in this week’s edition of our NBA Power Rankings. Let’s go.

team. 41. Steph Curry and company soundly toppled the Hawks on the road on Monday to further cement their spot at the top. Golden State is the first team to 50 wins this season, and they have thoroughly dominant against the best of the best whenever tested. Let’s just agree that they are a complete juggernaut.. (50-5). Previous: . Golden State Warriors. 1

Previous: . San Antonio Spurs. 2. team. 29. The Spurs aren’t the Warriors, but they are (very) close. In fact, San Antonio boasts the best net rating in the NBA and if not for a 30-point (!) loss to Golden State earlier in the year, there would be a real argument for Pop’s team in the top spot.. (47-9)

team. 156. It was a weird week for the Cavs, who housed the Thunder on the road, only to come home and lose to the Pistons in Ohio. There is no shame in losing to what is an improved Detroit team, though, and Cleveland remains the class of the East by a wide margin.. (40-15). Previous: . Cleveland Cavaliers. 3

4. team. 149. It has been a rough start to the “second half” for OKC, as they dropped two games in a row including a lopsided defeat at the hands of the Cavs. On balance, the Thunder might be a better team that Cleveland (that’s what happens when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook exist), but they have a far more difficult road ahead with two behemoths in front of them out West.. (40-16). Previous: . Oklahoma City Thunder

77. The Clippers managed to get a split this week when playing the Spurs and Warriors, and that is an unequivocal win. In the long run, this team will need Blake Griffin operating at his best to make a legitimate run at the title, but it has been pretty incredible how well the Clippers have played without him in the lineup recently.. (37-19). Previous: . Los Angeles Clippers. 5. team

The Cavs are the best team in the East, but most people haven’t noticed that Toronto has produced real separation in the battle for that second spot. Toronto blew through the Knicks on the road on Monday and their prowess away from the Air Canada Centre has been impressive.. (37-18). Previous: . Toronto Raptors. 6. team. 81

team. 110. This ranking comes with a caveat that the Heat can’t possibly sustain this pace if Chris Bosh is gone for a long period of time. Still, Miami has rolled to three straight wins after the break, including a win at Atlanta and an overtime victory over the red-hot Pacers.. (32-24). Previous: . Miami Heat. 7

8. team. 100. There is zero shame in losing to the Heat on the road right now, and that is the only recent blemish for Indiana. Paul George is the center of everything the Pacers do, but the Myles Turner-Ian Mahinmi pairing has been heaven sent for Frank Vogel up front.. (30-26). Previous: . Indiana Pacers

Portland Trail Blazers. 9. team. 34. It might seem aggressive to insert the Blazers into the top 10, but they have been scorching of late. Portland has five straight and 10 of their last 11 games, and during that run, Damian Lillard and company own the best net rating (+12.4 points per 100) in the NBA. No, that’s not a misprint.. (29-27). Previous:

18. Boston was dealt a “schedule” loss on Monday night, dropping a game to the Wolves on the road just one night after beating the Nuggets in Denver. The Celtics have still been quite good in recent days, though, and they are incredibly tough to beat given their quality depth on a nightly basis.. (33-25). Previous: . Boston Celtics. 10. team

team. 118. Quin Snyder’s team is 20-15 when Rudy Gobert plays this season, and Utah is looking more like the team we all expected at the outset of the year. The Jazz also made a strong (and underrated) acquisition in picking up a steady point guard in Shelvin Mack.. (27-28). Previous: . Utah Jazz. 11

It is always nice to start the second half with back-to-back wins and the addition of Courtney Lee should do wonders in helping Charlotte’s spacing. The Hornets haven’t quite earned the trust of everyone around the league, but if they can continue this defensive level and improve their shooting, look out.. (29-26). Previous: . Charlotte Hornets. 12. team. 170

211. This is probably too high for a team playing without Marc Gasol, but Memphis has won 7 of 10 and the backslide hasn’t arrived yet. The Lance Stephenson trade (read: the move to get a first round pick) was a coup and the Grizzlies remain well-coached and dangerous on a nightly basis.. (32-23). Previous: . Memphis Grizzlies. 13. team

14. team. 64. All Stan Van Gundy’s team did was lose its first two games after the All-Star break, but Detroit toppled Cleveland on Monday and that is the team that scares some in the Eastern Conference. Tobias Harris remains a divisive figure, but the Pistons have star power, a quality coach and nice overall talent.. (28-29). Previous: . Detroit Pistons

(30-27). Previous: . Dallas Mavericks. 15. team. 79. David Lee probably isn’t the answer in Dallas, but Rick Carlisle is. It defies logic to look at this roster and see a playoff team, but Carlisle has done wonders again and Dirk is still churning.

