NBA Power Rankings Week 7: The battle for the number one spot

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Week 7 NBA power rankings: 18. Los Angeles Lakers (12-12)

Rank last week: 20th

Record this past week: 2-1

The Los Angeles Lakers have clawed their way back to .500. Despite this, they still look completely average whenever they step onto the court, which should be a disappointment by their standards.

Their only quality win this season came against the Miami Heat a few weeks ago. Other than that, they’ve just been (barely) taking care of business against subpar teams.

Week 7 NBA power rankings: 17. LA Clippers (12-12)

Rank last week: 10th

Record this past week: 1-4

This is another case of one bad week being enough to send a team far down the rankings. The LA Clippers have been looking rough lately, as their offense continues to struggle.

Paul George and Reggie Jackson haven’t been shooting well for the past few games, and since their essentially LA’s entire offense, that’s enough to tank their chances of winning by a lot.

Week 7 NBA power rankings: 16. Dallas Mavericks (11-11)

Rank last week: 12th

Record this past week: 1-3

The only win the Dallas Mavericks tallied this past week was against the New Orleans Pelicans (who they then lost to by 16 just two days later). It was not a good showing from Dallas.

Luka Doncic played great, but a regression from Kristaps Porzingis behind the three-point line hurt them badly. They only cracked 100 points as a team in one of their four games this past week.