When will people learn?
Each year, the Spurs are the forgotten team among the NBA’s elite. There are always up-and-coming teams, star-studded squads in large markets and newly-formed super teams – not to mention whatever team LeBron James is on – taking up all of the oxygen in the room whenever every season begins.
Meanwhile, the Spurs just keep rolling along, firing off one 50-win season after another while playing absolutely beautiful basketball with a roster largely composed – after Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard – of players picked off the NBA scrap heap and perfectly molded to fit inside the humming Spurs machine that’s been finely tuned under Gregg Popovich.
Then came last year’s epic NBA Finals, of which one I had the absolute joy and pleasure of getting to cover the middle three games, when these Spurs in Game 6 came within about 20 seconds, a pair of offensive rebounds and a miraculous Ray Allen 3-pointer – arguably the greatest shot in NBA history – of winning a fifth championship of the Duncan-Popovich Era.
There were many people, including Popovich himself, who came into this season wondering if there would be a hangover for the Spurs after coming oh so close to winning a championship, only to allow it to slip between their fingers. So how did San Antonio respond? By jumping out to a 13-1 record and reeling off an 11-game winning streak entering Wednesday night’s game against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.
(Last week’s ranking in parentheses)
1. Spurs (1): One of the most remarkable box scores I’ve ever seen came from Saturday’s game between the Spurs and Cavaliers. San Antonio won 126-96 in game where all 13 players played between 13 and 28 minutes and scored between six and 17 points. It was the definition of perfect basketball over 48 minutes.
2. Pacers (2): With the Bulls now knocked out of contender status with Derrick Rose sidelined for the season with a torn meniscus, the Pacers have all but clinched the Central Division, and are now simply in a race with the Heat for the right to have Game 7 on their home floor in the Eastern Conference Finals.
3. Trail Blazers (3): While the Spurs have been lauded for their 11-game winning streak, the Blazers – a borderline playoff team in the loaded West to many – have flown under the radar with theirs. Something crazy has to happen for them not to make the playoffs now.
4. Heat (4): Don’t look now, but the Heat have reeled off seven straight wins while still resting Dwyane Wade and tinkering with various things offensively. Funniest thing about Miami’s season? The Heat’s losses are to the Nets, Celtics and Sixers – who are a combined 16-29.
5. Thunder (7): After a pair of fiery meetings with the Clippers already this season, is anyone opposed to seeing a seven-game series featuring Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin? I didn’t think so. Sign me up for that right now.
6. Clippers (6): Their loss to the Thunder last Thursday aside, the Clippers are beginning to round into the kind of form everyone expected them to after Doc Rivers took over. They get another chance to prove themselves when they host the Pacers on Sunday.
7. Rockets (13): The lingering foot issue for James Harden is obviously a long-term concern for Houston. But given all of the dysfunction going on in Houston so far – struggling to integrate Dwight Howard, the Omer Asik trade rumors, Harden’s injury – a 10-5 start is pretty good.
8. Nuggets (20): The Nuggets lost their first three games and looked to be in complete disarray. But since then, under new coach Brian Shaw the Nuggets have gone 7-3, including winning three straight, and have a very forgiving upcoming schedule that could allow them to reel off several more wins.
9. Warriors (10): The Dubs are always going to be an injury risk, as we saw this past week when Andre Iguodala injured his hamstring and Stephen Curry sat down for a couple games with a concussion. Curry, especially, is the key. With him, the Warriors are the best offensive team in the league. Without him, they’re pretty bad.
10. Mavericks (9): Have to think Rick Carlisle is the runaway winner for Coach of the Year with the way he’s already begun to mold this group together, and specifically the job he has done with enigmatic shooting guard Monta Ellis.
11. Timberwolves (8): I really liked the trade Minnesota made, moving Derrick Williams for Luc Richard Mbah a Moute – a defensive stopper on the wing who can knock down the occasional 3-pointer. He’s the perfect piece for the bench of a playoff team. Now the Wolves just have to survive the brutal schedule ahead.
12. Grizzlies (11): Memphis currently sits 10th in these power rankings among Western Conference teams, and it may be hard for them to finish higher than that in the real standings if star center Marc Gasol is unable to return for 6-8 weeks (or more) from his recent knee injury.
13. Hawks (12): The Eastern Conference is pathetic. The best example of that? The Hawks. People wondered before the season if they were even a playoff team, and now they are one of just three teams to have an above .500 record in the East, though they have yet to beat a single above .500 team this season.
