2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 21

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After Paul George's gruesome injury with USA Basketball, it was expected that he would miss the entire season.

Last week, however, it was reported that he could potentially make a return this week, although he has been ruled out for Monday's game.

"We want to make sure I'm as close to 100 [percent] as possible," George said (via ESPN). "It's not coming down to you know, 'Paul's feeling good, let's get him out there.' It's about making sure everything's where I'm comfortable, where the medical staff is comfortable, where the front office is comfortable."

The Pacers were surging in the standings, but they have lost five consecutive games and currently sit outside of the top-eight seeds in the Eastern Conference. That said, they are only one-half game behind the Hornets, who are currently the No. 8 seed.

Four teams -- Charlotte, Boston, Indiana and Brooklyn -- are all separated by one game in the Eastern Conference standings.

Back-to-back triple-doubles for Payton

Elfrid Payton is having a magical rookie season and the ex-Ragin' Cajun did something this past week that no Magic player has ever done.

Payton recorded back-to-back triple-doubles on Wednesday (15 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds) and Friday (22 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds). The last time a rookie posted consecutive triple-doubles was Antoine Walker in 1997.

While these are the only two triple-doubles of Payton's career, he is one of just eight players that have multiple triple-doubles this season. In addition, the only player with more than three triple-doubles this season is Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (10).

Over his past five games, Payton is averaging 13.2 points, 9.4 assists, 8.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists.

Among rookies that have played at least 25 games this season, Payton ranks first in assists (6.2/G), second in steals (1.6/G), seventh in rebounding (4.2/G) and seventh in scoring (8.6/G).

Six straight losses for Bucks, 4-13 since trade deadline

The Milwaukee Bucks were one of many teams that made major moves prior to the trade deadline.

Sending Brandon Knight to the Phoenix Suns, they received Michael Carter-Williams in return from the Philadelphia 76ers.

MCW did not play in his first three games as a member of the Bucks and he also missed a game against the Grizzlies on March 14th. Since the trade deadline, however, the Bucks have won only four of 17 games. Three of those four wins were against bottom-feeder teams -- Denver, Philadelphia and Orlando.

The Bucks carry a league-high six-game losing streak into this week's games. The Bucks will host the Heat, Pacers and Warriors in a three-game week.

Noel averaging double-double in March

Philadelphia 76ers power forward Nerlens Noel has really stepped up over the past month on a team otherwise devoid of (healthy and local) talent.

In 12 March games, Noel is averaging a double-double -- 13.2 points and 10.5 rebounds -- per game.

More impressive than the double-double, however, is that Noel is averaging 2.7 steals and 2.0 blocks per game.

To put it into perspective, the list of players with at least 15 steals and 15 blocks this month is one: Noel.

But Noel has way more than 15 of each -- 32 steals and 24 blocked shots.

The Manimal averaging double-double post-Shaw

Since the Nuggets have fired Brian Shaw on March 3rd, the Denver Nuggets have been playing much better basketball although they have lost three of their past four games. In the 12 games without him, however, the Nuggets have posted a 7-5 record.

With Shaw, the team won only 20 of 59 games.

One of the players that has been playing well without Shaw is Kenneth Faried.

The Manimal is averaging 16.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals per game since the firing of his head coach. During that span, Faried has seven double-doubles in 11 games.

As a comparison, Faried averaged 11.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 0.7 blocks and 0.7 steals in 54 games with inconsistent minutes with Shaw as coach.

Here are my Week 21 NBA Power Rankings:

Rank	Team	Record	Last Week	Change
1	Golden State Warriors	56-13	1	-
2	Atlanta Hawks	53-17	2	-
3	Cleveland Cavaliers	46-26	3	-
4	Memphis Grizzlies	49-21	4	-
5	Houston Rockets	46-23	5	-
6	San Antonio Spurs	44-25	7	+1
7	Los Angeles Clippers	46-25	8	+1
8	Portland Trail Blazers	44-24	6	-2
9	Dallas Mavericks	44-27	10	+1
10	Washington Wizards	40-30	12	+2
11	Oklahoma City Thunder	40-30	9	-2
12	Chicago Bulls	42-29	13	+1
13	Toronto Raptors	42-28	14	+1
14	Phoenix Suns	38-33	17	+3
15	New Orleans Pelicans	37-33	11	-4
16	Indiana Pacers	30-39	15	-1
17	Utah Jazz	31-38	18	+1
18	Charlotte Hornets	30-38	16	-2
19	Miami Heat	32-37	21	+2
20	Milwaukee Bucks	34-36	19	-1
21	Boston Celtics	30-39	20	-1
22	Brooklyn Nets	29-39	23	+1
23	Denver Nuggets	27-44	22	-1
24	Sacramento Kings	24-45	24	-
25	Orlando Magic	22-50	25	-
26	Detroit Pistons	26-44	26	-
27	Philadelphia 76ers	17-53	28	+1
28	Los Angeles Lakers	18-50	27	-1
29	Minnesota Timberwolves	15-54	29	-
30	New York Knicks	14-56	30	-

