Six weeks into the NBA season we have a tale of two Conferences. In the Eastern Conference, things are taking shape as the best teams float to the top of the standings and the worst fall to the bottom. There is plenty of basketball still to be played, but there is an understandable order to the current standings.
The Western Conference, however, is pure insanity. 3.5 games separate the 11th-place Dallas Mavericks from the first-place Phoenix Suns. The Mavs in 11th also have the third-best point differential in the West. The Sacramento Kings just won seven straight, while the Warriors have evened things out after losing five straight and starting 0-8 on the road. The Los Angeles Lakers are 5-1 in their last six games. Things are very topsy-turvy out West.
The Week 6 NBA Power Rankings are out! The Cavs have righted the ship, the Lakers show life and the Pelicans are surging.
Our goal here is to try and sort through the chaos and determine a power ranking for all 30 teams. To do so we weigh most heavily how a team has performed this year (not their record) with a dash of injury adjustment and a pinch of preseason expectations. The goal is to identify where each team truly is now, not where they will be at the end of the year. There has been a lot of change since the last edition of the rankings, but as the season goes on those changes will be less drastic.
We start at the bottom, which has shifted slightly as the Lakers have climbed out and the San Antonio Spurs have fallen back. Then we climb to the top tier, where the Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns have stabilized and the first-place team stays the same.
Without further ago, here are our biweekly NBA Power Rankings, Week 6 Edition.
Team records through games played 11/25
The Houston Rockets have been feisty over the past two weeks, 2-3 with two of those losses by single digits. Usman Garuba has fully entered the rotation and is proving to be a destroyer on defense, while Jalen Green is stacking 30-point games. Their defense outside of a few players is abysmal, but the young guys (other than Jabari Smith Jr., unfortunately) continue to excite.
After ranking last two weeks ago, the Pistons climb a single spot on account of a couple of solid wins, all without Cade Cunningham. Beating the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz in their home arenas, on back-to-back nights, was an impressive feat. Bojan Bogdanovic is leading the offense, and Kevin Knox II looked like a real NBA player scoring 21 against the Utah Jazz. Still, there is no timetable for Cunningham’s return and they could reclaim the bottom spot two weeks from now. They are clearly the worst team in the Eastern Conference.
The question of how far to drop the San Antonio Spurs is a fair one. They have lost eight-straight games to fall to 6-14 after a 5-2 start, and they are now at the bottom of the barrel in most team metrics. They are easily the worst defense in the league and their meager depth to start the year continues to be eroded by injuries. At full strength, this team has a reasonable core of players, but it’s no surprise the Spurs are leaning into the tank and avoiding “full strength” as much as possible. Tre Jones continues to look good.
The Charlotte Hornets have had a season in three acts. First, they started out 3-3 and logged some good wins against good teams. Then came act II, where they went 1-11 as their offense absolutely cratered. LaMelo Ball returned just to get injured again, and the same happened to Gordon Hayward. Act III is in progress, with two big wins over winning teams. Does that mean the start of something new, or were the wins just an intermission for a team likely to embrace the tank soon enough?
The Orlando Magic were the most injured team in the league in each of the last two seasons, and they are out in front once again. Markelle Fultz, Jonathan Isaac, Cole Anthony and Gary Harris have all not played or barely played this season. Paolo Banchero missed seven games and just returned on Black Friday. This team is playing some crazy lineups and are clearly a year away, but there are a number of really solid young players here and they will be a tough out all season.
The New York Knicks must think they are playing horseshoes and .500 is the pin, because they continue to hover around that mark. Unfortunately, the underlying metrics paint a more pessimistic picture, as this group of ill-fitting parts is inconsistent on offense and can’t stand up defensively. The record seems doomed to lose contact with .500 by falling well below, not climbing above, and that could heat up Tom Thibodeau’s seat to unbearable levels.
What to make of the Los Angeles Lakers? On the one hand, they are 4-1 in the last two weeks, with Anthony Davis putting up MVP-type numbers and role players taking turns providing real value. On the other hand, their wins are against the Spurs, Pistons and Nets — not exactly an impressive slate. In the next two weeks, they will play seven-straight winning teams and we will learn something more.
The Washington Wizards are enjoying a true bounceback season from Kristaps Porzingis, putting up 20.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.2 3-pointers per game. The Wizards are essentially running the offense through him, and it’s working for his production and for Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma around him. The problem is everyone else; after those three 20-point scorers the Wizards’ next-highest is Rui Hachimura at 11.6 points per game. The Wizards are getting very little from the point guard and center positions (other than Porzingis).
