NBA Power Rankings Week 1: The rise of the Brooklyn Nets
By Corey Rausch
73. . 0-2. Previous: 7th. Denver Nuggets. 18. team
Last Week: Lost/OT to Sacramento Kings 124-122, Lost to the LA Clippers 121-108
This Week: 12/28/2020 vs. Houston Rockets, 12/29/2020 at Sacramento Kings, 1/1/2021 vs. Phoenix Suns
It is pretty clear the Denver Nuggets have not recovered from the hangover of the end of last season. Nikola Jokic has been great and Will Barton is showing people exactly what the team missed in Orlando. Otherwise, it has been terribly frustrating.
Jamal Murray is more like the player before the season paused (quality but annoyingly inconsistent) than the one who took over in the playoffs. Michael Porter Jr. was brilliant in game one and then almost passive in game two. This team will get better. For now they are not where they need to be while their contemporaries are thriving.
17. team. 169. . 0-1. Previous: 19th. Houston Rockets
Last Week: Lost/OT to Portland Trail Blazers 128-126
This Week: 12/28/2020 at Denver Nuggets, 12/31/2020 vs. Sacramento Kings, 1/2/2021 vs. Sacramento Kings
In what should have been an abject disaster of a week, the Houston Rockets actually climbed up the rankings despite having a game postponed and taking a loss. Why is that? Bucking the expectations outlined in the preseason rankings is the biggest factor. After an outbreak within the team led to contact tracing and quarantining, the Rockets were left with a depleted roster to go up against a desperate Portland Trail Blazers team.
Despite the antics that have drawn the ire of the basketball world at large, James Harden is still a problem on the court no matter how many practices he misses. As long as he remains, Houston will be competing with the best the league has to offer. They may also have another All-Star in Christian Wood, who went off for a thrilling 31 points and 13 rebounds.
The fact that the team was this competitive when David Nwaba, Jaesean Tate and Sterling Brown combined to log 84 minutes without and John Wall, Eric Gordon and DeMarcus Cousins were out is a sign to the rest of the naysayers who doubt them. Despite the turmoil, the Houston Rockets are good.