14. Pelicans (21): Anthony Davis continues to be a monster, while the Pelicans have lost five of their eight games by seven points or less, including their heart-breaking loss to the Warriors on Tuesday night. In a loaded Western Conference, these guys are going to be in the hunt all season long.
15. Suns (18): Of all of the new coaches hired around the NBA, it’s hard to argue with Jeff Hornacek being the best so far. Given how cutthroat competition is in the Western Conference, and how little Hornacek has to work with, that Phoenix is 7-7 is pretty remarkable.
16. Bobcats (14): If Jeff Hornacek isn’t the best of the new coaches, then Steve Clifford probably is. He has the Bobcats right in the middle of the awful Eastern Conference despite getting little from Al Jefferson. Charlotte could compete for a playoff spot this season – though whether that’s a good thing or not is another question entirely.
17. Pistons (24): Detroit seems to have gotten itself settled down with back-to-back wins. There is a lot left to sort out here, but the potential of the massive Josh Smith-Greg Monroe-Andre Drummond frontline is certainly intriguing.
18. Raptors (16): The Raptors nearly stole a game they shouldn’t have won from the Nets on Tuesday night, but remain a half-game ahead of the 76ers for the honor of being the leader of the tire fire that is the NBA’s Atlantic Division. For how long? That remains to be seen.
19. Lakers (19): For the third straight week the Lakers clock in at No. 19, as they continue to be in a holding pattern until Kobe Bryant returns from his ruptured Achilles. The biggest news around the team this week was his signing a two-year contract extension, which I wrote about here.
20. Wizards (22): The Wizards got some bad news this week when they lost Bradley Beal for at least the next two weeks because of a stress fracture in his leg. They can take solace in John Wall beginning to live up to the potential he flashed at Kentucky as a superstar point guard.
21. Bulls (5): Four straight losses – including one to the hapless Jazz – combined with losing Derrick Rose for the season? That’s enough to drop any team 16 spots in the power rankings in one week. General manager Gar Forman said the Bulls won’t be tanking, but decisions will have to be made about the roster, including Luol Deng.
22. 76ers (17): The Sixers are finally starting to sink back down to Earth after their wonderful start, but they did get another nice highlight to replay all season long thanks to Spencer Hawes’ wild corner 3-pointer that pushed them to overtime – and eventually another win – at home against the Bucks last week.
23. Kings (23): My favorite moment of the week came courtesy of the always hilarious DeMarcus Cousins, who told Isaiah Thomas there would be no shaking of Chris Paul’s hand after the Kings were nipped at the wire again by the Clippers. I love what Cousins did here. There’s a real hatred developing between him and the Clippers, which should lead to fun games down the road.
24. Magic (15): The Magic are now sinking like a stone, which was predictable given the amount of youth on their roster. The key question now is what’s going to happen with the roster moving forward, specifically the fates of Jameer Nelson and Glen Davis. Can GM Rob Hennigan turn them into more assets?
25. Celtics (25): The Celtics lost their first four games, won the next four, lost their next six and have since won their last two. They couldn’t possibly win six in a row now, could they? That would be a pretty bizarre/eventful 20 games, that’s for sure.
26. Nets (27): The Nets nearly blew their second double-digit fourth quarter lead of the season Tuesday night against the Raptors. But after a tough three-games-in-four-days stretch against the Lakers at home and then in Houston and Memphis, the Nets have nine of their next 12 at home, and will have a chance to stabilize things.
27. Cavaliers (28): The Cavaliers continue to be a train wreck. But they manage to move up one spot thanks to the utter dysfunction of the Knicks as well as managing to get a win in Washington on Saturday.
28. Knicks (26): Only the Bucks have a longer losing streak than the Knicks, who have lost six straight heading into their game Wednesday night against the Clippers. Up next after their stop in Hollywood? In Denver on Friday, then home for Anthony Davis and the Pelicans on Monday before they face the Nets in Brooklyn next Thursday on national television. Everyone is just so excited to see that one, right?
29. Bucks (25): It looked like the Bucks would snap their now nine-game losing streak Friday night in Philadelphia. But that was before 76ers center Spencer Hawes hit a one-footed fallaway corner 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game and send it to overtime, where the Sixers would eventually prevail. It’s going to be that kind of year in Milwaukee.
30. Jazz (30): Utah picked up its second win, but it almost shouldn’t count given the utter disarray of the Bulls after Rose’s season-ending knee injury. The Jazz are firmly in the driver’s seat for a guaranteed top-four pick in next year’s draft.