Golden State Warriors Power Rankings: Still Number Two
The Golden State Warriors went 4-0 in their games this past week. All they do is win.
In those four games, the Warriors slaughtered the Denver Nuggets 122-79, they dominated the Houston Rockets 126-113, they beat the Sacramento Kings behind a historic, record-breaking performance from Klay Thompson by a final score of 126-101, and lastly, the Warriors held on to beat the Boston Celtics 114-111. All of these games were at Oracle Arena.
In last week’s power rankings, the Warriors were the number two team in all of the major power rankings. This week, not much has changed.
Matt Moore CBS Sports ranked the Warriors as the number two team in this week’s power rankings behind the surging, powerful Atlanta Hawks, who were ranked number one last week also. Here’s what Moore said about the Warriors this week:
"I can’t stand the argument that the Warriors can’t win because they’re a “jump-shooting team.” A: This isn’t football, shooting is the fundamental point of the game. B: It kind of skews things when you have two of the three best jump-shooters on the planet, right?"
Both Moore of CBS Sports and Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports focused on the Cleveland Cavaliers in their introduction to this week’s power rankings, but the Hawks and the Warriors remained atop both of their power rankings. Spears, like Moore, ranked the Warriors number two again this week. Here’s what Spears said about the Warriors:
"2. Golden State Warriors (Record: 36-6; last week: 2): As the West’s All-Star coach, Steve Kerr will have the option of making Klay Thompson the replacement starter for Kobe Bryant – provided Thompson is officially named to the All-Star team later this week."
Marc Stein of ESPN focused his introduction to this week’s power rankings on the Hawks’ and the Warriors’ battle for the label of “best team in the NBA.” Stein also repeated his rankings from last week, with the Hawks as the number one team and the Warriors as the number two team. Here’s what Stein said about the Warriors:
"An update for you omen-trackers: Golden State is just the ninth team in NBA history to win at least 36 of its first 42 games. Good omen: The first six teams to do so all went on to win a championship that season. Bad omen: The last two — Detroit in 2005-06 and San Antonio in 2010-11 — did not."
John Schuhmann of NBA.com continued the trend of the other three major power rankings by ranking the Hawks as the number one team and the Warriors as the number two team. Here’s what Schuhmann said about the Warriors this week:
"Golden State (36-6)Pace: 101.2 (1) OffRtg: 110.3 (3) DefRtg: 97.1 (1) NetRtg: +13.3 (1)Klay Thompson’s 37-point quarter was the latest example of how ridiculously good the Warriors are. Their NetRtg of plus-13.3 points per 100 possessions is at its highest mark since Week 1 and is matched by only the 1995-96 Bulls (also plus-13.3) in the last 38 years. Feb. 6 (when the Dubs and Hawks meet for the first time) can’t come soon enough.This week: vs. CHI, @ UTA, vs. PHX"
In summary, the Warriors remain the number two team in the power rankings this week. All of the writers complimented the Warriors and suggested how good the Warriors have been all season, but they still chose to rank the Hawks higher again.
This week, the Warriors have three games on their schedule. The first game is at Oracle Arena against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday the 27th, the second game is on the road against the Utah Jazz on Friday the 30th, and the third game is back at Oracle Arena against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday the 31st.
Will the Warriors go 3-0 this week? Will they rise in the power rankings next week? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.