2010-2011 NBA Power Rankings: Week 4

Since neither the Minnesota Timberwolves nor the Washington Wizards are quite good enough to get into the Top 15 of the Power Rankings, let me use this space to congratulate a couple of amazing individual performances. First, Kevin Love put on a 31-point, 31-rebound extravaganza against the New York Knicks. It was the first 30-30 game in the NBA since 1982 (Moses Malone), and it will likely be remembered as the most dominant overall performance of this season. Second, there's John Wall's first NBA triple-double. Wall scored 19 points and added 13 assists, 11 rebounds, and 6 steals against the Houston Rockets, and I can foresee him not only adding a few more triple-doubles to his resume in the coming years, but possibly even put up a quadruple double (points/assists/rebounds/steals) before his career is over.

All records are accurate as of early Wednesday, November 17. Here are my complete Power Rankings heading into Week 4 of the NBA season (last week's ranking in parentheses). I will only be giving commentary on the top 15 teams in the league for now:

1 (1) Los Angeles Lakers (9-2)

Only the Miami Heat have a better point differential than the +9.1 margin posted by the Los Angeles Lakers. Both losses by the Lakers were hard fought battles that came down to the last minute, and no other team (besides maybe the New Orleans Hornets) has been as consistent as the Lakers this season.

2 (2) New Orleans Hornets (8-1)

Even though they lost their first game of the season, the Hornets were still competitive against a very good Dallas Mavericks squad. It's still very early in the season, but the Hornets are the frontrunner for "Most Improved Team."

3 (6) San Antonio Spurs (8-1)

The Spurs lead the league in three-point field goal percentage and are second in scoring. San Antonio has officially turned into the Texas version of the Phoenix Suns.

4 (4) Boston Celtics (8-2)

The Celtics have three potential Hall of Famers on their team (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen) and another young point guard who has all the makings of a perennial All-Star (Rajon Rondo).

5 (9) Dallas Mavericks (7-2)

The Mavericks have been beating teams by playing spectacular defense, allowing the third fewest points per game in the league. Dallas has officially turned into the Northern Texas version of the San Antonio Spurs.

6 (3) Orlando Magic (7-3)

The Magic are the worst free-throw shooting team in the league, making a measly 66.8% of their free throw attempts. Orlando's defense is still one of the best in the league, but how many leads will they be able to hold onto if they are barely making half of their free throws?

7 (12) Utah Jazz (7-4)

It's going to be difficult for the Jazz to continue to come back from double-digit deficits, as they showed Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but Utah still seems to have gotten better after losing key contributors Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver over the summer.

8 (7) Miami Heat (6-4)

When the Heat players are all on the same page, they're nearly unstoppable. Miami just hasn't been able to turn their league leading +9.4 point differential into wins on a consistent basis.

9 (5) Atlanta Hawks (8-4)

None of the eight teams Atlanta has beaten currently have a winning record. Atlanta's streakiness this season may be more a result of their schedule than their ability.

10 (10) Chicago Bulls (6-3)

Who needs Carmelo Anthony? The Bulls seem to be scoring just fine, and they will only get better when Carlos Boozer returns from his injury.

11 (8) Portland Trailblazers (7-5)

It's going to be a long season for Blazers fans. Leading scorer Brandon Roy's injury woes seem to be worsening, and who knows when Greg Oden will come back.

12 (13) Denver Nuggets (6-5)

The Nuggets are tough to beat when playing in Denver (4-1) but they've been anywhere from bad to dreadful when playing on the road (2-4).

13 (14) Oklahoma City Thunder (6-4)

Although the Thunder are struggling more than expected so far this season, Kevin Durant is having an MVP-caliber season. At least something's going according to plan for Oklahoma City.

14 (20) Phoenix Suns (6-4)

When they're hitting their three point shots, the Suns look as good as they have in past years. Their inside game, however, is still missing Amare Stoudemire.

15 (11) Golden State Warriors (7-4)

Losing David Lee to a freak injury (an infection that developed after smashing his elbow into an opposing player's teeth) is going to hurt the Warriors' offense quite a bit. The post-Don Nelson era in Golden State still looks like a much better team, even with Lee out.

16 (19) Milwaukee Bucks (5-6)

17 (15) Indiana Pacers (4-5)

18 (17) Cleveland Cavaliers (5-5)

19 (22) New Jersey Nets (4-6)

20 (24) Houston Rockets (3-7)

21 (16) Memphis Grizzlies (4-8)

22 (26) Detroit Pistons (4-7)

23 (28) Charlotte Bobcats (4-7)

24 (21) New York Knicks (3-8)

25 (18) Sacramento Kings (3-6)

26 (27) Washington Wizards (3-6)

27 (30) Minnesota Timberwolves (3-9)

28 (23) Philadelphia 76ers (2-9)

29 (25) Toronto Raptors (2-9)

30 (29) Los Angeles Clippers (1-10)

Source:

All stats and standings from espn.com