Power Rankings: League is more than just party of five
Updated Nov. 3
If you believe most of the so-called experts, 25 teams tipped off their NBA seasons last week only because they'd sold tickets. Each had about as much chance of making the Super Bowl as the NBA Finals.
Lakers vs. Spurs and Cavaliers vs. Celtics or Magic. Those were your near-unanimous May matchups. Nobody else was given much of a chance.
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| Jermaine O'Neal averaged 17.3 points and 10.3 boards during Miami's 3-0 start. (Getty Images) |
Speaking of tickets, the Mavericks had Phil Jackson talking Staples Arena refund after a 94-80 drubbing Oct. 30. We all know Dirk Nowitzki can play, and the Shawn Marion acquisition could be potentially huge. But turn-back-the-clock, double-digit efforts by Erick Dampier (10 rebounds) and Jason Kidd (11 assists) also sent a message to the Lakers.
Remember, this was a Dallas club that never got the better of Kobe Bryant last season, yet was strong enough at season's end to wrestle a first-round playoff series from the mighty Spurs. Having lost three nights earlier to Washington, we already see you never know which Mavericks club is going to show up on a given night -- and that's a bit scary.
The Lakers fully awakened, Atlanta ventured into Staples two nights later and lost to the defending champs 118-110. Even in defeat, the point total screamed out something about the revved-up Hawks team that now features Jamal Crawford, Jeff Teague and an un-Eastern Conference-like assortment of weapons this season.
The last time Lakers fans had witnessed their team giving up 110 points in a home game was in the regular-season finale against Utah. That's right: None of L.A.'s four playoff combatants reached that mark. In fact, the Lakers' Finals foe last year -- Orlando -- averaged 24.5 points less in its two visits, one of which went into overtime.
It's clear from the get-go the Nuggets have an MVP candidate this year. The question is: Which star is it?
Carmelo Anthony lit up the league like no one else in his first three games, firing in 37.7 points in 38.7 minutes per outing. That gave him a slight edge in the I'm-More-Important-Than-You Department over Chauncey Billups, whose 6.7 assists complemented 23.0 points in the three consecutive wins and gave Denver the league's best 1-2 punch.
If not Boston, the best defensive team in the league's first week had to be the Heat. In blitzing the Knicks, Pacers and Bulls by an average of 11 points, Miami never surrendered more than 93 points and permitted the bottled-up trio to shoot just 38.6 percent from the field.
Like the Nuggets, it's more than just a one-man show in Miami this season. Jermaine O'Neal is playing like another guy named O'Neal in his Heat heyday, having averaged a double-double over the 3-0 start.
So, where do the four party-crashers rank in the first NBA Power Rankings of the regular season? Well, a whole lot higher than they did in last week's preseason edition.
But ahead of the league's Big Five? At this point, only the Nuggets can make that claim -- and barely at that.
| Power Rankings | |||
| Current | Team | Previous | |
 | 1 | Bulls · Trends | 2 |
| Luol Deng is back. And there's no way you can miss that because Tom Thibodeau keeps playing him 37 minutes game. | |||
 | 2 | Heat · Trends | 1 |
| If it weren't for their second unforgiveable loss to Milwaukee in three weeks, they'd be on a seven-game winning streak. If it weren't for either loss to Milwaukee, it'd be eleven. | |||
 | 3 | Thunder · Trends | 3 |
| The Thunder's stars are playing better but their overall performance has stumbled a bit. So the head is shining and brilliant while the body's kind of knocking into things, clumsily. It's like Robin Williams in "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," which I'm sure none of you have seen. | |||
 | 4 | 76ers · Trends | 5 |
| The Sixers respond to criticism over their inability to beat good teams by knocking off Chicago, Atlanta and the Lakers. So when we said they can't beat good teams, we really just meant the Heat. (Yes, you had injuries, Bulls fans, we hear you.) | |||
