After 10 days of NBA action we bring you our second Team Rankings of the season. While not much has changed at the top, plenty of shuffling has gone on through the middle of the pack with the Bulls jumping up ten spots and the Pelicans falling seven.
Records show up to the 7th of November. Find our individual Team Rankings here.
1. CLE 6-0 (-) The Cavs are averaging 111 points per game so far and have started the way as they finished last season: Winning. They look the best out of the contenders.
2. SAS 5-2 (-) Three things in life are certain; death, taxes and the Spurs being a great basketball team. Kawhi was training with Kobe in the offseason and has looked a bit Black Mamba-ish. He is a frontrunner for MVP so far.
3. GSW 4-2 (-) Golden State has no change in our rankings, are you surprised? Yes we had them third back in September when the 16-17 season was already over. A few bumps in the road as expected by us for the favourite.
4. LAC 5-1 (-) The flopping aside, the Clips are finally looking like a LEGIT title contender. Their defense has been outstanding. They still need an upgrade at the SF spot though. Also, bet the Warriors wish they had Marreese Speights back now. One of the more underrated signings.
5. BOS 3-3 (-) They are waiting to get their big signing of the offseason, Al Horford, back on the court along with their premier wingman Jae Crowder. Look to see the Celtics start to pick up more wins once these guys are back.
6. DET 4-2 (∧1) The Pistons are doing very well, especially defensively and should only get better when Reggie Jackson comes back. If I do have one criticism though, they need more Boban!
7. TOR 4-2 (∨1) “We The North” could be far far away, as they have quietly started the season with a decent record and nothing spectacular. They still need someone in that frontcourt to really lift as the rest of the Eastern pack will be fighting with them for that second spot.
8. OKC 5-1 (∧3) Minus the hiccup against the Warriors, the Thunder have been one of the best teams in the league and an average age of only 25 yeats old, they could be good for a long time.
9. POR 4-3 (∨1) Who said Curry & Klay aka the Splash Brothers were the best backcourt in the NBA? The best backcourt is obviously Lillard & McCollum! (Don’t look at our Rankings).
10. ATL 4-2 (∧6) Are any other team more overlooked than the Hawks? They’re in the top ten in points scored, points against, rebounding and assists yet nobody is talking about them? Dwight looking to have a career year as well.
11. UTA 4-3 (∨2) The young up and coming Jazz haven’t really been that. Featuring a starting lineup of vets including Boris Diaw, Joe Johnson and George Hill. Expect them to make progress once Hayward and co are healthy.
12. CHI 3-3 (∧10) Dwyane Wade can shoot 3s (47%). Who knew? If you answer yes, you’re a liar.
13. IND 3-3 (∨3) Myles Turner is shaping up to be one of best pickups from last season’s draft, avergaing 17 Points and 7 Boards. Once their new acquisitions in Teague, Young and Jefferson gel, the Pacers should push for place in the East’s Top 5.
14. CHA 4-1 (∨1) Kemba looks to be taking smarter shots (47% FG, 42% 3P) but the rest of the offense is struggling. Luckily the defense is top notch. 4th in points allowed and 5th in points differential with a struggling offense is very good.
15. MIN 1-4 (∨3) Thibs gameplan will take time to implement but the young core of Karl Anthony-Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Zac LaVine and Kris Dunn have shown flashes of whats to come.
16. WAS 1-4 (∨2) Wall is beasting it as usual but Beal needs to sort his shooting out. Below 30% from 3 is just not gonna cut it. Scott Brooks might also wanna check Beal’s minutes as he is currently logging 35 minutes per game. A lot for a guy with serious injury troubles.
17. MEM 3-4 (∨2) Question: Can you name all players in this 15 man roster? If you can you win a prize. Also Marc Gasol shoots 3s.
18. HOU 3-3 (∨1) The James Harden PG experiment has been a total success but defense or lack thereof is killing the Rockets. Capela needs to step up and be the defensive anchor that they think he can be as he is currently averaging less than 1 block per game.
19. MIL 4-3 (∧2) The Bucks are trending upwards but still look messy on offense a lot of the time. The Greek Freak is rolling how he does, but 20% from downtown is still way too low from where he needs to be.
20. MIA 2-3 (∧3) Has Whiteside taken the next step? He is currently crushing it (20ppg, 14 rpg) and he looks to have improved defensively with Miami 8th overall in points allowed per game. But he really needs some help or it’ll be a long season down in South Beach.
21. DAL 1-5 (∨1) At least Barnes is starting to score some points. It was starting to look like he could do no more than what he could do in Golden State. Especially with the old legs featuring on the rest of the team.
22. SAC 3-5 (∧2) They should improve once they fully buy into Dave Joeger’s system but when Rudy Gay is leading your team in FG% you have serious problems.
23. NYK 2-4 (∨4) Hey they can score and Derrick Rose can drive to the bucket without getting injured, thats a positive. Terrible defense and terrible defense is a big old negative.
24. DEN 3-3 (∧2) They’re first in the league in rebounding and have showed great potential but are young and hiccups will occur. Jamal Murray really needs to step up though before he gets the dreaded ‘draft bust’ label.
25. NOP 0-6 (∨7) Anthony Davis can nearly do everything and can do everything for a stats line. The trouble is no one around him can help out so the result is AD tries too force things and guys like Lance Stephenson can’t step up.
26. LAL 4-3 (∧2) They have the second best offense in the west (108.8 PPG) behind the Warriors, who they just beat by 20 points and held them below 100 points. Luke Walton may be an early Coach of the year candidate.
27. ORL 3-3 (∨2) What is the identity of this team? Are they defense focused, a transition team or halfcourt offense? No one seems to know and the balance/chemistry of the Magic has suffered.
28. PHX 2-5 (∨1) Have won their last two games but needed OT to beat the winless Pels. Their roster just simply doesn’t mesh. Devin Booker is the real deal though!
29. PHI 0-5 (-) The Process is now in progress. And is being talked up bigtime, while Okafor is quickly becoming the odd man out. Still can’t win a game though.
30. BKN 2-4 (-) They’ve been better than people thought they’d be but that’s not hard. The injury to Lin should see them stay down here for a while longer.