28/30 rankers reporting this week. /R/NBA's Power Rankings are published every two weeks which is a bit different from most rankings. Other than that we rank the teams the same way as our competition. If write ups are left blank the team rep decided not to submit. We encourage any user to fill in the blanks in the comment section.

#TeamΔRecordComment
1 Cavaliers+2–"A franchise record 15 game win streak, scoring 130+ a franchise record 6 times in a season, a franchise record 83 point first half against GSW, a franchise record 49 point first quarter against CHI, the #1 offensive rating in basketball that’s shooting a staggering 63.9% ts% despite being towards the bottom of the league in FTA, as a team on one of the highest paces. It’s fun, ethical basketball. The Cavs send different looks offensively to keep defenses on their toes, such as spacing the floor with Mobley bringing the ball up with a five-out offensive set, with 48 minutes of an all-star level pick & roll base set to fall back to when other things aren’t working, as Atkinson has perfectly staggered Mitchell/Mobley and Garland/Allen. Ty Jerome fits perfectly between Garland/Mitchell as a 3rd guard, averaging 10/2/4 with 1.2 steals on just 17mpg, while Caris LeVert looks like the Caris that played for Atkinson in Brooklyn. The Warriors fired Mark Jackson after going 51-31 because they felt that he was holding their players back with set rotations and stagnant iso offense before Kerr’s system freed them. Firing JB after going 49-33 for mostly the same reasons, has Atkinson’s system lifted this team’s ceiling to championship basketball? We have this core locked up for years to find out."
2 Celtics—–"There is seemingly no such thing as an easy win for the Celtics these past 2 weeks (ignoring our 139-114 win against the Nets). Against Golden State it was a game of runs that the Celtics let slip away at the end of the 4th quarter. They followed that up with an OT win against the Nets, a game against Milwaukee that up until midway through the 3rd quarter looked like it was gonna be Giannis' ""right the ship"" game for the Bucks, a 15 point blown lead buzzer beater loss to the Hawks, and an OT win against Toronto that saw Jakob Poeltl put up a career high 35 points. Al Horford can't be asked to play 30+ minutes a night at 100% day in and day out, and expect him to be remotely healthy for the playoffs. With Porzingis out, that leaves one of Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman, and Neemias Queta to fill the role of starting center. Queta has gotten the nod and started 4 games so far this season with Kornet starting 2, and Tillman starting only 1 game. Even though the bench mob of big men has provided some relief, the hole that Porzingis has left while he's out is very much noticeable. The Celtics face off against the undefeated Cavs this Tuesday. No matter the result, there will be overreactions and fans saying the sky is falling. It's hard to complain when you're 11-3 coming off a championship with your 3rd or 4th best player out until December/January, but this is sports and that's what fans do. If we beat the Cavs then we're repeating and the Cavs are paper tigers taking advantage of yet another historically awful East. If we lose, it's time to blow it up and let the new Cavs dynasty begin. "
3 Warriors+2–Not saying this team is the same as 21-22 but Kerr is: "So to me, the model is ’22. We won the championship in ’22 with a similar mix to what we have now. Good on both sides of the ball, establish the defense — I think we finished second in efficiency that year, if I’m not mistaken. We’ve established this year we’re good defensively. We still have things to work on. But we won a title two years ago with a group built around Steph and defense. And that’s the formula this year, too."
4 Thunder-3–Losing Chet Holmgren for ~2 months on top of already having Hartenstein and JayWill missing time has forced the Thunder to play microball. The next few weeks will be crucial in stealing wins with literally 0 centers to stay afloat until Hartenstein can return and steady the ship. With that said, we haven't let our lack of size keep us out of games.
5 Rockets+9–
