NBA Power Rankings: Christmas Day Edition

The NBA continues it’s tradition of putting on a national showcase on Christmas Day.

Welcome to Culture Glaze’s NBA Power Rankings! Many sports fans don’t start paying attention to the NBA until today, Christmas Day. It’s Christmas Day when the NBA trots out some of their biggest stars and best teams and has them go head to head from morning until late at night. But if you are just starting to pay attention now, you’ve missed out on some great basketball! The Golden State Warriors, led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, have been playing Championship level basketball which is amazing considering their youth, playing in a packed Western Conference, and under a new coach in Steve Kerr. The Toronto Raptors have been dominating out on the East Coast and are still fighting strong after an injury to DeMar DeRozan which has sidelined him for the month of December. LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers and was joined by Kevin Love. The Cavs have not been the powerhouse that many thought they would be, but they’ve shown flashes of it. Derrick Rose returned yet again to the Bulls. When he’s been on the court, he has reminded everyone why he won the MVP. Only in the last few weeks has he been able to stay healthy to string together consecutive games played and finish games, which has helped the Bulls to capture the lead in the Central Division.

But not all has been good in NBA-Land. The 76ers have strung together a rag tag bunch of players consisting of D-League stars, injured rookies, undrafted free agents, and veterans that you questioned were still in the league. They lost their first 18 games of the season, but have since won four of their last ten as of this post. The New York Knicks were able to lure Phil Jackson out of retirement and Carmelo Anthony back to the team after he tested the waters of free agency. Unfortunately for the both of them, the season has not gone as planned. They only have one more win than the 76ers, a team that is not hiding the fact that they are tanking and NOT putting themselves in a situation to win. NBA Rookies have shown flashes as to why this rookie class was hyped as the best since 2003 but many have them have been sidelined do to injury. Jabari Parker, the #2 pick who went to the Milwaukee Bucks, is unfortunately out for the season due to a torn ACL. Joel Embiid and Aaron Gordon, the #3 and #4 picks, could both miss the entire season due to foot injuries and the #7 pick Julius Randle broke his right tibia on opening day and will also miss out on his first season in the NBA. Coaches were fired (Kings saying bye bye to Mike Malone), All-Stars were traded (Mavericks saying hello to Rajon Rondo), and some teams have been looking to get rid of players they signed to be cornerstones of their offense (Josh Smith in Detroit and Lance Stephenson in Charlotte). It’s been a fun season so far and I can’t wait to see how the next few weeks turn out.

Rising and Falling

Here we will take a look at a team that rose the most in my rankings and the team that dropped the most. Will I be right in my choosing? Maybe, maybe not, but we’ll have some fun talking about it I’m sure. Seeing as I’m starting up these rankings as we finish up Week 8 of the season, I’m going to start us off with the top team in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors, and the worst team in the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors have played some top notch basketball to start the season. They are 23–4 as of this right and are averaging 108.1 points per game and allowing ten less, 98.7. They move the ball around, they rebound well, and have clutch performers all around. They have a team filled with young and humble hot shots like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Harrison Barnes. They also have savvy vets like Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livngston, who have taken on diminished roles from where they were earlier in their careers, but still continue to contribute in big ways.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers are a bad team. Their management team has gotten into the thinking that if they tank enough, and rack up enough high draft picks, they’ll save money and then be able to win in the future. It’s worked so far as they’ve amassed some top talent: Nerlens Noel and Michael Carter-Williams in 2013 and Joel Embiid this past year. Unfortunately they’ve rounded out the rest of the roster with players who couldn’t make it elsewhere or have spent the majority of their careers in the D-League. I don’t think it’s fair to say that these players aren’t trying. They want to win and I’m sure it’s not easy to hear about how bad you are, no matter how true it is. If they aren’t playing for pride, they may be using this as an audition to showcase their talents so that when their one year contracts are up with 76ers, they can sign on to a contender who could use some bench help.

The Rankings

23–4

The Golden State Warriors are my easy number one pick. For all the reasons I’ve stated above and more. Steve Kerr has this team rolling and they’ve beaten really good teams like the Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and LA Clippers. They’ve stayed healthy and will be getting back David Lee, a two time All-Star, who can easily give you 15 points per game and 10 boards. Their recent loss to a Kobe-less LA Lakers is a black mark on their otherwise stellar season.

23–7

The Trail Blazers are led by two players who most teams would consider trading multiple #1 draft picks for: Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge. Both players are scoring 20+ points per game, Aldridge is pulling down ten boards a night and Lillard is dishing out over six assists a game. The Blazers have one of the deepest teams in the league and that’s a big reason as to why they are 23–7. Wesley Matthews is a great two way guard, while Robin Lopez and Nicolas Batum make up the rest of the starting lineup. Steve Blake, Thomas Robinson, and Chris Kamen make up the rest of the roster of role players who come in every night to get the job done.

