Golden State Warriors Power Rankings: Same As Last Week
Another week, another streak of wins for the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors played three games last week, and their opponents were the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Indiana Pacers, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Three games, three wins.
The Warriors still boast the best record in the NBA at 29-5. They’re also riding a six-game win streak and a 14-game win streak at home. They have a 16-1 record at home, and they have a 13-4 record on the road. They’re 8-2 in their last 10 games.
Last week, Yahoo! Sports and CBS Sports ranked the Warriors number one in the power rankings, whereas ESPN ranked them as the number two team, and NBA.com ranked them number three.
Let’s start off with CBS Sports this week.
Matt Moore of CBS Sports ranked the Warriors as the number one team in this week’s power rankings yet again. Moore ranked the Atlanta Hawks second and ranked the Portland Trail Blazers third. Here’s what Moore said about the Warriors this week:
"We’ve seriously entered this stage: “Is the Warriors’ biggest challenge from here on out boredom?” I don’t know how they stay hungry with how they’ve demolished just about everyone and have the league’s best record at 29-5. Keeping that edge for a team so young will be tough."
Along with Moore of CBS Sports, Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports also ranked the Warriors number one this week, after ranking them number one last week too. Spears also ranked the Atlanta Hawks second and the Blazers third. Here’s what Spears said about why he kept the Warriors at number one:
"1. Golden State Warriors (Record: 29-5; last week’s rank: 1): Here’s how deep the Warriors are: Before Andrew Bogut recently returned as a reserve, one NBA assistant thought it was unfair Golden State had two max players (Andre Iguodala and David Lee) coming off the bench."
Marc Stein of ESPN ranked the Warriors in the same place as last week too, in the second spot of the power rankings. Stein ranked the Hawks as the number one team, which is also the same as last week. Here’s what Stein said about the Warriors and their ranking this week:
"The Dubs must be wondering what they have to do to reclaim No. 1. Andrew Bogut is back and Golden State just became the first team to sweep a six-game homestand with an average winning margin of 20+ points since a shooter named Steve Kerr and his Chicago Bulls did so in 1995-96."
John Schuhmann of NBA.com followed the trend this week and also ranked the Warriors in the same place as he did last week, the third spot in the power rankings. Schuhmann ranked the Hawks as the number one team and the Blazers as the number two team. Here’s what Schuhmann said about the Warriors this week:
"Golden State (29-5)Pace: 100.8 (1), OffRtg: 109.1 (4), DefRtg: 96.2 (1), NetRtg: +12.9 (1)Andrew Bogut is back and the Warriors are 20-2 in games he’s played. His biggest impact is on D, but the Dubs have been playing their best offense of the season, scoring over 120 points per 100 possessions in their last five games. That stretch has included games against two top-10 defenses, though Stephen Curry made the OKC defense look silly.This week: @ UTA, vs. MIA, @ OKC, @ HOU"
The Warriors accumulated three wins last week and saw the return of Bogut, but their places in the four power rankings remained the same.
The Warriors have four games this week, starting with a game on the road against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday. Then, the Warriors come home on Wednesday to face the Miami Heat, before going back on the road to face the Thunder on Friday and the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Four games in five days and two back-to-backs this week could prove to be difficult for the Warriors, especially since three out of the four games are on the road. The Warriors are riding high on confidence right now though, so we’ll see how the Warriors respond to this challenge.
Next: Warriors Mailbag: Game-Winners, Western Conference, Kuzmic