Golden State Warriors Power Rankings: Still the Best

The Golden State Warriors have played two games since the All-Star break and just started a six-game, East Coast road trip. In those two games last week, the Warriors went 1-1, as they beat the San Antonio Spurs at home but lost to the Indiana Pacers on the first game of their road trip.

The Warriors currently have a 43-10 record, which is still the best record in the NBA. They are tied with the Atlanta Hawks for the best road record in the NBA at 19-8, but they have the best home record in the NBA at 24-2.

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In last week’s power rankings, the Warriors re-gained the top spot in ESPN’s, NBA.com’s, and Yahoo! Sports’ power rankings after falling to the number two and three spots in previous weeks.

Let’s see how the Warriors’ 1-1 record last week affected their ranking this week.

After ranking the Warriors in the number one spot last week, John Schuhmann of NBA.com kept the Warriors in the number one spot this week. The Atlanta Hawks have gone just 4-4 in February, which helped keep the Warriors atop the power rankings despite a loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday and Stephen Curry‘s injury, according to Schuhmann. Here’s what Schuhmann said about the Warriors this week:

"Golden State (43-10)Pace: 101.0 (1) OffRtg: 109.6 (2) DefRtg: 97.6 (1) NetRtg: +12.0 (1)Sunday was the second time this month that the Warriors played (and lost) in the Eastern time zone less than 48 hours after a one-game homestand. More concerning is the status of Stephen Curry, who missed the loss in Indiana with ankle soreness. You probably don’t need a reminder about how much the offense suffers when Curry is off the floor.This week: @ WAS, @ CLE, @ TOR, @ BOS"

Marc Stein of ESPN pointed to Curry’s injury when discussing the Warriors’ ranking this week, but he also decided to rank the Warriors as the number one team for the second consecutive week. Here’s what Stein said about the Warriors this week:

"Amid all the injury panic surrounding Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis, Steph Curry’s absence at Indiana (sore foot) went somewhat under the radar. Not by the Dubs themselves, though, since they average 113.7 points per 100 possessions with Steph this season and just 100.4 without him."

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports also discussed Curry’s injury this week, but it didn’t affect how he ranked the Warriors, as he placed the Warriors in the number one spot after doing the same last week. Here’s what Spears said about the Warriors:

"1. Golden State Warriors (Record: 43-10; last week: 1): Stephen Curry missed his first game of the season Sunday because of ankle soreness in a loss at Indiana, but it’s not deemed serious."

After a week off from the power rankings, Matt Moore of CBS Sports returned this week by ranking the Warriors as the number one team, after ranking them second and even third in previous weeks. When speaking about the Warriors this week, Moore focused on Curry’s campaign for MVP this season. Here’s what Moore said:

"Back on top after a brief sojourn — Steph Curry vs. James Harden is one of the best storylines to watch over the next eight weeks."

The Warriors have four games this week, including one back-to-back (and the first game of another back-to-back), and they’re all on the road. In addition, the Warriors face some tough, playoff teams this week.

The first game is against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, the next game is against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, the third game is against the Toronto Raptors on Friday, and the last game of this week is against the Boston Celtics on Sunday (and they then finish off their second back-to-back in five days with a game against the Brooklyn Nets next week on Monday).

The Wizards, Cavs, and the Raptors are all quality Eastern Conference playoff teams, and the Celtics almost beat the Warriors at Oracle Arena earlier this season. The Warriors certainly have a tough stretch of games in a short amount of time this upcoming week, so we’ll see if they’re up for the challenge.

We’ll be back next week with the latest Warriors power rankings update.

Next: Warriors Mailbag: Draymond, Trade Deadline, Playoff Matchups