21–7

Marc Gasol truly represents the Grizzlies. Both are always seem to find themselves at the top of the stats leaders/standings but neither get the attention that they deserve. Gasol has been either 1A or 1B (the other being Joakim Noah) when it comes to the best defensive center in the league over the last two years and he’s upped his offensive game every year since he’s come over from Spain. This season he’s averaging 19 ppg, 8 rpg, and 1.6 bpg. Courtney Lee and Mike Conley make up the back court which stood out among a crowded Western Conference. Then there is Zach Randolph, the 33-year old power forward who can light up the offensive side of a fast sheet faster than you can say Z-Bo!

19–9

I will come out right now and say that I am a biased Bulls fan. There are teams below them in these rankings who have a better record, but I feel there should be an asterisk next to this Bulls’ team’s. They’ve gone for stretches this season without Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, and Taj Gibson. When the team is all together, they are scary dangerous. Jimmy Butler has emerged as an MVP candidate and possibly the best two-way two guard in the league. The Bulls are also VERY deep. Taj Gibson is the stalwart off the bench and is joined this year by Aaron Brooks, rookie Nikola Mirotić, and Mike Dunleavy (technically a starter, but plays the minutes of a reserve). It also helps that Derrick Rose’s legs seem to have finally stopped being made of Kit-Kat bars as he’s starting to gain more confidence and finish out games. The former MVP is scoring 20 points in Bulls’ wins while shooting .495 and just 12.6 ppg in losses at a .319 clip.When Rose is knocking down shots, he, and the Bulls, are very dangerous.

20–7

If the Rockets scored 150 points in a game, I don’t think it would surprise anyone. If you said that James Harden hit twenty 3-pointers and Dwight Howard slammed home 40 baskets, I wouldn’t think twice about it. They can be that dangerous on the offensive side of the ball. They’ve brought in help with two acquisitions in the last couple weeks, trading with Minnesota for Corey Brewer and just in the last 24 hours signing former Piston Josh Smith. Smith is expected to join the starting line up and become yet another weapon in Kevin McHale’s arsenal. On Friday the Rockets, the #3 team in the West, will face the Memphis Grizzlies, the #2 team. They’ll then travel to San Antonio to play the always tough Spurs and then host the lightening quick Wizards from D.C.

22–7

The Raptors would be higher up on my list if it wasn’t for the loss of DeMar DeRozan who has been out with an injury for the entire month of December and who doesn’t have a clear timetable for a return. The Raps started the season 13–2 but since DeRozan went down on November 28th, they’ve been just 9–5. When DeRozan returns, he’ll rejoin Kyle Lowry to make up one of the most exciting back courts in the Eastern Conference. Lowry has averaged 20 points per game and 7.7 assists per game so far this season, major improvements on his career stats of 12 and 5. The Raptors are about to head out on a five game road trip and will face some of the best that the Western Conference has to offer. How they do on this trip will play a big role on if they are moving up or moving down in the Culture Glaze Rankings.

19–8

If I wasn’t rooting for the Bulls this season, I think that my Eastern Conference go-to team would be the Washington Wizards. Having John Wall and Bradley Beal in your back court makes you a difficult team to contend with. Thrown in Marcin Gortat and his mohawk along with Nene’ and Rasul Butler all having solid years, it’s no wonder why they are 19–8 and have beaten the Cavs, the Heat, the Clippers and more this season. Oh, they also have a guy by the name of Paul Pierce as the veteran voice on the team which is a plus. It doesn’t hurt that he’s chipping in 13 points a game while he’s there.

21–7

I want to like the Hawks, I really do. They sit with the second best record in the East and have beaten Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, and the LA Clippers this season…oh they did this all in the last week? How are they only at the eight spot?!? They are 14–1 in their last fifteen games. They’ve won blowouts and they’ve won close games. Jeff Teague is having a career year. Kyle Korver has been shooting lights out, especially at 3-point range at a clip of .539. Their bigs, Paul Millsap and Al Horford, have made other front courts look like children at times. So why are they at #8? I have no answer for you! The basketball gods will make me pay in someway I’m sure for slighting this team they have given super human powers to over the last month.

