NBA Power Rankings, Week 8: SB Nation Bay Area Edition

Welcome to Week 8's installation of SB Nation Bay Area's NBA Power Rankings. This week saw no changes in the Top 6, a switcheroo, and the debut of the New York Knickerbockers. This coming week will feature some big games, including Lakers-Heat on Christmas, Mavs-Thunder on Monday, 12/27, and Lakers-Spurs, Heat-Knicks on Tuesday, 12/28. Here's a look at the NBA's Top 10 after eight weeks of games:

 1.      San Antonio Spurs (25-3 overall record, 10-0 last 10 games, 1^st in West) - The Spurs extended their winning streak to ten games with wins @ Denver (+1), vs. Memphis (+6, OT), vs. Phoenix (+8), and vs. Denver (+6). San Antonio once again edges the red (green?)-hot Celtics due to a better record on the road (9-1 vs. Boston's 10-3) and a better performance in cross-conference play (8-0 vs. the East, Boston is 4-2 vs. the West). Next up? @ Orlando, vs. Washington, vs. LA Lakers. Last Week: 1.

2.      Boston Celtics (23-4, 10-0 last 10, 1^st in East) - If they can knock off the Magic in Orlando on Christmas Day, the Celtics, who are on a 14-game winning streak, will have successfully celebrated both Thanksgiving and X-Mas since their last loss (11/21 @ Toronto). In the past week, Boston was busy asserting its dominance of the E-Conf with wins over the contending Hawks, the current 7-seed Pacers, and the 76ers. Next up? @ Orlando, @ Indiana, @ Detroit. Last Week: 2

3.      Dallas Mavericks (23-5, 9-1 last 10, 2^nd in West) - The Mavs are streaking again with four consecutive wins. This past week they notched two big road wins against tough E-Conf opponents - @ Miami and @ Orlando. Next up? @ Oklahoma City, vs. Toronto. Last Week: 3

4.      Los Angeles Lakers (21-8, 8-2 last 10, 3^rd in West) - Kobe and Co. went 6-1 during their seven-game road trip, notching five wins against E-Conf opponents. Following up that week of travel with a home date against the Brandon Jennings-less Bucks SHOULD have been a walk in the park, but the Lakers, whose losses this year have been head-scratchers at times (vs. Indiana, @ Memphis, @ Houston), once again showed their mercurial ways and got crushed. Kobe was ejected in the fourth quarter and the Lakers shot only .538 from the FT line - not exactly the kind of momentum they want to be carrying into their Christmas Day showdown with the Heat. Next up? vs. Miami, @ San Antonio, @ New Orleans. Last Week: 4

5.      Miami Heat (21-9, 9-1 last 10, 2^nd in East) - While the Mavs were able to hand the Heat their first loss in December and ended Miami's 12-game winning streak, the Heat seem to be firing on all cylinders as they head into their Christmas Day date in LA. As a bonus, Mike Miller has returned to the court, so now you can at least refer to Miami as the Big 3.5. Next up? @ Phoenix, @ LA Lakers, vs. New York. Last Week: 5

6.      Utah Jazz (21-9, 6-4 last 10, 4^th in West) - I contemplated moving the Jazz up ahead of the Heat, in most part because the Jazz are doing better against the East (11-1; .917) than the Heat are (15-4; .789), but given that Utah has been up and down and that their two most recent road wins against E-Conf opponents came against the lowly Bucks and the even lowlier Cavs, I couldn't make the move with confidence. Next up? vs. Portland, @ LA Clippers. Last Week: 6

7.      Chicago Bulls (18-9, 9-1 last 10, 3^rd in East) - No Noah? No problem. So far, the Bulls have not missed a step without their sparkplug big, who is out another 7-9 weeks recovering from thumb surgery. Carlos Boozer has done just fine since his return as he is averaging 24 ppg and 10.3 rpg in his last six games. Next up? @ New York, @ Detroit, vs. Milwaukee. Last Week: 8