6 Lakers+2–Lakers have stabilized themselves with a 5-win streak after an abysmal road trip dropping 4 of 5 including one loss to the Pistons. Anthony Davis continues to heavylift the team's defense while giving 30 a night, LeBron continues to defy time, this time recording four consecutive triple-doubles for the first time in his career. The ill-timed injuries to Rui and Hayes (and Cam) weakens the frontcourt rotation that's already lacking Wood and Vando (assuming they exist), the relatively softer schedule during this win streak has allowed to mitigate their absence with decent contributions from the others and the superstars' play but the next couple of weeks are going to be a test as they face some feisty teams, including a matchup to hopefully exorcise their Nuggets demon. The move of DLo to the bench has solved the lack of offensive punch off the bench and added some defensive edge to the starting lineup. JJ seems to be extracting the most out of this group so far, but needs to keep it going to establish themselves as the team that their top-4 in the West record reads.
7 Suns-3–"Letter from the editor: West coast games after 8:00 should be illegal. Is the Hawaiian market that important that the rest of us must sacrifice our hypothetical sleeping schedules? Let’s start with the good: The theme of the first month was breaking last year’s bad habits: unforced turnovers, low volume three-point shooting, and 4th quarter collapses. The year started shakily with high turnovers, but it has been improving as the team becomes more in sync. The three-point volume has increased by almost ten per game without a major dip in efficiency. And the 4th quarters, what a turnaround. From being the worst 4th quarter team in NBA history to it being one of our strengths, Bud continues to prove to be the most important acquisition made during the offseason. Beal, KD, Royce, Tyus, and Plumlee have all taken a step up this year with much of the bench contributing every night. I'd need another page to talk about how amazing the rookie Ryan Dunn has been. The team is organized, motivated, prepared, and most importantly is having fun. A stark difference from last year. And the not as good: The injury bug has hit hard and all at once. Obviously, the KD injury tops the list. Losing your MVP for week(s) is going to hurt any team. Beal, Nurkic, and Grayson have also been shaken up while Booker, who is allegedly playing though an illness, is going though one of his worst stretches in years. There have also been some concerning new patterns which have cropped up, even before the injuries. Extended periods where the entire team falls into a lazy haze both offensively and defensively. An inability to put away games early, even against bad teams, which has led to all the cardiac games, and team-wide streakiness offensively despite the amount of firepower on paper. But there are a lot of games remaining and we have an early standings buffer thanks to KD’s heroics. Something we never had last year, and something we clearly needed. Time to see how the team adjusts to new adversity. If they will collapse like last year, just tread water until reinforcements arrives, or find a way above it all."
8 Nuggets+3–To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Nikola Jokic is the best basketball player on the planet. This was clear prior to last week when the Nuggets did some home cooking and reeled off 5 straight wins, and it's even clearer now without Jokic as the team has now lost in NO and MEM after 4 days off. When he's not delivering babies, Jokic is somehow putting up the best numbers of his career (30 pts/14 reb/12 ast per game on 56/56(!!)/84 splits), while leading a significantly faster offense this year, as the team has jumped from 27th to 10th in possessions per game. Also, Christian Braun has been making an early case for MIP, averaging 16 pts per game on 55/47/81 splits. The doubters who assumed the team was cooked after losing KCP have been proven wrong thus far by Braun, who has been shooting better on 3's than KCP in 2023 (47% vs. 41% for KCP) on a shade under 1 attempt less per game (3.3 attempts vs. 4.1 attempts for KCP).
9 TWolves+1–Wolves have not been pretty this season, working their way through building chemistry and consistency they have dropped some early games in the easiest part of the season. They've picked up some wins with clutch plays which has kept them afloat in the standings.
10 Grizzlies-1–The hospital Grizzlies are back! Our leading minute getters, in order, are Santi Aldama, Jaylen Wells (R), Scotty Pippen Jr, Jaren Jackson Jr, and Jake Laravia, with Zach Edey (R) coming in as the 6th highest. Despite this, the team has a winning record and the development of Scotty Pippen has completely made up for the fact that Marcus Smart has been complete cheeks and Ja hasn't been able to stay healthy. Jaylen Wells looks like a tremendous 3&D prospect and Zach Edey has been improving each game. 3 point shooting has been extremely streaky but the Grizz expect to be fully healthy by the beginning of the year, and thats more than enough time to develop enough chemistry to make a playoff push.
