NBA Power Rankings: Who's Rising and Falling After 2 Weeks?
Fair warning up front: This is the strangest week of B/R's NBA power rankings in a long time.
It's parity's fault.
A ridiculous 22 of the 30 teams we're ranking are within two games of the .500 mark. Early disasters righted themselves this week, and several squads that started hot have cooled. The result is a vast, indistinguishable middle class bookended by few lost causes at the bottom and only a couple of trustworthy powerhouses up top.
You could shuffle the order between No. 20 and No. 10 however you like and defend it. It's that crowded in the middle.
You'll see teams with winning weeks lose ground as we try to reorganize a chaotic landscape and get this mess into as reasonable of an order as possible.
As always, these rankings are meant to reflect the current league hierarchy. We're emphasizing recent play, but in many cases (especially this week) we also have to lean on the full-season resume. In fact, what happened last year and over the summer still counts for something. That perspective helps us avoid getting carried away if certain surprise squads look like early world-beaters. They'll get their due, but when there are hints that these out-of-nowhere achievers are succeeding with smoke and mirrors, we'll note that as well.
It's two weeks in, and the league already feels unnervingly unpredictable.
30. Chicago Bulls
1 of 30
↔ No Movement
"We took a step in the wrong direction tonight," Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg told reporters after his team lost a 101-69 laugher to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. "We didn't compete. We didn't stay together. We didn't fight through adversity as a team. We were careless. We were stagnant."
He forgot to mention something else: This was the first ranking session all year in which one Bulls player did not punch out another one.
It'll be important to find positives this season.
The Bulls, 0-2 this week, go into every contest at a severe talent disadvantage. Robin Lopez is arguably the team's best player, and his value as an on-the-margins contributor who specializes in dirty work is wasted on this club. A guy who does the little things doesn't matter when you have nobody handling the big ones.
Kris Dunn is back on the court after a preseason finger injury, and Lauri Markkanen's continued productivity (career-high 25 points against the Miami Heat on Wednesday) is encouraging for a Bulls team that ranks 30th in net rating.
Markkanen has scored in double figures in each of his first six NBA games while leading all first-year players in made threes with 17.
29. Atlanta Hawks
2 of 30
↓ 2 Spots
This isn't something you'd see suggested under normal circumstances, but...maybe the Atlanta Hawks should try posting up once in a while.
I know. I know: The post-up is dead in today's NBA (unless you're LaMarcus Aldridge—more on that later), and Atlanta doesn't have anyone with a track record that suggests dumping the ball inside is a good idea. But when you've lost seven straight games and rank 27th in offensive rating, maybe it's time to get a little creative.
Or desperate.
Then again, maybe the better way to approach this is to praise Atlanta's adherence to its process. Shot selection matters, and even if looks aren't going down, the smart teams diligently avoid low-efficiency play types such as post-ups. By devoting a league-low eight total possessions to such sets so far, the Hawks are at least trying to get the math right.
Your takeaway from all this double talk should probably be that it doesn't matter what the Hawks try to do from a strategic standpoint. They don't have the talent to produce decent offense through any means.
28. Sacramento Kings
3 of 30
↓ 3 Spots
My main criticism of the Sacramento Kings' offseason signings—George Hill, Zach Randolph and Vince Carter—was that the vets would prevent the Kings from cashing in on a high pick in 2018. That would have been doubly disappointing since they don't have the rights to their 2019 first-rounder.
That fear appears unfounded.
Sacramento has lost six straight while watching its experienced pieces mostly underwhelm. Hill's first two games were fine; he scored 16 and 21 points, respectively. He's been a ghost since, though, reaching double figures just once in his next six games. It's enough to make you wonder if that preseason groin injury is lingering.
De'Aaron Fox still shows flashes of boundless athleticism, and he's relentlessly aggressive. But the production hasn't been there, and he's struggling (along with fellow youngsters Bogdan Bogdanovic, Buddy Hield and Skal Labissiere) to compete with the league's bigger, stronger foes.
The Kings are getting hammered on the glass, own the league's third-worst effective field-goal percentage and trailed by at least 28 points in all three games this week (h/t Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee). In an era of three-point obsession, they attempted only 14 triples against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday.
The good news is Sacramento is in position to lose more games than it wants to, but just as many as it should in this early stage of its rebuild.
27. Dallas Mavericks
4 of 30
↓ 1 Spot
We've toyed with the question for the last several years, eventually dismissing it or qualifying it in deference to one of the greatest players to ever suit up. It's going to arise again this season: Can the Dallas Mavericks keep playing Dirk Nowitzki against first units?
