On Tuesday, America makes the big decision. Meanwhile, the biggest one in the NBA right now is this: Who should be considered the best team in the West?

The Clippers lost to the Thunder, who lost to the Warriors, who lost to the Spurs, who lost to the ... you guessed it ... Clippers! Luckily, an 82-game season will sort all this out for us, but early on, it's an interesting dilemma. The Warriors would get the bump based on their talent and hype, but then they lost to the Lakers in a blowout. The Spurs have built up credit for 17 seasons, but have lost two of three. The Thunder are tied with the Clippers for best record but were destroyed by Golden State.

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If nothing else, this question is proof of a much larger theme two weeks into the season: There's genuine intrigue so far. So many of us expected it to just be about the Cavaliers and Warriors and everything else to be a muddled, messy, unimpressive pile of dreck. Instead the basketball and competitiveness have been at a high level, the performances strong and the narratives make for good debate.

Think about this. In the first six games of 2015-16, there were 31 instances where a player scored over 30 points. In 2016-17? Fifty-four such performances.

The games are competitive, the Lakers are good again, the Warriors are vulnerable -- at least for now -- and only the Cavs look above it all.

What a start.

Here are this week's power rankings:

Biggest Movers
11 Magic
11 Bulls
Rk
Teams
  
Chg
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1 Cavaliers The Cavs aren't here because of their record or schedule. They legitimately look like the best team in the league by a comfortable margin. They don't have a stiff challenge for a few weeks, schedule-wise. There's a run on the table if they stay focused. -- 48-34
2 Clippers They were my No. 2 team going into Saturday night's heads-up match, and the Clippers, on a road-road back-to-back, housed the Spurs in San Antonio. That settled it nicely. They are getting great bench contributions, Blake Griffin looks like an MVP candidate and you know the offense will come around. They always falter when we start to notice how good they can be, but they are off to the start you want to see. 1 51-31
3 Spurs Kawhi Leonard continues to amaze with his combination of versatility and efficiency. He's eighth in usage and 70th percentile or better in five of his six play sets (pick and roll, etc.) via Synergy Sports. 1 22-60
4 Warriors I am being exceedingly generous with this ranking for the Warriors. I very nearly had them eighth before Houston and Toronto had inexplicable losses. The Lakers loss was so bad, so unbelievably you-must-have-really-had-a-good-time-with-Drake-who-was-on-the-team-plane-Thursday-night bad, you almost want to throw it out. They did smoke the Thunder, whose close wins vs. the Lakers and Suns look better right now. I will continue to give the super-team the benefit of the doubt for another week, but another "what-the-expletive" loss and they tumble. 2 46-36
5 Thunder They jump 10 because they are tied for the best record in the West, even after the massacre at Oracle. That was a back-to-back loss vs. a top team, the very definition of a schedule loss. Meanwhile they have a quality win vs. the Clippers, and guys like Victor Oladipo are settling in. I'm not sold on them, but by golly, I respect the resume. 10 57-25
6 Hornets Charlotte doesn't have a good win on its resume, but it is finding ways to keep plugging. The Hornets' schedule gets rough this week; they can't just get bailed out vs. the Jazz and Raptors by Kemba Walker like they were vs. the Nets. 4 21-61
7 Trail Blazers Damian Lillard has been a nuclear inferno and they have stretches where they look great. The Warriors loss was a little disappointing. Their losses have been wakeup calls to how far they are from real contenders and they've had to hang on vs. Dallas and Denver. The Memphis win to close the week was maybe their best win of the season. -- 21-61
8 Raptors Toronto has two things going for it right now that make it very strong. The Raptors are typically very consistent (Sunday excluded), one of just three teams (Hawks, Spurs) that are top 10 on offense and defense per 100 possessions. They play well on both sides of the ball every night. And two, DeMar DeRozan is the human freaking torch right now. He's the first player since Jordan in '86 to start with five straight games of over 30 points. I had them fourth until the bad loss to Sacramento on Sunday. 3 25-57
9 Rockets If they just hadn't blown the game vs. the Lakers on opening night, they would be top four right now. The Cavs loss was a good one; they hung in that game, and they lost to Atlanta on a road back-to-back. They're 28th in defense, which you would expect, but I actually think that will tick up. They look good when you watch them, but you worry they're that team that looks good before the wheels come off. 4 41-41
10 Jazz Split the early set with the Spurs, and that's a big pick-me-up. They got Gordon Hayward back Sunday and look like a team worthy of the preseason hype at full strength. They have so many weapons on both ends of the court. 6 31-51
