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 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 8

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Since Kevin Durant made his season debut seven games ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder have won their past six games in a row.

All six of those wins have come against teams that missed the playoffs last year and although the Cleveland Cavaliers still remain the favorites (based on Vegas odds) to win it all, the Cavs were without LeBron James (knee) when they faced the Thunder last week.

That said, the Thunder have beaten the opponents on their schedule and are now just two games under .500 and only one-half game behind the Phoenix Suns, who currently occupy the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Their next game is against the Kings, who have been without DeMarcus Cousins for nine consecutive games and have lost eight of their past 10 games. Before his bout with viral meningitis, Cousins had seven consecutive double-doubles with at least 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Assuming the Thunder beat the DMC-less Kings, they will try to get back to .500 against the Golden State Warriors, who have now won 16 consecutive games.

Kobe Bryant moves into third all-time in scoring

While Magic Johnson would like the Lakers to lose all of their remaining games to get the highest 2015 NBA Draft pick as possible, it should come as no surprise that Kobe Bryant isn't on board with that philosophy.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, if their first-round pick is outside of the top-five selections, they will send that selection to Phoenix as part of the deal that led to the acquisition of Steve Nash.

That said, the Lakers have won three consecutive games and five of their past eight games.

Despite shooting a career-low 38.6 percent from the field in his 19th NBA season, Bryant is one of the all-time greatest scorers the game has ever seen. With 26 points last night against the Timberwolves, Bryant moved past Michael Jordan for third all-time in the career scoring list.

Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928) have more career points than Bryant (32,310). Meanwhile, Jordan (30.12) and Wilt Chamberlain (30.07) are the only two players that have averaged more than 30 points per game over their careers; Bryant is 10th on that list at 25.46 PPG.

It's unlikely that Bryant plays long enough to catch Malone.

Pau Gasol, the double-double machine

Bryant's ex-teammate Pau Gasol is currently tied with three others for the most double-doubles (14) this season.

Averaging 19.0 points and a career-high 11.9 rebounds per game, Gasol had just nine points and nine rebounds on Sunday, but he had double-doubles in all of his previous eight games. Of the six games in which he has not had a double-double this season, Gasol was short by one point and/or one rebound in four of those games.

In other words, Gasol has 18 games (out of his 20 games played) this season with nine-plus points and nine-plus rebounds.

Gasol had 30 double-doubles in 60 games last season and only 15 of them in 49 games in the 2012-13 season.

Here are my Week 8 NBA Power Rankings:

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

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings: Week 6

When healthy, the Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the few elite teams in the NBA.

Although they are only 5-12 through the first 17 games after winning back-to-back games, they are getting healthy as Russell Westbrook returned from his multi-week hand injury to drop 32 points in just 24 minutes and he added eight assists, seven rebounds and a steal.



Not only has Westbrook returned, but Kevin Durant, the NBA's reigning MVP, is on the verge of returning from his foot injury. Durant is listed as questionable for Tuesday's game, but he's likely to return at some point within the next week if he doesn't return on Tuesday.

Based on odds from Sportsbook.ag, only four teams have better odds to win the NBA Championship than the Thunder (12/1): Cavs (3/1), Spurs (9/2), Warriors (13/2) and Bulls (10/1).

Here are my Week 6 NBA Power Rankings:

1. Memphis Grizzlies (Record: 15-2, Last Week: 1): In the final year of his existing contract, Marc Gasol is having a career-best season (20.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game). Gasol is the only player in the league averaging a 20/8/3/1/1 line this season.

2. Golden State Warriors (Record: 14-2, Last Week: 2): The Warriors have the league's longest active winning streak (nine games).

3. San Antonio Spurs (Record: 12-4, Last Week: 5): The Spurs have won seven games in a row and that streak began against the Sixers, who is also their Monday night opponent. With games in back-to-back nights, we'll likely see a lot of Matt Bonner, who led them in scoring vs. Philly on Nov. 17th, and very little, if any, of Tim Duncan and usual starters tonight.

4. Portland Trail Blazers (Record: 13-4, Last Week: 6): The Blazers currently rank in the top six in the NBA in scoring (104.2 PPG), rebounding (48.1 RPG), assists (24.0 APG) as well as defense (96.2 PPG allowed).

