2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 22

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Three teams have double-digit winning streaks this season -- Atlanta Hawks (19), Golden State Warriors (16) and Cleveland Cavaliers (12).

Both the Hawks and Warriors have had nine-game winning streaks as well, but the Warriors' nine-game winning streak is currently active as we head into Week 22.

In Steve Kerr's first year as head coach, he has already set a franchise record with 60 wins (and counting), which breaks the previous record of Al Attles and the 1975-76 Warriors that finished with a 59-23 record. Of those 60 wins, 43 of them have been by double digits, which leads the NBA by a wide margin.

Despite playing less than 33 minutes per game, Stephen Curry is having a career season.

Curry is averaging 26.0 points, 8.6 assists and 4.0 rebounds with 2.3 steals per 36 minutes, all of which are career highs for him. Leading the league in free-throw percentage (91.6 percent), Curry is shooting 43.1 percent from three-point range and a career-high 52.9 percent on two-point attempts.

While Houston's James Harden leads the NBA in Win Shares (14.6) -- Curry is second (14.2), no player has more Win Shares Per 48 Minutes than Curry (.292). Harden (.265) is third as he trails both Curry and Anthony Davis (.278).

Meanwhile, Draymond Green currently leads the NBA in Defensive Win Shares (4.9).

Green is averaging nearly 10 minutes more per game this year (31.6/G) than last season (21.9/G) and stuffs the stat sheet across the board -- 11.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. On a per-36 basis, he's averaging a career high in all of those categories except for steals.

Clips continue to beat up East; real test vs. dubs next

The Clippers have the league's second-longest active winning streak of seven games.

Many of those wins have been against the league's bottom-feeder Eastern Conference teams with the three most recent wins against the Knicks, 76ers and Celtics last night.

The Clippers face the Warriors and Blazers on back-to-back nights (Tuesday and Wednesday), but then four of their final six games will be against the Lakers (twice) and Nuggets (twice).

Based on Western Conference seeding, the Clippers are currently the No. 4 seed, but they are within 1.5 games of the No. 2 seed (Rockets). On the other hand, they are only 1.5 games within the No. 6 seed (Spurs).

KD out 4-6 months

It's been a lost season for Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant.

With Jones fracture surgery in his right foot delaying the start of his season by 17 games, Durant will now miss the next four to six months as he recovers from a bone-graft procedure.

Playing a total of only 27 games this season, Durant has also missed multiple games three different times between Game 1 and 27 for him this season.

Only five of those 27 games were in February, but the Thunder have won 19 of their 26 games in February and March.

Of course, Russell Westbrook has carried the team by averaging more than 30 points and 10 assists in both February and March.

Here are Westbrook's monthly per-game splits (since December -- played only three games before then):

• December: 28. 3 points, 7.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals
• January: 21.1 points, 7.6 assists, 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 steals
• February: 31.2 points, 10.3 assists, 9.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals
• March: 30.9 points, 10.2 assists, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals

Since February, Westbrook has eight triple-doubles. The rest of the league combined has a total of 12 triple-doubles during that span.

NYK: From Worse to Worst

Obviously, the New York Knicks have struggled all season and Carmelo Anthony was shut down following the All-Star Game.

As bad as things have been, things are getting even worse with the potentially season-ending rib injury to Alexey Schved. Excluding his final game this season when he played only 17 minutes, Schved averaged 19.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals in previous eight games.

In the three games he has missed since the injury, the Knicks have lost all three games by a combined margin of 56 points. The Knicks now have four losses by 30-plus points; only the Sixers have more (five).

With eight games to go, the Knicks have just 14 wins and currently own the league's worst record. The team has never won fewer than 21 games in a season and both of those seasons were in the early sixties, but there is no chance that they win seven of eight games to avoid setting a franchise-low for wins.

