Golden State Warriors Power Rankings: Locking up Top Spot

For the Golden State Warriors, last week marked another week on top of the NBA standings and the power rankings. This week, they still own the best record in the NBA at 56-13, they have an NBA-best 33-2 home record, they’ve gone 9-1 in their last 10 games, and they went 4-0 in their games last week.

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The Warriors’ wins last week were all at home and came against the Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Pelicans, and the Utah Jazz. The Warriors continue to ride high, so it’d make sense to see them atop the power rankings yet again this week, after owning the number one spot in last week’s power rankings and for the last five weeks.

We’ll start with ESPN again this week.

Marc Stein of ESPN spoke about the Warriors’ impressive wins without Klay Thompson in his introduction to the power rankings this week, in addition to the description of his ranking. Stein ranked the Warriors number one again this week. Here’s what he said in the intro:

"The Golden State Warriors were scoring a whopping 13.4 points more per 100 possessions with Klay Thompson on the floor, compared to when he was on the bench. And then he suffered a sprained ankle.Life without Thompson, though, didn’t look so hard last week for the team that has occupied the top spot in ESPN.com’s weekly NBA Power Rankings on 12 of 21 Mondays this season.The Warriors went 4-0 without Thompson — including quality wins over Atlanta, New Orleans and Utah — and strengthen their hold on the top rung of our ladder."

And here’s what Stein said about his ranking:

"The Dubs are 37-0 when holding opponents under 100 points. The Dubs are 33-2 at home after winning their big rematch with Atlanta. The Dubs are beating teams by an average of 15.3 PPG at home, tops in the NBA since Steve Kerr‘s Bulls were at plus-17.1 in their 72-10 season in 1995-96."

John Schuhmann of NBA.com also ranked the Warriors number one again this week, and he also spoke about how the Warriors were able to win without one of the Splash Brothers. Here’s what Schuhmann said:

"Golden State (56-13)Pace: 100.7 (1) OffRtg: 109.3 (1) DefRtg: 97.7 (1) NetRtg: +11.7 (1)The Warriors have kept rolling through Klay Thompson’s ankle injury, picking up three wins over teams — Atlanta, New Orleans and Utah — that have been playing well. Justin Holiday has started, but Andre Iguodala has increased his production, scoring in double-figures in three straight games for just the second time in his two seasons with Golden State."

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports selected the Warriors as the number one team again also, and he spoke about the Warriors’ championship aspirations this week:

"1. Golden State Warriors (Record: 56-13; last week: 1): The Warriors will celebrate their 1975 NBA championship on Monday against Washington while hoping for another title run."

Matt Moore of CBS Sports continued to rank the Warriors as the number one team also. This week, Moore spoke about the Warriors’ upcoming schedule and possible rest for the Warriors’ starters:

"Blistering the Hawks on Wednesday was the final rose of icing on the season’s cake. Next up is the division (magic number two) and sewing up home court (magic number six). They should be able to get starters rest whenever they want it by the first week of April."

The Warriors, again, have four games on their schedule this week, with one being at home and the rest being on the road.

The Warriors’ first game this week is tonight at Oracle Arena against the Washington Wizards. The Warriors then start a four-game road trip (two of those games this week and the other two next week) on Tuesday, as they first take on the Portland Trail Blazers. They then face the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and then the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.

The Warriors have two sets of back-to-backs this week, with three of those games on the road. In addition, all four teams the Warriors face this week would be playoff teams, if the postseason started today. The Warriors face another tough schedule this week, but they’re playing extremely elite basketball right now.

Can the Warriors continue their streak atop the power rankings next week? We’ll keep you updated.

Next: Warriors Mailbag: Klay's Injury, Bogut, Improvement

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