 | 5 | Pacers · Trends | 8 |
| They wind up losing the season series to the struggling Magic, but other than that have taken care of business. Their slamming of the door on Dallas' face was impressive. | |||
 | 6 | Clippers · Trends | 4 |
| The word "sustainable" comes to mind with the Clippers because some things seem very sustainable, while others, not so much. The words "Vinny Del Negro" keep popping up in the same conversation. | |||
 | 7 | Spurs · Trends | 13 |
| I criticize their defense, and the Spurs win five straight, hold their opponent under 100 five times and only give up a plus-100 defensive efficiency once in that stretch. San Antonio has re-entered "extremely dangerous" territory. | |||
 | 8 | Lakers · Trends | 14 |
| Kobe Bryant passes Shaq on Monday. Good for him. Then he wound up hurting his team by going 1-11 in the second half and watching the Sixers down his Lakers for a second straight loss. That's pretty much the Lakers' season so far. | |||
 | 9 | Hawks · Trends | 9 |
| "No change" is such an apt description of this team. | |||
 | 10 | Nuggets · Trends | 6 |
| The wheels are coming off in Denver. And I mean that literally, the Nuggets keep having foot injuries. The schedule is beating up the league's deepest team, which says a lot. | |||
 | 11 | Celtics · Trends | 18 |
| Celtics don't die, they multiply (wins). | |||
 | 12 | Trail Blazers · Trends | 11 |
| Magic 8 Ball says: Team outlook cloudy. Try again later. | |||
 | 13 | Magic · Trends | 20 |
| Beat up some scrubs to stabilize the ship. Big week starting with the Heat on Wednesday. | |||
 | 14 | Rockets · Trends | 12 |
| This team would be so much higher if it could just beat Minnesota. | |||
 | 15 | Jazz · Trends | 10 |
| Beat the Lakers, lose to a Knicks team playing without Melo or Amar'e Stoudemire. The Jazz should change their name to the Utah HEAD EXPLODES. | |||
 | 16 | Timberwolves · Trends | 16 |
| If the Timberwolves can just play the Rockets every game, they will have an excellent shot at the playoffs. | |||
 | 17 | Mavericks · Trends | 7 |
| Oh, hey, Dirk is playing better. Oh, hey, the rest of the team is not. Bottom fell out of Dallas in only a week's time. | |||
 | 18 | Grizzlies · Trends | 19 |
| The Grizzlies are infuriating to watch on a consistent basis until you remember their injury situation. But those injuries should not excuse their decision-making at times. | |||
 | 19 | Bucks · Trends | 17 |
| See, look what you did. You all screamed "Fear the Deer!" and then the Bucks ran back into the woods. | |||
 | 20 | Cavaliers · Trends | 15 |
| Does anyone else think it would be wise to avoid Kyrie Irving in a first-round playoff series? | |||
 | 21 | Knicks · Trends | 25 |
| ALL LINSANITY EVERYTHING. | |||
 | 22 | Suns · Trends | 23 |
| It's Tuesday, Feb. 7, and Steve Nash still deserves better. | |||
 | 23 | Kings · Trends | 27 |
| You really need to check out the Kings' under-sized scoring point guard. No, Isaiah Thomas. Who's this Jimmer guy you keep talking about? | |||
 | 24 | Nets · Trends | 22 |
| The Nets without their injuries are likely not as bad as their harshest critics suggest nor as good as their fans continue to claim. The question is how good would they be with Dwight Howard? | |||
 | 25 | Raptors · Trends | 21 |
| The effort is consistent. The production is not. | |||
 | 26 | Warriors · Trends | 24 |
| You have to wonder whether huge roster changes are coming from an aggressive management if this keeps up. | |||
 | 27 | Pistons · Trends | 29 |
| They're going streaking! They also lost to the Nets! But they're going streaking! | |||
 | 28 | Hornets · Trends | 28 |
| If you offered 90 percent of the Hornets to just go into cryogenic stasis for the rest of this year, as long as they still got paid, they'd likely take you up on it. | |||
 | 29 | Wizards · Trends | 26 |
| Still bad. Not as bad. But still bad. | |||
 | 30 | Bobcats · Trends | 30 |
| Their next four games are against playoff teams. Let the "record losing streak" watch begin. | |||