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 18

Long live the new King. Highlights, photos, recap & reactions from today's big OT win on http://t.co/VBY18eSOmU. pic.twitter.com/91utdhnqTx
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 2, 2015

King James. That was the headline.

Not in reference to LeBron James, but by the Houston Rockets twitter account in reference to James Harden.

Ouch.

A kick below the belt?

Wait, that happened too.



The Cavs were without point guard Kyrie Irving (and the Rockets, of course, were still without Dwight Howard), but the battle between the Cavs and Rockets and Harden and LeBron went into overtime.

LeBron put together a strong line overall with 37 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks, but he was awful from the free-throw line. Making only three of his 11 free throws, it was the first time in his career that he shot at least 10 free throws and made three or less.

Meanwhile, Harden (or should I say, King James?) posted a nearly identical line by scoring 33 points (including 15-of-18 free throws) and adding eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks.

With the win over the Cavs, the Rockets are tied with the Pelicans for the league's longest active winning streak of five games.

Houston will open this week with a tough back-to-back on Tuesday (at Atlanta, 47-12) and Wednesday (vs. Memphis, 42-16). Only three teams have a better winning percentage than the Rockets (.695) and the Hawks and Grizzlies are two of those teams.

Jimmy Butler latest Bull to miss multiple weeks

Since his MVP-winning 2010-11 season, Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has played a total of 95 games over the past three-and-a-half seasons.

Unfortunately, there's a chance that Rose, who had surgery on his meniscus last week, won't play any more regular-season games this season.

With a timetable of four to six weeks, however, he is expected to return at some point and he's already rehabbing his knee. If he doesn't play during the rest of the regular season, D-Rose should return at some point during the playoffs.

Making matters worse for the Bulls, they will be without Jimmy Butler as well.

Butler is expected to miss the next three to four weeks with an elbow sprain, but it looks as though he will avoid surgery.

Butler and Rose are the team's top-two scorers -- 20.2 and 18.4 points per game, respectively -- and no player has averaged more minutes per game than Butler (38.9/G), who is also one of the league's best perimeter defenders.

In addition to the loss of Butler and Rose, the Bulls are expected to be without Taj Gibson for another week. Gibson is averaging a career-high 13.0 points in 28.7 minutes per game as well as 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.

Russell Westbrook: Three consecutive triple-doubles

Already without Kevin Durant (foot), the Thunder were without point guard Russell Westbrook on Sunday after having facial surgery.

That said, it doesn't look as though he'll miss much more time.

Russell Westbrook won't miss much time with surgery. "If he had a playoff game (Sunday), he could play," league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) February 28, 2015

Before missing Sunday's game, Westbrook had three consecutive triple-doubles. During that three-game span, Westbrook averaged 33.0 points, 12.67 rebounds and 10.67 assists per game.

No player has more triple-doubles this season than Westbrook (five). Coincidentally, the two players tied for second -- Rajon Rondo and Michael Carter-Williams (three each) -- have both been traded during the season.

Here are my Week 18 NBA Power Rankings:

