USA TODAY International Edition
Wizards rising, Knicks continue to fall
USA TODAY Sports’ NBA power rankings for Week 11 ( Jan. 8Saturday) of the 2016- 17 season ( statistics, records and standings reflect games through Saturday). 1. (—) GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS ( 34- 6) It was another week of dominance for the Warriors, who won all three games ( Sacramento, Miami, Detroit) by a combined 43 points. 2. (—) SAN ANTONIO SPURS ( 31- 9) The Spurs, who were three games behind the Warriors for first place in the Western Conference, led the NBA in three- point percentage ( 41.5%) and ranked fourth in offensive ( 111.2 points per 100 possessions) and defensive ( 101.7 points allowed per 100 possessions) rating. 3. (—) CLEVELAND CAVALIERS ( 29- 10) The Cavaliers headed to The Bay on Monday night to take on the Warriors for the first time since their 14- point fourth- quarter comeback on Christmas Day that ended with a Kyrie Irving gamewinner. 4. (—) HOUSTON ROCKETS ( 31- 11) Don’t read too much into the Houston’s two consecutive losses ( Minnesota, Memphis), its first losing streak of the season. The Rockets’ true test lies ahead, as they face the Warriors on Friday for the first time since their 132127 double- overtime win Dec. 1, followed by a road trip that features Memphis, Milwaukee, Boston, Philadelphia and Indiana. 5. (+ 1) TORONTO RAPTORS ( 26- 13) The Raptors defended their second- place Eastern Conference standing with a 114- 106 win against the Celtics behind a 41point, 13- rebound outing from star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan. They owned the NBA’s top offensive rating ( 113.5 points per 100 possessions). 6. (- 1) LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS ( 28- 14) The Clippers were riding an NBA- best six- game winning streak, though only one of the wins came against an above-. 500 team ( Memphis). They’re 26- 9 with Chris Paul ( 17.7 points, 9.8 assists, 5.3 rebounds) in the lineup. 7. (+ 1) UTAH JAZZ ( 26- 16) The Jazz, as healthy as they’ve been all season, boasted the NBA’s top defensive rating ( 101.0 points per 100 possessions) and were on a three- game winning streak, highlighted by last Tuesday’s 100- 92 win against the Cavaliers. 8. (- 1) BOSTON CELTICS ( 25- 15) Behind stellar play from point guard Isaiah Thomas, who trailed only Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and James Harden in points per game ( 28.2) and made his way into our Week 11 MVP race for the first time this season, Boston remained a legitimate threat to grab the East’s second seed. 9. (—) MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES ( 25- 17) With their 110- 105 win Friday against the Rockets, the Grizzlies improved to a combined 4- 0 this season against Houston and Golden State. 10. (—) OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER ( 24- 17) Russell Westbrook put together back- to- back triple- doubles last week ( his 18th and 19th on the regular season) but had 16 turnovers and shot 30.9% from the field in those games — one of which the Thunder lost to the Timberwolves. 11. (—) MILWAUKEE BUCKS ( 20- 18) The Bucks ended San Antonio’s nine- game home winning streak with a 109- 107 victory last Tuesday despite Giannis Antetokounmpo ( illness) playing just nine minutes. “This game really got us over that hurdle that we’ve been asking for the past two months,” forward Jabari Parker said after the win. 12. (—) ATLANTA HAWKS ( 22- 17) Though the Hawks’ seven- game winning came to an end Friday thanks to the late- game heroics of Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics, they sat in fourth place in the East and had the NBA’s thirdranked defense ( 99.8 defensive rating) over the last 10 games. 13. (+ 3) WASHINGTON WIZARDS ( 20- 19) The Wizards — who were riding an NBA- best 11- game home winning streak — were over .500 for the first time since Nov. 24, 2015. 14. (—) CHARLOTTE HORNETS ( 20- 20) The Hornets had dropped six of their last seven — a span in which they’d allowed 113.0 points per game. Seven of their next 10 games are against teams in the playoff picture, including two against Golden State. 15. (—) CHICAGO BULLS ( 20- 21) With top- tier talent Jimmy Butler dealing with a stomach bug that sidelined him for two games and left him unproductive for one, the Bulls lost three of their four games in Week 11. 16. (- 3) INDIANA PACERS ( 20- 19) The Pacers’ five- game winning streak came to an end when the Nuggets ran them out of O2 Arena in London on Thursday, but they’ll look to get back on track in the next couple of weeks, with eight of their next 10 games against sub-. 500 teams. 17. (+ 1) PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS ( 18- 24) The Blazers put together their most impressive win of the sea- son Wednesday — a 102- 86 rout of the Cavaliers. They held the defending champs to 34.1% shooting and forced 16 turnovers. 18. (- 1) DETROIT PISTONS ( 18- 24) Despite the Pistons’ continued struggles, owner Tom Gores says he has full confidence in coach Stan Van Gundy. “We are having a hard time and Stan and I are very real about that, but we also know we have a great group of guys,” Gores said. “We believe they’ll work through this. We’ve hit a bump in the road, and that’s what success is about — you gotta work through it.” 19. (+ 1) SACRAMENTO KINGS ( 16- 23) The Kings were 2- 6 since their four- game winning streak in late December and sat in ninth place in the West. They have a brutal eight- game road trip on tap, too. 20. (- 1) NEW YORK KNICKS ( 18- 22) Other than Thursday’s 104- 89 win against the Jimmy Butlerless Bulls, there hadn’t been much to write home about lately for the Knicks, who had lost eight of their last 10, in addition to franchise cornerstone Kristaps Porzingis dealing with a nagging Achilles injury and Derrick Rose going AWOL for the loss Jan. 8 to the Pelicans. 21. (+ 3) MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES ( 14- 26) Second- year star Karl- Anthony Towns upped his game to an entirely different level, posting averages of 28.7 points, 15.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks while leading the Timberwolves to three consecutive wins last week. 22. (- 1) NEW ORLEANS PELICANS ( 16- 25) The Pelicans had an NBA- best 98.7 defensive rating over their last 10 games and were 11⁄ games out of eighth place in the Western Conference. 23. (- 1) DENVER NUGGETS ( 15- 23) The Nuggets broke their fivegame losing streak with their rout of the Pacers on Thursday behind a 22- point, 10- rebound, eight- assist performance from Nikola Jokic. 24. (- 1) ORLANDO MAGIC ( 17- 25) The Magic have Denver, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Golden State, Boston, Toronto and Chicago — who they’re a combined 0- 7 against this season — coming up. 25. (—) LOS ANGELES LAKERS ( 15- 29) It seems like just yesterday the Lakers were 7- 5, averaging the third- most points in the NBA ( 110.0) and capturing headlines as the NBA’s biggest early- season surprise. 26. (+ 2) PHOENIX SUNS ( 13- 27) Shooting guard Devin Booker scored a career- high 39 points two games in a row last week. He shot 61.9% from the field in those two games and made nine of his 12 three- point attempts. 27. (+ 2) PHILADELPHIA 76ERS ( 12- 26) For the first time in a long time, the 76ers — who had won five of their last seven games — are giving fans good reason to fill the seats. 28. (- 1) DALLAS MAVERICKS ( 12- 27) The Mavericks, en route to just their second postseason absence of the millennium, ranked 27th in the NBA with a - 5.2 net rating. 29. (- 3) MIAMI HEAT ( 11- 30) We hate to stick a fork in a team at the halfway point of the season, but ... 30. (—) BROOKLYN NETS ( 8- 31) We’re not sure what’s worse — the fact that the Nets hadn’t won a game since Dec. 26 or the fact that they’d won just one of their last 15.