11 Magic+4–The Magic are basically Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when on the road vs at home this year. Undefeated at home but haven't been able to win a game outside of Florida just yet this season. Guess we'll see if that trend continues with this upcoming road trip. With Paolo still out, Franz Wagner has been asked to step up as the number one option. And after a few underwhelming games while dealing with an illness he has come up big, averaging 25/6/6 since Paolo was ruled out indefinitely with a torn oblique. The rest of the guys are also pitching in, with Suggs and AB being defensive menaces and Goga/Moe/JI holding down with WCJ also still out
12 Knicks-6–“The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch'ang mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.” Sun Tzu wrote the above in his ubiquitous Art of War. Between you and me, I've got absolutely no clue what a shuai-jan is, but it sounds like it means business. The obvious lesson in the quotation is of redundancy, and that no successful strategy should rely on any one pivotal piece. An independence of action should exist so that the lattice of a tactic can tighten under pressure. As of now, the Knicks are seeing both sides of this lesson. On offense the team is exemplary- if any one player is having an off night shooting (in some cases even Brunson), the rest of the stars have little problem adapting their play and keeping scoring high and distributed. On defense, there is a beautiful movement of players, each their own strand in a tapestry that can bend and not break. However, there is a weakness, at it lies at the 5. Despite what some cherry-picked statistics would have you believe, KAT is not a bad defender, and his rebounding does more than enough to give us an edge in possessions- we're simply slim at his position. Jericho Sims, bless his heart, does not have the quality to be a reliable second to KAT. In the wings we have the legend Mitchell Robinson, and "Definitely not Hartenstein" rookie Ariel Hukporti has started to put together magnificent stretches in his limited time. I'll hesitate on a condemnation until we're fully healthy, but it's worth keeping an eye on. On a personal note: I've got a very busy stretch coming up (taking the GMAT, finishing applications for Business School, interviewing for some jobs). Wish me luck.
13 Mavericks-6–Clutch time has not been Dallas' friend over the last couple of weeks. Dallas became the third team since the 3 point line was installed to lose four straight games by three or fewer points (the other two teams won a combined 66 games). Coaching hasn't been great, health has been an issue, and Luka has not been himself since missing all of preseason. The weekend sweep could help build momentum ahead of a soft part of the schedule opening up in December, especially with PJ Washington having arguably his best game as a Maverick.
14 Kings-1–Over the past two weeks, the Sacramento Kings have been like that one friend who’s great at showing up to parties but forgets to bring the snacks. On one hand, De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis have been doing their thing—scoring, playmaking, looking like the cool kids on the block. On the other hand, the Kings’ defense has been about as reliable as a New Year’s resolution, letting opponents score at will. It's like they’re saying, "Hey, we’ll score 130 points, but we’ll let you score 125. Deal?"
15 Pacers+3–Indiana continues its hot and cold start to the season. Some impressive wins over Dallas and New York are sullied by no-show outings vs the Hornets and Heat (round 1). It has been a struggle for the Pacers to match their frenetic pace from a season ago, at least for consistent stretches at a time. On the positive side, third year man Bennedict Mathurin appears to be taking "the leap" as another viable go-to option in late game situations.