8.      Oklahoma City Thunder (20-10, 7-3 last 10, 5^th in West) - More of the same for Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Co. as the Thunder continue to rack up the road wins (10) evenly with the home wins (10). I moved them down a notch based more on the tenacity of the Bulls than any shortcoming of OKC's. This coming week will bring two big home dates with some of the Western Conference's finest. Next up? vs. Denver, vs. Dallas, vs. New Jersey. Last Week: 7

9.      Atlanta Hawks (19-12, 6-4 last 10, 4^th in East) - Moving up a spot this week are the Hawks, who got Joe Johnson back and helped their own cause by taking down the Magic, last week's #9, on Monday. While his shooting has been poor, Johnson is averaging 17.5 ppg, 6.8 apg, & 5 rpg in his four games since returning from elbow surgery. In the Hawks' last game, a 14-point win over the Cavs, Johnson seemed to get his shooting stroke back as he scored 23 on .529 shooting from the field. Look out, East. Next up? @ New Orleans, @ Milwaukee, vs. Golden State. Last Week: 10

10.  New York Knicks (17-12, 7-3 last 10, 5^th in East) - The Knicks make their debut in the power rankings thanks in part to the recent woes of the plummeting Magic (4-game losing streak) and the poor road play of the Nuggets (4-9). Of course, New York didn't earn this spot based solely on the faults of others. In fact, the Knicks were already heating up in December with an eight-game winning streak that put them seven games above .500 on Dec. 12. While they proceeded to lose the next three games, two of those losses were to Boston and Miami, and the Knicks then bounced back nicely by beating the Thunder 112-98 on Wednesday. Aside from Amare Stoudemire's monster 26.4 ppg / 9.3 rpg averages, most impressive this season has been the breakout of sixth year vet Raymond Felton, who is thriving in Mike D'Antoni's offense to the tune of career highs in points (18.2) and assists (9.1, good for 5^th in the NBA), and a solid .455 FG%. We'll see if That's Amare and Felton can keep the ball rolling with some tough games coming up. Next up? vs. Chicago, @ Miami, @ Orlando. Last Week: NR

Dropped Out: Orlando Magic.

The next 10: Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers

NBA Power Rankings, Week 8: SB Nation Bay Area Version, Warriors Only Better Than Opponents They Just Beat

The Warriors slide down the SB Nation Western Conference Power Rankings yet again. This week they sit at the #13 slot which is actually fitting considering that they have only been able to beat the two teams of the Western Conference ranked below them (Timberwolves #14, Sacramento Kings #15). The Los Angeles Clippers move up to number #12 and I bet it's mostly because of Blake Griffin's highlight worthy dunks that make them a sexier than the Warriors.

Just kidding. But if that was true, I would am in total agreement.

Since last week, the Warriors lost two additional players in Andris Biedrins to a sprained left ankle and Dan Gadzuric to a strained groin. As I mentioned from my eye witness account from the player's parking lot, both drive very nice cars. But even without these two bigs, I'm not entirely sure the Warriors WOULDN'T have floundered at home against the Houston Rockets and then again on the road versus the Portland Trailblazers mostly because their constant turnovers on outlet passing and failure to convert fast break opportunities. Shocking statistic that Marcus Thompson II reported in conversation with Coach Keith Smart last week was the astonish differential in attempts and then conversion of fast break scoring opportunities (unfortunately, I can no longer find this article. Apologies). The last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter versus the Rockets on Monday night was a perfect example of the classic mental meltdown: turnover, fastbreak, foul (and 1) and then rinse and recycle!

Until the Warriors figure out how to minimize these issues, I'm not willing to put them any higher than where they are. The Warriors face once again the Portland Trailblazers (#8) at home and I suspect another loss given how careless they have been with the ball. Dante Cunningham looked more like the Randall Cunningham of basketball given how effective of a scorer he was. The Warriors also take on the Philadelphia 76ers (#7, Eastern Conference) on Monday. The 76ers have begun to play some better ball as of late. Jodie Meeks made Evan Turner look like he should have been a second rounder rather than the second pick. But after a few scintillating games, Meeks has come back down. I suspect the 76ers to win this one. While the matchup may favor the Warriors given their height, you can never bet on the Warriors for a win...even if it is at the Oracle.