Nowitzki's mobility is more compromised than ever (because that's how aging works) at 39, but his offensive contributions have been significant enough to offset what he surrenders on D. He's shooting 43.8 percent from long range and still demands attention from a big man on the perimeter. Though no longer a one-man offensive hub at the elbow, Nowitzki remains valuable.
And any examination of the numbers indicates he's not the problem in Dallas. There are plenty of bigger reasons the Mavs are 1-8.
Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews haven't scored efficiently, Seth Curry's absence due to a leg injury is hurting spacing and Dennis Smith Jr.'s bursts of potential haven't translated to real production.
So whenever the fuss starts over Nowitzki, whenever the effort to explain Dallas' struggles turns to the surefire Hall of Famer, just look elsewhere. This isn't Dirk's fault.
26. Brooklyn Nets
5 of 30
↓ 5 Spots
Caris LeVert looks like a star right up until the moment his shots don't go in, D'Angelo Russell has slipped and may still be suffering from the lingering effects of a knee injury, and the Brooklyn Nets have come back to earth after beating the Cavs on Oct. 25.
They went 0-3 this week.
Russell's ball-handling and offensive orchestration are integral to the Nets' attack, or at least they look like they should be. In the loss to Phoenix on Tuesday, backup Spencer Dinwiddie was running the show during most of a second-half surge. Russell finished as a minus-22 despite scoring 33 points on 11-of-21 shooting. Russell is exceptionally crafty, plays with devastating change of pace and creates shots with ease. But the ball doesn't move quite the same way when he's in charge, and there's no ignoring his defensive weaknesses.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson, speaking after Russell shot 3-of-12 from the field Sunday, chalks up the difficulties to rust.
"When you have a little injury it takes a little time to get your rhythm, just get it back," Atkinson told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. "And I'm sure he's searching for it. He'll get it back. He started the season really strong and got dinged up a little. I think it's a question of rhythm."
Brooklyn will hit the road for a five-game trip out West next.
25. Phoenix Suns
6 of 30
↑ 3 Spots
Look out, now! Here come the...no way. This can't be right. The Phoenix Suns?
The Phoenix Suns!
Apparently energized by the absences of Earl Watson (fired) and Eric Bledsoe (sent home for tweeting), the team that started the season as ignominiously as any is on a hot streak, having won four of its last five games. Those last two wins came on the road against the Nets and Washington Wizards.
What gives?
Is it the magic of 27-year-old rookie Mike James, who has somehow had several effective outings despite wild fluctuations in his game-to-game scoring efficiency?
Is it Dragan Bender's increased confidence and enticing off-the-dribble game when attacking closeouts?
Is it Devin Booker's display of competitiveness on defense every so often while he continues to score as easily as breathing?
Is it TJ Warren's—perhaps quietly Phoenix's best player—surprising 40 points against the Wizards?
Whatever it is, let's not think too hard about it. The Suns are 4-4 and look remarkably like a real basketball team.
24. Los Angeles Lakers
7 of 30
↓ 2 Spots
Lonzo Ball continues to be a Rorschach test for NBA fans.
Do you see his unselfish influence in the seven teammates averaging at least 10 points per game? Or do you raise a skeptical eyebrow when you realize that egalitarian approach is only producing one of the worst offenses in the league?
Head coach Luke Walton called Ball the tone-setter in a Halloween win over the Detroit Pistons, per LakersNation.com's Serena Winters, and it's true Los Angeles plays a bit faster with the rookie point guard on the floor. But the Lakers' net rating is substantially higher whenever Ball sits.
Is he helping or hurting? Do the hard-to-quantify court sense and unselfishness mean more than the numbers that indicate Ball isn't helping the team?
We're going to kick this back and forth all season, hopefully arriving at a conclusion—to the extent we can draw one about a rookie who's playing under a mountain of pressure. For now, we know for sure the Lakers went 1-3 since our last rankings, and despite some encouraging defensive play, that's enough to cost them a couple of spots.
23. New Orleans Pelicans
8 of 30
↔ No Movement
DeMarcus Cousins has been a statistical demogorgon, closing out last week with 41 points and 23 rebounds against his old team, adding a triple-double in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers and then starting November with 35 points, nine rebounds, six assists, six steals and three blocks in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He earned himself the West's Player of the Week award for his trouble.
Speaking of trouble, the New Orleans Pelicans are in it because they can't get anyone but Cousins and Anthony Davis to produce.