1. Golden State Warriors (Record 46-11, Last Week 1)
2. Atlanta Hawks (Record 47-12, Last Week 2)
3. Memphis Grizzlies (Record 42-16, Last Week 3)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record 37-24, Last Week 4)
5. Houston Rockets (Record 41-18, Last Week 7)
6. Portland Trail Blazers (Record 39-19, Last Week 9)
7. Los Angeles Clippers (Record 39-21, Last Week 10)
8. San Antonio Spurs (Record 36-23, Last Week 6)
9. Dallas Mavericks (Record 39-22, Last Week 8)
10. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record 33-27, Last Week 12)
11. Toronto Raptors (Record 37-22, Last Week 5)
12. Chicago Bulls (Record 37-23, Last Week 11)
13. New Orleans Pelicans (Record 32-27, Last Week 16)
14. Indiana Pacers (Record 25-34, Last Week 17)
15. Washington Wizards (Record 34-26, Last Week 14)
16. Phoenix Suns (Record 31-29, Last Week 13)
17. Milwaukee Bucks (Record 32-27, Last Week 15)
18. Detroit Pistons (Record 23-36, Last Week 18)
19. Charlotte Hornets (Record 24-33, Last Week 19)
20. Brooklyn Nets (Record 24-33, Last Week 20)
21. Miami Heat (Record 25-33, Last Week 21)
22. Utah Jazz (Record 23-35, Last Week 23)
23. Boston Celtics (Record 23-34, Last Week 25)
24. Orlando Magic (Record 19-42, Last Week 22)
25. Sacramento Kings (Record 20-37, Last Week 24)
26. Los Angeles Lakers (Record 16-42, Last Week 28)
27. Denver Nuggets (Record 20-39, Last Week 26)
28. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record 13-45, Last Week 27)
29. Philadelphia 76ers (Record 13-46, Last Week 29)
30. New York Knicks (Record 12-46, Last Week 30)

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 15

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Here are my NBA Power Rankings heading into Week 15:

1. Atlanta Hawks (Record 40-8, Last Week 1): Another week and three more wins as the Hawks extend their winning streak to 19 games. They have already won more games than they have all of last season (38). Keeping their win streak in tact for one more week will be tough with matchups against the Pelicans, Wizards, Warriors and Grizzlies this week.

2. Golden State Warriors (Record 37-8, Last Week 2): No team has a greater point differential than the Warriors (+11.2/G) -- the Hawks rank second (+7.3).

3. Memphis Grizzlies (Record 35-12, Last Week 3): Zach Randolph has extended his streak of games with a double-double to 12 and he has 17 of them in his past 18 games played.

4. Portland Trail Blazers (Record 32-16, Last Week 4): An All-Star "snub," Damian Lillard is one of just three players to average at least 21 points, four rebounds, six assists, two three-pointers made and one steal per game. The other two are James Harden and Stephen Curry.

5. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record 29-20, Last Week 9): Kyrie Irving scored a career-high 55 points and knocked down a franchise-record 11 (of 19) three-pointers on Wednesday. The Cavs have now won 10 games in a row and will host the lowly Sixers on Monday.

6. San Antonio Spurs (Record 30-18, Last Week 5): It's not too often that a player (in this case, Boris Diaw) hits his coach with a half-court shot attempt. Amazingly, it generated almost no response from Gregg Popovich [via Tom Ziller]:



7. Los Angeles Clippers (Record 33-15, Last Week 6): DeAndre Jordan, who leads the league in field goal percentage (73.1%) and rebounding (13.5/G), has blocked at least three shots in five consecutive games. It's the second-longest streak of his career; the longest (seven games) happened earlier this season.

8. Toronto Raptors (Record 33-15, Last Week 11): After a 6-for-34 shooting slump and scoring a total of 14 points over a three-game stretch, DeMar DeRozan has averaged 20.4 points over his past five games.

9. Houston Rockets (Record 33-15, Last Week 7): The Rockets will be without center Dwight Howard for "at least a month" as he battles a right knee injury.

10. Dallas Mavericks (Record 32-17, Last Week 12): Rajon Rondo will miss at least the next three games with an orbital fracture to his left eye and a nasal fracture.

11. Chicago Bulls (Record 30-19, Last Week 10): Pau Gasol now has nine consecutive double-doubles with an average of 15.44 points and 14.67 rebounds as well as 2.33 blocks per game during that span. No player has more double-doubles this season than Gasol (30).

12. Phoenix Suns (Record 28-21, Last Week 14): Goran Dragic (5.5) currently ranks fourth in the NBA in fast-break points behind Russell Westbrook (6.9), James Harden (6.0) and Stephen Curry (6.0).

13. Washington Wizards (Record 31-17, Last Week 8): It's been a rough stretch for the Wizards as they have lost four of their past six games.

14. New Orleans Pelicans (Record 25-22, Last Week 15): Tyreke Evans is one of 13 players to average at least 10 points per game in the paint. The only other guard with that distinction is Westbrook.

15. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record 23-24, Last Week 13): Although they were without Kevin Durant for two of the games, the Thunder lost four of their past five games and are currently four games out of the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

16. Charlotte Hornets (Record 20-27, Last Week 16): Even without Kemba Walker (knee surgery), the Hornets have won two of their past three games. For the month of January, they have a 10-4 record.

17. Milwaukee Bucks (Record 25-22, Last Week 17): If you play NBA DFS, O.J. Mayo and consistency are two things typically not put in the same sentence. Over his past 11 games, however, Mayo has 20-plus fantasy points (DraftKings scoring) in every game. His longest such streak before that this season was just four games.

18. Detroit Pistons (Record 18-30, Last Week 18): Andre Drummond leads the NBA in 2nd-chance points (4.8 per game) and Greg Monroe ranks sixth (3.6/G) in that category.

19. Miami Heat (Record 21-26, Last Week 19): After posting a triple-double (with blocks) last Sunday, it was another strong week for Hassan Whiteside. Although he was one rebound shy of going three-for-three in double-doubles, he averaged 17.3 points and 16.3 rebounds this past week.

20. Utah Jazz (Record 17-30, Last Week 25): The Jazz (18.6/G) rank third in the NBA in field goals made within five feet behind only the Pelicans (20.1) and Pistons (19.0).

21. Sacramento Kings (Record 17-29, Last Week 23): DeMarcus Cousins was selected as the All-Star replacement for Kobe Bryant and he becomes the team's first All-Star since 2004.

22. Indiana Pacers (Record 17-32, Last Week 21): David West is averaging 12.8 points per game, a team high among qualified leaders, yet he ranks only 78th in the NBA in scoring.

23. New York Knicks (Record 10-38, Last Week 29): After winning only five of their first 41 games, the Knicks have started the "second half" of the season by winning five of their past seven games.

24. Brooklyn Nets (Record 18-28, Last Week 20): The Nets have lost four in a row and 12 of their past 14 games, but Jarrett Jack has a total of 49 points, 26 assists, 13 rebounds and three steals in his past two games.

25. Denver Nuggets (Record 19-29, Last Week 22): In the middle of last week, the Nuggets lost by 30 points to the Grizzlies. It was their third loss of 30-plus points (only the Sixers have more, five).

26. Boston Celtics (Record 16-30, Last Week 26): One year after posting a .305 winning percentage, the Celtics winning percentage stands at .348. If they finish this season with a sub-.350 winning percentage, that will mean that two of their worst five seasons in franchise history will have occurred in back-to-back seasons.

27. Philadelphia 76ers (Record 10-38, Last Week 27): On Friday night, Nerlens Noel finished with six blocks and four steals. Over his past 12 games, he's averaging 2.33 blocks and 1.91 steals per game.

28. Los Angeles Lakers (Record 13-35, Last Week 28): In three games last week, rookie starting point guard Jordan Clarkson scored at least 18 points in each game.

29. Orlando Magic (Record 15-35, Last Week 24): The Magic have lost eight consecutive games and head coach Jacque Vaughn is on the verge of being fired according to media reports.

30. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record 8-39, Last Week 30): After recently getting Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic back from injury, they are on the verge of finally getting starting point guard Ricky Rubio back.

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 14

The surprise season for the Atlanta Hawks as this highlight shows continues ...


Here are my NBA Power Rankings heading into Week 14:

1. Atlanta Hawks (Record 37-8, Last Week 1): The HAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWKS have now won 16 games in a row.

2. Golden State Warriors (Record 36-6, Last Week 2): Not only did Klay Thompson score 52 points against the Kings last week, but he scored 37 points in the third quarter alone.

3. Memphis Grizzlies (Record 31-12, Last Week 4): After a multi-game absence, Zach Randolph now has eight double-doubles in a row and he has 34 double-doubles on the season.

4. Portland Trail Blazers (Record 32-13, Last Week 3): Instead of missing the next six to eight weeks, LaMarcus Aldridge surprised many by opting to postpone surgery and scored 26 points against the Wizards on Saturday.

5. San Antonio Spurs (Record 29-17, Last Week 10): Kawhi Leonard has three double-doubles with multiple steals in his past four games. He had six double-doubles in his first 24 games of the season.