Scrappy doesn’t win you awards, but it does elevate you a spot or two in the Power Rankings, and the Oklahoma City Thunder have been downright scrappy. They are 3-4 in the last two weeks and give no team a night off. Head coach Mark Daigneault has a group without a rim protector defending well, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to dominate in making his case for an All-Star appearance (and more). The rookie Jalen Williams looks like a real find.
The theory of NBA basketball is that size matters; play bigger players and you almost always improve your defense. That theory should have only been more potent when the Timberwolves added the league’s best defense center this offseason and moved Karl-Anthony Towns to the 4. Unfortunately, that pairing has not worked defensively, and it’s why the Wolves are wobbling at 10-9. Still, a five-game winning streak has highlighted their offense, which is starting to take off.
The Miami Heat don’t seem to have it this year. They have some truly talented players, for sure, but things don’t seem to be fitting together well. Duncan Robinson continues to cool off as a shooter, Bam Adebayo can’t be everywhere at once on defense, and Victor Oladipo is nowhere to be found. The Heat have a lot of (earned) pride, but they look like a team that won’t factor into the title chase at any point this year.
The LA Clippers are 11-9, and they’re finally getting healthy. The preseason title favorites should rocket up to the top of the rankings, right? Wrong, as everything about the Clippers other than their record suggests they are a below-average team. Add in that the issues with Kawhi’s knee are unlikely to go away and you get a pessimistic outlook on a team that should be much better than this.
The Chicago Bulls are the mirror image of the LA Clippers, logging an 8-11 record after a 2-4 stretch since the last ranking. Their performance, however, suggests they are a much better team than that. They are defending at a high level and DeMar DeRozan continues to carry them on offense. Zach LaVine’s knee is cause for concern, and they don’t have the upside the Clippers do, but they are playing much better right now.
The Brooklyn Nets continue to reject any easy narrative you wish to apply to them. Winning without Kyrie, Ben Simmons is back, they have no defense, they’re winning with defense, they’re losing because of their defense. The simple fact of the matter is that they have Kevin Durant and they have a really intriguing collection of role players, but nothing fits together well and they have some glaring weaknesses. Most likely this team is just waiting for the next crisis to tear them apart.
The climb of the Indiana Pacers continues. They are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference at 11-7, with a point differential that is…fourth in the Eastern Conference. There is nothing overly fluky about their performance thus far. They have played a very easy schedule but they are also incredibly fun to watch, with Tyrese Haliburton a budding star and Myles Turner having his best year.
The Atlanta Hawks have an interesting situation brewing. They have invested heavily in two point guards who are playing fairly well together, but who have some overlap positionally. They also have two centers that can’t shoot but are otherwise playing extremely well. And…the space in between them continues to be a question. Rookie AJ Griffin has shown some pop but the marginalization of John Collins and the lack of a go-to option on the wing is rearing its head for a team that is league-average in both offense and defense.
The good thing for the Golden State Warriors is that they finally notched a road win (in Houston, hardly something to write home about) and Draymond Green has seemed to stabilize the bench in the minutes that Stephen Curry sits. Klay Thompson has regained his shot, Andrew Wiggins is playing well and Curry is perhaps the MVP frontrunner. On the other hand, the Warriors still have massive issues with their defense and their young players aren’t being used. If the Warriors are going to defend their title they need to figure these things out.
Two weeks again the Toronto Raptors were 7-7, and then a relatively light schedule saw them go 2-2 since then. The hits to their core players continue: rookie center Christian Koloko and OG Anunoby are the only players to appear in all 19 games, with everyone else missing at least three and Pascal Siakam missing 10. Anunoby has been a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, however, and the Raptors are cobbling together enough offense to win games.
The Denver Nuggets haven’t yet seen the Jamal Murray of old, but Michael Porter Jr. has returned at something close to full strength, shooting 42.7 percent from deep on high volume. Yet Nikola Jokic has been a tad bit behind his MVP level and the Nuggets have again been bad when he doesn’t play. They are second in the Western Conference yet are seventh in net rating, and their offseason additions to the defense haven’t born fruit in a big-picture sense.
