Week Four NBA Power Rankings: Pacers stay on top

Rank

Last Week

Team

W-L

1

1

12-1

Paul George continues his mean streak and is showing folks that he has arrived and that he and the Pacers are a force to be reckoned with. Roy Hibbert is marching strong on his defensive player of the year campaign, leading the league in blocks per game with 4.31

2

2

12-1

The most boring team in the league continues to be one of the best. Nothing new here as Parker, Ginobli, and Tim Duncan continue to win games.

3

3

12-2

Has Rip City arrived? Some would argue they have had a cupcake schedule thus far, but at the same time they are winning games. Lamarcus Aldridge and Damian Lilliard have the opportunity to lead this bunch to the playoffs for the first time in a few years. Rumors are that a trade for Omer Asik could be in the works as well.

4

5

10-3

The Miami Heat have now won six straight and will look to make it seven when they take on the Suns tonight. LeBron is still doing LeBron things like this.

5

9

9-3

The Thunder had impressive victories against the Nuggets and Clippers last week and followed that up by destroying the Jazz. Loud City looks to be on pace for another deep playoff run with Westbrook and Durant. KD leads the league in points-per-game with 28-6

6

4

10-5

The Clippers are coming off of big wins against the Kings, Timberwolves, and Bulls, but with all that success came with a loss to the Thunder at OKC. Offensively, this team is one of the best in the league but defensively? Not so much. Still room for improvement in this team.

7

13

9-5

Rick Carlisle deserves a lot of credit for getting this team Mark Cuban threw together to buy in. Currently they stand at 9-5 and they're coming off a big win against the Houston Rockets. Monta Ellis is hitting shots (for now) and Dirk Nowitzki looks to be in good form. Dirk leads the league in free throw percentage with 94.9. These next few games will be a big test for the big D as they host the Nuggets, Warriors, and Timberwolves, while also traveling east to face the Hawks. MONTA BALL.

8

6

8-7

The Timberwolves had a rough week, losing three and one of which came at the hands of the Washington Wizards. Still, it's not like they lost to the Nets. The Wolves will look to bounce back this week but face a tough schedule coming up, starting with facing the Pacers tonight.

9

11

9-5

Houston has a few problems: defense and what is to become of disgruntled center Omer Asik. Despite all that, they were able to grab wins over the Celtics and Timberwolves. Chandler Parsons has been playing really well and so has Dwight Howard who leads the NBA in rebounds per game.

10

7

8-6

The Warriors fall a few spots this week due to injuries to Steph Curry and Andre Iguodola. After winning four straight this team has now lost three straight. Still the Warriors sit at 8-6 and I'm not about to lie and tell you that the other team that is 8-6 is better than the almighty Warriors.

11

14

8-6

I don't know how, or why, but things are clicking in Atlanta for the Hawks. They are currently third in the east on the back of Al Horford and Kyle Korver's threes. It probably won't last, but let's enjoy the Hawks for now.

12

13

7-6

The Grizzlies went 2-1 last week with big wins over the Clippers and the Warriors. With those wins though came a loss to the Spurs and an injury to Marc Gasol. Z-Bo is still Z-Bo and Memphis still needs shooting. They'll face the Rockets, Celtics, and Nets this upcoming week.

13

12

7-6

The Suns continue to shock opposing teams by, well, not doing what everyone expected them to do; tank. Instead the Suns have been playing well, even without Eric Bledsoe, going 2-2 in his absence. Also, Gerald Green can dunk.

14

24

7-7

The Lakers are back to .500! Last night we witnessed some Terp on Terp crime as Steve Blake was able to get double digit assists yet again, this time at the hands of Greivis Vasquez and the Kings. Kobe is coming back soon, Jordan Hill and Pau are playing well, what's not to like about the Lakers? Well, they've only won on the road once this season. We'll see how they do at the phone booth tomorrow night and see if Blake and the boys can make it four wins in a row.

15

20

6-6

Anthony Davis leads the league in PER and is also blocking 3.92 shots per game. He also has the Pelicans on a three game win streak. FEAR THE BROW. FEAR THE PELICANS.

16

21

7-7

The Bobcats are .500 too, they have a solid defense and have four guys averaging double digits in points. They went 2-2 this past week with wins over the Nets and Bucks, but really got bumped up in the power rankings because of this.

17

8

6-6

Derrick Rose: :-(

18

22

6-6

The Nuggets are starting to do some good things. They've won two straight after losing a close one to the Thunder and Brian Shaw is doing a better job of managing minutes.

19

26

5-8

The Wizards had a good week going 3-1 with a big win over the Timberwolves. Bradley Beal and John Wall have been awesome. Wall lit up the Knicks for 31 points while Martell Webster, Beal, and Marcin Gortat had double digit points too.

20

16

6-7

The Raptors have won two straight, DeMar DeRozan has been awesome, and the Raptors currently hold the 4th seed in the East. So, yea.

21

18

5-8

After going 2-2 this past week with back to back losses to the Hawks the Pistons drop a few more spots in the power rankings. Good news is Andre Drummond is averaging a double-double and leading the league in field goal percentage. In other news, Josh Smith got benched, Brandon Jennings is still taking bad shots, and the Pistons defense is awful.

22

19

6-9

The 76ers lost three out of the four games they played last week, one of which to the Raptors. Micheal Carter Williams is still averaging three steals a game, so that's a way to look at things glass half full.

23

23

5-10

The Celtics lost three out of four games last week two. Gerald Wallace really said it best.

24

29

4-9

After back to back wins over the Suns the Kings lost a close one against the Clippers and then lost to the Kobe-less Lakers last night. Good news is Greivis Vasquez, Isiah Thomas, and DeMarcus Cousins are playing well. DMC is currently averaging 21 and 10 and doing things like this and this.

25

15

4-9

Oh how the Magic have fallen. After a nice start they have now lost seven of their last eight. The only bright spot is that Nikola Vucevic is still averaging a double-double.

26

17

4-10

I was expecting better things out of the Cavaliers this season, like a playoff spot. So far the Cavaliers have looked like anything but a playoff team. To me, the parts don't fit. This team has a lot of guards that like to dribble and a lot of power forwards playing other positions. I think it's time for the Cavs to make a deal.

27

27

3-9

Like the Cavaliers, the Knicks have a lot of parts that don't really fit. They have lost five straight and Mike Woodson's seat continues to heat up. Trade rumors involving Iman Shumpert continue to leak out left and right and in a nut shell, this team is really bad. Your move Dolan.

28

25

3-10

Since we last left Jason Kidd and his band of misfits the Nets have won one game and lost three. In other news, there appears to be tension between Kidd and one of his assistants. Maybe the should have hired someone like George Karl or Lionel Hollins.

29

29

2-10

The Bucks have lost eight in a row. Larry Sanders is still out and there isn't much to like about the Bucks.

30

30

1-14

If you picked Tyrone Corbin in your "first head coach to get fired" pool, I think you're really close to cashing in.