Power Rankings

Joseph Ibarra

LOS ANGELES – Heading into the first week of the 2017-18 NBA season, the new look Clippers get set for a ‘road’ matchup with the Lakers on Thursday for Opening Night.

With the preseason in the books, &amp; the regular season only 2 days away, here are the opening week power rankings from around the internet, along with a brief explanation for the choices. Click on the ranking under each publication’s name to see the full explanations for each team.

Clippers No. 11  – “Chris Paul is no longer on the team but the Clippers added a great passer in Milos Teodosic. That's good news for DeAndre Jordan, who has led the league in alley-oop dunks each of the past six seasons. Jordan's 595 alley-oop dunks since the 2011-12 season are 226 more than the next player on the list.” – Panel including Kevin Arnovitz, Amin Elhassan, Ramona Shelburne, Marc J. Spears &amp; Chris Herring

Clippers No. 11  – “You might not be able to recognize the Clippers after the offseason face lift, but don’t expect their six-season playoff streak to come to an end. Led by $173-million man Blake Griffin, along with DeAndre Jordan, Danilo Gallinari and Pat Beverley, the Clips are still going to compete.” – AJ Neuharth-Keusch

Clippers No. 10 – “The Los Angeles Clippers may have lost Chris Paul, J.J. Redick and Luc Mbah a Moute over the summer, there’s too much talent, playmaking and experience on this roster to count them out of the playoff picture.

If Blake Griffin can stay healthy, he could turn in a career year as a point forward. Patrick Beverley‘s an exceptional defender and spot shooter, Milos Teodosic is a wizard with the ball in his hands, Danilo Gallinari is a jack of all trades when he’s not hurt, and role players like Austin Rivers, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Sam Dekker and Willie Reed can all contribute. Overlook the Clippers at your own risk.” – Gerald Bourguet

Clippers No. 11 – “I get made fun of for saying this all the time, but Blake Griffin has been a legitimate MVP candidate the past couple of seasons when healthy. Without Chris Paul, he’ll have the opportunity to take over this team, though he’ll now be catching lobs from Patrick Beverley and Austin Rivers. I say he continues to round out his game (perhaps shoots more threes?), Danilo Gallinari averages 18 per game again and the Clippers mess around and finish fifth in the West.” – Kenny Ducey

Clippers No. 14 – "The Clippers are loaded with guys with playoff experience, and that will go under the radar. Even if a lot of them weren't the stars, they contributed to playoff teams. That matters. The Clippers are gaining my confidence as we approach the season.” – Matt Moore

Clippers No. 10  – “To remind us how fragile their outlook is, the Clippers had three starters -- Austin Rivers (strained glute), Danilo Gallinari (sprained foot) and Patrick Beverley (sore knee) -- go down in the preseason. Blake Griffin (8-for-17 from 3-point range) escaped unscathed and more Milos Teodosic would be great for those of us who enjoy his delightful dime-dropping, but their new-found depth is already being challenged. They play just one of their first nine games away from Staples Center.” – John Schuhmann

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Power Rankings Round-Up: Opening Week

LOS ANGELES – After winning 9 of their last 11 games, the Clippers are clicking as they head towards a Round 1 playoff matchup with the Utah Jazz.

Heading into the final week of the regular season, here are the power rankings from NBA.com, ESPN.com, SI.com and CBSSports.com, along with a brief explanation for the choices. Click on the ranking under each publication’s name to see the full explanations for each team.