Here are my Week 22 NBA Power Rankings:

Rank	Team	Record	Last Week	Change
1	Golden State Warriors	60-13	1	-
2	Atlanta Hawks	55-18	2	-
3	Cleveland Cavaliers	48-27	3	-
4	Houston Rockets	50-23	5	+1
5	Memphis Grizzlies	50-24	4	-1
6	Los Angeles Clippers	49-25	7	+1
7	San Antonio Spurs	47-26	6	-1
8	Portland Trail Blazers	47-25	8	-
9	Chicago Bulls	45-29	12	+3
10	Dallas Mavericks	45-29	9	-1
11	Washington Wizards	41-33	10	-1
12	Oklahoma City Thunder	42-32	11	-1
13	Toronto Raptors	43-30	13	-
14	New Orleans Pelicans	39-34	15	+1
15	Phoenix Suns	38-36	14	-1
16	Utah Jazz	32-41	17	+1
17	Indiana Pacers	32-41	16	-1
18	Charlotte Hornets	31-41	18	-
19	Miami Heat	34-39	19	-
20	Milwaukee Bucks	36-37	20	-
21	Boston Celtics	32-41	21	-
22	Brooklyn Nets	32-40	22	-
23	Detroit Pistons	28-45	26	+3
24	Denver Nuggets	28-46	23	-1
25	Sacramento Kings	26-46	24	-1
26	Orlando Magic	22-52	25	-1
27	Philadelphia 76ers	18-56	27	-
28	Los Angeles Lakers	19-53	28	-
29	Minnesota Timberwolves	16-57	29	-
30	New York Knicks	14-60	30	-

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Fantasy NBA DraftKings DFS Values (Feb. 4)

The best night of the week for the NBA and daily fantasy basketball purposes is Wednesday night. And making tonight better is that the lone late game, Mavericks at Warriors, has the highest over/under (216.5), by far.

Golden State vs. Dallas will tip off at 10:30 PM; all other games have a 9:00 PM start time (or earlier).

In addition to studs like Stephen Curry, some of my favorite value plays can be found in the final game of the night as well.

It's always a great feeling to be in a strong position in a tournament with a healthy allotment of PMR (player minutes remaining) and to watch your team(s) rise up the leaderboard.

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With that said, here are my favorite DraftKings values ($6,500 salary or less) for Wednesday's NBA games:

PG - J.J. Barea, Dallas Mavericks (at GS), $3,400: Not only is Rajon Rondo (face) ruled out for tonight, but Devin Harris (knee, ankle) is questionable for tonight's game. Either way, Barea got the start over Harris without Rondo on Monday and finished with 10 points, eight assists and four rebounds as he scored 26.5 fantasy points in 29 minutes. Even though the Mavs are nearly double-digit underdogs to the Warriors, there are still projected to be one of tonight's top-scoring teams with a Vegas-projected total of 103.5. The debate for favorite value point guard came down to Barea and D.J. Augustin, who has back-to-back 52-point games and three of them in his past five, but many of my lineups will feature both point guards.

Others to consider: D.J. Augustin, Detroit Pistons ($6,200); Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs ($5,500); Jordan Clarkson, Los Angeles Lakers ($4,800); Trey Burke, Utah Jazz ($4,600); Jerryd Bayless (if Brandon Knight is out), Milwaukee Bucks ($4,300); Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics ($3,700)

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SG - Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (vs. LAL), $5,800: The Bucks are dealing a bunch of injuries as Brandon Knight, Ersan Ilyasova and Zaza Pachulia all sat out in the team's last game, but the Greek Freak has been playing consistent minutes with strong production. Antetokounmpo has double-doubles in back-to-back games and 30-plus fantasy points in three consecutive games. In addition, he has played at least 33 minutes in six consecutive games.

Others to consider: Eric Gordon, New Orleans Pelicans ($6,400); Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards ($6,000); Joe Johnson, Brooklyn Nets ($5,600); Kevin Martin, Minnesota Timberwolves ($5,500); Arron Afflalo, Denver Nuggets ($5,500); Dion Waiters, Oklahoma City Thunder ($4,500); Avery Bradley, Boston Celtics ($4,200)

SF - Chandler Parsons, Dallas Mavericks (at GS), $5,700: Typically (and frustratingly), I tend to start Parsons when he flops. That said, tonight's game against the Warriors is going to be an up-tempo game with a lot of real points and fantasy points alike and his price point should allow him to reach (and exceed) value. Connecting on 10-of-17 three-pointers in his past three games, Parsons has now scored more than 30 fantasy points in back-to-back games with at least 26.5 fantasy points in seven of his eight games. Of course, he was in many of my lineups in the one exception (5.75 fantasy points) during that eight-game span. (Perhaps my inclusion of Parsons on this list is your cue to stay as far away as you can.)

