Monday, April 6
Clippers Rising
Marc Stein and Cary Chow break down Week 23 of ESPN.com's NBA Power Rankings
The nearly-as-coveted No. 2 slot, however, remains very much in play.
There's a new No. 2 on this Rankings Monday, in fact, even though the incumbent Cleveland Cavaliers won both of their games last week. The reigning champs from San Antonio have vaulted past the Cavs after becoming the first team this season to beat the mighty Warriors twice ... although we can admit that it probably didn't hurt the Spurs' case that the Power Rankings committee (of one) was in the building Sunday night in the Alamo City to see the Kawhi Leonard-led clinic with its own eyes.
The Spurs are 17-3 since Feb. 27 and, as long as Tiago Splitter's latest calf injury is not serious -- as Spurs coach Gregg Popovich contends -- increasingly look like co-favorites in the West with the Warriors. This much is for sure: No one in the West wants to play the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. Or any round really.
You can comment below on these rankings, which as always were compiled with data and research backing from Micah Adams and all of our friends at ESPN Stats & Information as well as the Elias Sports Bureau.
| 2014-15 Power Rankings: Week 23 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |
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Last Week: 1 | How do you deal with your first L since March 13 and the realization that you've dropped 32 consecutive regular-season games in San Antonio? You take comfort in the knowledge that two more wins would nudge the Warriors to 14 more than last season's 51-win outfit ... most ever for a 50-win team. | ||
| 2 | 1 Last Week: 3 | One big concern looms for the only team in the league with two wins over Golden State: Tiago Splitter's health. The Spurs are 20-5 when Splitter joins Timmy, Tony, Kawhi and Danny Green in the starting lineup. That group, incidentally, played all of eight minutes together in San Antonio's first 40 games. | ||
| 3 | 1 Last Week: 2 | Golden State has the most intimidating home atmosphere we've seen this season, but the Cavs have something cooking, too. Including Sunday's W over Chicago that stretched its win streak at The Q to 18, Cleveland has trailed for only 72:52 of the nearly 900 minutes played during the streak. | ||
| 4 | 2 Last Week: 6 | Outside of Golden State and San Antonio, who in the West can feel as good about themselves as the Clippers? They're on a 10-1 surge, Jamal Crawford should be back soon ... and look at their schedule. They might not lose another game from here, which means No. 2 in the West is still in play. | ||
| 5 |
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Last Week: 5 | We'll know a lot about Houston's bid to hang onto the No. 2 seed in the West after this week's home and home with San Antonio. What we already know: 17 No. 2 seeds, under the current playoff format in place since 1984, have reached the NBA Finals ... compared to only seven No. 3 seeds. | ||
| 6 | 2 Last Week: 4 | The Hawks are a mortal 17-11 since that 17-0 January, which means the 60-win season that once seemed certain remains three wins away with six games to go. At this point, though, all that really matters is making sure Paul Millsap (shoulder) and Jeff Teague (ankle) shake their recent ailments. | ||
| 7 | 1 Last Week: 8 | How much do the Bulls miss Derrick Rose? One example: In its 31 games without him in 2014-15, Chicago has played at a pace that would equate to the league's fifth slowest over the course of the entire season. With D-Rose in the lineup, Chicago moves halfway up the ladder to No. 15 in pace. | ||
| 8 | 1 Last Week: 9 | You know who loves the fact division winners can't fall any lower than No. 4 in the standings? Portland! The Blazers are a middling 9-7 since losing ace shooter/defender Wes Matthews for the season but are happily letting the Rockets, Grizz, Clips and Spurs battle it out for seeds No. 2, 3, 5 and 6. | ||
| 9 | 2 Last Week: 7 | Remember the Grizz? They were 39-14 at the All-Star break with a record of 17-10 against .500-or-better teams. Since then? Memphis is 13-11 thanks in part to a stagnant offense that ranks just 23rd in offensive efficiency over that stretch. We're officially worried about our radio pal Chris Vernon. | ||
| 10 | 2 Last Week: 12 | Because the Pels hold the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning the season series with OKC, playoff destiny was in their hands as of Monday morning. ESPN's trusty Basketball Power Index, however, gives New Orleans just a 23.9 percent shot at beating out OKC because of its tougher schedule. | ||
| 11 |
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Last Week: 11 | Unless the Mavs have a 4-1 finish in store, with Chandler Parsons (knee) dinged up and little to play for with their playoff position essentially locked in, it would appear that the 2014-15 Western Conference will have to settle for six 50-win teams. Dallas, remember, was a 49-win No. 8 seed last season. | ||
| 12 | 1 Last Week: 13 | Put Quin Snyder in the same club with Milwaukee's Jason Kidd and Boston's Brad Stevens. The club of coaches whose teams might well be sporting sub-.500 records but who merit a mention somewhere in the COY discussion thanks to the overachievement they've coaxed out of their youngsters. | ||
| 13 | 3 Last Week: 10 | We keep hearing the schedule favors the Thunder in the race to secure the No. 8 seed. Yet there's no denying that OKC, for all its injury woes, is paying for its 7-18 mark against .600-or-better teams. A .280 success rate in those games falls shy of the .315 league average against the upper crust. | ||
| 14 |
