Golden State Warriors Power Rankings: Still Best of the Best

By Maggie Pilloton | Mar 9, 2015

The Golden State Warriors just completed yet another successful week, as they went 3-1 in their games last week. The Warriors beat the Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks, and the Los Angeles Clippers (all would be playoff teams if the playoffs started today), and their one loss came on the road at the end of a six-game road trip and at the end of their second back-to-back in five days to the Brooklyn Nets.

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The Warriors also re-claimed the best record in the NBA at 49-12, after falling to the second best team in the NBA last week, with their 106-98 win over the Clippers on Sunday.

In last week’s power rankings, the Warriors earned the number one spot in all of the major power rankings for the third consecutive week. Will the Warriors’ 3-1 record this week be enough to maintain the top spot in the power rankings this week?

Let’s start with ESPN.

Marc Stein of ESPN wrote about the Warriors’ elite success at home this season and how it could allow them to maintain the top spot in the NBA. Stein, once again, ranked the Warriors as the number one team this week, after doing the same the past few weeks. Here’s what Stein specifically said about the Warriors and their play on their home court:

"Is the West’s No. 1 seed all wrapped up? The Dubs are a tidy 27-2 at home and boast seven of their next nine games at Chez Curry while already sporting a 5 1/2-game lead over Memphis. According to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, Golden State has a 99.7 percent chance of finishing atop the conference."

John Schuhmann of NBA.com also continued to place the Warriors in the top spot in the power rankings, and he wrote about how despite the fact that the Atlanta Hawks are still close to the Warriors in the race for the number one overall spot in the NBA, the Warriors are still superior in many statistical categories. Here’s exactly what Schuhmann said:

"Golden State (49-12)Pace: 101.0 (1) OffRtg: 109.3 (2) DefRtg: 97.6 (1) NetRtg: +11.6 (1)The Warriors have had their hiccups and Atlanta is just a half game behind them in the standings, but statistically, no team is even close. Their NetRtg lead over the second-ranked Hawks of 5.3 points per 100 possessions is the largest of any No. 1 team since the league started counting turnovers in 1977. Oh, and Stephen Curry is ridiculous.This week: @ PHX, vs. DET, @ DEN, vs. NYK"

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports also ranked the Warriors as the number one team again in this week’s power rankings. When discussing the Warriors this week, he wrote about some Warriors history. Here’s what he said:

"1. Golden State Warriors (Record: 49-12; last week: 1): The 1976 NBA champion Warriors set a franchise-record with 59 wins. This season’s team must win 11 of its final 21 to break that mark."

After a week off from the power rankings, Matt Moore of CBS Sports ranked the Warriors number one again, and he focused on discussing the Warriors’ potential first round matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs. Here’s what Moore said:

"The Warriors simultaneously are facing the toughest first round opponent in the history of professional basketball and are pace to have the team best suited to defeat the toughest first round opponent in the history of professional basketball. So that’s going to be fun."

The Warriors have four games again this week, two on the road and two at home.

The Warriors’ first game this week is later today against the Phoenix Suns on the road. The Warriors then come home for one game against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday before heading back on the road for one game against the Denver Nuggets on Friday. The Warriors then finish off their games this week back at home against the New York Knicks on Saturday.

The Warriors face a somewhat easier schedule this week, as the Suns are the only team out of those four teams that is competing for a playoff spot. However, the schedule can be seen as somewhat difficult as it has one game on the road then at home then on the road then back at home again.

The Warriors need to finish out this season strong if they want to maintain the top seed in the Western Conference and in the NBA. What record will the Warriors finish with this week? Will they again earn the top spot in the power rankings next week? We’ll have to wait and see, but we’ll keep you updated here at Golden Gate Sports.

Next: Warriors Mailbag: MVP Race, Playoff Concerns, Iguodala's Role

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