Light the Beam! The Sacramento Kings leaned into shooting this offseason and it is paying off, as the Kings are a top-2 offense and absolutely blowing the tops off of opposing defenses. Speaking of defense they are playing better than expected, and when opponent shooting cools off they could improve. Their seven-game winning streak captured the confidence this team has, and De’Aaron Fox looks like a legitimate All-Star candidate who is thriving in the increased spacing around him.
The Dallas Mavericks are a perplexing team. They tend to win big and lose close games, which has contributed to a 9-8 record that masks their stout metrics. This is a team that should have won another three or four wins. Luka Doncic has been prolific once again, although his shooting continues to be a problem. Still, something about their record also feels right, that this heliocentric style has diminishing returns in close games.
The Portland Trail Blazers have dropped off a bit, but they are still having an impressive season with reinforcements still to come. Damian Lillard is out once again and has played in only 11 games, and when he does play he’s shooting only 33.3 percent from deep. When he comes back and his shooting regresses to his career 37.2 mark the Blazers will only be better off on offense, and Gary Payton II is nearing his season debut to juice the defense. Josh Hart is everywhere, Jerami Grant is blossoming as the second option, and this looks like a team that will hang around.
The Utah Jazz got off to a hot start that everyone knew wasn’t going to last, but their 2-6 skid since the 10-3 start has been a brutal correction. Still, the Jazz are getting huge contributions from Lauri Markkanen, and the loss of Mike Conley on their offense has been stark; his return should help right the ship. It will be interesting to see if continued losses motivate the front office to start making trades to fall back in the standings.
The Philadelphia 76ers have been gut-punched by injury. James Harden has played in only nine games, Joel Embiid in 12 and now Tyrese Maxey is out for weeks with a foot injury. The Sixers haven’t laid down, though, with Tobias Harris, Shake Milton and De’Anthony Melton stepping up to stay competitive and even notch some wins without the stars. Perhaps this stretch will help make Philadelphia a better team in the long run.
The Memphis Grizzlies are in the same camp as the 76ers, with each of their three stars missing extended time this season. Desmond Bane has taken yet another step forward, Ja Morant is shooting well and Jaren Jackson Jr. is averaging four blocks per game in his return from injury. If the Grizzlies can get everyone healthy at the same time they could be set up to soar.
Eight-straight wins. Five-straight losses. Four-straight wins. The tale of the season for the Cleveland Cavaliers has been one of streaks, but they also haven’t lost a bad game yet. The injury bug has hit them as well, but their depth has helped to carry them. They continue to have a top-5 offense and defense, the only team in the league that can claim that. Donovan Mitchell is an MVP-candidate, Darius Garland is popping off as well, and the East looks like they will have at least three of the five-best teams in the league all season.
This is the party crasher to the top five in this edition of the Power Rankings, going 4-2 in the last two weeks and flexing their muscles as a contender in the West. Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum are a nasty three-headed attack, Jonas Valanciunas is hammering the offense glass, and Jose Alvarado looks like a player deserving more run. This team has stars, it has depth, and it has the upside to continue growing. Watch out, here come the Pelicans.
The Milwaukee Bucks have played a relatively light schedule en route to amassing 13 wins, second-most in the league, but they also have some big time wins. They miss Khris Middleton a lot, especially in close games, but the rest of the rotation is finally healthy and that will help the offense. The defense needs little help as they have been smothering opponents, and Brook Lopez is a deserving Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Giannis Antetokounmpo is good.
The Phoenix Suns had the league’s best record a year ago, and the expected drop-off this season hasn’t come. Chris Paul looks his age, when he plays, and Cam Johnson is out with a long-term injury. Yet the Suns have continued to win, with Devin Booker have another All-NBA campaign and Mikal Bridges taking a step forward. It seems that they should falter, but they haven’t yet; they just keep on winning.
Identifying the best team in the league is an easy exercise. Last time around we ranked the Celtics first overall despite not having the best record, and they rewarded that confidence by going 5-1 and sprinting out in front in virtually every metric available. Two of their four losses this season are to the Chicago Bulls, and the other two are to the Cleveland Cavaliers (in overtime). Otherwise their 3-heavy offense is humming, their defense is poised to improve into the Top 10, and this is clearly the championship favorite at this point in the season.
It’s been an exciting six weeks of NBA action thus far, and things should only get better as the calendar turns into December. Check back in two weeks to see if the Celtics held their spot, if the Cavs have started another streak, and whether the Warriors and Lakers have righted the ship or are in store for more losing.