16 Clippers+4–We are mid, and that's OK! Despite a pretty ugly 3 game skid in which the younger and cooler teams of the West ran our old asses out of the gym, the Clippers have scratched and clawed their way back to the .500 record where they belong. S/O to Harden for making the most threes in NBA history (the alien above Ray Allen does not count) as he's been slowly finding his own offense while trying to manage everyone else's. Norman Powell (who is my hero and guiding light) has continued to be a flamethrower from deep, and Amir Coffey has been brewing up some decent performances. Asides from the Kawhi-sized elephant in the room, the Clippers' biggest kryptonite this season so far has been their inability to hold leads. While the defense has overall looked impressive, we are still prone to having cold stretches for minutes on end. The move of Powell and now Kris Dunn to the starting lineup has not helped our bench from being any more suspect, and it often leads us to drag a gassed Harden back in to try and recover our lead. Coffey is a nice shot of energy, but he can wear off at any moment. Mo Bamba is finally playing for us, but it is too early to tell if he will even survive Ty Lue's patented 10-game sample. Nonetheless, the Clippers' internal struggle has provided some honestly fun basketball , as the main goal of the season currently remains to keep Oklahoma City out of the lottery.
17 Pistons+10–Just like all vaunted Pistons teams, we are getting it done with our defense. Presently we with 6th in NBA Defensive Rating at 110.4. That's WITHOUT Ausar Thompson, who should be making his debut soon and has a non-stop motor on the defensive end. Cade remains turnover prone and inefficient but he did drop his 4th triple double of the season last night along with 5 steals – I still believe that long term getting someone to take over primary handling duties from him would help significantly as he has a noticeable drop in quality of play (which our team play also suffers from) come the 4th quarter. Also some of his inefficiencies remain due to scheme. Duren needs to be benched for Isaiah Stewart at some point. From the eye test, Duren continues to half-ass it on defense with regularity, and when he doesn't he still ends up ending out of position. Statistically, we have a +5.11 Net rating with Stew on the floor without Duren, compared to -4.40 Net rating with Duren on the floor without Stew. JB really needs to unleash the dragon with Stew and let him shoot from deep again. Whoever guards him on D can cheat off of him at this point when he's behind the arc, which just hurts everyone else needlessly. Finally: FUCK MONTY WILLIAMS.
18 Heat-5–Season has started as expected for Miami although we've already been surprised with a Jimmy Butler injury. However, there is good news in that Tyler Herro seems to be taking the next step in his development and averaging a career high 24 points per game so far this year (Sample size is too small to be accurate but we can dream)! This is very good considering since Jimmy's gone down with the injury it's been the 'Bam and Tyler Show' in Miami. It's still early days and Jimmy Butler should be returning soon. Nikola Jovic also looks like he may be starting to become a key piece for Miami. I think I'm jumping the gun with that one though but it would be nice to see Jovic become the player a lot of Heat fans believe he can be. It would definitely be appreciated although until Jovic or Jaquez Jr become bigger contributors, we'll need to pray for Jimmy's health and for the occasional 30 point game from Robinson.
19 Spurs-3–The highs were high, and the lows weren't as low as the highs were high. We got Devin back (missing Sochan significantly though), Castle looks like the real deal and non-Spurs fans are starting to take note, and Wemby broke out of his shooting slump in some kind of way, including dropping a new career-high of 50 points. To the naysayers, I don't disagree that some of his shots from 3 are questionable at times, but where I've landed on it is that I don't really mind it so much right now–I have little doubt that the coaching staff and Victor himself will reign in his shot selection when the time is right and the team is ready to win, and for now I want him to continue figuring out what does and doesn't work for him. Overall this team is very enjoyable to watch, and I hope they continue to be competitive for the rest of the season as they are currently. The Spurs have OKC (IST), UTA, GSW, @UTA (IST), LAL, and @SAC coming up over the next two weeks.
20 Hawks+1–This write up was stolen by Dyson Daniels
21 Bucks+2–The team is starting to play better basketball, which isn't saying much considering how awfully the season has started. But it's been encouraging enough to believe that the team can get back into a playoff spot sooner than later — if we can get healthy.
