Big move up NBA Power Rankings in Week 4 for Houston Rockets
By Phil Watson
5-8. Previous: . San Antonio Spurs. 19. team. 29.
Last week: Lost to Memphis 113-109, lost at Minnesota 129-114, lost at Orlando 111-109, lost to Portland 121-116
This week: Monday at Dallas, Wednesday at Washington, Friday at Philadelphia, Saturday at New York
The San Antonio Spurs are reeling a bit, with an 0-4 week leaving them with five straight losses and some ground to make up already in the deep Western Conference.
San Antonio’s defense is struggling over the last two weeks and the offense of the Spurs continues to be driven by the mid-range games of LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan — already the subject of early-season trade rumors — as the Spurs are 13th in the NBA in 3-point shooting, but last in the league with 25.1 attempts per game from the land of plenty.
Aldridge had an up-and-down week, going off for his first double-double of the season in Saturday’s loss to the Trail Blazers with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Aldridge is also 4-for-8 from 3-point range the last two games after taking only 13 in the first 11 games of the season, making only 3.
For the week, the veteran big man put up 21.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.8 blocks in 32.6 minutes per game, while shooting 54.7 percent overall and 4-for-9 from long range.
4-8. Previous: . Cleveland Cavaliers. 18. team. 156.
Last week: Lost at Philadelphia 98-97, lost to Miami 108-97, lost to Philadelphia 114-95
This week: Monday at New York, Wednesday at Miami, Friday at Dallas, Saturday vs. Portland
The Cleveland Cavaliers have hit a bit of a wall, dropping all three of their games last week. The Cavs are just 2-6 over their last eight games.
Worse, after scaring the 76ers on the road on Tuesday, the Cavaliers returned home to absorb double-digit losses to both Miami and Philadelphia. Sunday’s loss to the Sixers saw Cleveland trail by as much as 31.
Kevin Love continues to produce numbers, averaging 17.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 31.8 minutes per game last week. But he shot only 35.0 percent overall and from 3-point range — where he was 7-for-20.
In 39 minutes — a season-high — in the loss to the Heat, Love scored 21 points with 10 rebounds and four steals, but was only 6-for-16 from the floor.