20–10

The Mavericks come in at the #9 spot right now but could easily be on the rise in the upcoming weeks. On Decmeber 18th, the Mavericks traded for Boston Celtic point guard Rajon Rondo. They gave up role players and a couple picks and are clearly looking to get Dirk Nowitzki another shot at a ring. Rondo is a huge upgrade for them at the point guard position. He is a top five defensive point guard, while the man he was replacing, Jameer Nelson, was not even in the top fifty. With Chandler Parsons and Tyson Chandler, the Mavs are ready to make a run.

19–10

The Clippers are always a fun team to watch, but fun doesn’t always equate to wins. The Clippers haven’t played bad this season, but they haven’t dominated how they’d like. We know they can put points up on the board, but they are almost dead last in rebounding, and are in the bottom half of points allowed. Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and DeAndre Jordan continue to shine at what they do, but they haven’t been able to close out games against the top teams in the NBA this season. They have multiple losses to the Spurs, have been beaten by the Warriors and the Grizzlies, and have suffered tough road losses to teams they should have beat like the Bucks and the Nuggets. A big game against the Warriors on Christmas could help give them the boost they need.

17–10

LeBron’s return to the Cavs hasn’t been all sunshine and happiness. The Cavs are definitely a better team than they were last year, but like LeBron warned us, it is going to take some time for these players to gel. Adding Kevin Love into the mix with Kyrie Irving was supposed to give the Cavs the best “Big 3” in the game. But with all three used to being the “go to guy” so they’ve suffered the growing pains of a team still learning how to play together. The Cavs also took a blow this week when they learned that starting center, Anderson Varejao, will be lost for the season with a torn achilles. The Cavs have talent, but they don’t have depth, so this is a tough blow to an unbalanced team. The Cavs should make the top ten eventually, but that day is not today.

18–11

It’s hard to judge the Spurs in the regular season because head coach Greg Popovich loves to rest his stars…and who can blame him? Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker aren’t spring chickens any more. Pop knows that as long as he can keep his team healthy and get them into the playoffs, seeding won’t matter. This is a team that knows how to win. Which is why it was amazing to see Tim Duncan play 91 minutes in back-to-back triple overtime games!

14–14

I wonder if New Orleans has once again considered changing their name, this time to the New Orleans Anthony Davis’. I know that I’m being generous to a team that is only at .500 by having them in the 13 spot, but I just wanted to give my respect to a player that within the next few years we will be calling the best in the NBA. “The Brow” is averaging 24.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 1.7 steals, and 3 blocks. The 21-year old former first round pick is going to be the reason why the Pelicans sink or swim this year.

16–14

The Suns have surprised a lot of people this year with quality wins against Dallas and Golden State, but have hit a bit of a rough patch this December.They lost six in a row in the first couple weeks of the month but have turned it around winning their last four, three of which came on the road. Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, and Markieff Morris are a nice young core for Phoenix. They’ll have to continue to impress if they want to have any chance to stay in the playoff hunt in the competitive West.

13–16

If we were to only look at the month of December, the Thunder would be higher up on this list. They are 8–4 in the last month of they year compared to an overall 13–16, losing your two best players will do that to you. With Durant and Westbrook missing the total month of November, the Thunder struggled. A supporting cast without it’s two best players is going to struggle and the Thunder struggled mightily to put up points. Their defense has been tops in the league, but having their 1–2 punch on offense will help them rise in these rankings. Unfortunately, Durant injured his foot on the 18th and has been out since.

13–16

The Heat without LeBron James aren’t a horrible team! When the King up and left them this off season, he left them with a roster that was patch worked together because of cap issues. Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra had to now rebuild around newly resigned Chris Bosh and the old vet Dwayne Wade. Wade is not the player that he used to be, he’s taken too many falls to the floor and has the knees of an old man. But that doesn’t mean he still can’t be effective. He’s averaging 23 ppg and dishing out 5.5 assists while Bosh is scoring just under 22 points. This will be Bosh’s team in the future, which is partly why he resigned with the Heat instead of joining a new Big 3 in Houston. Luol Deng and Mario Chalmers are nice pieces to have, while rookie Shabazz Napier (LeBron’s hand picked PG) has had an up and down season. The Heat will be better next year once they have a chance to work out their salary and make a plan to target free agents, but for now they’ll be in the middle of the pack in the East, but still a threat to make waves come playoff time.

12–16

The Kings shockingly fired head coach Mike Malone on December 15th after starting the season 11–13. No one expected the Kings to be good and in the beginning of the season many thought that the chopping block would eventually come for Malone. But the Kings started off the season better than expected. At the end of November they were above .500 at 9–8, and Malone seemed to be getting the most out of big man DeMarcus Cousins, not an easy feat. But Cousins came down with viral meningitis and missed games from November 28th to December 18th. The Kings dipped below .500 and that gave management (the same management that wants to work in a 4–5 defensive scheme so they could try to get easy points on fast breaks) the chance to fire Malone. Rumors have swirled about George Karl returning to coaching or perhaps Chris Mullin putting on his coaching hat. They’ve been listed as trading partners with Brooklyn for Deron Williams but those talks seem to have cooled. The Kings were an ok team getting better, but without their head coach, this season may be on the down slide.