Others to consider: Wilson Chandler, Denver Nuggets ($5,700); Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks ($5,600); Josh Smith, Houston Rockets ($5,300); Luol Deng, Miami Heat ($5,000); Jared Dudley (if he starts again), Milwaukee Bucks ($4,500);

PF - Jared Sullinger, Boston Celtics (vs. DEN), $6,500: After a one-game punishment (benching) for being late, Sully was back in the starting lineup last night and delivered 41.75 fantasy points against the Knicks front court. Tonight, he gets an even more favorable matchup against the Nuggets, who have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing power forwards this season. Over the past 14 games (minus the one-game benching), Sullinger has scored more than 25 fantasy points in every game.

Others to consider: David West, Indiana Pacers ($6,300); Kenneth Faried, Denver Nuggets ($6,200); Donatas Motiejunas, Houston Rockets ($5,600); John Henson, Milwaukee Bucks ($5,000); Kris Humphries, Washington Wizards ($4,600); Patrick Patterson, Toronto Raptors ($4,300); Ed Davis, Los Angeles Lakers ($4,200)

C - Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls (at HOU), $6,400: Over a one-week span (Sat., Jan. 31st to Fri., Feb. 6th), the Bulls will play only one game -- tonight against the Dwight Howard-less Rockets. Over his past three games, Noah has scored a minimum of 34.5 fantasy points and averaged 43.5 fantasy points. During that three-game span, he averaged 12.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 6.67 assists with a block and a steal per game.

Others to consider: Brook Lopez, Brooklyn Nets ($6,300); Robert Sacre, Los Angeles Lakers ($3,300)

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Fantasy NBA DraftKings DFS Values (Feb. 3)

On a five-game NBA slate on Tuesday, there are only three players priced above $8,800 -- Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins ($10,500), Golden State's Stephen Curry ($10,300) and Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge ($9,400).

While I'll have some exposure to all three of those high-priced studs, Curry will undoubtedly be the one that I have the most in my lineups. If there's any concern, it's that this game turns into a blowout as the Warriors are favored by 9.5 points and Curry has played less than 30 minutes in two of his three matchups against the Kings this season.

That said, Curry is averaging more than 46 fantasy points per game this season, the Kings have allowed the third-most fantasy points to opposing point guards and are projected to score the most points, by far, tonight based on Vegas odds.

On any given night, Curry has 60-point upside. Only three players in the league have more games with 60-plus fantasy points than Curry (seven games) -- Anthony Davis and James Harden (both 11 games) and Cousins (eight).

In order to fit Curry (and/or Boogie and/or LMA) into your lineup(s), you'll need to find some value plays elsewhere.


With that said, here are my favorite DraftKings values ($6,500 salary or less) for Tuesday's NBA games:

PG - Trey Burke, Utah Jazz (at POR), $4,600: Even if he isn't starting, Burke has played at least 31 minutes in three consecutive games. And over his past four games, Burke has scored 30.0, 20.0, 20.0 and 29.0 fantasy points, respectively, and he has been averaging 16 shot attempts per game over that stretch. Meanwhile, Damian Lillard and the Blazers have allowed the 10th-most fantasy points to opposing point guards this season.

Others to consider: Darren Collison, Sacramento Kings ($6,400); D.J. Augustin, Detroit Pistons ($6,200); Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics ($3,700); Larry Drew, Philadelphia 76ers ($3,000)

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SG - Tyler Johnson, Miami Heat (at DET), $3,900: Listed as a point guard on FanDuel, Johnson is listed as a shooting guard on DraftKings, which makes me like him more on DK. Playing only three NBA games in his career, Johnson now has impressive back-to-back outings and scored a massive (given his minimum-salary price tag) 38.25 fantasy points on Sunday. Doing a bit of everything, he has averaged 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks in those two games. Far from the level of "Hassanity," Johnson has nonetheless provided the team with a spark and should continue to see minutes in the mid-20's, at least, as long as Dwyane Wade remains out.