5. Houston Rockets (Record: 13-4, Last Week: 3): With Dwight Howard (and others) sidelined, James Harden continues to put up dominant stat-stuffing numbers. Harden is averaging 28.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.4 blocks over his past five games.

6. Toronto Raptors (Record: 13-4, Last Week: 4): After tearing his adductor longus tendon, DeMar DeRozan hopes to return in four weeks. Stepping into the starting lineup, Greivis Vasquez scored 19 points with five assists, but the Raptors have now lost back-to-back games.

7. Dallas Mavericks (Record: 13-5, Last Week: 9): Even though Dirk Nowitzki is playing just 28.6 minutes per game, the fewest since his rookie season, Nowitzki is averaging 24.4 points per 36 minutes, which is his most since the 2008-09 season (24.7).

8. Chicago Bulls (Record: 11-6, Last Week: 8): In the games that Derrick Rose has played at least 20 minutes, the Bulls are 7-1. In the games he hasn't, they are 4-5.

9. Los Angeles Clippers (Record: 11-5, Last Week: 11): Even with DeAndre Jordan (11.6 RPG) and Blake Griffin (7.5 RPG), the Clippers have been one of the worst rebounding teams in the league this season. Only the Heat (36.9/G) average fewer rebounds per game than the Clippers (37.9/G). Only the Sixers (-5.7/G) and Heat (-3.7/G) are worse in terms of rebounding differential.

10. Washington Wizards (Record: 10-5, Last Week: 7): Marcin Gortat had his best game of the season against the Pelicans on Saturday night. The Polish Hammer finished with a season-high 24 points and 13 rebounds, which ties a season high. It was his third double-double in the past four games.

11. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record: 8-7, Last Week: 14): Last year, Kevin Love led the NBA in 20/10 games (50). DeMarcus Cousins was second with 40 of them. While Love certainly won't get 50 of them this year, he did get his third 20/10 game of the season on Saturday with a season-high 28 points and 10 boards.

12. Phoenix Suns (Record: 10-8, Last Week: 10): In his four games last week, Markieff Morris averaged 14.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per game, but the Suns dropped three of those four games.

13. Sacramento Kings (Record: 9-8, Last Week: 12): DeMarcus Cousins has missed back-to-back games, but he has an active streak of five games with 22-plus points and 12-plus rebounds. Since the 2011-12 season, there have been only two longer streaks: Kevin Love (seven games) and LaMarcus Aldridge (six).

14. Miami Heat (Record: 9-7, Last Week: 13): After a seven-game absence, Dwyane Wade returned to score a season-high 27 points in the win over the Knicks. Wade now has scored 20-plus points in five consecutive games (that he has played), which ties his longest such streak of last season.

15. Atlanta Hawks (Record: 9-6, Last Week: 16): Paul Millsap is currently tied with John Wall for the league lead in steals per game (2.33) and only Anthony Davis has more games with at least 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals this season.

16. Denver Nuggets (Record: 8-8, Last Week: 18): Ty Lawson has seven double-doubles in his past nine games and he was just one assist shy of double-doubles in the other two games during that span.

17. Milwaukee Bucks (Record: 10-8, Last Week: 17): Rookie Jabari Parker had his best week of his young career. In his four games played last week, Parker averaged 13.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

18. New Orleans Pelicans (Record: 7-8, Last Week: 15): Getting more minutes (averaging 27/G over past four games), Austin Rivers has been really shooting the ball poorly since scoring 17 points on Nov. 17th. In his past seven games, Rivers has made just eight of 41 shot attempts (19.5 percent).

19. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record: 5-12, Last Week: 25): As noted above, the Thunder are finally getting (close to) healthy and while they may be fighting an uphill battle after their slow start, they are still one of the favorites to win it all.

20. Indiana Pacers (Record: 7-10, Last Week: 19): With the exception of perhaps the Thunder, no team has been as devastated by injuries as the Pacers, but they have at least one key player back. In his two games back, David West averaged 16.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 24.0 minutes per game and should eventually see his minutes increase.

21. Brooklyn Nets (Record: 6-9, Last Week: 20): All six of Brooklyn's wins this season have come against teams with a losing record. Seven of their opponents thus far currently have a winning record and the Nets have lost all seven of those matchups.

22. Orlando Magic (Record: 7-12, Last Week: 22): Only the Kings have a worse turnover differential than the Magic and only the Rockets, Kings and Sixers have a lower assist-to-turnover ratio than Orlando. Rookie Elfrid Payton leads the team in assists with 4.9 per game.