6. Los Angeles Clippers (Record 30-14, Last Week 11): The Clippers have scored 120-plus points in five of 11 games this month and are averaging 113.8 points over their past six games.

7. Houston Rockets (Record 31-14, Last Week 5): Leading the NBA in Win Shares (9.8) and Value Over Replacement (8.1), James Harden has scored 33-plus points in four consecutive games, the first time in his career that he has done so.

8. Washington Wizards (Record 30-15, Last Week 6): Point guard John Wall is averaging more than 10 assists and two steals per game; Chris Paul (four times) and Rajon Rondo (once) are the only other active players to do that for a season.

9. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record 25-20, Last Week 12): Since returning from his knee injury, LeBron James has averaged 30.28 points, 6.86 rebounds, 6.29 assists and 2.14 steals per game as the Cavs have won six of seven games.

10. Chicago Bulls (Record 29-17, Last Week 7): No longer on a minutes restriction, Derrick Rose has averaged 22.63 points, 5.75 assists and a steal per game over his last eight games.

11. Toronto Raptors (Record 29-15, Last Week 8): After scoring zero, six and eight points in his previous three games, DeMar DeRozan broke out of his scoring slump with 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting on Sunday. (He was 6-of-34 in his previous three games.)

12. Dallas Mavericks (Record 30-15, Last Week 9): Not only is Tyson Chandler shooting 66.9 percent from the field (second-highest of his career), but he is shooting a career-high 74.3 percent from the line. Chandler ranks second in the NBA in true shooting percentage behind only Kyle Korver.

13. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record 22-22, Last Week 13): Over the past eight games, Russell Westbrook has four double-doubles and a triple-double. In those eight games, he's averaging 21.25 points, 9.88 assists, 7.25 rebounds and 2.88 steals per game.

14. Phoenix Suns (Record 26-20, Last Week 14): Currently sitting in the 8th seed in the West, the Suns have a brutal schedule before the All-Star break. Their next five games: Washington (30-15), Chicago (29-17), Golden State (36-6), Memphis (31-12) and Portland (32-13).

15. New Orleans Pelicans (Record 23-21, Last Week 16): In his past 10 games, Eric Gordon has connected on nearly half of his three-point attempts (22 of 47, 46.8 percent).

16. Charlotte Hornets (Record 19-26, Last Week 20): As badly as the Hornets began the season, they have now won nine of their past 11 games.

17. Milwaukee Bucks (Record 22-22, Last Week 15): The Bucks have the league's worst turnover ratio (18.7 per game) in January and they have been even worse in the fourth quarter (20.3) this month. (On the season, the ratio was 15.8 in Q4 for the Bucks.)

18. Detroit Pistons (Record 17-28, Last Week 17): The loss of Brandon Jennings (Achilles) for the season is a big loss, but D.J. Augustin stepped up with a career-high 35 points in his first start following Jennings' injury.

19. Miami Heat (Record 20-24, Last Week 19): Hassan Whiteside had the most impressive triple-double of the season on Sunday with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 12 blocked shots in 25 minutes off the bench.

20. Brooklyn Nets (Record 18-26, Last Week 21): Based on some reports, the Nets could soon unload Joe Johnson's contract in exchange for a package of players that includes Lance Stephenson, who went to Lincoln High School in Brooklyn.

21. Indiana Pacers (Record 16-30, Last Week 23): Not exactly Thompson's 37-point third-quarter performance, but Damjan Rudez scored 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Pacers ended a seven-game losing streak with a win over the Magic on Sunday.

22. Denver Nuggets (Record 18-26, Last Week 18): After a five-game winning streak earlier in the month, the Nuggets have lost six consecutive games and will face the Clippers, Pelicans and Grizzlies on the road in their next three games.

23. Sacramento Kings (Record 16-27, Last Week 22): Since their surprise 9-5 start, the Kings have lost 22 of 29 games including their past six games in a row.

24. Orlando Magic (Record 15-32, Last Week 24): Rookie point guard Elfrid Payton has been playing great basketball. Over his past seven games, he has averaged 13.29 points, 8.29 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.14 steals per game .

25. Utah Jazz (Record 16-28, Last Week 25): Rudy Gobert ranks third in the NBA in blocks per game (2.2), but he leads the league in block percentage (7.9) by far over Anthony Davis (6.1).

26. Boston Celtics (Record 15-27, Last Week 26): Being showcased for a potential trade, Brandon Bass has averaged 12.67 points and 9.33 rebounds per game over his past three games.

