Season 21 Power Rankings Week 3- West & East

West

1- Sacramento Kings 15-3

The Kings follow up their hot start to the season with their best week yet at 6-0, taking back control of that #1 spot in the league, this was off the backs of some huge second line wins and wins against some tough competition. When you have a full roster buzzing like this it’s a recipe for success, and although their win against the Magic and Blazers were by a combined 5 points they’re still two huge wins that the Kings needed to take a huge 4 game lead in the West, they’re really running away with it at this point. Offensively and Defensively the Kings are among the tops in the league and with a tougher week coming up they’ll look to keep it rolling.

Team MVP- @FlaccoOnFire 8-3 24ppg 3.6apg 4.9stl 62%fg

Surprise ot Week- @LockDownJesus 4-0 14.3ppg 4.4reb 2.3apg 61%fg

2- Denver Nuggets 11-7

A hot start to the week seems to have gotten to the Nuggets as they picked up right where they left off at the start of the week just to fall flat on their faces in their last 3 games. Finishing with a 3-3 record on the week which could have been worse if not for a buzzer beater 3 from @SosaOnFire at the buzzer to win it for them against the Nets. This team have been the kings of ups and downs so far this season, you never seem to know which Nuggets team will show up, you could get the team who pops off and scores 80+ or the team who can’t seem to get anything going and get held below 50. Which team will show up in week 4?

Team MVP- @OG GrandPoppa 8-3 25.5ppg 8.1apg 2.3stl 66%fg

Surprise ot Week- @Schizostone 3-1 9.3ppg 8reb 41%fg

3- Huston Rockets 9-9

Just when the though seemed to be that Huston’s biggest issue was their second line and that they were a 4 win per week team they came out and had a very rough looking 2-4 week. They seem to have some very serious issues from the 3 point line with only 3 guys shooting over 50% and with two of them not being significant contributors this team has a huge problem, beyond that they only have 1 player on their entire roster shooting over 60% and luckily for them it’s the guy scoring the majority of their points. It’ll be interesting to see if they decide to try and work out the kinks in their lineup or try to make some moves before the their season takes a turn for the worst.

Team MVP- @D Andoo99 8-4 26.8ppg 9.3apg 5.2stl 66%fg

Surprise ot Week- N/A

4- Minnesota T’Wolves 8-10

Without a doubt this was a do or die week for the T’Wolves and they came out and jumped right back into the playoff hunt in the West with a solid 4-2 week that could have looked even better if a couple more shots had gone their way. They had a very winnable week and absolutely took advantage of it, including two huge wins against teams above them in the West. This team clearly has no issue scoring as they rank among the top teams in the league in PPG, but they’re being held back by their atrocious defence which ranks near the bottom in points allowed taking ff’s into account. That being said week 4 will be a make it or break it week for the T’Wolves as they travel to the East for 5 of their 6 games, with their 6th being a huge matchup against the Lakers that could have serious playoff implications down the line.

Team MVP- @A Sniper13 6-6 15.4ppg 2.8stl 65%fg

Surprise ot Week- @xRICKOSHAY 2-1 21ppg 7.7apg 3.3stl 64%fg

5- Los Angeles Lakers 8-10

LA’s decline continues, they’re looking more and more like the team that got out to a hot start but that other teams have quickly caught up too and now passed after a very tough 1-5 week. In retrospect they had an incredibly difficult week facing 5 playoff teams but if you want to win that Larry OB you’re going to need to compete with the top teams week in and week out. They made some moves earlier in the week and it looks like they’re going to attempt to make some changes in the coming week to get back to their winning ways, perhaps a shift in roles too as they’re now in a 3 way fight for those last 2 playoff spots in the West for the back half of the season.

Team MVP- @RiCo505 5-4 17.7ppg 6.7apg 54%fg

Surprise ot Week- @Karl X Malowned 0-3 & struggling

6- OKC Thunder 4-14

An unexpected turn around week for the Thunder, their management made a couple of huge trades that have had immediate return as they quadruple their wins on the season with a 3-3 week and a couple points away from going positive. This is in no way a case of too little too late for the Thunder, just look at what the Knicks did in the East last week, if this team can keep it up they could look to contend for that final playoff spot in the seemingly weaker division that is the West. Needless to say this is a clear example of how a couple of big trades can turn a season completely around in just one week, if you’re another owner/manager trying to improve your team take some notes. Huge week coming up for the Thunder.

Team MVP- @Dushi 2-1 26.3ppg 3.3reb 4apg 2.3stl 1.7blk 67%fg

Surprise ot Week- ^ & @Jordan 704 2-2 16.8ppg 15.5reb 2.5apg 59%fg

7- Portland Trailblazers 5-13

New week same story for the Blazers so far this season going 1-5, so what’s their problem? Well every single team in the league minus Orlando has at least 2 guys on their team averaging more than 15 points a game, with mid level teams averaging 3 and top teams having 4 or 5, the Blazers have 0. Their top scorers aren’t even playing consistently, this team isn’t atrocious defensively at all, only 1 team this season has managed to put up more than 70 on them in a game, but they’re having a massive problem putting up points. They have a ton of cap space, and we know that there are some teams that need to make some changes but will they make any changes?