23. Utah Jazz (Record: 5-12, Last Week: 21): One of the things the Jazz have done well is keep opponents off the free-throw line. Only the Hornets (.233) have a lower opponent's free-throw attempt rate than the Jazz (.236).

24. Boston Celtics (Record: 4-10, Last Week: 23): Since the 2010-11 season, no player has more triple-doubles than Rajon Rondo (16); LeBron James is second (nine). In his nine games since his triple-double this season, however, Rondo has only two double-doubles including none in the past five games.

25. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record: 4-11, Last Week: 28): Mo Williams has three consecutive double-doubles and has averaged 19.0 points and 11.3 assists during that span.

26. Charlotte Hornets (Record: 4-14, Last Week: 24): With a winning record (.524) last year and only their second playoff appearance in the previous 10 seasons, expectations were high for the Hornets. Unfortunately, their 4-14 (.222) start is much more similar (at least so far) to the very lean years of 2011-12 (7-59, .106) and 2012-13 (21-61, .256).

27. New York Knicks (Record: 4-14, Last Week: 26): Missing two games, Carmelo Anthony returned to score 31 points (11-of-26 shooting) with eight rebounds, but the Knicks lost their fourth consecutive game and now 13th out of their past 15 games.

28. Los Angeles Lakers (Record: 4-13, Last Week: 29): With his triple-double against the Raptors Sunday night, Kobe Bryant became the oldest player to ever record a 30/10/10 triple-double.

29. Detroit Pistons (Record: 3-14, Last Week: 27): The Pistons currently rank last in the NBA in points per shot (1.10) and only the Sixers (66.9 percent) are shooting worse at the free-throw line the Pistons (67.5 percent). No other team in the league is shooting below 70 percent from the line.

30. Philadelphia 76ers (Record: 0-16, Last Week: 30): Rookie K.J. McDaniels has played 30-plus minutes in back-to-back games and the extremely athletic rookie followed up a game of 18 points and six boards with a 21/13 double-double and nine of those boards were offensive rebounds.

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings: Week 5

Here are my Week 5 NBA Power Rankings:

1. Memphis Grizzlies (Record: 12-2, Last Week: 1): Grizzlies center Marc Gasol now has eight games of 20-plus points this season. Gasol had just eight 20-point games (out of 59) last season. Since Gasol returned from injury on Jan. 14, 2014, the Grizzlies have an NBA-best record (45-15, .750).

Surprisingly, the Grizzlies have just the sixth-lowest odds to win the Western Conference based on odds from Sportsbook.ag.

2. Golden State Warriors (Record: 10-2, Last Week: 3): Marreese Speights has played only 158 minutes in 11 games, but he leads the NBA in points per 36 minutes (29.5) and in points per 100 possessions (39.5).

3. Houston Rockets (Record: 10-3, Last Week: 2): James Harden is shooting a career-low 39.1 percent from the field, but he is shooting a career-high 89.5 percent from the line and making a league-high 9.2 free throws per game.

4. Toronto Raptors (Record: 11-2, Last Week: 6): The Raptors currently lead the NBA in point differential (+12.2). They rank second in the league in scoring offense (106.9 per game) and sixth in scoring defense (94.7 per game).

5. San Antonio Spurs (Record: 9-4, Last Week: 5): Tony Parker is a career 32.1-percent shooter from three-point range, but he has made 63.6 percent of his attempts this season. His career-best percentage is 39.5 percent (2006-07).

6. Portland Trail Blazers (Record: 10-3, Last Week: 9): Since starting the season 3-3, the Blazers have won seven consecutive games, the longest active winning streak in the NBA, and will face the winless Sixers on Monday night.

7. Washington Wizards (Record: 9-3, Last Week: 8): In his three games since returning from injury, Bradley Beal is averaging 16.7 points, 4.7 points and 1.3 steals per game in 30.7 minutes per game off the bench.

8. Chicago Bulls (Record: 8-5, Last Week: 7): Derrick Rose, who has missed the past four games due to a hamstring injury, may or may not play Monday night. If he's unable to play tonight, however, he is confident that he'll return for Tuesday's matchup against the Nuggets.