Losers in two of their three games this week, the Pels are destroying opponents with Cousins and Davis on the floor together (9.1 net rating). Predictably, they're getting smashed when one or the other sits.
As so many surmised, New Orleans doesn't have enough support for its twin towers.
All of the Pelicans' five losses have come against teams with winning records, so maybe these guys will perform better as the schedule softens. That's not happening anytime soon, though, as New Orleans will hit the road for four straight.
22. New York Knicks
9 of 30↑ 7 Spots
It's almost as if Kristaps Porzingis senses the inevitable. Knowing his scoring barrage is bound to attract maximum attention from opposing defenses, he's expanding his shooting range, effectively carving out space in less-patrolled areas of the floor.
Which is to say dude is bombing away from depths generally explored by Stephen Curry and the Houston Rockets.
Porzingis had just three 30-point games all of last year. His career-high 38-point outing Monday, which featured several unusually deep heaves from three, gave him five so far this season. The unicorn is learning to fly*, you guys.
Tim Hardaway Jr. also showed up recently after a cold start. He'd missed 15 of his first 20 threes designated as either open or wide open by NBA.com's tracking data, and then he caught fire for 34 points in the New York Knicks' blowout win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
Winners in three of their four games this week, the Knicks are kind of fun right now. Whodathunk?
*Unicorns fly, right? I'm pretty sure that's a thing. Anyway, stop reading this footnote. You get the idea.
21. Miami Heat
10 of 30
↓ 5 Spots
Well, at least the Miami Heat avoided true embarrassment. They ducked a 0-3 week by dispatching the lowly Bulls 97-91 on Wednesday.
Among few positives for the 3-4 Heat, Dion Waiters is getting to the hole and, unlike the first five years of his career, actually finishing. Waiters is taking 39 percent of his shots at the rim and converting them at a 65 percent clip, per Cleaning the Glass, the latter stat representing a career best by a mile. That's impressive considering he's been bothered by the same sore ankle that cost him time at the end of last season.
As a group, the Heat have underwhelmed on the defensive end, and that's something of a surprise. You wouldn't expect a team that ranked fifth in defensive efficiency a year ago to fall all the way to the middle of the pack through seven games. Hassan Whiteside's sore knee, which shelved him for five contests, isn't helping matters.
Rookie Bam Adebayo registered 13 points and 13 rebounds while starting his third game in place of Whiteside on Monday, but Miami surrendered 125 points in an overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He moves his feet well and offers a different dimension than Whiteside, but the results haven't been much better.
The Heat started 11-30 last year, so a shaky opening stretch isn't exactly unfamiliar. But Miami has played just one game away from home so far, and it clearly hasn't found its footing. Maybe the upcoming six-game road trip is what this team needs.
20. Indiana Pacers
11 of 30
↑ 4 Spots
I want to be into what the Indiana Pacers are doing. I want to believe this faster pace and relatively shocking 5-3 record mean the playoffs are in store and a new, invigorating era is underway.
But even with Victor Oladipo's Player of the Week honors for the East, and even while Domantas Sabonis is averaging a double-double while tripling last year's assist numbers, and even with all this happening as Myles Turner (concussion) watches from the sidelines, temperance is still the best course.
Oladipo hit a game-winner with 10 seconds left to fell the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, and that win was one of three this week against teams that were falling apart when Indy caught them. Both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Kings were also in the midst of losing streaks when the Pacers knocked them off. Wins are wins, but Indiana has run into some teams at the right time lately.
"We try to come in every night and prove that we're not just those players who were in the Paul George trade and that we actually mean something," Sabonis told reporters after the victory against the Spurs.
Mission accomplished, and rankings bump earned. But there are several surprise teams vying for our outsized enthusiasm this week. Indy will have to be satisfied with its relatively small share.
Note: This is effectively where the rankings chaos starts spinning out of control. You could make a case for almost any order from here until the top five. You've been warned.
19. Philadelphia 76ers
12 of 30
↓ 1 Spot
The Philadelphia 76ers are on a three-game winning streak that makes a couple of their close early losses look even more like bad luck than a statement on the team's quality.
A road victory over the Mavericks, vengeance against the Rockets (who defeated Philly on an Eric Gordon buzzer-beater a week prior) and a cruise-control cakewalk against the Hawks have the Sixers back to .500 with loads of room for optimism—as long as we ignore Markelle Fultz's indefinite shutdown and the ham-fisted way the organization handled it.