East

1- Toronto Raptors 14-4

Back to Back 5-1 weeks see the Raps pull out in front in the East, this is a team that’s expected to have strong weeks and they’ll continue to battle with Brooklyn for that top spot during the back half of the season, every game is going to count when it comes down too it. The only question for the Raps will be how strong of a lineup they can put out from game to game, though this issue tends to disappear come playoff time. Toronto is looking at a very competitive week coming up as they’ll face some solid lines, they’re getting some great production out of their entire lineup so this team will be scary to play moving forward.

Team MVP- @Im Tom 10-1 26.1ppg 8.6apg 68%fg

Surprise ot Week- @lts Froggy 3-0 12.7ppg 1.3stl 72%fg

2- Brooklyn Nets 13-5

Another week to be expected for the Nets, one last second basket against the Nugs set them up for a 4-2 week, don’t expect this team to slow down anytime soon, they’re getting good production from their entire roster and seeing new guys step up every week when they need it. Just like the Raps this is a team that’s playoff bound barring some unforeseen collapse, they have another important week coming up with games against the other top 3 teams in the league. As this team gets more chemistry together expect them to keep getting better.

Team MVP- @VenomOnFire 8-3 22.4ppg 10.4apg 2stl 53%fg

Surprise ot Week- @Mixer Roitman 2-1 27ppg 3.3apg 2.7stl 70%fg

3- New York Knicks 10-8

What a week for the Knicks, if you ever want to talk about a turnaround bounce back week for a team, they just pulled it off, a perfect 6-0-week see’s them jump all the way into the 3rd spot in the East jumping up 3 spots. Crazy to think that a team that only won one game their first week on a ff goes undefeated just 2 weeks later, with wins all coming from teams who were above them last week. Their management made some huge trades, found the lines that work and got some huge production out of their depth players and just like that they’re a team to worry about.

Team MVP- @Viktomize 5-4 25.8ppg 2apg 2.2stl 54%fg

Surprise ot Week- @NfldTim 3-0 11ppg 13.3reb 5ast 1.7stl 67%fg

4- Philadelphia 76ers 10-8

After starting their week strong with two big wins against the Bulls they were another team who fell flat on their faces dropping 4 straight and finishing their week 2-4. Philly is difficult to pinpoint right now, they’ll have a huge week and almost go undefeated, then lose 4 straight and even throw in a ff to boot, they have the talent and the chemistry, and with a winnable week coming up they’ll look to bounce back and keep that final playoff spot in their grasp. The East looks very strong right now and that final playoff spot is going to be a fight come the end of the season, can the 76ers hang onto that final spot?

Team MVP- @im just a squid 7-3 24.3ppg 3.6reb 5.9apg 3.7stl 69%fg

Surprise ot Week- @pr0fit3 2-1 15.7ppg 2.3apg 59%fg

5- Milwaukee Bucks 9-9

The Bucks managed to even things out this week, they had some winnable games and they definitely took advantage going 3-3, blowing out the Magic and Blazers but the question still remains of how good of a team this really is. They’re consistently beating teams who are lower in the standing than them but haven’t quite seemed to crack the code when it comes to the top lineups in the league, even when they do beat top teams it seemed to be their second lines. Whether or not we’ve seen their game 5 line is tough to say at this time, we’ve seen a number of guys on their team pop off in different games and if they can slip into one of those playoff spots could be a dark horse in the playoffs.

Team MVP- @EastxCoastxGoat 6-6 20ppg 2.3apg 2.3stl 54%fg

Surprise ot Week- @Big Pete x 2 2-0 13ppg 4apg 50%

6- Orlando Magic 5-13

This team is so difficult to place, they’ll balance out a week and look like a comeback team, then lose 4 straight with some bad losses, then beat pummel the 76ers and Rockets top lines and bounce right back up finishing 2-4. Needless to say, the East is extremely competitive this season so if they can manage to get some traction, they’ll have to do it quickly if they want to catch up and contend come the end of the season. Their success has come from a couple of big trades that they’ve made and it’ll be interesting to see if they decide to keep things moving or stick to who they’ve got right now, it’ll be interesting to see if they can keep moving up.

Team MVP- @HBB TONE 5-5 15.7ppg 15.9reb 3.1apg 2.2stl 50%fg

Surprise ot Week- @Zero Choice 2-0 12ppg 4apg 53%fg

7- Chicago Bulls 5-13

Trades have been the saviour for a couple teams but it looks to have completely backfired on the Bulls, last week I said that there was no where to go but up for them but apparently 0-6 had slipped my mind, ff’s really don’t help and neither do an extremely tough week. Mathematically their season is no where close to over yet but they’re going to need a big turn around week if they want any chance of making the playoffs, but that’s only going to come if they can get some of their big names playing the way they need them too. On paper they have a solid team but locker room issues can ruin any teams season.

Team MVP- @Beta Dreams 4-7 20.8ppg 12.1apg 56%fg

 

Quick update after the recent happenings

Kings- 13-5, 4-2 on the week

Nuggets- 12-6, 4-2 on the week

Blazers- 6-12, 2-4 on the week