9. Dallas Mavericks (Record: 10-4, Last Week: 11): Brandan Wright had his first double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) on Saturday against the Rockets and has now scored in double digits in seven consecutive games. Wright has yet to shoot below .545 in any game this season and he leads the league with a .785 field goal percentage.

10. Phoenix Suns (Record: 9-5, Last Week: 16): Among players with no starts this season, Isaiah Thomas (15.4 PPG) and Gerald Green (14.2) rank second and fourth in the NBA in per-game scoring. In addition, Thomas is currently leading all Suns players in scoring.

11. Los Angeles Clippers (Record: 7-5, Last Week: 10): Chris Paul continues to lead the NBA in assist/turnover ratio (6.33). If he continues to average 9.5-plus assists per game and 1.5 turnovers (or less) per game, CP3 will become the first player in league history to do so for a full season.

12. Sacramento Kings (Record: 8-5, Last Week: 13): The Kings lead the NBA in offensive rebound percentage (30.0) and rebound percentage (55.4).

13. Miami Heat (Record: 8-6, Last Week: 14): Over the past six games with Dwyane Wade sidelined, Mario Chalmers has averaged 20.0 points, 7.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

14. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record: 5-7, Last Week: 4): Four games last week. Four losses last week. With LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love & Co. are still adjusting to each other, the Cavs averaged just 89.5 points in those four losses.

15. New Orleans Pelicans (Record: 7-5, Last Week: 12): Anthony Davis is averaging 26.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 2.0 steals per game. The last player to average 26/11/3/2 is, well, nobody.

16. Atlanta Hawks (Record: 6-5, Last Week: 15): Fourteen different players have seen the court for the Hawks this season. All 14 of them are averaging double-digit minutes.

17. Milwaukee Bucks (Record: 7-7, Last Week: 17): The Bucks already have seven wins and compared to last season, it's more than a month earlier than they got their seventh win last year, which occurred on New Year's Eve against the Lakers. (And then they went 1-14 in January.)

18. Denver Nuggets (Record: 6-7, Last Week: 28): After a 1-6 start to the season, the Nuggets have won five of their past six games including the previous four games. Having another perfect week will be tough, however, as they face the Bulls on Tuesday and then have a home-and-home with the Suns this week.

19. Indiana Pacers (Record: 5-8, Last Week: 20): Although Roy Hibbert will miss Monday's game with an ankle injury, David West is close to returning and even Paul George has hopes (albeit unlikely ones) of returning this season.

20. Brooklyn Nets (Record: 5-8, Last Week: 18): Deron Williams currently ranks fifth in the league in minutes per game and Williams is one of three players with double-digit games of 15-plus points and five-plus assists this season. The other two are Stephen Curry and James Harden.

21. Utah Jazz (Record: 5-9, Last Week: 23): Only the Lakers (11) have allowed more 100-point games to their opponents than the Jazz (10) this season.

22. Orlando Magic (Record: 6-9, Last Week: 26): Nikola Vucevic currently leads the NBA in double-doubles with 11 of them in 15 games this season.

23. Boston Celtics (Record: 4-8, Last Week: 21): The Celtics rank last in the league in FTA Rate (.220), which measures how often a team gets to the free-throw line in relation to field-goal attempts.

24. Charlotte Hornets (Record: 4-10, Last Week: 19): Expectations were high for the Hornets entering the season, but they have now lost five games in a row and seven of their past eight games.

25. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record: 3-12, Last Week: 22): Although Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant will be back in the near future, Reggie Jackson is one of just two players in the league to currently average at least 20 points, seven assists and five boards per game. The other is Golden State's Stephen Curry.

26. New York Knicks (Record: 4-10, Last Week: 24): The Knicks currently lead the NBA in three-point shooting percentage (40.6 percent). The Knicks have eight players averaging at least one three-point shot per game and five of them are shooting at least 40 percent from behind the arc.

27. Detroit Pistons (Record: 3-10, Last Week: 25): After shooting 60.8 and 62.3 percent from the field in his first two seasons, respectively, Andre Drummond is shooting just 39.7 percent from the field this year although he's shooting a career-high 43.6 percent from the free-throw line.

28. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record: 3-9, Last Week: 27): The T'Wolves have managed to keep their opponents from scoring 100-plus points in three games. They are tied with the Celtics and Lakers to rank last in the league in that category.

