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

Last Week: Beat Dallas Mavericks 109-108, Lost to New Orleans Pelicans 123-101, Beat Detroit Pistons 109-92

This Week: 2/7 vs. Boston Celtics, 2/8 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, 2/10 vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 2/13 vs. Philadelphia 76ers

The identity continues to solidify for the Phoenix Suns. When the starting guards are performing at their best, the offense is tough for anyone to stop. The Suns were able to outlast the Dallas Mavericks on the back of 58 points from Chris Paul and Devin Booker (and not much else from anyone else). Booker even hit the game winning shot with 1.5 seconds left.

The performance was a little more well-rounded against the lowly Detroit Pistons. Nonetheless, the All-Star backcourt combined for 43 points. Against the New Orleans Pelicans, the inefficiencies of the team got exposed.

Paul and Booker combined for 35 points on 27 shots. The team overall made only eight 3-point shots and shot 22.9 percent from long range. When the supporting cast is not doing much to boost them, losses will come. Mikal Bridges does plenty of winning things that don’t appear in the box score. Deandre Ayton has been generally disappointing (10.3 points and 13.7 rebounds per game this week) on the offensive end.

This team is definitely good but they need to work harder to get the ancillary players on the same page. The pace is unbearably slow at times, limiting the opportunities for other players.