NBA Power Rankings: Early Outlook for Teams

This is what I hope will be the first of a weekly installment of NBA power rankings from yours truly. Sure, the season is just a few days old, but I think it's good to take a quick look at what has happened in this early season.

The theme of this week's power rankings is early surprises. Which teams were a pleasant surprise and which are surprisingly struggling? On the opposite end of the spectrum, which teams are playing as we expected with a slow start or a blazing fast gallop as their riders spurred them out of the shoots?

There are a few teams that we are seeing struggle whose starts must be taken with a grain of salt, as they have injuries or suspensions weighing heavily on their issues, and there are others whose fast starts must be taken in at all perspectives to not get too excited just yet.

So, without further ado, here you have the NBA's power rankings, starting with the obvious choice for No. 30.

30. Cleveland Cavaliers, 0-1

The Cavs started off this season with the most unwatchable matchup in the NBA as they teed off against the Toronto Raptors.

I guess the only way to look at this game is to think that somebody had to win and somebody had to lose, and the Cavs lost, and by 10 points to boot.

Kyrie Irving is going to continue to struggle early, and they could lose their best players as the season rolls along, so they should get used to this spot.

29. Washington Wizards, 0-1

A huge collapse by the Washington Bullets (if they're wearing Bullets unis, then I'm calling them the Bullets) was made to look worse after the Nets got walloped last night by the Atlanta Hawks.

Even worse, Andray Blatche is their captain. That's not good news for Wizards fans and players alike.

28. Dallas Mavericks, 0-2

I'd like to try to make some kind of excuse for the Dallas Mavericks, but the fact is that they just didn't look very good in either of their first two games.

They're going to need to put things together quickly because the Western Conference is going to be competitive as usual this season, and they don't want to be the first team since the 1999 Chicago Bulls to miss the playoffs a year after winning the title.

27. Detroit Pistons, 0-1

The team that is built in the most mind-boggling way (yes, even moreso than the Minnesota Timberwolves) had a very predictable outcome in their first game of the season: a 12-point loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The good news for the Pistons? They play the Cavs tonight, so they should have a shot at getting into the win column sooner rather than later.

26. Minnesota Timberwolves, 0-2

If there's one thing the Timberwolves can take solace in after an 0-2 start, it's that their combined margain of loss is just seven points, which means they were at least competitive in the first two games they played.

What's more, their new, young players and the idea of having two of three tiny guys (Ricky Rubio, JJ Barea and Luke Ridnour) just leaves me tickled pink. 

25. Utah Jazz, 0-1

A shaky opening night and a loss to the previously winless Lakers made the Jazz look questionable at best last night.

They had a bright spot here and there; otherwise, they just didn't seem to be an organized, cohesive unit on the floor together.

24. Boston Celtics, 0-2

I don't want to be too harsh on the Celtics yet, but they are 0-2, and if you Boston fans want to take solace in anything, they're the highest ranked 0-2 team in my rankings.

They've come short in two straight comeback attempts without Paul Pierce, and I'd assume that with him at least one of the two comebacks would be more than just "attempts."

23. Houston Rockets, 0-1

Opening night was an ugly one for the Houston Rockets, but they only ended up losing the game by nine points, so they can at least gauge what it'll look like when they play bad.

I think the Rockets will be competing for that final playoff spot, so they probably won't be hanging around this low for that long, but they're 0-1, so here they are.

22. Phoenix Suns, 0-1

The Suns played in a basketball game on Monday evening and lost said game; not much more can be said about their loss.

They looked decent at times, and at other times, they were tripping over themselves with mistakes. At the very least, they can remind themselves that they still have Steve Nash, which will get them a good chunk of wins this season.

21. Memphis Grizzlies, 0-1

What looked to be an impeding acceptable loss turned into a concerning game for the Grizzlies about midway through the third quarter against the Spurs on Monday night.

They seemed unsure of themselves on offense, which turned into a 13-point loss to San Antonio, as they were still working out their offense as the Spurs had gotten into stride in the second half.

20. Philadelphia 76ers, 0-1

The 76ers looked good offensively and defensively in their loss to the 76ers on Monday night; they just turned the ball over far too many times (20 in all) and allowed too many offensive rebounds (17) against the Blazers.

Once they work out the kinks, they seem like they're going to be a very good team. Until then, they're the best team without a win.

19. Milwaukee Bucks, 1-1

After an opening night loss to the Charlotte Bobcats (blech), the Bucks turned around and squeaked out a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Thankfully for them, they did, or they would be a lot farther down this list.

The good news is that Brandon Jennings has looked pretty good in his first two games, making up for a poor shooting performance on opening night and shooting 50 percent last night, scoring at least 22 points in each game.

18. Charlotte Bobcats, 1-0

Excuse me if I'm not ready to buy into a Bobcats team after a win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night, but they did look like an actual team.

Gerald Henderson looked like a potential player who could make a huge leap in production this year, and their point-center, Boris Diaw, nearly notched a triple-double.

17. New Jersey Nets, 1-1

The New Jersey Nets took advantage of a Washington Wizards' collapse on Monday night before they turned around the next night and laid an egg against Atlanta with a 36-point loss.

Kris Humphries looks like he could end up being a steal for the soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets, but they may not have enough weapons for Deron Williams to use to get this team into the playoffs.

16. Toronto Raptors, 1-0

I suppose you could argue the Toronto Raptors are up this high by default, but if you watched them play against the Cavs Monday night, then you might be singing a different tune.

For the first time in over a year, I watched a Raptors team play and not only look like a cohesive unit on the offensive end, but on defense as well.