Ben Simmons has registered no fewer than five assists in every game he's played, has a streak of six straight contests with at least eight dimes and scored a career-high (which won't stand for long) 24 points in leading the Sixers over the Rockets on Monday. Call it off now; the Rookie of the Year race is finished.
"Everyone knew he was going to be good, but he's way better than expected," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle told reporters following Saturday's loss to the Sixers, in which Simmons totaled 23 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and just one turnover on 10-of-15 shooting. "Some of the plays, just amazing stuff."
I'm not sure what's more amazing than playing well enough to overshadow Joel Embiid, who's averaging 20.9 points and 10.3 rebounds while staying healthy enough to finally play more than 30 minutes in a game, which he did for the first time in his career against the Hawks on Wednesday. But Simmons puts evaluators in that kind of bind. With him, you're stuck weighing the spectacular against the incredible, the breathtaking against the remarkable.
He's good, is the point. And he can't even shoot yet.
The Sixers fall victim to the mid-pack parity and don't make it past the next two teams, specifically, because wins against the Hawks and Mavs don't quite measure up.
18. Detroit Pistons
13 of 30
↑ 1 Spot
You don't beat the Golden State Warriors in Oakland unless you're doing a few things right. And unless you're really putting together a complete effort, you definitely don't do it on the second night of a back-to-back after also knocking off the Los Angeles Clippers in L.A.
Sure, the Warriors gagged up 25 turnovers in Detroit's 115-107 win Sunday, several of which were unforced. But the Pistons defended with vigor, out-shot Golden State from long range and held off a late charge from a frantic defending champ, winning the fourth quarter 33-26.
All this against what Stan Van Gundy called "the hardest team to guard probably in the history of the NBA."
Detroit deserved that win.
With Reggie Jackson working his way into the lane, Avery Bradley and Stanley Johnson upping the defensive intensity and Tobias Harris on pace to set career highs in both usage rate and effective field-goal percentage, Detroit is positioning itself above the fray for one of the last two or three playoff spots in the East.
It's early, but this 5-3 team looks more balanced, more competitive and more focused than it did at any point a season ago. We'll overlook Tuesday's loss to the Lakers. Two out of three on a California road trip is good enough for a rise.
17. Memphis Grizzlies
14 of 30
↓ 3 Spots
Unsung contributors propelled the Memphis Grizzlies to a start far better than expected. Unheralded also-rans produced. Guys we flat-out wrote off made impacts.
Jarell Martin, whom Memphis intended to waive before the season, is starting for the injured JaMychal Green (sprained ankle) and playing well enough to get his option for next year picked up. From a potential preseason cut to a difference-maker, Martin is emblematic of Memphis' success.
There's rookie Dillon Brooks, who's improbably occupying a rotation role. There's Tyreke Evans, who's provided double-figure scoring in his last five games. There's even Chandler Parsons, who's dunking again and scored a game-high 24 points in the Grizzlies' second win over the Rockets this year.
"That was awesome, man," Parsons told Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal after his big game against Houston. "I've been waiting on tonight for a really long time."
No Memphis starter managed double-digit points in that one, and it didn't matter. The Grizz, incredibly, got what they needed from a bench that seemed like a weakness just a few weeks ago. What we saw in the latter half of this ranking session suggests we shouldn't assume that will last forever.
Now 5-3 after a 1-2 stretch that saw Mike Conley miss time with a sore Achilles, Memphis will spend the first two weeks of November on the road. This is only going to get tougher. Can the bench keep this up?
16. Minnesota Timberwolves
15 of 30
↓ 1 Spot
The Minnesota Timberwolves are gradually redeeming themselves after a disappointing start, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder at home and then taking care of the Heat and Pelicans on the road to complete a 3-0 week.
"Right now, we're getting into scoring games," Jeff Teague told B/R's Zach Buckley after the Wolves beat the Heat in a 125-122 overtime shootout. "We got a lot of guys who can score the ball, so we're able to win some. But down the stretch against really good teams, that's not going to happen."
It's been an issue already, as the Wolves' No. 28 defense continues to undo much of the good work performed by a top-10 offense.
The hope must continue to be that Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins can absorb enough from Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson to muster consistent effort on both ends. In fact, if all they did was run hard in transition (in either direction), that'd be a start.
According to Cleaning the Glass, Minnesota allows a league-worst 115.8 points per 100 possessions on transition plays. Its offense ranks fifth in transition efficiency but only 28th in percentage of offensive plays so classified.
Translation: The Wolves do a lot of leisurely jogging, which is odd considering their athletic prowess.
