NBA Week 2 Power Rankings: Cavs limping, Warriors soaring

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are healthy and playing well, and that’s the foundation for a Lakers team that can make noise in the playoffs. On the other hand, their depth has been seriously challenged by injuries, Austin Reaves has appeared to regress, and as a team they are shooting just 29.7 percent from deep, 29th in the league. They have played the league’s most difficult schedule thus far, so they may shake their way free of this and establish themselves moving forward.

The Dallas Mavericks have only lost one game this season, and it was in Denver against the defending champions. So why aren’t they much higher in the rankings? It’s because their other four wins have all come against much weaker competition, and none of them in convincing fashion. Their strength-of-schedule ranks just 26th, and they therefore rank just 12th in “Simple Rating System” that takes into account margin of victory and strength of schedule.

The Timberwolves, on the other hand, rank fourth in SRS and fifth in net rating after a strong start to the year. Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert still look somewhat uncomfortable on offense together, but Anthony Edwards is thriving and they have the league’s best defense. They have blowout wins over the two NBA Finalists from last season. Their upcoming schedule is very difficult, so on Thanksgiving if they have a mediocre record remember their strong start and expect them to surge back up the standings.