NBA Power Rankings - Week 3

Your NBA power rankings for week 3:

*Team records up to date as of posting time.

Tier 1

1. Los Angeles Lakers (1) 7-0: Look unbelievable. Undefeated, best in point differential and points per game. Faced a relatively soft schedule to this point. Need to see what they look like in Denver this Thursday.


2. Boston Celtics (2) 6-1: Rondo averaging a ridiculous 14.7 assists per game. "Big Baby" is getting significant minutes off the bench and is playing well. Not blowing teams out, but you wouldn't expect them to.

Tier 2

3. New Orleans Hornets (9) 6-0: Deserve another big jump in the rankings. Undefeated with impressive collection of wins over Milwaukee (twice), Denver, @San Antonio, @Houston, and Miami. Will it continue?

4. Miami Heat (3) 5-2: All five wins by double digits. Allowing a league best 86.4 points against. Shouldn't Chris Bosh be pulling down more than 5.3 rebounds per game?

5. Orlando Magic (5) 4-1: Got blown out in their only true test this season (@Miami). Need a lot more out of Rashard Lewis ($19.6 million this year) who is averaging 12 points and 6 rebounds on 38% shooting.

6. Atlanta Hawks (6) 6-1: Impressive record, but their opponents are a combined 15-30. Interested to see how much, if anything, has changed when they go to Orlando on Monday.

Tier 3

7. San Antonio Spurs (11) 4-1: Winning with offense (4th in points per game) rather than defense (24th in points allowed). Could Richard Jefferson be finding his way in this system (averaging 20 PPG shooting 65 FG%, 60 3P%)?


8. Portland Trail Blazers (4) 5-3: Schedule makers didn't do them any favors as three of their eight games have been on the road as the second game of a back-to-back. Still high on this team.


9. Denver Nuggets (10) 4-2: Nice start to season, especially when factoring in relatively tough schedule. Arron Afflalo is averaging 12.8 points per game on 57% from the field and 47% from three. Karl needs to find him minutes.


Tier 4


10. Dallas Mavericks (7) 3-2: Sluggish start. 1-2 home record. Alarming that they have faded in 4th quarter in both (home) losses being outscored 22-15 (Memphis) and 24-13 (Denver). Opponents a combined 9-17.


11. Oklahoma City Thunder (8) 3-3: Something is amiss. 20th in points per game, 23rd in points against, -5.3 differential. Durant off to a slow shooting start 39 FG%, 32% beyond the arc.


12. Utah Jazz (12) 3-3: Still trying to figure out exactly what this team is. We may get some answers this week when they go on the road to play Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, and Charlotte. Difficult enough? Games against Orlando and Charlotte are on second night of back-to-back. Brutal.


13. Phoenix Suns (17) 3-3: Only choice is to outscore opponents. Turkoglu largely M.I.A. so far (10.5 PPG, 7.8 FGA per game, 7 total FT attempts). Nash's scoring up, assists down.


14. Chicago Bulls (13) 2-3: Won't know what to make of this team until Boozer gets healthy. Still look like they'll need another outside shooter and size to consistently compete with East's best.

Tier 5

15. Golden State Warriors (23) 4-2: Nice start, but schedule hasn't been too challenging. Ellis is leading the league in scoring. David Lee's offensive output has to be a concern as he's only averaging 12 points per game while shooting 14% worse from the field and 11% worse from the line compared to last season.

16. Memphis Grizzlies (14) 3-4: Went 1-3 on Pacific Division road trip (didn't play Clippers). Don't understand the logic behind Mike Conley's extension (5 yrs./$45 million). Even with his impressive start, would he have been able to get that deal in the off-season? Even if he could, Memphis could have matched any offer (under current CBA rules).


17. Sacramento Kings (21) 3-3: Just about meeting expectations thus far. Will be interesting to see how Dalembert plays as starter and how Cousins responds coming off the bench. Cousins needs to address foul problems.

18. New York Knicks (19) 3-3: Like Sacramento, they're meeting expectations thus far. Toney Douglas (16.5 PPG) and Wilson Chandler (16.3 PPG) off to hot starts coming off the bench.


19. Cleveland Cavaliers (22) 3-3: Who's ready for the Mo-Hickson-Varejao show? With as bad as the bottom half of the East looks, don't count them out of the 7 or 8 playoff spot.

20. Houston Rockets (16) 1-5: Finally got in the win column against Minnesota. Discounting the T-Wolves, their opponents are a combined 25-5. Tough blow: Aaron Brooks is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks with a sprained ankle.

Tier 6

21. Indiana Pacers (15) 2-3: Went 0-2 last week. Darren Collison is off to a brutal start (29.4 mins., 37 FG%, 30 3P%, 14.2 PPG). Hibbert watch: Averaging 15.6 points, 10 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game.


22. Los Angeles Clippers (25) 1-6: Have faced most of the best in the West and have a 1-6 record to show for it. Baron Davis may want to get healed and in shape before Eric Bledsoe takes his job (not that Davis' contract would ever allow that to happen).

23. Milwaukee Bucks (18) 2-5: Only team to lose to hapless Minnesota. Dead last in points per game. The five players averaging at least 10 shots per game Jennings, Bogut, Delfino, Salmons, and Maggette are shooting 39%, 51%, 42%, 32%, and 36% respectively.

24. Philadelphia 76ers (27) 2-5: Have been more effective than their record would seem to indicate. Could Elton Brand be back? A tough week ahead as they hit the road for Oklahoma City, Dallas, and San Antonio.



Tier 7

25. New Jersey Nets (20) 2-4: Three of the four losses are against Miami and Orlando. Brook Lopez had a rough week shooting 28% from the field while only averaging 13 PPG/4.7 RPG. Someone needs to step up the scoring.

26. Detroit Pistons (30) 2-5: Starting a four game West coast road trip (Portland, Clippers, Sacramento, and Golden State). Hard to figure out who to rely on for scoring game to game.

27. Charlotte Bobcats (28) 1-5: Haven't faced too tough of a schedule. Putting up second worst point total per game in the league. Augustin, Jackson, and Diaw are all hovering around 43% from the field.


28. Toronto Raptors (29) 1-5: Just went 0-4 on tough Western Conference road trip (Sacramento, Utah, Lakers, Portland). Have tough road back-to-back this week against Orlando and Miami.


29. Washington Wizards (26) 1-4: Rank 29th in point differential, 22nd in points per game, 30th in rebounds per game, 22nd in assists per game, and 27th in points allowed. John Wall has been fun to watch (19.4 PPG, 9.6 APG), but he's also averaging almost six turnovers per game.

Tier 8

30. Minnesota Timberwolves (24) 1-6: My goodness this team is playing horrendously. Minnesota, at -17.1 point differential, is 5.5 points worse than Washington for dead last in the league. Granted, their last five games, all losses, have been against stiff competition, but they're not even competitive: Memphis 109-89, Miami 129-97, Orlando 128-86, Atlanta 113-103, and Houston 120-94. In this five game stretch they're giving up 119.8 points a game and scoring 93.8 for a -26 point differential. That has to be historical, right? Up next? @Lakers Tuesday.