15. Charlotte Hornets
16 of 30
↑ 2 Spots
A 3-1 week with all three wins coming against respectable opponents should be enough to shoot the Charlotte Hornets a half-dozen spots up the rankings. But we can't just send every quality team ahead of them tumbling after rough weeks.
A modest gain will have to do for now, but don't worry! If the Hornets keep knocking off everyone's early-season darlings (they downed Orlando, Memphis and Milwaukee this week), they'll keep inching up.
Notable developments included Malik Monk going a little bonkers against the Bucks, scoring 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter. He showed spot-up and on-ball skill we didn't see during preseason play because of an ankle injury. If what we got in that fourth quarter against Milwaukee is at all sustainable, we're looking at a guy who should at least compete for some Sixth Man of the Year consideration as a classic bench gunner.
Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb are scoring regularly, Dwight Howard is still rebounding everything, and the Hornets are getting huge contributions from their rookies. Someday, that'll be enough for a big rankings climb.
14. Portland Trail Blazers
17 of 30
↓ 3 Spots
Most preseason forecasts for the Portland Trail Blazers included some variation on the idea that hope was warranted, but only if the 2016-17 stretch-run version of the team was for real. That included the presumption that Jusuf Nurkic would sustain the career-best production he showed in 20 games after coming over from the Nuggets last season.
Oddly, the Blazers have been fine without getting much from Nurkic, whose counting numbers resemble last year's with a much lower field-goal percentage.
He's been fine on defense, and if his offensive efficiency returns, maybe Portland really will ascend in the West.
One positive worth monitoring for regression: The Blazers spent most of the first two weeks leading the league in rebound rate, and they have Ed Davis to thank for that. He's inhaling nearly one-fifth of available offensive boards. There's no sustaining that, but it has so far helped Portland rank among the top five in second-chance points.
Brass tacks: Portland posted a six-point second quarter in Monday's loss to the Toronto Raptors and went 2-2 with wins over Phoenix and the Lakers. That's not enough to avoid a small dip in this weird week.
13. Milwaukee Bucks
18 of 30
↓ 3 Spots
Giannis Antetokounmpo left opponents little choice; they had to devote all their resources to slowing him down after a nuclear first week saw him pile up stats at a historic pace.
The MVP candidate averaged just 21 points on 15 shots (both well below his season averages) in two losses against the Thunder and Hornets, respectively, to close out a 1-2 week. Amid Antetokounmpo's statistical fall to earth, it's still possible to praise him. When an inherently unselfish player sees defenders packing the lane and leaving his teammates open, kicking to shooters is the right move.
So far, the rest of the Bucks haven't helped him out enough to shift defenses back toward more conventional schemes. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, it's also true that head coach Jason Kidd's sets have never been particularly inventive. A little creativity would be nice in light of the league's clearly focused efforts to limit Antetokounmpo's scoring.
Khris Middleton is doing what he can to pick up the slack. His 43 points in Wednesday's loss to the Hornets represented a career high.
It's possible Antetokounmpo will find his own ways to counterpunch. That's what superstars do, right? And maybe the rest of the Bucks will start producing, though losing Greg Monroe to a calf injury hurts those chances.
But for now, Milwaukee—players and coach—aren't doing enough to support him.
12. Denver Nuggets
19 of 30
↔ No Movement
Jamal Murray kicked it into gear this week, scoring at least 20 points in each of his last three games and, more importantly, upping his efficiency. He was 24-of-40 from the field in that stretch after failing to shoot even 40 percent from the field in any of his first five games.
Perhaps even more surprising, Emmanuel Mudiay's jumper has been reliable as well. He's up to 45.5 percent from long range.
Though it's come more slowly than expected, the Denver Nuggets offense is dangerous again. Nikola Jokic was two points shy of a triple-double in Wednesday's blowout win against the Raptors, and he converted at least half of his field-goal attempts in three of Denver's four games this week.
The Nuggets are 3-1 since we last ranked and got themselves back into the top 10 in offensive efficiency.
Bonus: Paul Millsap nutmegged Trevor Booker.
Rest assured, whenever a nutmeg appears on the power rankings staff's radar, you'll hear about it. This is our pledge to you.
11. Utah Jazz
20 of 30↑ 2 Spots
The Utah Jazz have the league's highest turnover rate by a significant margin, and they coughed it up on 17 percent of their possessions this week, with a season rate of 18.6. Still, they went 3-0 with wins over L.A., Dallas and Portland.
