5. Cleveland Cavaliers
It’s been a good run so far for Cleveland as they have clearly bounced back from a five-game losing streak, winning five of their last six matches. Their last loss was against the Milwaukee Bucks where the MVP Giannis Atentokonoumpo exploded for 38 points to keep the Cavaliers below them in the Eastern Conference Rankings.
Nonetheless, we see that they’re finding their form again in their solid wins over the Hawks, Blazers, and Pistons. Good news is that Jarrett Allen’s injury seems to be minor and he’s expected to return to the floor very soon. Allen has been leading the defensive end of the squad while Donovan Mitchell has been exceptional in carrying the scoring responsibilities.
4. New Orleans Pelicans
How can you not enjoy watching the Pelicans when you see a healthy Zion Williamson play spectacular basketball?
Williamson recently played his 100th career NBA game last Modnay night, a 105-101 win over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, and it was considered one of the most dominant 100-game starts in league history. He sits at the 10th spot of having the most points by any player in 100 games, and scoring the most since the prime Michael Jordan in the mid ‘80s.
To put into perspective how big of a deal this is, he was only drafted in 2019 and has never appeared in a playoff game.
Other than the young gun performing well as their cornerstone, the Pelicans have also been finding balance on offense and defense. They are one of only three teams in the league that rank in the top 10 on both ends of the floor. This season is marking a big step for New Orleans as they have seen the seventh biggest drop in points by opponents per 100 posessions from the previous season.
3. Indiana Pacers
If we’re talking about impressive teams, the Indiana Pacers deserve to have a spot in the list.
The Pacers aren’t exactly the championship-caliber team that one expects to be on the rankings but everyone can see they’re doing their best out there. Their offense has not been consistent especially since they lost two of their last three games. However, they still rank in fourth place in the East with a 12-8 record, owing a lot to their improved defensive numbers. They have the third biggest drop in points allowed per 100 possessions and have kept up their scoring with 111.8 points per 100 possessions, better than the league average.
We expect this team full of budding talents to pick up the pace from their off nights and reach their peak once more like their five-game winning streak in mid-November.
2. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers seem to be finding their groove lately, bagging five wins out of their last six games. After a very lackluster start for their season, we can see improvement in L.A.’s offense. They have scored 115 points per 100 possessions over the last two weeks and this big development is led by the scorching Anthony Davis.
The Brow is averaging 33.4 points and 17.6 rebounds per game while shooting 64.4 percent from the field and 89.5 percent from the charity line. He was out last Saturday against the Spurs but LeBron James had his best night of the season so far with 39 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the 3-point range.
Davis and James playing at a high level again spells good news for the Lakers as they are close to full strength.
1. Denver Nuggets
We got the Denver Nuggets taking the top of this week’s League Pass power rankings because of the depth and top-end talent the team has been exhibiting.
Even though Denver fell to the Detroit Pistons in their homecourt, they have recovered well with three straight victories. Nikola Jokic is back after missing three games and he immediately made his presence felt with a total of 70 points in his first two games back.
We see that the healthy Jammal Murray is orchestrating the offense well by getting his teammates involved on offense. We have seen good production from the likes of Aaron Gordon, Bones Hyland, Bruce Brown, and Vlakto Cancar.
Brown recorded his first career-triple double against the Thunder on Wednesday, making him the first Nuggets player other than Jokic to get a triple-double since Andre Iguodala in 2013. Cancar meanwhile had a career-high 19-point showing in that well-fought victory.