27. Philadelphia 76ers (Record 8-36, Last Week 28): Even though the Sixers don't have the league's worst record, they rank last in the league in net rating (-12.1). (Net rating is difference between Offensive Rating and Defensive Rating -- essentially a scoring margin per 100 possessions.)

28. Los Angeles Lakers (Record 12-33, Last Week 27): The glass-half-full view of Kobe Bryant (torn rotator cuff) missing the rest of the season is the Lakers have a stronger shot of keeping their first-round pick (it goes to Phoenix if outside the top-five picks).

29. New York Knicks (Record 8-37, Last Week 30): In their most recent game, three of the Knicks starters were on 10-day contracts including Langston Galloway, who has averaged 14.5 points and 6.25 rebounds as a starter.

30. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record 7-36, Last Week 29): As bad as the T'Wolves have been, Nikola Pekovic (12 games), Kevin Martin (nine) and Ricky Rubio (five) have played a combined 26 games. Pekovic has returned to the lineup and K-Mart and Rubio should be back soon.

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 13

Winners of just two of their past seven games, the Chicago Bulls are in a mini-slump, but one positive is that Derrick Rose is starting to turn the corner in his return.

Averaging more than 35 minutes per game in his past three outings, Rose has notched back-to-back double-doubles (only has three on the season) and has averaged 28.0 points and 8.3 assists per game during that three-game span.

In his first 28 games this season, Rose averaged just 16.96 points and 4.86 assists per game on less than 29 minutes per game.

Meanwhile, Pau Gasol has played really well over his past 10 games.

To begin the season, Gasol had 15 double-doubles in his first 21 games and then had only two double-doubles in his next nine games. Since then, Gasol has seven double-doubles in his past nine outings.

With 23 double-doubles on the season, Gasol is tied with DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis for second in the league behind Nikola Vucevic (24).

Over the past 10 games, Gasol is averaging 22.7 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.

Atlanta Hawks extend winning streak to 12 games

Pulling a trick out of Gregg Popovich's book, the Atlanta Hawks sat their entire starting lineup (in waves) against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics in back-to-back games to kick off last week.

It's not as though they needed their starters as the Hawks won both of those games by at least 14 points.

With their squad at full strength, the Hawks faced two tougher foes -- Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls -- in back-to-back at the end of the week, although the results were the same. Atlanta won those games by 21 and eight points, respectively.

During that four-game road trip last week, the Hawks averaged 106.75 points (with a minimum of 105) while holding their opponents to 91.5 points (maximum of 99) per game.

On Monday, the Hawks will host the Detroit Pistons, who have won 11 of 13 games since parting ways with Josh Smith. The toughest game of the week will be Friday's tilt against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are extremely dangerous with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook back at full health.

That said, their next seven games and nine of their next 10 games are all at home.

Russell Westbrook's triple-double aided by "execution"

Against the Warriors on Friday night, Russell Westbrook recorded his ninth career triple-double.

Westbrook finished the game with 17 points, 17 assists, 15 rebounds as well as four steals. Among active NBA players, Rajon Rondo is the only other player in the league with a 15/15/15 triple-double.

After the game, Westbrook attributed his and the team's offensive success to "execution."



As part of the short interview, Westbrook goes on to tell The Oklahoman's Berry Tramel, author of the "Mr. Unreliable" column on KD, that he doesn't like him.

Here are my NBA Power Rankings heading into Week 13:

