USA TODAY International Edition
Hot Hawks climb into top 10 as Grizzlies fall back
USA TODAY Sports’ NBA power rankings for Week 12 ( from Jan. 15 to Saturday) of the 201617 season ( stats, records and standings reflected through Saturday’s games). 1. (—) Golden State War
riors ( 37- 6): The Warriors started off the week with a bang, a 35- point rout of the Cleveland Cavaliers, which carried over to Wednesday’s game vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder, which they won by 21, and Friday’s game at the Houston Rockets, which they won by 17. 2. (—) San Antonio Spurs
( 34- 9): After a thrilling 118- 115 overtime win against the Cavaliers on Saturday, thanks to a career- high 41 points from franchise cornerstone Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs are on pace for their second consecutive 65win season. 3. (—) Cleveland Cavaliers ( 30- 12): Saturday’s loss to the Spurs was Cleveland’s fourth in six games, but it’s hardly time for the Eastern Conference leaders to hit the panic button, as they sat 21⁄ games ahead of the second2 place Toronto Raptors. 4. (—) Houston Rockets ( 3413): The Rockets rebounded from a 17- point home loss to the Golden State Warriors with a 24point rout of the Memphis Grizzlies — who have one of the NBA’s top defenses — by shooting 51.3%. 5. (—) Toronto Raptors ( 28
15): The Raptors have been the NBA’s top offense in terms of points scored per 100 possessions for the majority of the season but were held to 89 points in a loss Wednesday to the Philadelphia 76ers and a season- low 78 Friday in a 35- point beatdown at the hands of the Charlotte Hornets, a game in which they shot 33.7%.
6. (+ 1) Utah Jazz ( 29- 16): In the midst of a six- game winning streak that began with a 100- 92 win against Cleveland on Jan. 10, the Jazz — as healthy as ever — are playing their best basketball of the season, tied with the injury- riddled Los Angeles Clippers for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In the 21 games point guard George Hill has played, the Jazz are 17- 4. 7. (- 1) Los Angeles Clippers ( 29- 16): The Clippers have dropped two in a row since Chris Paul suffered a torn thumb ligament — an injury that will keep him out for six to eight weeks.
Blake Griffin, who had a right knee procedure and has been out since Dec. 20, is close to 100%. 8. (—) Boston Celtics ( 26
17): Despite Isaiah Thomas averaging 38.3 points, the Celtics lost two of three — an 11- point shocker at home to the New York Knicks ( Al Horford had five points on 2- for- 14 shooting) and a four- point overtime home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Horford, a prized offseason acquisition, is averaging 15.1 points, his worst since 2011- 12 ( played 11 games because of injury) and a career- low 6.9 rebounds. 9. (+ 1) Oklahoma City Thunder ( 25- 19): After losing to the Clippers and the Warriors by a total of 43 points, the end of January won’t get much easier for the Thunder, who face Utah, Cleveland and San Antonio — all on the road — in the next 10 days. 10. (+ 2) Atlanta Hawks ( 26
18): The Hawks have lost two games in January — by two points to Boston on Jan. 13 and by 23 to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday — and their 9- 2 record in 2017 trails only the Warriors. 11. (- 2) Memphis Grizzlies
( 26- 20): After big wins vs. the Warriors and Jazz in early January, the Grizzlies have lost four of six and have the NBA’s No. 19 defense ( 108.2 points allowed per 100 possessions) in that span. 12. (+ 1) Washington Wiz
ards ( 23- 20): Other than Saturday’s loss to the Pistons, where Marcus Morris tipped in a buzzer- beating layup over brother Markieff, the Wizards have been on a roll, winning seven of nine. 13. (+ 1) Charlotte Hornets
( 23- 21): They rebounded from a five- game skid with wins vs. the Trail Blazers, Raptors and Brooklyn Nets by a total of 64 points. T- 14. (+ 1) Chicago Bulls
( 22- 23): The Bulls make 6.4 three- pointers a game at 31.6% — both worsts in the NBA. From the field, they are shooting 43.3% ( 28th) and average 103.8 points per 100 possessions ( 20th). T- 14. (+ 2) Indiana Pacers
( 22- 21): After saying last summer that he wanted to win MVP, Paul George is averaging fewer points ( 21.9), rebounds ( 6.0), assists ( 3.3) and steals ( 1.7) than he did last season. 16. (+ 2) Detroit Pistons ( 21
24): Despite Reggie Jackson trade rumors surfacing, Stan Van Gundy insists the Pistons have no plans to shop their starting point guard. “I would love to do something — take all the rumors that come up over the course of the year and really chart them and see what percentage of those ever
