2015-16 NBA Power Rankings: Rockets, Hawks, Pistons climb

1. Golden State Warriors (7-0) Last week: 1 – Stephen Curry finally came back down to Earth with a 2-for-10 performance beyond the arc on Saturday against the Kings, but more importantly the Warriors still won the game. Somehow, they’re better than last year.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers (6-1) Last week: 3 – Everything is awesome between LeBron James and Kevin Love right now. The team has won six games in a row and Love looks involved. But we’ll know it’s real when he makes one of James’ Instagram photos.

3. San Antonio Spurs (4-2) Last week: 2 – Everyone wants to talk about Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, but the Spurs’ bench is just as important. Patty Mills and Manu Ginobili lead a second unit that has picked up a bench but isstill working out some kinks.

4. Houston Rockets (4-3) Last week: 10 – The ship has been righted in Houston as the Rockets are winners of four in a row after starting the season 0-3. James Harden has been on a tear in those four games, averaging 38.5 points.

5. Los Angeles Clippers (4-2) Last week: 4 – Two four-point losses to the Warriors and Rockets, the latter of which came without Chris Paul – who is dealing with a groin injury. The Clips may be deep, but not deep enough to survive without CP3.

6. Oklahoma City Thunder (4-3) Last week: 5 – The Thunder are set to play the Wizards in Washington Tuesday night. That means Wizards fans will roll out the red carpet for Durant in hopes it helps sway his free agency decision. If I’m a Thunder fan, I might skip this game.

7. Atlanta Hawks (7-1) Last week: 11 – Well, this looks familiar. The Hawks have ripped off seven straight wins and now sit atop the Eastern Conference. Hawks point guard Jeff Teague is still one of the more underrated players in the league.

8. Toronto Raptors (5-2) Last week: 6 – The Raptors were cruising through five games, but a 20-point loss to the Heat changes things quickly. Luckily, they’ve got the Knicks next to help get them back on track.

9. Detroit Pistons (5-1) Last week: 13 – The six-game road trip has started off great for the Pistons, who beat the Suns and then came back to beat the Trail Blazers. Andre Drummond had 29 points and 27 rebounds against the Blazers. And no, that’s not a typo.

10. Miami Heat (4-3) Last week: 12 – The Heat opened a seven-game homestand on Sunday with a 20-point win over the Toronto Raptors. That’s what you call an early statement win. The Heat should be a problem for many teams in the East this season.

11. Washington Wizards (3-3) Last week: 9 – Bradley Beal took a knee to the shoulder while diving for a loose ball, and it was a serious enough injury that he needed X-rays on it. It goes without saying, but without Beal the Wizards are in big trouble. Hopefully it was just precautionary.

12. Utah Jazz (4-2) Last week: 16 – All aboard! Get on the Utah bandwagon now because it’s filling up fast. The Jazz may not be a top tier team in the West, but they are proving they can roll with them. A four-game road trip that begins in Cleveland will be a nice early test.

13. Chicago Bulls (4-3) Last week: 8 – The Bulls’ loss to the Timberwolves came after they failed to score a point in overtime. It’s hard to win that way. The bigger concern around Chicago right now is the inconsistent effort.

14. Dallas Mavericks (3-3) Last week: 14 – The “other” guy in the trade with Rajon Rondo to Dallas, Dwight Powell is making his mark on the Mavs this season. Powell is coming off the bench, but averaging 11.3 points and 8.0 rebounds in 22.7 minutes per game. So maybe it wasn’t a completely awful trade for Dallas.

15. Memphis Grizzlies (3-4) Last week: 7 – The Grizzlies have had some bad losses so far this season, including a 50-point – yes, 50-point – loss the Warriors. I don’t care how good the Warriors are, that should never happen in the NBA.They’ve got some things to figure out here.

16. Milwaukee Bucks (4-3) Last week: 15 – The Bucks are winners of four in a row, but is it fool’s gold? After all, the wins came over the Nets (twice), Sixers, and Knicks. It’s good to see Jabari Parker back on the court as the Nets ease him back in.

17. Portland Trail Blazers(4-3) Last week: 20 – Al-Farouq Aminu was one of the first players to sign over the offseason – and he got a hefty sum of money, too, at four years and $30 million. So far he’s averaging 13.7 points and 8.7 rebounds.

18. Orlando Magic (3-4) Last week: 22 – In all four of the Magic losses, they haven’t lost by more than five points. They also took down the Raptors, who were playing great to start the season. Orlando has four players averaging over 15 points a game.

19. Indiana Pacers (3-4) Last week: 23 – Indy ripped off three straight wins after starting the season 0-3, and went toe-to-toe with the Cavs in Cleveland before losing by four points. I’d say that’s a nice turnaround.

20. Phoenix Suns (3-4) Last week: 19 – Marcus Morris returnedto Phoenix with his new Pistons team, and was booed pretty much every time he touched the ball. The Suns lost the game, so maybe fans should direct their anger elsewhere.

21. Boston Celtics (2-3) Last week: 17 – The 20-point win over the Wizards was both surprising and necessary. Brad Stevens was forced to change his starting lineup around, and the team is getting off to better starts because of it. Will Isaiah Thomas stay a starter?

22. Minnesota Timberwolves (3-2) Last week: 21 – Gotta love Kevin Garnett starting for the Timberwolves but only averaging 15 minutes per game. He’s obviously nowhere near the player he once was, but he’s invaluable to the young guys on that team.

23. Charlotte Hornets (2-4) Last week: 27 – After failing to break 100 points in their first three games, the Hornets dropped 130 in a win over the Bulls and 108 in a win over the Mavs. Big Al Jefferson will face Kevin Garnett on Tuesday, a battle between two former Celtics linked forever.

24. New York Knicks (3-4) Last week: 25 – Move overMatt Harvey, this is Kristaps Porzingis’ city now. The only question is whether or not New York is big enough to contain this monster.

25. Sacramento Kings (1-6) Last week: 18 – Probably one of the most fun teams to watch that doesn’t have a chance at the playoffs. If there’s one superstar player to keep an eye on at the trade deadline, it’s DeMarcus Cousins.

26. Denver Nuggets (2-4) Last week: 26 – It’s early, but the Nuggets are already in last place in the Northwest division. They’ll probably stay there too – and that division includes the Timberwolves.

27. New Orleans Pelicans (0-6) Last week: 24 – Oh boy. Your early-season disappointment. The Pellies beat out the Thunder for the final playoff spot last season. But um, yeah. You wouldn’t say things have gone well so far this season.

28. Los Angeles Lakers (1-5) Last week: 29 – It’s the Kobe Bryant farewell tour, ladies and gentlemen. And just like you can say goodbye to Kobe, you can say goodbye to the Lakers’ 2015-16season.

29. Brooklyn Nets (0-7) Last week: 28 – The Nets and Brook Lopez avoided a major injury when X-rays on Lopez’s foot came back negative. Then again, it’s not like he’s been helping much anyways.

30. Philadelphia 76ers (0-6) Last week: 30 – So it’s obvious that the Philadelphia 76ers are going absolutely nowhere this year. We knew that going in. What we didn’t know was that undrafted rookie point guard T.J. McConnell could be a nice little player. He’s averaging 7.5 assists per game.