1. Atlanta Hawks (Record 33-8, Last Week 2)
2. Golden State Warriors (Record 32-6, Last Week 1)
3. Portland Trail Blazers (Record 30-11, Last Week 3)
4. Memphis Grizzlies (Record 29-11, Last Week 4)
5. Houston Rockets (Record 28-13, Last Week 6)
6. Washington Wizards (Record 28-13, Last Week 10)
7. Chicago Bulls (Record 27-15, Last Week 5)
8. Toronto Raptors (Record 26-14, Last Week 7)
9. Dallas Mavericks (Record 28-13, Last Week 8)
10. San Antonio Spurs (Record 26-16, Last Week 9)
11. Los Angeles Clippers (Record 27-14, Last Week 11)
12. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record 21-20, Last Week 15)
13. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record 20-20, Last Week 13)
14. Phoenix Suns (Record 24-18, Last Week 12)
15. Milwaukee Bucks (Record 21-19, Last Week 17)
16. New Orleans Pelicans (Record 20-20, Last Week 14)
17. Detroit Pistons (Record 16-25, Last Week 24)
18. Denver Nuggets (Record 18-22, Last Week 18)
19. Miami Heat (Record 18-22, Last Week 19)
20. Charlotte Hornets (Record 16-25, Last Week 20)
21. Brooklyn Nets (Record 17-24, Last Week 16)
22. Sacramento Kings (Record 16-24, Last Week 21)
23. Indiana Pacers (Record 15-27, Last Week 22)
24. Orlando Magic (Record 15-29, Last Week 23)
25. Utah Jazz (Record 14-27, Last Week 26)
26. Boston Celtics (Record 13-25, Last Week 25)
27. Los Angeles Lakers (Record 12-29, Last Week 27)
28. Philadelphia 76ers (Record 8-32, Last Week 28)
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record 7-32, Last Week 29)
30. New York Knicks (Record 5-36, Last Week 30)

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 12

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Since moving into the No. 2 spot of our NBA Power Rankings last week, the Atlanta Hawks have continued to play great basketball as they finished the week with a 4-0 record despite some difficult matchups.

Three of their four wins were against teams that are more than 10 games above .500 -- Clippers, Grizzlies and Wizards. The other win was against the Pistons, who have played much better since releasing Josh Smith. In fact, the Pistons have won eight of nine games without Smith with the loss to the Hawks being the exception.

Since November 28th, the Hawks have posted a 22-2 record.

The Hawks will begin a four-game road trip starting on Tuesday against a couple of beatable Eastern Conference teams (Philadelphia and Boston) and then a couple of matchups (Toronto and Chicago) against two fellow teams in the top-three of Eastern Conference standings.

Although they may lack well-known superstars, they have played efficient, team-first basketball.

Not only does Atlanta rank third in three-point percentage (.383) and fifth in shooting percentage (.467), but they also rank eighth in opponent's three-point percentage (.339) and sixth in opponent's shooting percentage (.438).

In addition, the Hawks rank third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.89) behind only the Clippers and Mavericks.

The final All-Star ballots will be announced on January 22nd, but the Hawks don't have any players in the top 10 and Paul Millsap currently ranks 13th in voting among Eastern Conference forwards.

Who's the worst: Sixers, Knicks and Celtics?

The Sixers opened the 2014-15 NBA season with 17 consecutive losses and it seemed as though they wouldn't win any games this season.

For the second time this season, however, the Sixers have a two-game winning streak with wins over the Nets and Pacers this past weekend and they have now won three of their past four games.

While their competition for the most lottery ping-pong balls is increasing within the division, the Sixers will host the 29-8 Hawks on Tuesday so it's highly unlikely that they get their first three-game winning streak of the season.

Perhaps the Knicks will shut down Carmelo Anthony for the season, but they have now lost a franchise-worst 15 consecutive games and currently own the league's worst record (5-35, .125). In addition, they have won only one of their past 26 games.

Aside from Anthony's injury, the Knicks have traded J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cavaliers and released Samuel Dalembert as they try to improve their salary-cap situation going forward.

Earlier in the season, the Celtics traded away point guard Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks. One of the players acquired in that trade, Brandan Wright, has since been traded away as the Celtics work to stockpile draft picks.

The next player on the move will be the team's leading scorer, Jeff Green, in a trade that is expected to be completed on Monday.

Sources: Boston, Memphis and New Orleans agree on five-player trade sending Jeff Green to Grizzlies. Trade call Monday.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 11, 2015

In a race to not be mediocre, but instead to be as bad as you can, which one of these Atlantic Division teams is the worst?

Cavs on five-game losing streak, lost eight of nine games

It takes time for a new trio of superstars playing for a first-year head coach to gel. Making the situation more challenging is the fact that LeBron James has missed the past eight games with a knee injury.

The injury isn't too serious and he should be back soon. In fact, he has noted that he would have played if it were the playoffs.

That said, the Cleveland Cavaliers have now lost five consecutive games and eight of their past nine.

With the Cavs ranking in the bottom half of the league in team defense, they have made some moves that should help bolster their defense. Not only is newly-acquired Iman Shumpert one of the league's more talented perimeter defenders, but they acquired Timofey Mozgov from the Nuggets. Mozgov played for coach Blatt on the Russian National Team.