14–15

No one thought the Bucks would be good this year, but they knew that they’d be fun. They drafted Duke standout Jabari Parker #2 overall this year and made a trade for head coach Jason Kidd. They’ve had some nice wins against Memphis, OKC, and the Clippers so far this year and have seen point guard Brandon Knight take his game to a new level. Giannis Antetokounmpo is still refining his game as is Ersan Ilyasova. But against the Suns on December 15th, Parker tore his ACL, ending his first season in the NBA. Parker kept looking better and better on the court and proved that his supporters were right that he was the most NBA ready of the top picks in this NBA draft. The loss of Parker will be tough, but this Bucks team will still look to power through and hope to make a return to the playoffs.

12–15

The Nets are a team with a lot of talent…but for the most part are just old and seem unmotivated. Joe Johnson and Deron Williams can still be effective, just not together, and Kevin Garnett is finally starting to let age get the best of him. All are putting up good numbers, but no one is dominating. Brook Lopez has been out for some games this year due to injury, but fellow big man Mirza Teletovic has been a nice surprise in his third year in the league. Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov seems to have given the go ahead to make everyone on the team expendable in order to cut salary and possibly start a rebuild or a “reshape”, but the Russian billionaire could also be looking to sell the team in the near future. When those type of headlines are the dominant ones in your season, you aren’t headed in the right direction.

12–17

In the 2012–2013 season, the Nuggets surprised a lot teams by playing some hard nosed and crazy basketball as they went 57–25 but lost in the first round of the playoffs. The year earned George Karl Coach of the Year honors and GM Masai Ujiri the Executive of the Year award. But Karl wouldn’t be back next season and Ujiri would leave to manage the Toronto Raptors. Last season they took a downward spiral as the men who shaped the team were no longer there to keep shaping them.Forward Kenneth Faried is one of the best defenders in the game and signed a large extension before the start of the season, but isn’t putting up numbers like years past. Ty Lawson and Tomofey Mozgov fill the stat sheet but aren’t dangerous go-to players. They lost seven of their first eight games in November and have suffered losses to the embarrassing New York Knicks and Charlotte Hornets.

11–20

Orlando has had a nice little run in the first part of December. They went out West and beat the likes of Suns and the Kings and were just narrowly defeated by the Warriors. They had a back to back against the Atlanta Hawks which they split, but then they seemed to degress as the suffered losses to Boston on the road and then against the Jazz and the 76ers at home. Tobias Harris has been their go to option on offense, while Nikola Vucevic isn’t far behind. Vucevic is one of the best young centers in the game and if he continues to grow with the rest of this team and learn from these down stretches, they’ll be alright in the future.

10–16

I, and many others, don’t really know what to make of this Boston Celtics team. They just traded away Rajon Rando, the last connection to the their Championship teams of the past, for really a bunch of role players…something they already have a lot of. None of the players they got back will be able to change the game like Rando did, but may help make a nice supporting cast for someone one day in the future.Jeff Green leads the team on the offensive side of the ball while young guys like Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk have been having better than normal years. The Celtics could look to be involved in more trades before the deadline as they have pieces that could help teams that are contending.

10–19

Charlotte started the season with a new, old, name and hoped that they could channel some of the winning ways of the Hornets of the past. The first handful of games they went 3–3 and were competitive, but it’s been downhill since there. They went on a nine game losing streak to close out November and suffered a bad loss to the Nets just a few weeks back. As of the last week though they have righted as much of the ship as they can. They have won four in a row against teams that are beatable (Philadelphia, Utah, Denver, and Milwaukee). While that may not sound like much of an accomplishment, those teams are playing on the same level as they are and the Hornets easily could have gone 0–4 in that stretch.

10–19

Oh how the mighty have fallen. The Pacers were once a powerhouse in the East. They played tough, hard nosed defense, and had depth that teams envied. But during Team USA basketball this summer, Paul George broke his leg and would be out for the whole season. Lance Stephenson, while a pain, was still a valuable part of their team but left to join the Hornets this off season. While Roy Hibbert has still yet to find himself after his what seems to be mental collapse at the end of last season and in the playoffs.They had nice November wins against Dallas and Chicago, but December has not been kind to them as they’ve gone 3–9. Pieces are there and the Pacers could be buyers as 2015 rolls around, not only to help them out this year, but to set themselves up nicely for when George returns.

