With the NBA champs flexing their muscles, Brooklyn having an NBA team, the New York Knicks looking like a potential conference finalist and the San Antonio Spurs looking like, well the Spurs, there’s no better time to submit a Power Rankings. First up, the Eastern Conference…
Eastern Conference
15. Detroit Pistons (0-6)
Offensive Efficiency: 97 (tied for 22nd in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 111 (29th in NBA)
Team Blog: Piston Powered.
Take on the team: The Pistons have faced a rather tough schedule so far, playing five of their first six games on the road, but the fact still remains that more was expected from this group of players.
14. Washington Wizards (0-4)
Offensive Efficiency: 90 (30th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 97 (tied for 8th in NBA)
Team Blog: Truth About It.
Take on the team: Washington has lost twice against the Celtics, and their late game execution has been suspect in both instances. You get the sense that if they could clean that up, they might actually be a decent team. Might.
13. Toronto Raptors (1-4)
Offensive Efficiency: 100 (tied for 13th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 102 (tied for 22nd in NBA)
Team Blog: Raptors Republic.
Take on the team: The Kyle Lowry experience is not only fun, it’s the reason why the Minnesota Timberwolves currently do not have a perfect record to open up the season. With that said, all those grumblings that Raptors players had about ESPN.com’s John Hollinger picking them to win 33 games this season, well they’re actually headed for less at the moment.
12. Charlotte Bobcats (1-3)
Offensive Efficiency: 105 (5th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 114 (30th in NBA)
Team Blog: Queen City Hoops.
Take on the team: This spot is far better than the one they had at the end of last season right?
11. Indiana Pacers (2-4)
Offensive Efficiency: 92 (tied for 28th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 97 (tied for 8th in NBA)
Team Blog: 8 points, 9 seconds.
Take on the team: There’s no shame in losing to the San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves, but at the Pacers could at least pull together to start comfortably beating teams with inferior talent, because that hasn’t been the case so far.
10. Orlando Magic (2-3)
Offensive Efficiency: 98 (tied for 20th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 102 (tied for 22nd in NBA)
Team Blog: Magic Basketball.
Take on the team: It’s obviously extremely early in the season, but the train wreck of a season that was expected after trading away Dwight Howard has in fact been delayed. That 39-point loss to Brooklyn though is still preposterous.
9. Boston Celtics (2-3)
Offensive Efficiency: 96 (tied for 24th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 101 (tied for 19th in NBA)
Team Blog: Celtics Hub.
Take on the team: The Celtics are a talented team and thus should be higher, but it’s awfully tough to ignore that their lone two victories on the season have come against the winless Wizards with the contests getting decided late.
8. Cleveland Cavaliers (2-4)
Offensive Efficiency: 99 (tied for 15th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 105 (tied for 24th in NBA)
Team Blog: Cavs the Blog.
Take on the team: The Cavaliers have deficiencies but I like this young and daring nucleus. They currently have a sub .500 record, but still have a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.
7. Brooklyn Nets (2-2)
Offensive Efficiency: 102 (tied for 8th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 105 (tied for 24th in NBA)
Team Blog: The Brooklyn Game.
Take on the team: The Nets might be the very definition of a good mediocre team; they have victories over bad teams, and losses by a total of 41 points to the two teams they’ve faced so far with winning records (Miami and Minnesota).
6. Atlanta Hawks (2-2)
Offensive Efficiency: 102 (tied for 8th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 101 (tied for 19th in NBA)
Team Blog: Hoopinion Blog.
Take on the team: The Atlanta Hawks have defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers in what could be classified as victories to make the franchise and its fans forget about the Joe Johnson era and embrace the new one.
5. Philadelphia 76ers (3-2)
Offensive Efficiency: 93 (27th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 95 (tied for 4th in NBA)
Team Blog: Philadunkia.
Take on the team: Philadelphia’s current record might make fans temporarily forget about the absence of Andrew Bynum, but that would be fool’s gold. The 76ers have wins over teams with records of .500 or worse, while both of their losses came against the Knicks, and were by double figures. Doug Collins can keep that ship afloat only for so long without his franchise center.
4. Chicago Bulls (3-2)
Offensive Efficiency: 99 (tied for 15th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 93 (tied for 1st in NBA)
Team Blog: Bulls by the Horns.
Take on the team: Last month, former Bull Brian Scalabrine made an appearance on the B.S. Report (Bill Simons’ podcast) and stated that Tom Thibodeau was a franchise changer in the same mold as Jason Kidd and Kevin Garnett. While some might have thought the statement was ludicrous, the Bulls are playing without their best player and still competing and finding ways to win games. Their defense might carry them long enough for Derrick Rose to come back at some point and lead them to a potential fourth seed in the east standings.
3. Milwaukee Bucks (3-1)
Offensive Efficiency: 99 (tied for 15th in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 99 (tied for 15th in NBA)
Team Blog: Bucksketball.
Take on the team: One could lament the fact that all of the Bucks’ victories came at the expense of teams with losing records, but that would completely miss the point that they took care of business and won two of those three contests by double digits. Their lone loss came at the hands of a brutally physical Memphis team.
2. Miami Heat (5-1)
Offensive Efficiency: 114 (1st in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 101 (tied for 19th in NBA)
Team Blog: Heat Index.
Take on the team: Two of the Heat’s five victories came by 25 points or more and they are currently plus-5.3 on the season despite a 20-point loss at the hands of the Knicks. . Needless to say, the defending champions are looking like juggernauts and may very well flex their muscles early to remind opponents that they took the crown last season. Consider the number 34: it’s the amount of minutes that Wade, LeBron and Bosh are all just about averaging early on this season, which means they could potentially be fresher than usual going into some of the tougher stretches of their schedule this season.
1. New York Knicks (4-0)
Offensive Efficiency: 112 (2nd in NBA)
Defensive Efficiency: 93 (tied for 1st in NBA)
Team Blog: Knickerblogger.
Take on the team: It’s extremely early, but the Knicks have won all of their games by double figures and own the only victory in this young season over the Miami Heat. Their defense has been stellar and they have been putting up points on the board, but the one thing that’s made them seemingly unstoppable so far is undeniably their red hot 3-point shooting. They are shooting a sizzling 43.6 percent from downtown and making defenses pay for giving up open looks.
Check back in about 30 minutes for the Western Conference…
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