29. Los Angeles Lakers (Record: 3-11, Last Week: 29): Jordan Hill has an active streak of six consecutive games with 10-plus points and 10-plus rebounds, which is tied with Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins for the longest such streak this season.

30. Philadelphia 76ers (Record: 0-13, Last Week: 30): This tweet says it all:

Your weekly @numberFire update: Sixers favored in ZERO of remaining 69 games. Best win odds are 44.6% on March 30 at home against ... Lakers
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) November 24, 2014

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

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings: Week 4

Here are my Week 4 NBA Power Rankings:

1. Memphis Grizzlies (Record: 9-1, Last Week: 1): Earlier in the week, the Grizz allowed the Kings to build a 26-point lead, but they came back to win the game by one point. That makes the team's largest come-from-behind win in franchise history.

2. Houston Rockets (Record: 9-1, Last Week: 3): The Rockets lead the NBA in Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) at 91.5.

3. Golden State Warriors (Record: 8-2, Last Week: 2): Over past six games, Stephen Curry has four double-doubles (two with points and assists and two with points and rebounds). During that span, Curry is averaging 27.67 points, 6.33 rebounds and 7.16 assists per game.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record: 5-3, Last Week: 10): Aside from Anthony Morrow, who has played only three games this season, Kyrie Irving leads the league in fourth-quarter scoring (7.9 per game).

5. San Antonio Spurs (Record: 5-4, Last Week: 9): Tim Duncan has yet to score 20 points in a game this season, but he has six double-doubles in eight games.

6. Toronto Raptors (Record: 8-2, Last Week: 4): Jonas Valunciunas got a season-high 34 minutes in the team's last game and delivered a 17-point, 14-board double-double. It's his second double-double of the season.

7. Chicago Bulls (Record: 7-3, Last Week: 5): The Bulls are one of two teams that are perfect on the road, but they are only 2-3 at home this year.

8. Washington Wizards (Record: 7-2, Last Week: 7): Playing 36 minutes per game in the team's first five games, Marcin Gortat had three double-doubles and averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. In his past four games, however, The Polish Hammer is averaging just 8.5 points and 7.75 rebounds.

9. Portland Trail Blazers (Record: 7-3, Last Week: 14): Damian Lillard currently leads the league in three-pointers made (33) and he has connected on 14-of-20 three's in his past three games.

10. Los Angeles Clippers (Record: 5-3, Last Week: 8): DeAndre Jordan has 31 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in his past two games.

11. Dallas Mavericks (Record: 7-3, Last Week: 13): The Mavericks currently lead the NBA in Offensive Rating (points per 100 possessions) at 115.0.

12. New Orleans Pelicans (Record: 5-3, Last Week: 11): The Pelicans currently lead the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.12.

13. Sacramento Kings (Record: 6-4, Last Week: 12): The Kings commit the second-most personal fouls, but they also make (28.5) and take (35.1) more free throw attempts than any other team.

14. Miami Heat (Record: 5-5, Last Week: 6): With Dwyane Wade sitting out on back-to-back games, the Heat have dropped three consecutive games to fall to .500. On Monday night, they will face the Nets, who have also lost three consecutive games.

15. Atlanta Hawks (Record: 5-4, Last Week: 20): The Hawks got throttled by the Cavs on Saturday (31-point loss). In their other three losses, the Hawks lost by a total of 12 points.

16. Phoenix Suns (Record: 5-5, Last Week: 16): Alex Len had his second double-double of the season in the team's last game with 17 points and 11 boards. In his seven games between double-doubles, Len is averaging 3.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

17. Milwaukee Bucks (Record: 5-5, Last Week: 24): Only the Rockets have a better Defensive Rating than the Bucks (94.7) so far this season.

18. Brooklyn Nets (Record: 4-5, Last Week: 15): After making 12-of-25 three's in his first five games, Joe Johnson has made just 2-of-10 from behind the arc in the past four games.

19. Charlotte Bobcats (Record: 4-6, Last Week: 17): In his first nine games, Lance Stephenson was averaging 10.56 rebounds per game with at least seven in each game. In his most recent game, Stephenson had no rebounds.

20. Indiana Pacers (Record: 4-7, Last Week: 28): Despite their slew of injuries, the Pacers won three of four games last week.