Others to consider: Wesley Matthews, Portland Trail Blazers ($5,800); Arron Afflalo, Denver Nuggets ($5,500)

SF - Jerami Grant, Philadelphia 76ers (vs. DEN), $3,000: Listed in yesterday's post as well, Grant is once again priced at the contest-minimum salary. Grant won't see much more than 26 minutes on any given night, but he should easily reach value while providing lots of salary-cap relief. Scoring a career-high (real) 18 points and 29.75 fantasy points last night, he has connected on 8-of-11 three-point attempts over his past three games. Few players have his potential to make multiple three-pointers and block multiple shots (remember his eight blocks vs. NYK last month?) on a given night. In his past six games, Grant is averaging 20.92 fantasy points per game (6.97x his salary) with a minimum of 16.5 fantasy points (5.5x) and could approach last night's production if Michael Carter-Williams (ankle/shin) sits.

Others to consider: Wilson Chandler, Denver Nuggets ($5,700); Luol Deng, Miami Heat ($5,000); Nicolas Batum, Portland Trail Blazers ($4,900); Joe Ingles, Utah Jazz ($4,300)

PF - Kenneth Faried, Denver Nuggets (at PHI), $6,200: Too inconsistent for cash games, Faried has plenty of upside tonight as a tournament play against the Sixers, who rank last in the NBA in rebounding differential (-4.5). In addition, the Sixers have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards this season. Over his past 19 games played, The Manimal has six games with at least 40 fantasy points including games with 57.25 and 61.25 fantasy points, but he has also has six games during that span with less than 25.0. Faried needs just 31.0 fantasy points to reach 5x value and he's averaged 33.34/G during that 19-game span.

Others to consider: Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ers ($5,200); Brandon Bass, Boston Celtics ($5,200); Robert Covington, Philadelphia 76ers ($5,000); Jason Smith, New York Knicks ($4,700); Louis Amundson, New York Knicks ($3,700)

C - Andrew Bogut, Golden State Warriors (at SAC), $4,800: More often than not, I'll pay up for center tonight, but Bogut could potentially see a bump in minutes from his 24 per game as they get a difficult matchup against Cousins. Bogut has been averaging a little more than one fantasy point per minute this season and he's priced at 5.4 times his average fantasy production this season (25.9/G).

Others to consider: Robin Lopez, Portland Trail Blazers ($4,500); Jusuf Nurkic, Denver Nuggets ($4,400); Tyler Zeller, Boston Celtics ($4,100);

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 7

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The day was Tuesday, November 11th.

That was the last time that the Golden State Warriors lost a game. In fact, it was the second of back-to-back losses against the Suns and Spurs.

Other than those two games, however, they haven't lost another game this season and they carry a league-best 12-game winning streak and 17-2 record into this week.

From a team statistical standpoint, the Warriors lead the league in point differential (+10.9) while ranking third in scoring (107.1 points per game) and seventh in team defense (96.2 PPG).

In addition, they rank first in the league in assists (26.1/G), third in rebounding (45.6/G) and second in three-point shooting percentage (.384).

Point guard Stephen Curry is averaging 23.2 points, 7.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game in just 32.8 minutes per game. Curry played 38.2 and 36.5 minutes per game in each of the past two seasons so Curry's scoring and assists numbers are down slightly year over year.

On a per-36 basis, however, Curry is averaging a career-high 25.5 points, 8.5 assists and 2.1 steals. In addition, Curry is once again converting on more than 40 percent of his three-point attempts and is making at least two per game.

Assuming that Curry maintains that pace, it will mark the sixth consecutive season he has done so to start his career. To put that into perspective, only two other players in the history of the NBA have six such seasons: Ray Allen (seven) and Reggie Miller (six).

Pistons on 12-game losing streak, giving Sixers run for their money No. 1 pick

While the Pistons have won more recently (Friday, November 14th) than the Warriors last lost, Detroit is on a 12-game losing streak, the longest active losing streak.

One of their recent losses was to the Sixers in overtime on Saturday. In fact, the Sixers have now won two of their past three games and the Pistons now only have one more win than the Sixers.

