The Golden State Warriors reasserted themselves as the most dominant team in the NBA right now with another strong week while the rest of the teams right behind them in the power rankings failed to keep up. The biggest stories from this past week included the inconsistent starts to the month of January from some of the top teams around the NBA including four of the five teams on this list. Here is a look at the NBA power rankings for this week.
1. Golden State Warriors
Last Week: 1
NBA Championship Odds: -120
What a week it has been for the Warriors as they delivered a dominant 126-91 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday and then doubled down with another lopsided 121-100 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder a couple of nights later. Klay Thompson led the way with 25 points against Cleveland and then two nights later it was Kevin Durant taking it to his former team with 40 points against Oklahoma City. Golden State is rolling now with six straight wins after rolling the Houston Rockets on Friday night (in what was supposed to be a showdown of contenders).
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
Last Week: 2
NBA Championship Odds: +300
LeBron and Kyrie combined for 37 points in the Cavaliers loss to the Warriors but they didn’t get enough help and LeBron alone finished a minus-32 in that loss. Cleveland can shrug off the defeat as a tough loss on the road against a team they already beat earlier in the year but they have now dropped three of their last four and their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference standings is down to two games. It doesn’t help that Kevin Love is dealing with a nagging back injury but just like last year the Cavaliers need their depth players to step up and support the stars.
3. San Antonio Spurs
Last Week: 3
NBA Championship Odds: +900
San Antonio is another team looking for a little more consistency as they have split their last four games and are losing ground on Golden State as they are now 3.5 games back in the Western Conference standings. The Spurs are just 5-3 in the month of January and they have an interesting weekend as they travel to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers on Saturday night.
4. Houston Rockets
Last Week: 4
NBA Championship Odds: +2500
Houston has failed to capitalize on an opportunity to leapfrog San Antonio in the standings as James Harden and company have dropped four of their last six including losses to Minnesota, Memphis and Miami. The biggest loss came on Friday night, though, as the Rockets were schooled by the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors came to town in what is tentatively going to be a playoff preview, but it didn’t look like the two teams were of the same class. The Warriors had a 20-point lead entering the fourth quarter, which meant that they were able to essentially call off the dogs early. This isn’t the type of showing the Rockets were hoping for.
The schedule isn’t about to get any easier for the Rockets as they are heading out on on a five-game road trip that begins in Memphis. Houston will attempt to get things back on track or risk falling out of the power rankings this coming week.
5. Toronto Raptors
Last Week: 5
NBA Championship Odds: +2500
The Raptors have struggled against the elite teams in the NBA this season but it’s hard to explain their four-game win streak coming to an end against the Philadelphia 76ers. They had a chance to close the gap behind the Cavaliers at the top of the Eastern Conference standings to a single game. They then compounded their problems by getting run off the floor on Friday night by the Charlotte Hornets in a completely flat performance.
Toronto has the talent but consistency has been an issue as they try to battle for home court advantage in the East. The Raptors are set to play five of their next seven at home but the schedule isn’t easy with games against San Antonio, Memphis and Milwaukee coming up next week. We’ll see if they can pick up their game before the All-Star break.
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