22 Hornets+3–LaMelo Ball, superstar. The high usage high octane PG is going crazy this year, 30 PPG and leading the league in 4th quarter scoring. He's electric and impossible to stop. Unfortunately he's surrounded by a bunch of offensive zeros, guys who can't create their own shot, and literally zero big man presence aside from Moussa Diabate (what a find). This is a bad team and desperately needs an injection of talent. Great effort so far but not impressed with the direction of the team. 33-49 beckons.
23 Trail Blazers+6–Portland's best players are injured, which should mean only bad things for the Blazers. But somehow, things are looking better. The team looks energized, the defense looks focused, and Sharpe looks like he hasn't lost a step with his injury.
24 Nets-2–The losing has begun. It was a feisty start for the Nets but their schedule has corrected itself and put them in front of teams with more talent. On top of that, they lost Claxton to a injury and Schroder's scoring has come down to earth, as was expected. Cam Thomas, on the other hand, has continued lighting up the scoring sheet and has shown real improvements in decision making and ball distribution. Fans now look forward to seeing young players develop and the team priming themselves for a top end pick. The top prospects this year have looked like studs so far and it's been touted as a very strong draft by experts sooo it's time to Capture the Flagg baby.
25 Bulls-8–
26 Pelicans-7–This summary to be re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks.
27 76ers-3–The dream offseason has turned into a nightmare. Tyrese Maxey is hurt, Paul George is held to a minutes restriction like it's a timebomb, and Joel Embiid has left fans and media members alike in a daze with his current performance. Fans (especially of the Sixers) will continue to talk about how the regular season doesn't matter, but at some point it has to matter when the question of a postseason isn't a definitive answer. They are bottom 5 in net rating and the bottom of the league in offensive rating, along with being bottom 5 in all shooting ratings. Even their rebounding woes from last year has followed them. The lone bright spot has been our influencer, who has stormed out of the gates and demanded a starting spot even when the big 3 is healthy. SAVE US JARED MCCAIN, YOU ARE OUR ONLY HOPE!
28 Jazz+2–The Jazz somehow went 3-4 after starting the season 0-6. John Collins has been our best player so far, while Lauri Markkanen has struggled without a playmaker paired with him. Ultimately, the Jazz have looked significantly better than the first 2 weeks of the season, but need a playmaker like my grandpa needs Newports. Badly. We need to sharpen up on the tank, we currently hold just the 4th worst record. We have to remain in the bottom 4. PLANT THE FLAGG!
29 Raptors-3–Jakub has been amazing and it's been really fun watching the team play hard and compete. Yes, the losses suck, especially since they're so close and really piling on. However, I do think they'll change if we get healthy. Whether Raptor fans want wins or a full on tank, I predict we won't be at the bottom once the schedule swings.
30 Wizards-2–With Kyle Kuzma's return from his groin injury, the Washington Wizards have one again forgone the opportunity to work on talent development, instead letting their veterans soak up all of the meaningful first half possessions and leaving the young ones to feast on the sloppy seconds of garbage time. Against the Hawks, JP and Kuzma would combine for 28 out of the team's 57 first half field goal attempts while the rookies would record 17. Against the Pistons, JP and Kuzma would combine for 21 out of the team's 43 first half field goals while the rookies would combine for 7. Jordan Poole has been playing well while also taking on a high volume. Then again, you kind of want more of that volume distributed, with the understanding that Jordan Poole probably isn't going to be the face of the franchise within the next 2-3 years. When a team has three first round picks along with Bilal Coulibaly, there was always going to be concern of how everyone would eat but the presumption was that the young guys would eat first. And that just hasn't been the case. It continues to feel like Brian Keefe doesn't have a good understanding of the rotations and with the return of Malcom Brogdon, it adds another resource that will need minutes. The Wizards just aren't good enough to make it work.