Despite dropping to .500 as we near the midpoint of the season, Vegas still has the Cavs installed as the favorite to win the 2015 NBA Finals at 5/1 odds. (The Warriors are a close second at 11/2 odds.)

Turnaround coming for the Hornets?

Expectations were high in the preseason for the Charlotte Hornets, who were coming off their second playoff appearance in the past decade.

Despite starting the season with a 10-24 record, the team is now on a five-game winning streak.

If the season were to end today, the Hornets would be tied with the Pacers at the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference, but both teams are only two games behind the Heat and Nets for the eighth seed.

Not only has Lance Stephenson been out since last playing on December 17th, but Al Jefferson has now missed seven consecutive games. With Stephenson and Jefferson out, Kemba Walker has put the team on his back.

During their five-game winning streak, Walker has averaged 30.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Here are my NBA Power Rankings heading into Week 12:

1. Golden State Warriors (Record 29-5, Last Week 1)
2. Atlanta Hawks (Record 29-8, Last Week 2)
3. Portland Trail Blazers (Record 30-8, Last Week 3)
4. Memphis Grizzlies (Record 26-11, Last Week 4)
5. Chicago Bulls (Record 26-12, Last Week 5)
6. Houston Rockets (Record 26-11, Last Week 7)
7. Toronto Raptors (Record 25-11, Last Week 8)
8. Dallas Mavericks (Record 26-12, Last Week 6)
9. San Antonio Spurs (Record 23-15, Last Week 13)
10. Washington Wizards (Record 25-12, Last Week 9)
11. Los Angeles Clippers (Record 25-13, Last Week 10)
12. Phoenix Suns (Record 22-18, Last Week 12)
13. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record 18-19, Last Week 11)
14. New Orleans Pelicans (Record 18-18, Last Week 14)
15. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record 19-19, Last Week 15)
16. Brooklyn Nets (Record 16-21, Last Week 16)
17. Milwaukee Bucks (Record 20-19, Last Week 17)
18. Denver Nuggets (Record 17-20, Last Week 19)
19. Miami Heat (Record 16-21, Last Week 18)
20. Charlotte Hornets (Record 15-24, Last Week 26)
21. Sacramento Kings (Record 16-21, Last Week 20)
22. Indiana Pacers (Record 15-24, Last Week 21)
23. Orlando Magic (Record 13-27, Last Week 22)
24. Detroit Pistons (Record 13-24, Last Week 23)
25. Boston Celtics (Record 12-23, Last Week 24)
26. Utah Jazz (Record 13-25, Last Week 25)
27. Los Angeles Lakers (Record 12-26, Last Week 27)
28. Philadelphia 76ers (Record 7-29, Last Week 29)
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record 5-31, Last Week 28)
30. New York Knicks (Record 5-35, Last Week 30)

Also, check out our Fantasy Basketball Rest-of-Season Rankings

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Josh Smith won't travel with Hawks to OKC

Per Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Hawks forward Josh Smith will not travel with the team to Oklahoma City for Saturday's game.

Smith will miss the game due to a sprained right ankle.

In the team's season opener against the Rockets last night, Smith finished with 18 points on 9-of-21 shooting, 10 rebounds and three blocks in 41 minutes.

After tonight's game, the Hawks don't play again until Wednesday night against the Pacers.

Joe Johnson has tendinitis and will miss All-Star Game

The Atlanta Hawks will be without Joe Johnson, their leading scorer, for tonight's game and Thursday's game and he will sit out the All-Star Game this weekend.

The good news, however, is that the MRI on Johnson's knee shows that there is no structural damage and that Johnson has tendinitis. He will be reevaluated before their first game after the break, which is against the Warriors on February 29th.

“It is just tendinitis,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said, per Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “From that standpoint, it’s just going to be on feel, how he feels with treatment and therapy. … For us, it’s important that he gets well to where it settles down from a pain standpoint.”

“Particularly with tendinitis,” Drew said. “It’s just one of those things where you have to allow the knee to rest to where it is not getting the constant pounding.”

With Johnson out of the lineup tonight, Willie Green will start in his place. Green has played at least 20 minutes in three of his past five games Green has scored at 17 points or more in all three games.

Johnson is averaging 17.6 points, 3.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game and leads the team in three-pointers made (1.8 per game).