NBA Power Rankings Week 6: Are the Los Angeles Lakers on top?

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 30: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers disputes a personal foul called against him during the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on January 30, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Lakers defeat the Celtics 96-95. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

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29. . 11-9. Previous: 17th. San Antonio Spurs. 15. team

Last Week: 1/25 at New Orleans Pelicans (POSTPONED), Beat Boston Celtics 110-106, Beat Denver Nuggets 119-109, Lost to Memphis Grizzlies 129-112

This Week: 2/1 vs. Memphis Grizzlies, 2/3 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, 2/6 at Houston Rockets

For the San Antonio Spurs, this was an inarguable really good week. Beating the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets is no small task and the Spurs are clearly much better than prognosticators expected them to be coming into the season. Then, while they took the loss against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Spurs welcomed Derrick White back to the lineup.

Again, the Spurs offensive attack is almost boringly balanced. Seven players (eight if you count White’s one game) averaged between 9.5 and 16.3 points per game. The least effective among them, Rudy Gay, still shot 41.2 percent from the field. San Antonio is a solid team and is capable of beating anyone but they remain essentially uninteresting as long as there is not a single player going off. Such is the case in the NBA.

This week is unlikely to give the Spurs a chance to see someone go off. While the Minnesota Timberwolves are a defensive sieve, the Grizzlies and Rockets are two of the six best defensive units in the league. Neither are exceptional offensive units so Spurs fans should prepare themselves for some slogs. Given the even nature of the way they have played for decades, this should not be anything new to the San Antonio faithful.