NBA Power Rankings Week 8: The Clippers Are Hitting Their Stride

After the Clippers traded for James Harden they lost six straight games and were the laughingstock of the NBA. There were legitimate questions about how their quartet of stars could coexist together and whether they’d be able to make the necessary sacrifices to make their star-studded (but not perfectly fitting) roster work.

However, once Russell Westbrook volunteered to come off of the bench and Terence Mann moved into the starting lineup, things started to pick up for the Clippers. They won five of their next eight, but have really turned the corner in December, rattling off an 8-game winning streak that has seen them boast a league-leading 126.6 offensive rating and a 10th-ranked defense at 113.8 (via NBA Stats). The team preached patience during their early struggles, but there was skepticism about whether they’d ever be able to blend their various offensive styles into a cohesive system that allows Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George to all operate in their preferred spots.

It took some time for Ty Lue and the coaching staff to figure out what that looks like, but during this recent winning streak, they’ve shown they can do just that. When Harden first arrived the offense — especially in the fourth quarter — was a lot of “your turn, my turn” isolation sets from their stars that was painful to watch. Now, there’s so much more fluidity and versatility on display from this offense, as everyone has really seemed to buy-in on what they can do if the ball doesn’t stick as much — they’re averaging two more assists per game over their winning streak than their season average.

As chemistry has blossomed and Lue and the Clippers staff has identified the sets that they want to run regularly, they’re now playing far more decisively, which makes them nearly impossible to deal with. Early on, you could see the wheels spinning whenever someone was on the ball, unsure exactly what to do and where to go with the ball next. That stagnation, where everyone that touched the ball seemingly took an extra second before making a move, shot, or pass, made it easy on defenses because they always had a chance to recover. Now when a defense is out of position or cedes a little space, the Clippers stars are attacking those gaps before they can get closed up again.

While George has always been comfortable playing off of others, the question was how Harden and Leonard would fare as they started to split usage on the floor. Early on it seemed like if one had a big night, the other was out of the flow, but recently they’ve been able to strike a balance together. That was always going to be critical for them to hit their ceiling, and over this winning streak they have shown the blueprint for how they can work together. Both of them are dominant in isolation and there’s still plenty of that in the Clippers offense, but they are both more engaged off of the ball and have bought in to what Lue is asking of them in the offense. That has allowed them to augment their individual creation with some easy catch-and-shoot opportunities from their work off of the ball, even though that’s not always their preferred method of scoring.

James Harden, in particular, seems to have really found his comfort level working off of Leonard and George, and taking on a bit less of the creative burden than he’s shouldered in the past seems to have brought some life back to his legs. Over the win streak, Harden is averaging 20.1 points and 9.8 assists per game, boasting a scintillating 51.7/48.9/90.2 shooting split, and is picking his spots well and has found his groove in the flow of the Clippers offense.

Defensively, the Clippers have also impressed, which is partially because the offense’s success is limiting transition opportunities, but there’s also more comfort and balance on that end with Mann in the starting lineup. Having Mann, Leonard, and George on the floor provides a lot of versatility on the perimeter with a solid rim protector in Ivica Zubac behind them. Russell Westbrook, meanwhile, has embraced the bench role in a way he did not with the Lakers, and his energy channeled into just under 25 minutes a night seems to be the right use of him, particularly on this roster.

The question for the Clippers (beyond staying healthy) will be whether they can stay this cohesive when they encounter an inevitable rough patch. They’ve proven they have a ceiling of contender-level play with this winning streak, which was important to do to build some confidence from this group, but what tends to separate championship winners from the rest is their ability to handle adversity. We’ll get that answer as the season goes on, but for now, they have unquestionably added their name to the crowded list of Western Conference hopefuls.

How high have the Clippers climbed in this week’s DIME Power Rankings? Let’s find out…

TIER I: The Contenders

It feels like we’ve reached the point where this group of six has separated itself a bit from the pack. Minnesota now boasts the NBA’s best record after a thrilling comeback win in Miami and Boston’s overtime loss to the Warriors, but all of these teams are within a few games of each other in the standings. Each of these six squads has a star with a case for MVP thus far — Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Joel Embiid, and Nikola Jokic — along with a secondary star worthy of All-Star consideration, which tends to be a prerequisite for title contention. There are some other teams that could join this group, but through ~25 games of the season, no teams have been more consistently excellent (or seem more trustworthy) than these teams.

