NBA 2018-19: Western Conference Power Rankings Week 9

The 'Wild West' is definitely living up to its reputation. No team is pulling away from the pack and its sort of a logjam at the moment as everyone keeps beating up on each other. Some of the early surprises of the season are unsurprisingly perhaps slipping, with the Grizzlies and Clippers cooling down significantly after hot starts.

The Mavericks behind Luka Doncic are the team to keep an eye on, and they are rapidly climbing up the standings. Elsewhere the euphoria after getting rid of Jimmy Butler seems to have worn off for the Timberwolves, losers of four straight with the last one coming against the lowly Suns, who are all but guaranteed to finish at the bottom of the West.

All the ups and downs makes it very difficult to have any semblance of continuity in these lists, but here are top 5 teams in the West after Week 9.

#5 Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers are slumping. The surprise story of the NBA season has undergone a major dip in form off late, which is very concerning. They went 1-3 this week, with their only win coming against the lowly Suns.

They got whacked in a 123-99 loss to the Raptors and were embarrassed in a 38 point blowout loss to the Spurs. They played much better against the Thunder in Oklahoma City but still came away with a loss, which made it 6 losses in the last 10 games.

Their defense has been pretty bad off late, allowing at least 110 points in 8 of their last 9 games with the only exception being against the slow-paced Grizzlies which isn't saying much. Now, Lou Williams is out for a few weeks and they've got the surging Mavericks, Blazers, and Nuggets to deal with this week. Dallas is hot on their heels, and it might only be a matter of time before the Clippers fall out of the Top 5.