NBA Western Power Rankings Week 3: Warriors storm ahead
By Tom West
Nov 11, 2015; Memphis, TN, USA; Golden State Warriors Stpehen Curry (30) celebrates with teammates after hitting a three point shot against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Golden State defeated Memphis 100-84. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
It’s time to continue our weekly NBA Western Conference power rankings. From the the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans battling to escape the 15th spot, to everyone else attempting to catch the Golden State Warriors, the West is well and truly wild. Yet, it’s been far from thrills for everyone so far.
The aforementioned teams at the bottom of the West have combined for three wins, while the Portland Trail Blazers are reversing towards them after going 0-5 last week to plummet in our rankings. And, as expected, the tirelessly consistent San Antonio Spurs have once again started their season as they mean to go on.
However, while we know the Warriors have to be in 1st place, where do the other teams lie? The middle of the West is obviously entirely up in the air at such an early stage of the season, and teams like the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns are doing their best to climb the ranks and become relevant. So, as always, the talent in the West has given us plenty to talk about — whether teams are over or under achieving.
For this episode of the Clipperholics power rankings, myself, fellow editor Trisity Miller and writers Jeff Nisius and Jose Salviati have combined our individual rankings to form one single list. To achieve this result, we used a weighted point system to see how our personal votes would position each team. For every 1st place vote a team gets, they receive 15 points. For every 2nd place vote, a team receives 14 points, and so on until the team coming in 15th receives one lonely point.
To provide the reasoning for our rankings, myself and Salviati have discussed each team’s performance.
So, let’s just get straight to it with the Pelicans and we’ll quickly work our way up to see the tough competition between the upper half of the Conference.
Next: New Orleans Pelicans