1. Minnesota Timberwolves (20-5, Last week: 2)
2. Boston Celtics (20-6, Last week: 1)
3. Milwaukee Bucks (20-7, Last week: 4)
4. Oklahoma City Thunder (17-8, Last week: 5)
5. Philadelphia 76ers (18-8, Last week: 6)
6. Denver Nuggets (18-10, Last week: 7)

TIER II: The Next Best

The Clippers vault to the top of the “next best” with their 8-game winning streak and are a threat to climb even further if they stay healthy. Orlando slips out of the contenders tier after back-to-back losses to the Celtics that seemingly showed the level they have to get to as a unit, but I still believe this is a playoff team as constructed (and could make an upgrade in the coming months). The Kings rattled off three wins this week to move back into a top-6 spot in the West, while Dallas, like Orlando ran into a pair of teams from the contender tier this week and was reminded of the league’s hierarchy right now.

7. Los Angeles Clippers (16-10, Last week: 13)
8. Orlando Magic (16-9, Last week: 3)
9. Sacramento Kings (16-9, Last week: 14)
10. Dallas Mavericks (16-10, Last week: 8)

TIER III: Playoff Hopefuls

The Knicks have alternated wins and losses over the last six games, with some impressive showings in the wins and lackluster efforts in the losses. That’s about how all of the teams in this group have been playing, as they just can’t maintain a high enough level to really give themselves some cushion in the standings. Cleveland’s banged up but is at least taking advantage when they get to play bottom-half teams, while the Pelicans were on a heater until they blew a 24-point lead to the Grizzlies in Ja Morant’s return. The Lakers and Heat have both been dragging their feet of late, and there’s some wonder if both of those teams will be in the mix for upgrades ahead of the deadline.

11. New York Knicks (15-11, Last week: 11)
12. Cleveland Cavaliers (15-12, Last week: 16)
13. New Orleans Pelicans (16-12, Last week: 17)
14. Los Angeles Lakers (15-12, Last week: 9)
15. Miami Heat (15-12, Last week: 15)

Tier IV: The Middle

There are so many teams hovering in the .500 range this season that the battle for the Play-In is going to be fascinating. Golden State picked up a big win over Boston on Tuesday night and have won two in a row to get out of freefall amid Draymond Green’s suspension. Houston continues their Jekyll and Hyde season at home (11-1) and on the road (2-10), while the Suns can’t stay healthy, the Pacers can’t play defense, and the Nets operate most games against the top half of the league at a talent deficit. There’s some fun to be found with all of these squads, but consistency is severely lacking.

16. Houston Rockets (13-11, Last week: 18)
17. Golden State Warriors (13-14, Last week: 20)
18. Phoenix Suns (14-13, Last week: 12)
19. Indiana Pacers (13-12, Last week: 10)
20. Brooklyn Nets (13-13, Last week: 19)

Tier V: Trade Rumor Fodder

With trade season opening officially on December 15, all four of these teams find themselves at the top of trade rumor headlines because the season has not gone according to plan thus far. Chicago is trying to find anyone that will give them decent return for Zach LaVine (while playing their best basketball of the season without him). Atlanta is linked to just about every big name that hits the market as they look to finally figure out how to build a coherent roster around Trae Young. Toronto has two of those big names in OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam, but has been unwilling to move either for a few years now despite annual rumblings. Utah (which went 3-1 this week) is a threat to sell off any veteran on the roster, but every team wants the one guy (Lauri Markkanen) they would prefer not to trade.

21. Chicago Bulls (11-17, Last week: 21)
22. Atlanta Hawks (11-15, Last week: 22)
23. Toronto Raptors (11-15, Last week: 23)
24. Utah Jazz (10-17, Last week: 24)

Tier VI: Lotto Bound*

It was a pretty solid week for this group overall. The asterisk here belongs to the Memphis Grizzlies, who started slow but came back from 24 down to get a win in Ja Morant’s return from suspension, fittingly on a Morant buzzer-beater. I still have some questions about the Grizzlies roster, particularly in the frontcourt without Steven Adams, but there’s no question Morant makes enough of a difference to make this team a threat to claw up into Play-In contention. Portland, meanwhile, pulled off a huge upset of the Suns on Tuesday night and continues to be competitive most nights, even if they don’t often get it across the finish line. Things are less optimistic in Charlotte where they’ve lost five straight.

25. Memphis Grizzlies (7-19, Last week: 25)
26. Portland Trail Blazers (7-19, Last week: 27)
27. Charlotte Hornets (7-18, Last week: 26)

Tier VII: Tank Generals

The Wizards and Spurs each won a game this week! That is genuinely big news for both of those teams, but they have quickly settled back into a new losing streaks with back-to-back losses each. Detroit, meanwhile, is encroaching on NBA history with their 24-game losing streak after falling short against Atlanta despite a career night from Cade Cunningham. If they do not snap it against a Utah team on a back-to-back this week, they could very well be headed for the longest losing streak the league’s ever seen.

28. Washington Wizards (4-22, Last week: 28)
29. San Antonio Spurs (4-22, Last week: 29)
30. Detroit Pistons (2-25, Last week: 30)

Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/nba-power-rankings-week-8-los-angeles-clippers/