happen. I would love to have that. It’s gotta be less than 1%,” Van Gundy said. 17. (- 6) Milwaukee Bucks
( 20- 23): The Bucks have lost their last five — including games to the 76ers, Orlando Magic and Miami Heat — and have dropped out of the Eastern Conference playoff standings. “One of the things we’ve struggled with is looking at the team’s record and not coming out with that same intent ( as we would) if we’re playing Cleveland or playing Golden State,” coach Jason Kidd said after Saturday’s loss to Miami. “That’s something we’ve got to get better at.” 18. (+ 5) Denver Nuggets
( 18- 24): Winners of four of their last five, the Nuggets have taken control of the eighth seed in the Western Conference, thanks to some stellar play from center Nikola Jokic, who’s averaging 27 points, 11.6 rebounds and four assists over his last five games. 19. (- 2) Portland Trail Blaz
ers ( 19- 27): Just as we thought the Blazers were going to turn things around, they were trounced by the Wizards on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, suffered a 22- point loss to the Hornets two days later and endured a onepoint loss on a Robert Covington game- winning shot to the 76ers two days after that.
20. (—) New York Knicks
( 19- 26): Not only have the Knicks lost four of their last five, but three of those losses were by a combined six points, as they continue to struggle to put teams away in the fourth quarter. The most recent loss came to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, as Carmelo Anthony’s potential game- winning three- pointer rimmed out as time expired. 21. (+ 1) New Orleans Peli
cans ( 17- 27): The Pelicans just let up 143 points. To the Nets. At home. Need we say more? The Pelicans’ one- spot improvement is more a product of other teams shifting in the rankings than a testament to their production. 22. (- 1) Minnesota Timber
wolves ( 15- 28): After a bit of a slow start by his standards, KarlAnthony Towns is averaging 23.8 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 blocks in 10 January games, four of which have been wins. T- 23. (+ 1) Orlando Magic
( 18- 27): After the Magic dropped their eighth game in 10 tries Wednesday in New Orleans, forward Jeff Green ripped his team’s effort. “We’re just not playing hard enough, plain and simple. ... We all want to win, but we’re not all giving it an effort to win. And that’s the result right there. We’re losing, losing by 20. It’s
embarrassing.” T- 23. (- 4) Sacramento
Kings ( 16- 27): The Kings fell to the Bulls by three points Saturday after a questionable foul call on DeMarcus Cousins in the final seconds. The loss was Sacramento’s fifth in a row, putting the Kings 21⁄ games out of eighth 2 place. 25. (+ 2) Philadelphia 76ers
( 15- 27): The 76ers, who entered the season with a 47- 199 record since Brett Brown took over as head coach, have won 70% of their games in 2017, a mark that trails only the Warriors, Hawks, Clippers and Jazz. With the emergence of Joel Embiid and the debut of Ben Simmons inching closer, 76ers fans are as hopeful as they’ve been in years. 26. (+ 2) Dallas Mavericks
( 14- 29): Future first- ballot Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki, who missed the first portion of the season with a nagging Achilles injury, is averaging 13 points ( lowest since his rookie season) on 38.4% shooting ( career low) and playing just 25.2 minutes ( lowest since rookie season). T- 27. (+ 2) Miami Heat ( 1430): The Heat, who sit in 14th place in the East, were riding a three- game winning streak for the first time all season. T- 27. (- 1) Phoenix Suns ( 1429): The Suns might be at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, but Devin Booker gives them good reason to look forward to the future. Alongside Eric Bledsoe, who’s in the midst of a career year of his own, 20year- old Booker is leading the Suns in scoring ( 20.5 points a game), three- pointers made ( 1.8 a game) and minutes ( 34.2). 29. (- 4) Los Angeles Lakers
( 16- 31): The Lakers broke a fivegame skid with a 108- 96 win Friday against the Pacers. It was their sixth win since Dec. 1. Only the Nets have won fewer. 30. (—) Brooklyn Nets ( 9
34): Jeremy Lin signed a threeyear, $ 36 million contract with the Nets in the offseason, but the veteran point guard has been limited to 12 games because of a nagging hamstring injury, and there’s no timetable for his return.