NBA Power Rankings Week 7: The revenge of the Los Angeles Lakers

Last Week: Lost to Washington Wizards 149-146, Beat LA Clippers 124-120, Lost to Toronto Raptors 123-117, Lost to Philadelphia 76ers 124-108

This Week: 2/9 at Detroit Pistons, 2/10 vs. Indiana Pacers, 2/13 at Golden State Warriors

What a mess of a week for the Brooklyn Nets. Any time you lose to the Washington Wizards. the week is not looking good. Turning around and beating the LA Clippers is the only thing saving the week for the Nets.

Kevin Durant was benched before the game started against the Toronto Raptors, allowed back in and then pulled again in the third quarter for the same reason. He has now entered contact tracing and will be unavailable for the next week for the team. That kind of knee jerk reaction has led to plenty of skepticism being hurled at the NBA regarding how they are handling the COVID situation.

Why allow a player to enter the game only to find a reason to pull him a couple quarters later then advise it comes with an abundance of caution? Where is this caution when it comes to the scheduling of a meaningless exhibition game only to draw a few extras dollars?

Regardless, a 1-3 week is a rough blow for the most talked about team in the league. Two of those losses coming against struggling teams like the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors? Yikes. At least James Harden is in the top five in assists for a player in their first 10 games after a trade. Yes, the positive this week were that hard to come by.