The 2016 calendar has just about come to a close. For the most part, the NBA season has delivered exactly what we thought: we knew the Golden State Warriors were going to be an indomitable force and we knew that there would be few teams that could keep up. While we did see one surprise team in the Los Angeles Clippers, their flame has flickered of late and they’re without star power forward Blake Griffin for the foreseeable future.
So the question remains: can anyone beat the Warriors in a seven-game series? The Warriors blew a big lead in Cleveland on Christmas Day, so maybe that’s a glimpse of what we can expect. But other than the Cavs, it looks like we’ll see the Warriors have a relatively easy time of things all the way through to the NBA Finals. Here is an updated look at our weekly power rankings in the final week of 2016:
1. Golden State Warriors
The Warriors are running away with the point-differential title, and they’re the highest-scoring team in the league by far. Golden State still has some bugs to work out offensively, which is scary, but defensively is where they need to be more consistent as they rank 17th in the league in points allowed. It doesn’t seem to matter, though, when you have three of the best scorers in the NBA in Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers could be #1 due to their huge Christmas Day win over the Warriors, but they’re still a little too dependent on LeBron James. The Cavs are 0-3 this season when James sits out, and those three losses came against Indiana, Memphis and Detroit, who are no juggernauts. However, they’re still a decent defensive team, ranking 11th in points allowed. It’s the offense that becomes stagnant when James is out, so Kyrie Irvin and Kevin Love have to do a better job when their leader takes a day off.
3. San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs are the best of the rest by a wide margin and they can put the clamps on you, ranking second in the league in points allowed. Kawhi Leonard is 11th in the league in scoring and is getting better offensively all the time, while still providing lockdown defense. However, the key is LaMarcus Aldridge, who has been inconsistent so far this season. He needs to step up and become the dependable #2 scoring option that he was brought to San Antonio to be.
4. Toronto Raptors
The Raptors are second only to Golden State in terms of point differential, they’re third in scoring and 11th in defense, but as we saw on Wednesday night, they are just simply not in the same league. The Raptors go through spurts where they can’t seem to stop anyone and more worryingly, they struggle against the big teams. Of their first nine losses of the season, four of them have come against the Warriors and Cavaliers (two each). The Raptors seem destined to be one of the best second-tier teams in the NBA, but can they break through to the next level? DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry need some help but the Raptors don’t seem to have an answer to where that help will come from. The Raptors will probably again be facing the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals but don’t expect the end result to change as the Cavs are still a cut above.
5. Houston Rockets
This spot could have gone to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it’s coincidental that both the Rockets and Thunder have been powered by nightly triple-double threats in James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Harden has been incredible in this Mike D’Antoni-helmed offense, ranking fourth in scoring and first in assists, and the Rockets have turned into one of the deadliest three-point shooting teams in the league. They’re still not great defensively, ranking 22nd in points allowed, but the Rockets are definitely playing better than many expected them to, and the more wins they get, the more votes Harden should get for MVP (and D’Antoni for Coach Of The Year).
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