NBA Power Rankings Update: Are the Golden State Warriors Still the Best Team in the League?
Teams Ranked 20th to 11th
The Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans both start to turn things around, while the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz sputter.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Detroit Pistons | 7-6 | 44.8 | 19 | -1 |
| 18 | Miami Heat | 6-8 | 45.2 | 18 | 0 |
| 18 | Brooklyn Nets | 6-9 | 45.2 | 20 | 2 |
| 17 | Memphis Grizzlies | 8-5 | 51.2 | 16 | -1 |
| 16 | San Antonio Spurs | 7-7 | 51.3 | 11 | -5 |
| 15 | Sacramento Kings | 8-6 | 51.8 | 15 | 0 |
| 14 | Utah Jazz | 7-7 | 52.0 | 12 | -2 |
| 13 | Los Angeles Lakers | 8-6 | 52.7 | 17 | 4 |
| 12 | Philadelphia 76ers | 9-7 | 53.3 | 13 | 1 |
| 11 | New Orleans Pelicans | 7-7 | 55.8 | 14 | 3 |
Risers
LeBron James' new team struggles to start the season, everyone overreacts, then they inevitably turn things around after a reasonable number of games. Sound familiar? That's because the same thing happened when James joined the Miami Heat in 2010 and when he re-joined the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014. Now, here we are once again, with Bron's Lakers winning six of their last seven after opening the season 2-5. They're still very much a work-in-progress, but they're headed in the right direction.
The New Orleans Pelicans have been a yo-yo this season. They started the year 4-0, went on to lose six in a row, and have now won three of their last four to put them at 7-7. Their success will, as it always has, depend on the health of Anthony Davis. They are 7-4 with him in the lineup, and should remain steadily in the mix near the top of the Western Conference for as long as he's healthy.
Fallers
The San Antonio Spurs started the season 6-2, but have dropped four of their last five, including an embarrassing 20-point loss to the Phoenix Suns (our bottom-ranked team by a mile). The LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan pairing seems to be working just fine, but the Spurs are simply not the consistently dominant franchise they once were. Eight of their next 12 contests are on the road, and 10 of those come against squads at or above .500, so we're about to see what this iteration of the team is truly made of.
The Utah Jazz have won three of their last four contests, but that one loss was by 50 points to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. They may be making strides in the win-loss column lately, but dropping a game by 50 frickin' points deserves a dishonorable mention.