11 Hawks Atlanta has not handled success well under Mike Budenholzer. Outside of that great three-month stretch in 2014-15, the Hawks don't sustain great play well. Their schedule toughens up the next two weeks; we'll learn a lot about them in that time. -- 36-46
12 Lakers Huge jump for the Lakers! They have two wins vs. top-10 teams after spanking the Warriors on Friday, and Julius Randle (aka, T-Rex, because he is a monster with tiny arms) has been a huge boost inside. Luke Walton is doing WORK with this squad. 9 47-35
13 Celtics On the one hand, their statistical profile (29th in defense!) and win/loss resume is really unimpressive. On the other, they've had a big spate of injuries and have kept plugging in wins to make sure they're not having to make up ground later. 5 64-18
14 Grizzlies The Knicks loss really hurt them. The Clippers are better right now and should beat them, and they surrendered a game for rest to the Wolves. There are still promising signs here despite a lot of minor injuries and Chandler Parsons should get comfortable after making his first start Sunday. 5 27-55
15 Bulls Ruh-roh. Bad loss to the Knicks at home, followed by a beatdown by Indiana which negates one of their good wins this season. Chicago is suddenly taking on water. 11 39-43
16 Heat On the surface, it seems like Miami is playing well. But it doesn't have a truly good win yet and has been handled by three good teams (the Heat did give the Spurs a scare). This might just be a middle-of-the-pack team. 4 46-36
17 Pistons Detroit is 4-2 with wins vs. a weak opening slate and a bad loss to the Nets. Still, the Pistons are getting by without Reggie Jackson and Tobias Harris (18.8 ppg on 55 percent shooting) has been fantastic. 3 14-68
18 Nuggets Hold on to a close win vs. the Wolves on Thursday, get housed by the Pistons, rip the Celtics to shreds on the back-to-back. This team is a lot of things, but one thing it's not is boring. 6 57-25
19 Magic Their wins (Sixers, Kings, Wizards on a back-to-back without John Wall) are suspect, but those are three wins nonetheless. I am very much skeptical of this team, but am beholden to "wins are wins." 11 47-35
20 Knicks Get a good win vs. the Bulls, give up a bad loss to the Jazz at home. So it goes with the Knicks. Their starters are the only ones who can score, but the starters can't defend. Melo is tired of talking about the Triangle, but what about playing in it? 2 50-32
21 Pacers No team has looked as equally great in wins as terrible in losses as the Pacers. Jeff Teague's breakout vs. the Bulls is key for whatever they're going to do going forward. 2 47-35
22 Bucks Showing some good signs. If Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo (who has been lights out to start the season) play well together at the same time, they've got real firepower to match teams. 1 49-33
23 Kings Dave Joerger is a great coach, and you can tell because this Kings team is competitive and playing well together. For all his baggage, Matt Barnes has brought a real attitude boost and is helping them. They won't win a lot, but maybe Joerger can stabilize the situation (until he randomly gets fired, because it's the Kings). 6 46-36
24 Nets Pesky Nets strike again vs. the Pistons and hanging with the Hornets! Even without Jeremy Lin they remain competitive. Some impressive coaching going on. The schedule is soft next week, need to find a few ways to sneak some wins. Celtics fans must be hating this (as Boston owns their pick). 1 32-50
25 Suns I think Phoenix might be an OK team. Reports are sketchy at the moment, but some of our intel suggests the Suns might not totally suck. Devin Booker's breakout Friday night (38 points) feels important. 2 49-33
26 Wizards Finally got a win, followed it up with a dog loss to the Magic, even on a back-to-back without John Wall. Their bench has more woe than Edgar Allen Poe's collected works. 4 15-67
27 Timberwolves Ultimately, I couldn't give the Wolves the benefit of the doubt you want to because of their talent and hype. Their win/loss profile is a disaster. Only win vs. Memphis, which rested absolutely everyone and topped them full-strength in the opener. A loss at home to Denver. A loss to the Kings. They are simply not good right now, though plenty of time to correct. 7 56-26
28 Mavericks I started getting spooked about the Mavericks about two weeks into the preseason. Old, very old, very injured, reliant upon structures that can't support their weight. Rick Carlisle is great, but I'm not sure anyone is that great. Finally got their first win Sunday, in overtime, vs. the Bucks on a back-to-back. 2 50-32
29 76ers Joel Embiid is really the only reason to watch this team right now. The ONLY reason. But man, what a reason. -- 47-35
30 Pelicans The Pelicans somehow managed to land as the Warriors' opponent after both of their losses. As if they needed more things to go wrong. This team is wretched. When you find yourself saying "Man, losing starter Lance Stephenson to injury is devastating" you have hit a new low. 2 49-33