NBA Power Rankings Update: Just How Good Are the New Orleans Pelicans?
Teams Ranked 20th to 11th
The Detroit Pistons are undefeated, while the Oklahoma City Thunder are winless. What a world.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Los Angeles Clippers | 2-2 | 46.0 | 21 | 1 |
| 19 | Miami Heat | 2-2 | 46.9 | 18 | -1 |
| 18 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 0-4 | 47.8 | 9 | -9 |
| 17 | Detroit Pistons | 4-0 | 50.0 | 19 | 2 |
| 16 | Washington Wizards | 1-3 | 51.6 | 15 | -1 |
| 15 | Charlotte Hornets | 2-3 | 53.5 | 17 | 2 |
| 14 | Portland Trail Blazers | 3-1 | 53.9 | 14 | 0 |
| 13 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 2-3 | 54.7 | 10 | -3 |
| 12 | Utah Jazz | 2-2 | 55.7 | 8 | -4 |
| 11 | Los Angeles Lakers | 2-3 | 57.0 | 6 | -5 |
Risers
The Pistons are a cool 4-0, and deserve to move up a few spots in the rankings, but don't sleep on the fact that they've had the easiest schedule in the league according to basketball-reference.com. They had the one impressive overtime win over the Philadelphia 76ers, but other than that, they've simply been beating up on bottom-tier teams like the Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, and Cleveland Cavaliers. Schedule shouldn't completely diminish the fact that they are one of only four undefeated teams in the NBA, however, so they still deserve some shine this week.
The Charlotte Hornets might not seem like they deserve a bump in the rankings this week with a record of 2-3, but their 1.8 margin of victory and 10th-ranked offense say otherwise. Besides, there were three teams that occupied this tier last week that move up to the upper echelon in this edition, so there aren't many other "risers" left to talk about here.
Fallers
Other than our 30th-ranked Cleveland Cavaliers, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the only other team in the NBA still searching for a win. Sure, they were without former MVP Russell Westbrook for their first two losses to the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers, but they had him back for games they dropped to the Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics. The Thunder basically get a gimme this coming Sunday against the Phoenix Suns, but they'll need to string a few W's together if they want to avoid losing too much ground in the competitive Western Conference.
The Los Angeles Lakers fall out of the top tier this week after a somewhat shaky 2-3 start to the season. For those ready to hit the panic button on the LeBron James era in LA, however, don't forget that the Miami Heat started 9-8 in his first year with the squad before going on to play in the NBA Finals, while the Cleveland Cavaliers went 5-7 the first year of his return before doing the same.
