Week 11 NBA power rankings: Wizards rising, Knicks continue to fall
USA TODAY Sports' NBA power rankings for Week 11 (Sunday, Jan. 8 through Saturday, Jan. 14) of the 2016-17 season.
► NBA MVP race: Celtics' Isaiah Thomas joins top five
► Rookie of the Year race: Do you trust the process yet?
TEAM (RECORD) MOVEMENT
1. Golden State Warriors (34-6) -
It was another week of dominance for the Warriors, who won all three games (Sacramento, Miami, Detroit) by a combined total of 43 points. Up next: the Cavaliers, who have won the last four installments of the NBA's fiercest rivalry.
2. San Antonio Spurs (31-9) -
The Spurs, who are just three games behind the Warriors for first place in the West, lead the NBA in three-point percentage (41.5%) and rank fourth in both offensive (111.2 points per 100 possessions) and defensive (101.7 points allowed per 100 possessions) rating.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers (29-10) -
The Cavaliers head to The Bay on Monday night to take on the Warriors for the first time since their 14-point fourth quarter comeback on Christmas Day that ended with a Kyrie Irving game winner. Get your popcorn ready.
4. Houston Rockets (31-11) -
Don't read too much into the Houston's two straight losses (Minnesota, Memphis) — their first losing streak of the season. Their true test lies ahead, as they face the Warriors on Friday for the first time since their 132-127 double-overtime win on Dec. 1, followed by a five-game road trip that features Memphis, Milwaukee, Boston, Philadelphia and Indiana.
5. Toronto Raptors (26-13) +1
The Raptors defended their second-place Eastern Conference standing with a 114-106 win over the Celtics on Tuesday behind a 41-point, 13-rebound outing from star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan. They own the NBA's top offensive rating (113.5 points per 100 possessions).
6. Los Angeles Clippers (28-14) -1
The Clippers are riding an NBA-best six-game winning streak, though only one of those wins came against an above .500 team (Memphis). They're 26-9 with Chris Paul (17.7 points, 9.8 assists, 5.3 rebounds) in the lineup.
7. Utah Jazz (26-16) +1
The Jazz, currently as healthy as they've been all season, boast the NBA's top defensive rating (101.0 points per 100 possessions) and are on a three-game winning streak, highlighted by Tuesday's 100-92 win over the Cavaliers.
8. Boston Celtics (25-15) -1
Behind stellar play from point guard Isaiah Thomas, who trails only Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and James Harden in points per game (28.2) and made his way into our Week 11 MVP race for the first time this season, Boston remains a legitimate threat to grab the East's second seed.
9. Memphis Grizzlies (25-17) -
With their 110-105 win over the Rockets Friday night, the Grizzlies improved to a combined 4-0 this season against Houston and Golden State.
10. Oklahoma City Thunder (24-17) -
Russell Westbrook put together back-to-back triple-doubles this week (his 18th and 19th on the season) but had 16 turnovers and shot just 30.9% from the field during those games — one of which the Thunder lost to the Timberwolves.
11. Milwaukee Bucks (20-18) -
The Bucks snapped San Antonio's nine-game home winning streak with a 109-107 victory on Tuesday despite Giannis Antetokounmpo (illness) playing just nine minutes.
"This game really got us over that hurdle that we've been asking for the past two months," forward Jabari Parker said after the win.
12. Atlanta Hawks (22-17) -
Though the Hawks' seven-game winning came to an end on Friday thanks to the late-game heroics of Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics, they sit in fourth place in the East and have the NBA's third-ranked defense (99.8 defensive rating) over the last 10 games.
13. Washington Wizards (20-19) +3
The Wizards — who are riding an NBA-best 11-game home winning streak — are over .500 for the first time since Nov. 24, 2015.
14. Charlotte Hornets (20-20) -
The Hornets have dropped six of their last seven — a span in which they've allowed 113.0 points per game, which ranks 27th in the league. Seven of their next 10 games are against teams in the playoff picture, including two against Golden State. Don't expect our panel to be so forgiving next time around.