The Jazz did it with defense, notably forcing 24 giveaways from the Mavs and 17 more from the Blazers.
Utah can be a borderline elite team if it continues to defend at a top-five rate while not sabotaging itself on offense.
Zooming in, rookie Donovan Mitchell remains a ton of inconsistent fun. He strung together a ridiculous two-minute sequence against the Lakers on Saturday that included an and-1 finish, a massive tip dunk that has to rank as one of the year's early highlights, a drilled three and a drawn charge.
Then he scored just eight points against Dallas, followed by a career-high 28 in beating the Blazers.
He looks like a stud, except when he doesn't, which is what you should expect from most rookies.
10. Los Angeles Clippers
21 of 30
↓ 2 Spots
Through Oct. 29, the Los Angeles Clippers' defensive rating was tops in the league, Blake Griffin was running an effective offense and a deep bench had them all the way up at No. 1 in net rating.
That was before the Warriors, in a manner both thorough and not without sadistic joy, unmade L.A., hammering it 141-113 on Oct. 30.
The Clips should have known it was coming. Golden State was a day removed from a home loss, and even without that added motivation, the Clippers never fail to arouse a special level of competitiveness in their California counterparts. The Warriors have beaten them 11 straight times, and Draymond Green always saves his most biting personal attacks for Clippers personnel.
The Pistons also took down the Clippers on the preceding Saturday, which means an easy, expected win over the Mavs merely salvaged a 1-2 week. After such a strong start, Los Angeles ranks fifth on defense and fifth in net rating. And those numbers are getting a major boost from a 42-point win over a Suns team that wasn't trying back on Oct. 21.
Those who are expecting the Clippers to be more like a fringe playoff team than league-leading stat monsters are nodding in satisfaction right now.
9. Orlando Magic
22 of 30
↑ 11 Spots
Real growth or mirage? That's the question surrounding the Orlando Magic's hot start.
Are these guys really one of the league's best teams, as their 6-2 record and plus-9.6 net rating suggest? Or is something less sustainable going on...like, say, high conversion rates on shots with low expected value?
Here's Ben Falk at Cleaning the Glass: "Orlando's offensive shot profile is not great: of the top 10 eFG% teams so far this year, they have taken the most mid-range shots, and they rank 24th in how often they've shot at the rim."
In other words: Enjoy this spot in the rankings, Magic. It may not last long.
Downer complete, let's raise a more hopeful issue: What happens when an athlete with unlimited physical potential starts learning the game?
Aaron Gordon in 2017, I guess.
"Aaron Gordon played tonight without forcing," head coach Frank Vogel told Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel after Friday’s win over the San Antonio Spurs, in which Gordon scored an efficient 16 points. "He was 7-for-11 from the field. He had a lot of opportunities to go one-on-one. His man was sagging, and he just kept finding a teammate. It was awesome the way he played."
Also, he made Malik Monk look silly, and the rookie probably won't try to set himself up with an off-the-backboard lob for a good long while.
Gordon looks great, Evan Fournier can't miss, Jonathan Simmons is better than expected, the Magic are winning and even when the shooting numbers regress, Orlando's outlook will still be rosier than the most optimistic preseason forecasts. This may be as high as we ever rank the Magic, but they've earned it.
8. Cleveland Cavaliers
23 of 30
↓ 4 Spots
We can all agree the Cavaliers aren't fully engaged, but we must also acknowledge that they're not as bad as they've seemed over the past week. Even after four straight defeats, they're not in danger of collapsing entirely.
If the smart money is still on Cleveland's ability to summon urgency to reach the Finals, it's only right to penalize this team for a Grade A mail-in effort to this point. The Cavs rank 29th in defensive efficiency and sit at 3-5 through eight games.
Tristan Thompson is out for a month with a calf strain, as reported by Shams Charania of The Vertical, Derrick Rose has provided empty scoring, Kevin Love can't stop anyone, LeBron James isn't setting the tone on defense (for the umpteenth season in a row) and a team that lived on threes last year is shooting 33.1 percent from deep.
If there's a positive to the Cavs' snoozy start, it's that they're aware of the issue.
They had an "air it out" meeting Tuesday, according to ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin, in which Love relayed, among other sentiments, that the team could use more consistent effort: "I'm not saying that guys are taking plays off, but just (not) going super hard," Love said. "We have the luxury of being able to put guys in different spots and a really deep roster where we don't have to necessarily log 30-plus minutes, even the starters. So just go hard; if you're tired, ask for a sub."
