– Last Updated on November 21, 2022 3:05 pm
2017-18 NBA Power Rankings
Looking for 2017-18 NBA Power Rankings? We’ve hit the half-season mark of the current campaign, and there are plenty of storylines to keep track of. But for our purposes, we’re only focused on who’s hot and who’s not as we break down the current power rankings.
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As always, our rankings will look at the entire body of work for all 30 teams, with a specific emphasis on recent trends.
1. Golden State Warriors
There’s no use trying to get cute with these rankings. The Golden State Warriors are the best team in basketball.
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So far this season, the Warriors are first in offensive efficiency and sixth in defensive efficiency.
They have the league’s top record at 39-10, they’re 9-2 since the calendar flipped to 2018 and they haven’t lost back-to-back games throughout the entirety of the 2017-18 campaign.
On the year, Golden State has 22 games with 32 or more assists. No other squad across the league has more than seven, and seven teams don’t have any 32-assist games to their name.
2. Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are coming off a recent win over the Warriors, but that’s not quite enough to overtake the No. 1 spot.
But as you can imagine, that’s more about the Warriors being as great as they are than the Rockets being a dud.
These Rockets are advanced analytics wizards with Chris Paul and James Harden leading the with. Now that both are healthy, they’ll make a serious push for the No. 1 seed in the coming weeks.
3. Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors have won three of four entering their Friday contest against the Utah Jazz. They’re third in the NBA in scoring and ninth in points allowed.
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In terms of offensive efficiency, Toronto takes a step back but only to fourth in the league, scoring 109.7 points per 100 possessions. On the defensive end, they are also fourth in defensive efficiency, giving up just 102.8 points per 100 possessions.
The Raptors are the only team in the NBA to be top-four in both of those advanced categories.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder had an absolute field day against the Cleveland Cavaliers defense.
That’s not exactly an uncommon thing these days, no matter who you are. But it’s also noteworthy when you do it in historic fashion, dropping 148 points in the process.
5. Minnesota Timberwolves
This is the Minnesota Timberwolves team we expected to see all along.
Although it didn’t click right away, this team is figuring it out. Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns are both All-Stars, and the former looks like he’s a dark horse MVP candidate.
The ‘Wolves sit ahead of the Thunder in the standings, but they have also dropped their last two games.
6. Philadelphia 76ers
Ben Simmons is a triple-double machine. Joel Embiid might be an actual machine.
These two are leading the Sixers higher and higher up the rankings, and they currently sit seventh in the East.
Although they’re just 2.0 games ahead of the ninth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, they’re also just 3.0 games behind the third-seeded Miami Heat.
To think that they’re doing all this without J.J. Redick, and without Embiid in back-to-backs is scary, because soon enough, neither of those will be going against them.
7. Boston Celtics
Let’s get one thing clear right away. This isn’t a statement that the Celtics are worse than the Sixers.
But over the past month, their offense has been the literal worst in the league in terms of offensive efficiency.
Luckily, their defense has been No. 1 during that stretch. They’ll be better than Sixers when the season is said and done, but right now, they fall behind them one spot.
8. New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans aren’t supposed to be a top-10 team. In fact, many suspected they’d break up their star duo of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins by the Feb. 8 trade deadline (Now they don’t have to).
This team looked like a playoff squad prior to losing Cousins though… now we’ll see if they can potentially avoid both the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets in the first round.
9. San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs have made it into the news cycle for less than positive reasons. That’s probably the first time we’ve said that during the Gregg Popovich era.
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Kawhi Leonard is not only out for an undetermined amount of time, he’s reportedly unhappy with his rehab to the point that he’s contemplating his long-term future with the team. Tony Parker has been moved to the bench for what we can only assume will be the rest of his career, as well.
Luckily, the Spurs keep getting strong performances from LaMarcus Aldridge, as well as role players such as Kyle Anderson, Davis Bertans and Dejounte Murray.
10. Miami Heat
The Miami Heat currently own the fourth seed out East. The catch is that we need to figure out if this is a true testament to their prowess in the conference or an indictment on the state of the conference itself.
With teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards disappointing so far, we’re going to assume it’s the latter.
More NBA Power Rankings – Teams #11 – > #30
- 11. Indiana Pacers
- 12. Cleveland Cavaliers
- 13. Portland Trail Blazers
- 14. Washington Wizards
- 15. Denver Nuggets
- 16. Milwaukee Bucks
- 17. LA Clippers
- 18. Utah Jazz
- 19. Chicago Bulls
- 20. Charlotte Hornets
- 21. Detroit Pistons
- 22. Brooklyn Nets
- 23. Los Angeles Lakers
- 24. Memphis Grizzlies
- 25. New York Knicks
- 26. Dallas Mavericks
- 27. Atlanta Hawks
- 28. Sacramento Kings
- 29. Orlando Magic
- 30. Phoenix Suns
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