Power Rankings, Week 11: Warriors grab No. 1 spot from Suns
Otto Porter Jr. stepped up for Golden State in its big Christmas Day win in Phoenix.
The NBA continues to be hit hard by COVID, and there have been a few games (see Raptors-Cavs on Sunday) that haven’t been up to par.
But there has also been some solid competition. And the Christmas slate, though it was missing Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis and Trae Young, was highly entertaining. Last year (when the season had just started), the average margin of victory of the five Christmas games was 23.2 points per game. This year, it was 6.4, with four of the games having been within three points in the last five minutes.
All the absences, along with 11 teams being within two games of .500, does make it difficult to arrange all 30 in some sort of order. But there’s a clear top nine as we enter Week 11. And within that top nine is a clear upper tier comprised of the three best teams in the Western Conference. Two of those three teams have now met three times. The third has yet to play either of the other two.
The Utah Jazz will finally get their chance on Saturday (9 p.m. ET, NBA TV), when the Golden State Warriors come to Salt Lake City for the first of four meetings between the league’s No. 1 offense and its No. 1 defense.
Plus-Minus Players of the Week
- Right Way: Derrick White (SAS) was a plus-61 in three games last week.
- Wrong Way: Harrison Barnes (SAC) was a minus-80 in three games last week.
Teams of the Week
- Make It Last Forever: San Antonio (3-0) — The Spurs won their three games by an average of 29 points.
- Something Just Ain’t Right: Sacramento (0-3) — From the outside, it seems odd to be “disappointed” about a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 15 years. But that was the word that interim coach Alvin Gentry used to describe his group on Sunday.
East vs. West
- The West is 90-83 (.520) against the East in interconference games, though the East was 6-3 last week.
Schedule strength through Week 10
- Toughest: 1. Portland, 2. Boston, 3. Cleveland
- Easiest: 1. Utah, 2. Brooklyn, 3. Milwaukee
- Schedule strength is based on cumulative opponent record, and adjusted for home vs. away and days of rest before a game.
Movement in the Rankings
- High jumps of the week: Charlotte (+4), Dallas (+4), New York (+3), Oklahoma City (+3), San Antonio (+3)
- Free falls of the week: LA Clippers (-4), L.A. Lakers (-3), Minnesota (-3), Sacramento (-3)
Week 11 Team to Watch
- Portland— Is there any life left in the Blazers? Damian Lillard has been shooting well of late and CJ McCollum could be back soon. After an extended Christmas break (thanks to a postponement), Portland sits in 11th place in the Western Conference, but just three games in the loss column out of fifth, with most of the six teams in front of them having their own struggles. They’ll play two of those teams this week, hosting the Mavs on Monday and visiting the Lakers on Friday. In between, they have the third-place Jazz at the Moda Center.
Previous Power Rankings
- Last week: Suns hold No. 1 spot, Cavs enter Top 5
- Thursday’s notebook: Utah’s historic offense, LeBron at the five and Boston in the clutch
- This time last year: Lakers hold No. 1; Nets climb to No. 2 — The season tipped off with empty arenas, the Warriors lost their first two games by a total of 65 points, and the average margin of victory of the five Christmas games was 23.2. The Clippers beat the Lakers and Nuggets in their first two games … and then trailed the Mavs by 50 at halftime. The five undefeated teams at the end of the first week included the Cavs, Pacers, Thunder and Magic. Jayson Tatum banked in a 3 to beat the Bucks, Buddy Hield’s tip-in beat the Nuggets at the buzzer, and Spencer Dinwiddie suffered a partially torn ACL.
- The archive: NBA.com Power Rankings
Pace: Possessions per 48 minutes (League Rank)
OffRtg: Points scored per 100 possessions (League Rank)
DefRtg: Points allowed per 100 possessions (League Rank)
NetRtg: Point differential per 100 possessions (League Rank)
The league has averaged 98.7 possessions (per team) per 48 minutes and 108.8 points scored per 100 possessions this season.
NBA.com’s Power Rankings, released every Monday during the season, are just one man’s opinion. If you have an issue with the rankings, or have a question or comment for John Schuhmann, send him an e-mail or contact him via Twitter.