21. Boston Celtics (Record: 3-5, Last Week: 19): Per 40 minutes, Rajon Rondo is nearly averaging a triple-double -- 12.2 points, 14.4 assists and 9.8 rebounds.

22. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record: 3-8, Last Week: 18): Reggie Jackson is averaging 21.5 points, 7.6 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game this season.

23. Utah Jazz (Record: 4-7, Last Week: 21): In his past four games, Gordon Hayward has alternated hot and cold shooting nights: 30 points (11 of 15 from field), 11 (five of 16), 33 (11 of 18) and 12 (three of 10).

24. New York Knicks (Record: 3-8, Last Week: 22): The Knicks have struggled defending the three-point line. They allow a league-high 42.0 percent from behind the arc and only the Mavs and Lakers allow more made three's than the Knicks.

25. Detroit Pistons (Record: 3-7, Last Week: 25): Only DeMarcus Cousins and Dwight Howard are averaging more personal fouls per game than Drummond, who is playing just 27.8 minutes per game. Drummond is averaging 8.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.

26. Orlando Magic (Record: 4-7, Last Week: 27): Nikola Vucevic is currently tied the league lead in double-doubles with seven and is averaging 18.2 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.

27. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record: 2-7, Last Week: 23): Andrew Wiggins is currently tied with Jabari Parker for the lead in scoring average (10.6 per game) among rookies.

28. Denver Nuggets (Record: 2-7, Last Week: 26): Since opening the season with a win, the Nuggets have lost seven of eight games.

29. Los Angeles Lakers (Record: 1-9, Last Week: 29): With Kobe Bryant shooting so much, one of the benefits is that the Lakers leads the league in offensive rebounding (13.2 per game) and Jordan Hill (4.8/G) leads the league.

30. Philadelphia 76ers (Record: 0-9, Last Week: 30): I'm not sure who would throw their money away, but the 76ers have 9,999/1 odds to win the NBA Championship based on odds from Sportsbook.ag. The Magic are second worst with 1,250/1 odds.

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings: Week 3

The NBA season is young and there are plenty of surprises. One example, the Kings have more wins than the Spurs and Cavs.

Combined.

With that said, here are my Week 3 NBA Power Rankings:

1. Memphis Grizzlies (Record: 6-1, Last Week: 6): I tend to be higher on the Grizzlies than most, but they are often underrated and currently lead the NBA in scoring defense (87.6 PPG).

2. Golden State Warriors (Record: 5-1, Last Week: 1): Leading the NBA in scoring, Stephen Curry had a double-double (28 points, 10 assists) with five steals on Sunday, but he also had 10 turnovers as well. That is a league high in turnovers this season.

3. Houston Rockets (Record: 6-1, Last Week: 7): Averaging 25.4 points per game (like last year), James Harden is averaging career highs in boards (6.7/G) and assists (7.1/G) through seven games.

4. Toronto Raptors (Record: 6-1, Last Week: 12): The Raptors lead the NBA in scoring offense (107.4 PPG) and scoring differential (+11.5).

5. Chicago Bulls (Record: 5-2, Last Week: 5): After averaging a league-low 93.7 PPG last year, the Bulls are scoring 104.3 PPG (sixth in NBA) this season as Jimmy Butler leads the team with 19.6 PPG (13.1/G last year).

6. Miami Heat (Record: 5-2, Last Week: 9): Chris Bosh has scored 20-plus points in all seven games this season. In his previous four seasons with the Heat, Bosh never scored 20-plus in more than five games, which he did in 2010.

7. Washington Wizards (Record: 5-2, Last Week: 11): With a current W/L percentage of .714 early in the season, the Wizards are off to a great start. If they manage to win 60 percent (or more) of their games, it will be the first time the franchise has done so since the 1978-79 season.

8. Los Angeles Clippers (Record: 4-2, Last Week: 8): The Clippers lead the league in turnover differential (-7.8) and A/TO ratio (2.13). Chris Paul has 63 assists and just five turnovers through six games.

9. San Antonio Spurs (Record: 2-3, Last Week: 2): Based on NBA futures from Vegas, the Spurs still have the best odds (6/1) among Western Conference teams to win it all ...

10. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record: 2-3, Last Week: 3): ... and while the Cavs are trying to build chemistry and play unselfishly, they are still the favorites to win it all (3/1).