Detroit has really struggled to score as they average just 93.1 points per game, third-worst in the league, and they rank last in the league in FG percentage (40.7 percent) and second worst in FT percentage (68.9 percent).

As bad as Detroit has been, there is a strong chance that they could lose their next six games as well.

The Pistons host the Blazers on Tuesday, then they head on the road to face the Suns, Kings and Clippers before returning home to host the Mavericks and Raptors. Perhaps the Kings still won't have DeMarcus Cousins back for their matchup on Saturday, but the Pistons should be underdogs in all six of those games.

Cavs turning things around

After a 5-7 start, the Cavaliers have won their past six games. Some of those matchups were against poor teams, but wins are wins and two of those wins were over the Wizards and Raptors.

During their six-game winning streak, the Cavs have scored 100-plus points in all but one game and held their opponents to less than 100 points in all but one game.

Meanwhile, LeBron James is averaging 24.3 points, 10.2 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game during that six-game span. James has double-digit assists in three consecutive games and in five of his past seven games.

With Kevin Durant returning last week, fans will get treated to a KD-versus-LeBron matchup later this week.

Here are my Week 7 NBA Power Rankings:

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

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Bulls center Joakim Noah gets another triple-double

Coming off a relatively quiet performance against the Mavs on Friday, Chicago's Joakim Noah bounced back with a triple-double against the Knicks.

Noah finished the game with 13 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 14 assists, but he also added two blocks and two steals as the Bulls extended their winning streak to four games. (The Knicks have now lost six games in a row.)

Not only is it uncommon for a center to get a triple-double, but this was Noah's second triple-double in his past nine games. Of the 18 players with at least one triple-double this season, Noah is the only center.

In addition, Noah now has double-digit assists in four of his past 11 games.

To state it differently, Noah has as many games with double-digit assists (four) as the rest of the Bulls team combined this season. The others are D.J. Augustin (two), Kirk Hinrich (one) and Luol Deng (one), who is now in Cleveland.

Over his past 12 games, Noah has averaged 13.92 points, 12.17 rebounds, 6.92 assists, 1.83 blocks and 1.00 steals per game.

Only Indiana's Lance Stephenson (four) and Golden State's Stephen Curry (three) have more triple-doubles than Noah this season. Portland's Nicolas Batum and Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant also have two of them.

Steph Curry scores career-high 54 points

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry scored a career-high 54 points in a loss to the New York Knicks last night.

Not only did he make 18 of his 28 shots, but Curry knocked down 11 of his 13 three-point attempts.  In addition, Curry added six rebounds, seven assists and three steals to his stellar shooting.

In his past two games, Curry has shot 32-of-48 from the field and has made 18-of-23 three's to score a total of 92 points.

Curry is one of only two players to score 50-plus points in a game this season.  The only other player to reach the mark this year is Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, who had a triple-double last night.

Stephen Curry will miss both weekend games for Warriors

The Golden State Warriors have been without point guard Stephen Curry since he last played on January 4th.

Curry, who is dealing with a sprained ankle, will miss at least two more games.

Per Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, Curry will miss Saturday's game against Charlotte and Sunday's game against Detroit.

Curry is third on the team in scoring (15.2 points per game) and second in assists (5.6 per game).

Is it "evitable" that the Warriors trade Monta Ellis?

According to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group, "it seems inevitable" that the Warriors will trade guard Monta Ellis even though they aren't actively shopping him.

Meanwhile, Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that "Ellis' representatives have joined the Warriors in an attempt to find a mutually beneficial destination."

Per Thompson, four players the Warriors have discussed are Rudy Gay of Memphis, Andre Iguodala of Philadelphia, Luol Deng of Chicago and Nene of Denver.

Some of the other players mentioned by Simmons include Atlanta's Josh Smith and Portland's Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum.

While one of Thompson's sources says "it's not close to happening," the Iguodala-to-Warriors option, in particular, is "the one that has legs."

Ellis, who is under contract at $11 million per season for three more years, averaged 24.1 points, 5.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game in 80 games last season. Ellis led the team in scoring and steals and was second in assists behind guard Stephen Curry.