It's hard to think of a team that needs Eric Bledsoe more than the Cavs right now, and this squad has historically been aggressive at making in-season moves. Going back a couple of years, Timofey Mozgov, JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Kyle Korver and Channing Frye were all acquisitions made while the season was going on.
Isaiah Thomas might be ready later this season, but Bledsoe could provide a necessary jolt right now—and possibly represent a better two-way option in June as well.
7. San Antonio Spurs
24 of 30
↓ 5 Spots
OK, so Kawhi Leonard matters after all.
After a 4-0 start had everyone gushing over the mechanical infallibility of the Spurs machine, after castoffs and senior citizens and role players kept the team afloat, reality arrived.
San Antonio, still playing without Leonard because of a lingering quad injury, hit the skids.
Struggling mightily to score at the end of their four-game road trip back East, the Spurs coughed up a trio of L's. And then they returned home to host the Warriors.
Credit is still due LaMarcus Aldridge, whom the Spurs are empowering by trusting him to score his way—which happens to involve an off-trend block-heavy attack. He's piling up points on the out-of-favor post-up, scoring more total points on those sets than all but seven teams.
It remains to be seen whether Leonard's presence will put all the pieces back into place, returning the Spurs to their expected spot among the West's elite. We can say with certainty, though, that San Antonio's hot Kawhi-less start was a bit of a mirage. This team will have to fight to survive against most opponents as long as its All-Star forward is out.
6. Washington Wizards
25 of 30
↔ No Movement
If you measure a team by its failures, the Washington Wizards grade out well—or at least they did until they fell to the Suns on Wednesday.
Their other losses came in overtime to the Lakers and at Golden State, following the mini-brawl that got the attention of the defending champions. If not for that loss to Phoenix, Washington's resume would stack up nicely against anyone's in the East.
Otto Porter Jr. had 29 points in that loss to the Warriors, and his offensive growth has been impressive. He's more than a spot-up sniper from the corners now and is peppering more one-dribble moves and curl actions into his game. With Kelly Oubre Jr.'s solid play, Bradley Beal's 40 points against the Suns on Wednesday and Markieff Morris due back over the weekend from a hernia and one-game suspension, Washington is only going to get deeper.
Focus will mean more than depth, though, as Beal explained in the aftermath of the home slip against the Suns, per Chase Hughes of NBC Washington:
"For us to sit here and act like we're somebody; we're not jack-ish right now. We haven't proved nothing, we haven't done nothing. We've gotta stay aggressive at all times. We've gotta realize that we're a targeted team. Teams want to beat us. Until we get that into the back of our heads, we're going to continue to play this way."
That's the right message for a team that has trouble summoning intensity on a regular basis. We'll see if it connects.
After we talked up the Wizards' overall record and prospects for improvement, there are still a pair of East teams that are playing more promising ball lately. One ranks right ahead of them.
5. Toronto Raptors
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↑ 2 Spots
Since ranking seventh a week ago, the Raptors posted a 2-1 record with road wins over the Lakers and Blazers followed by an oh-so-predictable defeat in Denver. Say what you want about the Nuggets' slow start; it's still a major pain to play at altitude—especially if, like the Raptors, you're slogging through the fifth game in a six-game trip.
If you want to make this a process-results thing, the Raps are still doing it right. The emphasis on three-point shots remains, as 33.8 percent of Toronto's shots have been threes this year, according to Cleaning the Glass. That's up from 26.4 percent a season ago, and if those treys were falling at a decent rate, the offense would take off.
As it is, the Raptors are making just 30.1 percent of them, again according to Cleaning the Glass, which ranks dead last in the league. Conversion rate is going to normalize, and we should expect Toronto to get a scoring boost when it does.
Elsewhere, Jakob Poeltl has gone from spectacular to steady, which is a fine downgrade considering his minutes dipped a bit this week. With Lucas Nogueira finally shaking an ankle sprain, he and Poeltl made Jonas Valanciunas' own ankle-related absence a mere footnote.
Toronto's starting center made it back against Denver on Wednesday, scoring eight points and grabbing five rebounds in a rusty tune-up.
4. Houston Rockets
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↓ 1 Spot
The Rockets set NBA records by attempting 32 threes in a half and taking only 28 two-point shots all game against the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 27, per B/R's Tom Haberstroh.
And if you didn't know anything else about them, those two tidbits give you a good idea of what the Rockets are going for. Believe it or not, more than half of their field-goal attempts have been three-pointers this year. No other team is above 37 percent, per Cleaning the Glass.