11 comments

  1. Team | Rank | Ranks Above Avg | Lover | Ranks Below Avg | Hater |
    :– | :-: | :-: | :– | :-: | :– |
    [](/ATL) Hawks | 20 | 5 | 3 Tied | -4 | 2 Tied |
    [](/BOS) Celtics | 2 | 0 | 12 Tied | -2 | 4 Tied |
    [](/BKN) Nets | 24 | 14 | [](/MIA) /u/beefat99 | -3 | 2 Tied |
    [](/CHA) Hornets | 22 | 2 | [](/IND) /u/imkunu | -5 | 2 Tied |
    [](/CHI) Bulls | 25 | 12 | [](/MIA) /u/beefat99 | -2 | 3 Tied |
    [](/CLE) Cavaliers | 1 | 0 | 28 Tied | 0 | 28 Tied |
    [](/DAL) Mavericks | 13 | 6 | 2 Tied | -4 | [](/UTA) /u/JoeIngles |
    [](/DEN) Nuggets | 8 | 3 | 3 Tied | -9 | [](/MIA) /u/beefat99 |
    [](/DET) Pistons | 17 | 3 | [](/ATL) /u/not-a-potato-head | -9 | [](/PHX) /u/ |
    [](/GSW) Warriors | 3 | 1 | 9 Tied | -1 | 12 Tied |
    [](/HOU) Rockets | 5 | 1 | 5 Tied | -9 | [](/PHX) /u/ |
    [](/IND) Pacers | 15 | 7 | [](/CHA) /u/NotManyBuses | -7 | [](/MIA) /u/beefat99 |
    [](/LAC) Clippers | 16 | 5 | [](/POR) /u/DrTom | -4 | 2 Tied |
    [](/LAL) Lakers | 6 | 1 | 5 Tied | -8 | 2 Tied |
    [](/MEM) Grizzlies | 10 | 4 | 4 Tied | -11 | [](/CHA) /u/NotManyBuses |
    [](/MIA) Heat | 18 | 3 | 3 Tied | -5 | [](/BOS) /u/walterdog12 |
    [](/MIL) Bucks | 21 | 6 | [](/CHA) /u/NotManyBuses | -5 | [](/BOS) /u/walterdog12 |
    [](/MIN) TWolves | 9 | 4 | [](/OKC) /u/AnkitPancakes | -11 | [](/MIA) /u/beefat99 |
    [](/NOP) Pelicans | 26 | 6 | [](/CHA) /u/NotManyBuses | -3 | [](/ATL) /u/not-a-potato-head |
    [](/NYK) Knicks | 12 | 6 | [](/LAC) /u/deepwebteddy | -2 | 5 Tied |
    [](/OKC) Thunder | 4 | 2 | 7 Tied | -2 | [](/TOR) /u/Jaseen |
    [](/ORL) Magic | 11 | 6 | [](/NOP) /u/MrFishAndLoaves | -5 | [](/POR) /u/DrTom |
    [](/PHI) 76ers | 27 | 7 | 2 Tied | -2 | 3 Tied |
    [](/PHX) Suns | 7 | 2 | 5 Tied | -10 | [](/MIN) /u/flyingscissor |
    [](/POR) Trail Blazers | 23 | 5 | [](/TOR) /u/Jaseen | -3 | 4 Tied |
    [](/SAC) Kings | 14 | 9 | [](/WAS) /u/TopOfTheKey | -1 | 4 Tied |
    [](/SAS) Spurs | 19 | 4 | [](/DET) /u/x20mike07x | -5 | 2 Tied |
    [](/TOR) Raptors | 29 | 4 | [](/MIN) /u/flyingscissor | -1 | 7 Tied |
    [](/UTA) Jazz | 28 | 2 | 2 Tied | -1 | 11 Tied |
    [](/WAS) Wizards | 30 | 2 | 5 Tied | 0 | 21 Tied |

    * Boring ranker of the week is [](/SAS) /u/Uncle_Freddy with a 0.79 standard deviation
    * Crazy ranker of the week is [](/MIA) /u/beefat99 with a 4.93 standard deviation

  3. Hawks ranker here, AMA

    also, here’s an actually write-up since the one in the post is a meme:

    Going 3-4 since the last power rankings isn’t great, but could definitely be worse. The win versus Boston was the best win of the season, but there have been some frustrating losses in there as well (Detroit, Chicago, Portland). The potential for a good team is definitely there, but the team has struggled to put it all together for an entire 48 minutes. Thankfully, it looks like we’re going to be getting most of our players off the IR soon, so hopefully the better depth will help the team’s consistency.

  4. Did not expect the Clippers ranker to have Houston at 13 after Houston beat them in b2b games, including an absolute whooping in the second of the two.

  6. Feel like we are a little low tbh. Still maintaining a good record even with our main guys missing time. Also our defense is weirdly slightly above average this year. Not like the disaster of the recent years.

  7. Who is the Rockets’ rep? Team is finally legit good and they can’t write up 2-3 sentences? Boo this man.

  9. Cavs unanimous 1st is a little surprising even with the record. 28 tied for hater though…

  10. Rockets Report since no one wrote one. We’ve been cooking, winnning 5 straight. you can debate the quality of our opponents, but a win is a win. One thing you can’t debate: our defense is stifling. Amen thompson and tari eason are dawgs off the bench. The rockets rank bottom 3 or so in most shooting categories (3pt%, efg, TS%) yet we still rank 11th or so in ORtg. Is this sustainable? who knows. One thing to notice across the board our players are shooting well below their averages. I dont think were a good shooting team by any means, but would be surprised if our numbers didn’t improve atleast away from the outlier averages we’re seeing now.

    We’re one of the best rebounding teams in the league, and have very few turnovers. Will be interesting to see how the year progresses, but has definitely been fun watching this young team improve and win

  11. Top 10 with 4 bench guys leading in minutes. Grizz currently 4th in PPG, 3rd RPG, 3rd in APG, 1st in BPG, and 8th DEF RTG.

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