NBA Power Rankings Update: How the West Got Weird
Teams Ranked 10th to 1st
Yeah, yeah, the Warriors' shaky start is a shocker, but hey, how about them Portland Trail Blazers?
| Rank | Team | 2017-18 nERD | 2017-18 record | Last Update | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Washington Wizards | 56.1 | 2-0 | 12 | +2 |
| 9 | Boston Celtics | 56.2 | 1-2 | 7 | -2 |
| 8 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 56.7 | 1-2 | 8 | Even |
| 7 | Portland Trail Blazers | 57.5 | 2-1 | 15 | +8 |
| 6 | Toronto Raptors | 64.0 | 2-0 | 6 | Even |
| 5 | Houston Rockets | 66.3 | 3-0 | 4 | -1 |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 66.8 | 2-1 | 3 | -1 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Clippers | 67.2 | 2-0 | 5 | +2 |
| 2 | San Antonio Spurs | 71.4 | 2-0 | 2 | Even |
| 1 | Golden State Warriors | 80.4 | 1-2 | 1 | Even |
The Expected
The San Antonio Spurs can hoop.
The Unexpected
Man, where to start? Let's just bulletpoint it:
-- On opening night, the poor Celtics lost poor Gordon Hayward, likely for the season, thus their tumbling nERD.
-- Despite having three of the greatest scorers in the game on their roster, the Oklahoma City Thunder are averaging 101.7 points a night -- 20 points less than the freakin' Nets.
-- Even though Chris Paul has missed two of their three games, the Houston Rockets are undefeated. (Granted, their two Paul-less W's came against the nERD-deficient Kings and Mavericks -- but still.)
-- Finally, Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and the Blazers might be a thing. They have a ton of depth (11 of their players are averaging 10-plus minutes), Jusuf Nurkic and Al-Farouq Aminu look like a for-realsies backcourt, and they are the only team in the league who has three players ranked in the top-22 of player efficiency rating -- yet another example of how the West got weird.
