NBA Power Rankings: Week 3 brings forth the load-management debate … again
By Phil Watson
Last week: Lost at Oklahoma City 102-94, lost at Dallas 107-106, beat Memphis 118-86, lost to Indiana 109-102
This week: Wednesday vs. Philadelphia, Friday vs. San Antonio, Sunday vs. Washington
The Orlando Magic have not done a great job with an opening stretch of nine games out of their first 13 at home, falling to 3-3 at Amway Center with Sunday’s loss to the Pacers.
The Magic seemed to snap out of their offensive slump with a blowout of Memphis and a strong first half against Indiana, shooting 55.3 percent overall and 8-for-13 from 3-point range while going up 60-51 Sunday. But it unraveled in the second half, as Orlando shot just 35.7 percent overall and 7-for-23 from deep.
The Magic are dead last in the NBA with an offensive rating of 100.7 during competitive minutes, per Cleaning the Glass, which negates a defense that is sixth overall with a rating of 102.2.
Nikola Vucevic is still struggling to get back to his All-Star form from last season. He averaged 17.5 points, 14.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals in 33.4 minutes per game last week, but shot only 44.4 percent overall and was 4-for-14 from deep. He did have a nice night in the win over the Grizzlies — 23 points, 16 boards and six dimes in 32 minutes.
Last week: Lost to Boston 119-113, won at Washington 113-110, won at New York 108-87
This week: Tuesday at Philadelphia, Thursday vs, Miami, Sunday vs. Philadelphia
The Cleveland Cavaliers have a brutal week coming up with a home-and-home with the 76ers wrapped around a home game against Miami, but the Cavs last week did something they hadn’t done since March 17 and 25, 2018 — win consecutive road games. Not only that, but they won consecutive road games by double figures for the first time since Feb. 9 and 11, 2018.
John Beilein has the young Cavaliers playing pretty darn well so far, doing two things that are difficult for teams without a lot of experience. Cleveland has the sixth-best turnover rate in the NBA at 14.2 percent and has allowed the fewest foul shots per game — 14.5 — in the league. If you don’t turn it over and don’t commit a lot of fouls, you’ll stay in a lot of games.
One of the veterans had an impact last week even without scoring a ton. Kevin Love averaged 16.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocks in 30.9 minutes, shooting 45.2 percent overall. His deep shot was not there, however, as love made just 1-of-11 3-point tries.
Meanwhile, Tristan Thompson continues to play well, scoring 21 points with 12 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks on 8-of-12 shooting in the win at Washington on Friday.
Last week: Beat New Orleans 135-125, won at Portland 119-115, lost at Phoenix 138-112
This week: Tuesday at Utah, Thursday at Denver, Saturday at Chicago
The Brooklyn Nets are 1-1 on their current five-game road trip, winning at Portland before getting hammered by the Suns on Sunday. The loss in Phoenix marked the first time the Nets have played a game decided by more than 10 points this season and it was also the first time free-agent addition Kyrie Irving scored less than 20 points in a game as he finished with just 15.
Even with the off night, Irving still averaged 29.0 points, 6,7 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 32.7 minutes per game, hitting 50 percent overall while hitting 7-of-20 from deep. It was Irving who set the tone in their win over the Pelicans on Monday with 39 points on 13-of-21 shooting, while also handing out nine assists and getting three steals.
The road doesn’t get easier this week with games at elevation in Utah and Denver coming up before the trip concludes in Chicago next Saturday.
Brooklyn also got a little healthier Sunday, getting back DeAndre Jordan, who had missed Friday’s win at Portland with a sprained ankle. Jordan had a double-double in 24 minutes off the bench in Phoenix with 16 points and 12 rebounds. It was his second double-double as a Net — he had 10 points and 10 boards in the Nov. 2 loss at Detroit.