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Last Week: 14 | The Raptors and Blazers share 19-18 records on their travels with a road-heavy finish looming for both clubs. If both teams can scrounge two more road W's each, this will be just the third season in history, along with 2013-14 (14) and 2009-10 (11), to feature 11 teams with winning road records. | ||
| 15 | 1 Last Week: 16 | The focus is understandably on Randy Wittman and his future, with the Wiz seemingly locked into the No. 5 seed thanks to an underwhelming 22-24 mark in 2015. Have to say, though, that I certainly saw Paul Pierce having a bigger impact in D.C. Let's see if the rest he's getting now sets up PP for an impactful postseason. | ||
| 16 | 2 Last Week: 18 | The Nets were 25-38 and floundering on March 11. Since then? Brooklyn is 10-3 behind driving force Brook Lopez, who has played his way into favor under first-year Nets coach Lionel Hollins by averaging 22.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and shooting 59.7 percent from the floor in that stretch. | ||
| 17 | 2 Last Week: 15 | If Paul George is coming back purely for Paul George's long-term peace of mind, then you really can't quibble with Indy's decision to bring back its franchise player now. That matters far more than a playoff push potentially doomed by the Pacers' league-leading 12 L's in games decided by three or fewer. | ||
| 18 | 1 Last Week: 19 | Best defensive player no one talks about? John Henson, another emerging young Buck like Khris Middleton, appears to have a case there as one of just five players this season to block at least four shots in 13 or more games, joining Anthony Davis, Rudy Gobert, Serge Ibaka and DeAndre Jordan. | ||
| 19 | 2 Last Week: 21 | It's not quite Westbrook-ian, but Evan Turner has three triple-doubles since the All-Star break, second only to Ridiculous Russ' nine in the same span. The complete list of Celts with at least three triple-doubles in the same season: Pierce, Toine, Rondo, Bird, Cousy, Russell, Havlicek ... and Evan Turner. | ||
| 20 | 3 Last Week: 17 | Dwyane Wade is trying to become just the third guard ever to average 20 points and five assists in his age-33 season (and beyond), which would put him in an exclusive club with MJ and Kobe. Of course this also could be just the second time in his career that D-Wade misses the playoffs. | ||
| 21 | 1 Last Week: 20 | It's not the only reason Phoenix is missing the playoffs, but a league-leading five L's absorbed thanks to the other team scoring a go-ahead basket in the final five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime sealed the Suns' fate. No other NBA team has suffered more than three such losses. | ||
| 22 |
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Last Week: 22 | It won't be much consolation if the Hornets can't make the playoffs themselves, but it is something: Memphis' recent swoon might cost the Grizz its Southwest Division crown ... which also would spare Charlotte from ranking as the only NBA franchise to never win a division title. | ||
| 23 |
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Last Week: 23 | If you're not satiated by Reggie Jackson's gaudy lines, here's another ray of hope in Motown: Andre Drummond is just the second player, since the NBA began tracking offensive rebounds in 1973, to snag 1,000 boards with 400 on the offensive glass in back-to-back seasons. The other: Moses Malone. | ||
| 24 | 1 Last Week: 25 | Will Barton's Nuggets (exaggeration for dramatic effect!) made some unforeseen history Friday night. In holding Timmy, Tony and Manu to 12 points in San Antonio's 50th W, Denver limited the celebrated trio to its lowest combined single-game scoring output ever ... in 728 regular-season games together. | ||
| 25 | 3 Last Week: 28 | Nikola Vucevic. Victor Oladipo. Tobias Harris. Rookie of the Year aspirant Elfrid Payton. If you want to take a deep dive into the intriguing (but far from polished) Utah-esque young nucleus Orlando has assembled and the many challenges it faces, click to this trademark Zach Lowe breakdown. | ||
| 26 | 2 Last Week: 24 | Forgive Kings fans for getting swept up in the Boogie Hoopla after such a depressing season: DeMarcus Cousins just put together the first back-to-back games with 20-plus points, 20-plus rebounds and 10-plus assists since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968 ... after one triple-double in Boogie's first 347 NBA games. | ||
| 27 | 1 Last Week: 26 | Hard to believe at the minute, given the Sixers' current fortunes, but San Antonio -- with its 18 straight playoff appearances under Pop -- is chasing a Philly record. Various incarnations of the 76ers, from 1950 through 1971, established the league record of 22 consecutive playoff appearances. | ||
| 28 | 1 Last Week: 29 | Trivia time: Kobe Bryant's last playoff game was a second-round loss to OKC on May 21, 2012. Question(s) time: How long before we see Kobe in another playoff game? Will we see Kobe in another playoff game? Can these Lakers possibly finish 3-3 to avoid the first 60-loss season in franchise history? | ||
| 29 | 1 Last Week: 30 | Can't really explain this premonition, but I find myself thinking more and more that the Knicks and Lakers just might fare better in free agency than doomsayers like me have been projecting for months. (Maybe it's just wishful thinking because the committee loves Madison Square Garden so much.) | ||
| 30 | 3 Last Week: 27 | The Wolves barely have enough healthy bodies these days to field a squad, but Andrew Wiggins could use a strong finish, just to make sure he holds off the likes of Nikola Mirotic, Elfrid Payton and Nerlens Noel in the ROY race. Have to say it's a bit disappointing to see Wiggins sporting a PER of just 13.53. | ||
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