Golden State Warriors: Power Rankings Update
At the beginning of the NBA season, the Golden State Warriors were at the top of ESPN’s power rankings. They remain at the top today, a few weeks later.
ESPN, NBA.com, Yahoo! Sports, and CBS Sports revealed their latest power rankings today, and two of them ranked the Warriors first in the NBA yet again. The other two ranked them second in the NBA.
The Warriors currently have a 14-2 record, which is second best in the NBA. They are riding a nine-game winning streak and are coming off of an impressive 5-0 road trip.
ESPN ranked the Warriors first in last week’s power rankings, and here’s what they had to say about the Warriors this week:
"Steve Kerr’s Warriors lead the league in FG percentage (.487) and FG percentage D (.407). It’s a slightly premature discussion, true, but we haven’t seen a team lead both categories at season’s end since the Sixers — yesteryear’s Sixers, of course — pulled off the feat way back in 1980-81."
NBA.com also ranked the Warriors first last week and this week. Here’s what they said about the Warriors in this week’s power rankings:
"Golden State (14-2)Pace: 100.9 (1), OffRtg: 106.8 (7), DefRtg: 95.1 (1), NetRtg: +11.7 (1)Not only do the Warriors have Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, but they have three of the most improved shooters in the league. Marreese Speights (plus-12.0 percent), Harrison Barnes (plus-11.7 percent) and Draymond Green (plus-8.1 percent) have all had huge jumps in effective field goal percentage from last season. The Dubs have won nine straight.This week: vs. ORL, vs. NOP, @ CHI"
Yahoo! Sports had the Warriors ranked second last week, and they ranked the Warriors second again in this week’s power rankings. They have the Memphis Grizzlies in the number one spot. Here’s what they said about the 14-2 Warriors:
"2. Golden State Warriors (Record: 14-2; last week’s rank: 2): The Warriors are three wins from surpassing the franchise record for most consecutive victories, which is 11, set from Dec. 29, 1971-Jan. 22, 1972."
CBS Sports ranked the Warriors first in last week’s power rankings, but oddly, they bumped the Warriors down to the number two spot this week, which seems a little odd given the Warriors’ perfect road trip and nine-game winning streak. Here’s what CBS Sports had to say about the Warriors:
"Name the game — grind-outs, shootouts, inside, outside, whatever — and this team can win it. They have so much balance, depth, talent, and it makes much more sense under Steve Kerr. Stephen Curry is an MVP candidate, Kerr is a COY candidate and the Warriors are a legitimate title contender. I don’t care how early it is. This team is for real."
Do you think the Warriors are the best team in the NBA? Let us know in the comment section below!