This team may not set the world on fire, but they also might not be as bad as we thought they were going to be.

15. Los Angeles Lakers, 1-2

Before the wave of Laker nay-sayers bites my head off for putting a two loss team this high, let me defend these Lakers.

First of all, after playing three games in a row, I can't say they looked bad. They were a Derrick Rose floater away from being 2-1, at which point we would have to deal with people raving about them being so good without Andrew Bynum.

And speaking of Bynum, they have shown off a decent game with Bynum in a suit, which has to make Lakers fans feel at least a bit confident for when he goes down in April with a hyper-extended knee.

14. New Orleans Hornets, 1-0

I suppose their identical records makes it too early to declare a winner in the Clippers-Hornets trade for Chris Paul...right?

All kidding aside, the Hornets seemed to be a pretty good team against the Suns, and Eric Gordon lived up to the hype and led his team with 20 points.

So far, so good.

13. Sacramento Kings, 1-1

After beating the Lakers on Monday night, my initial thought was the Kings looked pretty good. Boogie Cousins was filling his role and not trying to do too much, and the plethora of ball-hogs on that team didn't try to kill each other.

Then they went out the next night and shot 38 percent. Not exactly a good continuation there.

Still, I'm liking what I'm seeing from Cousins, and if they get down low under control, the rest will fall into place as well as it can.

12. Golden State Warriors, 1-1

With a loss to the Clippers and a win over the Bulls in his first two nights as an NBA head coach, I have to imagine that Mark Jackson is relatively happy with himself right now.

Sure, they fell apart near the end of the game against Los Angeles and had to force Derrick Rose to shoot 24 percent to get a win over the Bulls, but the Warriors looked good for big chunks of both games. 

They're a welcome surprise.

11. Orlando Magic, 1-1

The Magic looked bad on opening night when they were throttled by the Oklahoma City Thunder, but they turned around and beat the Rockets the following night by nine, which is a nice win.

They look a bit awkward on the floor, as everybody on the team knows that Dwight Howard would rather be elsewhere, but they still have that good defense, which will continue to get them wins so long as Howard is the anchor in the middle.

10. San Antonio Spurs, 1-0

Wait a second, I thought the Tim Duncan Era was supposed to be over. The Internet told me that he was too old and their team was going to fall apart!

Well, Duncan didn't have much to do with their win statistically, but he looked to be in good shape against the Grizzlies, and the other guys in silver and black didn't look too shabby, either.

9. Chicago Bulls, 1-1

The Bulls are my highest ranked one-loss team, but it's mostly because of the way they lost to the Warriors that I have them this high.

If it weren't for Derrick Rose's 1-8 shooting from beyond the rainbow (and 4-17 overall), they would have won. Thibideau will get him to pass the ball more when he's having an off night, I'm pretty confident of that.

8. Atlanta Hawks, 1-0

They may seem a bit low after the drubbing they put on the New Jersey Nets, but the Nets don't seem like all that good of a team to me at this point. Excuse me if a win over the Wizards doesn't instill confidence in a person.

Still, I can't deny that I'm impressed by the Hawks going plus-36 on any team in their first game of the season.

The best part about their win over the Nets? The player with the highest plus/minus in the game? Vladamir Radmonovic with plus-24. That's just insane.

7. New York Knicks, 1-0

They did beat the Boston Celtics on opening day, but they nearly gave the game away to a Celtics team that was without Paul Pierce.

Still, they showed off an explosive offense and a lockdown defense; it's just that neither hung around for the duration of the game.

6. Indiana Pacers, 1-0

This Indiana Pacers team is built to destroy. They have size, leadership, guards, energy, toughness and everything a non-elite basketball team needs to take down an elite team in the playoffs.

Psycho T coming off the bench along with George Hill is scary enough, but they've also got a scrappy Louis Amundson.

5. Los Angeles Clippers, 1-0

The Showtime Blakers missed easy put-backs, saw Vinny Del Negro sit idly by as Chauncey Billups chucked 10 threes and struggled offensively against the Golden State Warriors, and they still won by 19 points.

I'm impressed by Chris Paul taking over the game when he needed to and by DeAndre Jordan blocking shots like Republicans blocking Barack Obama's office nominees (Hey-ooo! A political joke. OK, I'll go back to basketball.).

What's more, those Warriors turned around and beat the Bulls the next evening, so that win looks that much better.

4. Portland Trail Blazers, 2-0

The Trail Blazers look much better than expected, as their roster changes seem to fit together well thus far this season.

They put together wins over Philadelphia and Sacramento, neither of whom are great teams, but two wins is two wins, and I've got to give them credit.

3. Denver Nuggets, 1-0

Excuse me while I try to ignore my inner over-reactor.

But...but, the Nuggets won their first game by 22 points! And...and, they took down the defending champions.

Yes, but it's only one game.

Ah, screw it, those Nuggets looked damn good Monday night, and forgive me for saying it, but they look dangerous.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder, 2-0

I've heard some negative talk about Oklahoma City's "mere" four-point win over Minnesota on Monday night, but I'm pretty impressed by it.

They played on back-to-back nights in cities 1,000 miles apart and won both ends of it; what's not to like there?

1. Miami Heat, 2-0

Raise your hand if you're surprised at Miami being No. 1.

Nobody...nobody. That's what I thought.

The Heat took down the defending champs on opening day and then held on to beat the roughed-up Celtics last night with efforts from guys besides their big three.

Udonis Haslem is looking healthy, Shane Battier has come in to do what everybody expected and Norris Cole came in and scored 20 points in last night's win. That's scary if you're the rest of the league.

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