15. Chicago Bulls (20-21) -
With top-tier talent Jimmy Butler — who entered the top five of our MVP rankings last week — dealing with a stomach bug that sidelined him for two games and left him uncharacteristically unproductive for one, the Bulls lost three of their four games this week.
16. Indiana Pacers (20-19) -3
The Pacers' five-game winning streak came to an end when the Nuggets ran them out of O2 Arena in London on Thursday, but they'll look to get back on track in the next couple of weeks, with eight of their next 10 games against sub-.500 teams.
17. Portland Trail Blazers (18-24) +1
The Blazers put together their most impressive win of the season Wednesday — a 102-86 rout of the Cavaliers. They held the defending champs to 34.1% shooting and forced 16 turnovers.
18. Detroit Pistons (18-24) -1
Despite the Pistons' continued struggles, owner Tom Gores says he has full confidence in head coach Stan Van Gundy.
“We are having a hard time and Stan and I are very real about that, but we also know we have a great group of guys," Gores said. "We believe they’ll work through this. We’ve hit a bump in the road and that’s what success is about – you gotta work through it.”
19. Sacramento Kings (16-23) +1
The Kings are 2-6 since their four-game winning streak in late December and now sit in ninth place in the West. They have a brutal eight-game road trip on tap, too, with games against Memphis, Indiana, Cleveland, Charlotte and Houston.
20. New York Knicks (18-22) -1
Other than Thursday night's 104-89 win over the Jimmy Butler-less Bulls, there hasn't been much to write home about lately for the Knicks, who have lost eight of their last 10, in addition to franchise cornerstone Kristaps Porzingis dealing with a nagging achilles injury and Derrick Rose going AWOL for Monday night's loss to the Pelicans.
21. Minnesota Timberwolves (14-26) +3
Second-year star Karl-Anthony Towns upped his game to an entirely different level this week, posting averages of 28.7 points, 15.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks while leading the T'Wolves to three straight wins.
22. New Orleans Pelicans (16-25) -1
The Pelicans have an NBA-best 98.7 defensive rating over their last 10 games and are now just 1 1/2 games out of eighth place in the West.
23. Denver Nuggets (15-23) -1
The Nuggets snapped their five-game losing streak with their rout of the Pacers on Thursday behind a 22-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist performance from Nikola Jokic, who's averaging a team-high 17.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists in December and January after a slow November.
24. Orlando Magic (17-25) -1
The Magic have Denver, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Golden State, Boston, Toronto and Chicago — who they're a combined 0-7 against this season — coming up on the schedule.
25. Los Angeles Lakers (15-29) -
It seems like just yesterday the Lakers were 7-5, averaging the third-most points in the NBA (110.0) and capturing headlines as the NBA's biggest early season surprise.
26. Phoenix Suns (13-27) +2
Twenty-year-old shooting guard Devin Booker scored a career-high 39 points two games in a row this week — a loss to the Mavericks (where he poured in 28 points in the fourth quarter) and a win over the Spurs. He shot 61.9% from the field in those two games and made nine of his 12 three-point attempts.
27. Philadelphia 76ers (12-26) +2
For the first time in a long time, the 76ers — who have won five of their last seven games — are giving fans good reason to fill the seats.
28. Dallas Mavericks (12-27) -1
The Mavericks, en route to just their second postseason absence of the millennium, rank 27th in the NBA with a minus-5.2 net rating.
29. Miami Heat (11-30) -3
We hate to stick a fork in a team at the halfway point of the season, but ...
30. Brooklyn Nets (8-31) -
We're not sure what's worse — the fact that the Nets haven't won a game since Dec. 26 or the fact that they've won just one of their last 15.
List of voters: USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt, Sam Amick, Kevin Spain, AJ Neuharth-Keusch and Michael Singer; The Arizona Republic's Doug Haller; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal's Ronald Tillery; Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis; Indianapolis Star's Nate Taylor; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Charles Gardner; The (Bergen) Record's Steve Popper; HoopsHype.com's Jorge Sierra and Raul Barrigon; USA TODAY Sports Weekly's Howard Megdal.