11. New Orleans Pelicans (Record: 3-2, Last Week: 13): Among players getting 20-plus minutes per game, no player has a higher PER (Player Efficiency Rating) than Anthony Davis (34.89) — Golden State's Stephen Curry (29.89) is second.

12. Sacramento Kings (Record: 5-2, Last Week: 15): There are a number of reasons why the Kings are off to a strong (surprising) start. Through Sunday's games, they lead the NBA in rebounding (47.4/G) and get to and make more free throws than any other team (30.1 FTM/G, 37.3 FTA/G).

13. Dallas Mavericks (Record: 4-3, Last Week: 4): The Mavs currently lead the NBA in Offensive Rating (number of points scored per 100 possessions) with 112.0.

14. Portland Trail Blazers (Record: 4-3, Last Week: 14): The starting lineup of LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Damian Lillard, Robin Lopez and Wesley Matthews is the league's highest-scoring quintet (46.9 PPG).

15. Brooklyn Nets (Record: 4-2, Last Week: 21): While the Mavs lead the league in Offensive Rating; the Nets are second at 109.5.

16. Phoenix Suns (Record: 4-3, Last Week: 10): Coming off a tough three-game schedule (Grizzlies, Kings and Warriors), the Suns face the Nets, Bobcats and Clippers this week, all quality opponents. Then the schedule gets a lot softer from 11/17-12/2 with only one of their nine opponents having a winning record. Excluding the Raptors, the other eight teams they will face during that stretch have a combined 11-41 record.

17. Charlotte Bobcats (Record: 3-4, Last Week: 19): Kemba Walker's win-loss splits: (Wins) 19.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 7.3 APG, 2.0 SPG and (Losses) 12.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.3 SPG.

18. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record: 2-5, Last Week: 18): Mark Cuban wonders if the Thunder should shut down stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for the rest of the season? Hmmm, what could he gain from that?

19. Boston Celtics (Record: 3-3, Last Week: 24): The Celtics (25.0/G) and Rajon Rondo (11.2/G) lead the NBA in assists per game.

20. Atlanta Hawks (Record: 2-3, Last Week: 20): Jeff Teague leads the NBA in drives per game (14.0), but he only has a 33.3 percent field-goal percentage on drives.

21. Utah Jazz (Record: 3-4, Last Week: 25): Among qualified rookies, Jazz point guard Dante Exum leads rookies in PER (15.14).

22. New York Knicks (Record: 2-5, Last Week: 16): Carmelo Anthony has failed to score more than 20 points in four consecutive games and is a combined 26-of-84 (30.95 percent) during that stretch.

23. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record: 2-4, Last Week: 23): Not only did the team lose (trade) Kevin Love in the offseason, but now they will be without Ricky Rubio (ankle) for 6-8 weeks. Rubio was averaging a career-high 10.0 assists per game and shooting 42.6 percent from the field (previous career high is 38.1 percent).

24. Milwaukee Bucks (Record: 3-4, Last Week: 27): Brandon Knight is averaging 17.57 points, 6.43 rebounds and 7.29 assists per game. Only three players are averaging 17/6/7: Harden, Curry and Knight.

25. Detroit Pistons (Record: 2-4, Last Week: 26): The Pistons currently rank last in the league in points per shot (1.09).

26. Denver Nuggets (Record: 1-5, Last Week: 17): The Nuggets are 0-for November and The Manimal is averaging just 27 minutes per game this season.

27. Orlando Magic (Record: 2-5, Last Week: 28): One of the team's few bright spots, Nikola Vucevic is averaging career highs across the board: 18.6 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 2.4 APG and 1.1 BPG.

28. Indiana Pacers (Record: 1-6, Last Week: 22): Four Pacers are averaging more than 12.0 PPG — Chris Copeland (16.7), Donald Sloan (15.1), Roy Hibbert (12.6) and Solomon Hill (12.0). Casual fans probably only recognize one name on that list, which shows how injuries have impacted this team.

29. Los Angeles Lakers (Record: 1-5, Last Week: 29): This should come as no surprise, but Kobe Bryant has a league-high 37.7 usage rate aside from Russell Westbrook (42.9 percent).

30. Philadelphia 76ers (Record: 0-7, Last Week: 30): With few positives to the start of the season (successful tanking progress aside), Tony Wroten (23.4 PPG, 6.8 APG, 2.7 SPG) has been a fantasy must-start with Michael Carter-Williams out.

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