NBA 2018-19: Western Conference Power Rankings - Week 3
Another week of NBA action has gone by, and teams are finally slowing the pace down across the league after a couple of weeks of frantic action when the average league pace was over 102 possessions per game.
The standings and the playoff picture in both Conferences for the rest of the season has become clearer in the intervening period, and we have a new entrant into our top 5 Western Conference teams in the Week 3 update of the Conference power rankings.
Read on to find out which teams have made the cut:
#5 San Antonio Spurs
Two back-to-back defeats at the hands of the Heat and the Magic have pegged the San Antonio Spurs back a little, as they fall 2 places on our power rankings from last week. But the same virtues that held them up as a top 5 team in the Western Conference so far continue to hold true.
DeRozan carries his playmaking prowess into Week 3 and looks set to be the Spurs' combo guard for the rest of the season, while LaMarcus Aldridge has settled into his role as the default starting center.
Not really much to write home about in the past week, but expect the Spurs to be in the mix for the 4-8 playoff spots all season long.
#4 Oklahoma City Thunder - NEW!
The Thunder have narrowly avoided calamity, with news emerging that Russell Westbrookâs sprained ankle isn't as bad as it looked, meaning he will be back before long. Having won 6 games in a row after dropping their first four fixtures, they hit a soft spot in their schedule facing Dallas, Phoenix twice, and Sacramento in their next few fixtures.
Dennis Schroeder is one of the best Russ imitators in the league, and he poured in 16 points after Westbrook went off with injury against the Pelicans. This enables Billy Donovan to gameplan the same way as he would with the Brodie, and gives Paul George an opportunity to hit a purple patch as the main man of the team.
Expect the Thunder to keep winning in the near future and climb up these charts even more.