9–20

The Jazz are a team that I like because they have a lot of nice pieces. But as of now, those pieces have yet to really form anything. Gordon Hayward is a dangerous shooter while Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter have slowly morphed into the the big men we thought they could be, but both are still young and learning. Trey Burke, Dante Exum, and Rudy Gobert have shown flashes of being quality players, but experience is going to keep them behind. It’s been a slow rebuilding process for the Jazz and they need one of these young guns to step up and be a dominant two way player for the Jazz to make a push this season.

9–19

Kobe Bryant just doesn’t care. Bryant has given the Lakers a lot in his career, but maybe what he needs to give them most right now is a break. When Bryant is in the game he makes sure that everything runs through him, even when he is having a poor shooting night like when he went 8–26 against the Pacers and just six days later went 8–30 (!!!) against the Thunder, all losses. When Coach Byron Scott finally decided to tell Kobe to take a game off to rest those tired legs and arms, the Lakers pulled off a shocking upset of the Golden State Warriors to win by 10! Guys like Nick Young and Jeremy Lin can be contributors to this team, but when Kobe only has Kobe on his mind, the Lakers won’t be going anywhere.

5–23

The Pistons come in here at #27 but over the next few weeks, I’ll be interested to see if they slightly rise. On Monday the 22nd, the Pistons put forward Josh Smith on waivers after signing him just over a year ago to a four year, $54 million contract. The Pistons had apparently been trying to find trade partners for a while now, but no one would want to touch a contract like that. “We’re 5–23,” President and head coach Stan Van Gundy said Monday. “If we were 12–16, we’d be looking at this differently. But when you’re 5–23, we had to reassess what we were doing. Nobody saw 5–23 coming. We weren’t getting the results we were looking for. It was decided that it was best that we went in another direction.” The Pistons have big men Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe who could be solid down the road if developed the right way. The signing of Brandon Jennings hasn’t helped anyone, same with D.J. Augustin. Right now, the Pistons are playing for draft position.

5–22

The Timberwolves made moves this off-season when they added two #1 picks to their roster. They traded Kevin Love to Cleveland for former first over all (but a disappintment in his first year) Anthony Bennett and this year’s first pick Andrew Wiggins. The Canadian duo is expected to help lead the T-Wolves back to relevancy. Bennett this year has been underwhelming, while Wiggins is averaging 12.6 ppg, but has shown flashes of offensive brilliance. The Wolves have missed a large amount of games from Kevin Martin who recently had wrist surgery, and point guard Ricky Rubio has been out since mid-November with a severe ankle injury. Rubio isn’t expected to return until mid January at some point, so it won’t be until after then that we’ll have an idea of what this T-Wolves team is made of.

5–25

Pages and pages could be written about how dreadful the Knicks are. They brought in Phil Jackson this summer to put together a championship team and be a draw for Carmelo Anthony to return after becoming a free agent. They were spurned by Steve Kerr to be their head coach (he’s now with #1 Golden State, I think he made the right move). They were able to sign Melo to a lucrative 5-year deal, worth $124 million. But that has been the only bright spot. They’ve struggled to defend, and even worse been dreadful on offense. Until they get rid of Amar’e Stoudemire, J.R. Smith, and Andrea Bargnani’s contracts, this team will be stuck near the bottom.

4–23

The 76ers are purposefully losing, and that’s sad. Creating a culture of losing isn’t going to do any of their young players any good for the future. For all the reasons that were mentioned above, and plenty more, the 76ers will probably only hope to move up the #29 spot if they’re lucky.

• The Christmas Day Games are as follows:
• Washington Wizards vs. New York Knicks at Noon EST, on ESPN.
• San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder at 2:30 pm EST, on ABC.
• Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Miami Heat at 5 pm EST, on ABC.
• Los Angeles Lakers vs. Chicago Bulls at 8 pm EST, on TNT.
• Los Angles Clippers vs. Golden State Warriors at 10:30 pm EST, on ABC.
• The highlight of the Christmas day games should be LeBron James’ first return to Miami since opting out of his contract early so he could resign with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.
• Later this week we get the Houston Rockets at the Memphis Grizzlies in a battle of two of the top teams in the West.
• Also on Friday is the San Antonio Spurs visiting the New Orleans Pelicans. Anthony Davis has been an all out stud this year and I can’t wait to see him go up against Tim Duncan.
• Saturday we get the Toronto Raptors against the LA Clippers in what should be a high scoring affair.
• Sunday will feature a recently healthy Oklahoma City Thunder team taking on the Dallas Mavericks and their recently acquired point guard Rajon Rando.

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