16. team. 125. Remember when the Hawks were burning through the Eastern Conference on the way to 60 wins a year ago? This is a very different experience for Atlanta, and Mike Budenholzer’s team has lost five out of six games at the time of this post. Things are so ugly for the Hawks right now that missing the playoffs is a plausible outcome.. (31-27). Previous: . Atlanta Hawks

17. team. 169. The Rockets now have luxury tax issues after a once-completed trade with the Pistons fell through, but with Dwight Howard around, Houston is still dangerous. The personalities don’t exactly mesh with precision, but the upside of the Rockets is downright scary as we saw in last year’s playoffs.. (28-28). Previous: . Houston Rockets

18. team. 24. Without Jimmy Butler in the mix, it is tough to see Chicago maintaining their current place in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. However, the Bulls did knock off the Raptors this week, and Fred Hoiberg has looked like a miracle worker at times.. (29-26). Previous: . Chicago Bulls

New Orleans Pelicans. 19. team. 69. New Orleans elected (somewhat inexplicably) to hang on to their veterans and that certainly helps them in a ranking designed to measure this season alone. It was almost certainly the wrong move long-term, but if Anthony Davis hangs more 55-20 games, it won’t matter. He’s that good.. (22-33). Previous:

(25-29). Previous: . Washington Wizards. 20. team. 142. The Wizards should never be this low, but Randy Wittman’s team has been wretched this season. Fortunately, there have been signs of life lately, and Washington did add real talent in the form of Markieff Morris. We’ll see if it reflects in the win column.

73. Denver hasn’t performed well after the trade deadline, losing both of its games, but the Nuggets still have a positive net rating over the last 10 games. Their young players are oozing with potential and the Nuggets have a big move coming in the near future. For now, they are (just) fun to watch.. (22-34). Previous: . Denver Nuggets. 21. team

22. team. 38. The Magic inexplicably gave Tobias Harris way for less than his market value, but in terms of this season, Orlando might actually be better with Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings. Alas, the big picture is more important, but that’s not what we’re doing here. Hurray for a playoff “push”!. (24-30). Previous: . Orlando Magic

23. team. 89. The Bucks looked very good in an overtime road win over Atlanta this week, and Milwaukee is beginning to gel in an encouraging way. Sadly, it took far too long, but with Greg Monroe as a bench piece to carry that unit offensively, Jason Kidd may have found something.. (24-33). Previous: . Milwaukee Bucks

27. The Knicks have lost 11 of 13 games, and that is why they land this low despite a more respectable record than most teams in this range. New York has struggled mightily in the past month or so, and visions of the playoffs have evaporated to the point where the team has a new head coach. Oh, by the way, Kurt Rambis is not the answer.. (24-34). Previous: . New York Knicks. 24. team

Sacramento Kings. 25. team. 84. George Karl is still employed! The Kings have won two straight games! I don’t know why I’m excited because the Kings are a mess!. (23-31). Previous:

86. A home win over the Celtics is a nice building block for Minnesota. Sam Mitchell certainly hasn’t maximized his talent this year, but on the bright side, the Wolves are loaded for the future and Karl-Anthony Towns is a generational star.. (18-39). Previous: . Minnesota Timberwolves. 26. team

The Nets are sinfully boring and everybody knows it. Brooklyn does have some quality veterans (headlined by Brook Lopez), but if this was a future power ranking… best of luck.. (15-41). Previous: . Brooklyn Nets. 27. team. 147

The Sixers are horrific from a talent standpoint, but they play hard and have been much better lately. Brett Brown is a wizard of some sort.. (8-47). Previous: . Philadelphia 76ers. 28. team. 93

Somehow, the Lakers own the worst net rating in the NBA over the course of the full season. That isn’t at all indicative of the overall talent level, so that leads us to the head coach. Byron Scott is the worst of the worst in that particular field.. (11-47). Previous: . Los Angeles Lakers. 29. team. 20

66. It is hard to overstate just how bad the Suns have been recently, and that is illustrated with 12 straight losses. At least they fleeced Washington (at least to some degree) by procuring a first-round pick in exchange for Markieff Morris.. (14-43). Previous: . Phoenix Suns. 30. team

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