As if to emphasize the make-or-miss dependency of such a strategy, Houston dropped two of its four games this week (against Memphis and Philadelphia) when the threes didn't fall. The Rockets were 27-of-85 from distance in those two defeats, good for just 31.8 percent.
Clint Capela's growth continues apace. Foul trouble suppressed his stats in the Charlotte win, but he's still averaging 13.3 points and 11.4 rebounds on the year.
Chris Paul is still out with a knee injury, but Mike D'Antoni expects him back in two weeks, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
His return should help the defense creep into the top 10. And once those shots start falling, the Rockets will be back among the league's elite.
3. Boston Celtics
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↑ 6 Spots
Boston's overhaul created plenty of uncertainty, and Gordon Hayward's injury further complicated matters. Roles, minutes, even strengths and weaknesses were difficult to peg with so many new additions and unproven player combinations.
But everyone was pretty sure the Celtics would stink on the boards.
So much for that.
After ranking 27th in rebound rate last year, the Celtics are all the way up to second. Aron Baynes and Daniel Theis have helped in a big way, and getting more athletic wings on the floor (Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, to name two) never hurts.
Another surprise: Kyrie Irving's 21 steals lead the league. That doesn't necessarily mean he's reformed as a defender, but at least he's staying active. And it's hard to ignore the way Boston is shutting opponents down collectively. The Celts rank first in defensive efficiency.
As a result, they're on a six-game winning streak.
As Tatum continues to be more than a volume scorer (50 percent on threes, 6.6 rebounds per game), Brown keeps blossoming into a two-way star and the Irving-Horford duo builds chemistry, the Celtics figure to get even better.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
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↑ 3 Spots
The Thunder are giving us glimpses of what they can become.
Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George and Steven Adams combined for 48 points in the first half of Tuesday's 110-91 win over the Bucks, outscoring the entire Milwaukee roster by six during that span. Much has been made of Westbrook looking to facilitate more, and while it's true his assist-per-game numbers are at a career high, he's not exactly keeping the ball hopping.
In an MVP season spent pursuing stats relentlessly, Westbrook averaged 5.35 seconds per touch. So far in 2017-18, he's keeping the ball for an average of 5.82 seconds whenever he gets it.
Not the change you'd expect, but to be fair to Russ, his shot profile has improved and he's simply shooting less. Forty-eight percent of his attempts have come at the rim, a career best.
OKC is thriving with Anthony leading the second unit, and thanks largely to a defensive effort that held the Bulls to only 69 points Saturday, the Thunder are permitting just 95.9 points per 100 possessions.
Some of this is skewed by that Chicago blowout, but if you use Ben Falk's calculations at Cleaning the Glass, which cut out garbage time and "heave" possessions at the ends of quarters, OKC ranks first in net rating.
If Patrick Patterson ever rounds into form (he's averaging two points per game on 26.3 percent shooting), we'll really see Oklahoma City hit another gear. For now, a 2-1 week with a close loss to the Wolves is enough to climb a bit.
1. Golden State Warriors
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↔ No Movement
I wasn't going to do it again. I promised my editor. I was going to admit my mistake and send the Warriors toppling from the peak of these rankings, something many of you thought I should have done last week.
The Dubs had lost a home game to the Pistons. They'd given up on valuing possessions. They'd quit defending. They'd generally looked like a team disinterested in trying its best.
But then they annihilated the Clippers and beat the Spurs on the road. And when the dust had settled on the second full week of the season, guess who led the league in offensive rating, assist percentage, net rating and effective field-goal percentage.
Yeah.
This is as much about Golden State's numbers and our knowledge that it is the monster we expected coming into the year as it is the rest of the perceived elites simultaneously stumbling. Houston dropped two games, the Spurs fell to pieces and the Cavs are a heap of ash.
With the Dubs topping so many key statistical categories, we really don't have another choice.
I mean, did you really want to see the Magic at No. 1?
Draymond Green kick-started (pun not intended; he didn't kick anyone in the fracas that cost him $25,000 against Washington) the turnaround, relentlessly pushing the pace against the Clips and defending everything with a pulse. Klay Thompson is quietly shooting it better than ever, Stephen Curry is getting to the foul line, and rookie Jordan Bell does three incredible things every time he sees the floor for more than five minutes.
This team has been a shadow of itself for most of the year, but it showed its true colors against L.A. and now leads in many important metrics.
Sorry. Not sorry.
Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference or NBA.com unless otherwise specified. Accurate through games played Thursday, Nov. 2.
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