Clippers No. 6 (Last week: No. 10) – “This may be the last run for the Clippers and they may be hitting their stride (again) at the right time. They've won nine of their last 11 games, with the league's second best offense and eighth best defense in that span. After taking advantage a home-heavy stretch, they got a signature win in San Antonio on Saturday to move back into fourth place. They're 41-18 with Chris Paul, who has the league's best on-court Net Rtg (plus-14.0) outside the Warriors' four All-Stars. They're also 3-1 against their first-round opponent, with the only loss coming when the Jazz shot a season-best 14-for-21 from 3-point range last month.” – John Schuhmann

Clippers No. 7 (Last week: No. 12) – “Some long-awaited good news in Clipperland as the home team closes in on its fifth successive 50-win season: If the Clips win their final two games at home against Houston and Sacramento, it no longer matters what Utah does. L.A. holds the season-series tiebreaker between the clubs (3-1) and snags home-court advantage for its first-round series with the Jazz as long as it avoids a slip-up. Now for the bad news: Since the NBA expanded to the current 16-team playoff format in 1983-84, No. 4 seeds are curiously just 30-36 in their matchups with No. 5 seeds. (That includes the Clippers' first-round loss to Portland last season after both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin went down.)” – Marc Stein

Clippers No. 4 (Last week: No. 6) – "The Clippers' best net ratings this season were in the first 10 games of the year ... and the last 10 games. They are finishing about as well as they began, and flying completely under the radar. This bodes well for them.” – Matt Moore

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Power Rankings Roundup: Week 25

Jay Johnson

LOS ANGELES – The Clippers got Chris Paul back from his thumb injury, going 1-2 last week with losses to the Warriors and Spurs before ending the week with a win against the Hornets.

Here are the resulting power rankings from NBA.com, ESPN.com, SI.com and CBSSports.com, along with a brief explanation for the choices. Click on the ranking under each publication’s name to see the full explanations for each team.

Clippers No. 10 (Last week: No. 7) – “Blake Griffin (72 points on 56 percent shooting over the last two games) seems happy to have his point guard back. Chris Paul's return didn't get the Clippers back on track defensively and he shot just 10-for-32, but (as it always is) it was their minutes with him off the floor that gave them problems as they lost to the Spurs on Friday and needed overtime to beat the Hornets on Sunday...” – John Schuhmann

Clippers No. 9 (Last week: No. 11) – “Chris Paul is back after missing more than a month and just announced his return with a vintage CP3-esque performance, racking up 15 assists against zero turnovers in Sunday night's overtime escape against Charlotte. Maybe we've been too tough on the Clips lately, keeping them out of the top 10 while Paul was healing, but we've decided to move them back into the upper third … (Some good trivia as a bonus if you're in the mood: Blake Griffin is up to eight 40-point games for his career after the havoc he wreaked on the Hornets -- but strangely all eight have been at home.)" – Marc Stein

Clippers No. 14 (Last week: No. 13) – "Blake Griffin's back. Chris Paul's back. The band's back together for one more tour. Question is, are they going to put out a new album or just play the same hits? Because we've heard how those songs end.” – Matt Moore

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Power Rankings Roundup: Week 18

SALT LAKE CITY – The Clippers lost to the Raptors but bounced back to beat the Knicks and Hornets to finish the week on a winning streak.
Here are the resulting power rankings from NBA.com, ESPN.com, SI.com and CBSSports.com, along with a brief explanation for the choices. Click on the ranking under each publication’s name to see the full explanations for each team.

Clippers No. 10 (Last week: No. 9) – “The Clippers have dropped from sixth to 16th in defensive efficiency since Chris Paul's (latest) injury, but their offense was good enough in New York and Charlotte last week to put together two straight wins for the first time since Paul injured his thumb. Blake Griffin has been terrific and Jamal Crawford has followed a brutal January with 50 percent shooting in February. He's been one of the better clutch shooters in the league this season (47 percent from the field, 6-for-14 from 3-point range) and hit the two biggest shots in Wednesday's win at Madison Square Garden.” – John Schuhmann

Clippers No. 13 (Last week: No. 14) – “The Clippers start the last week before the All-Star break in Salt Lake City in what, at the present, would represent a first-round playoff preview with Utah at No. 4 and L.A. at No. 5 in the West. (The Jazz, incidentally, are only 3-8 against the Warriors, Spurs, Rockets, Clippers and Grizzlies ... so it's also a biggie for them.)" – Marc Stein

Clippers No. 15 (Last week: No. 14) – "They're over halfway done with Chris Paul's injury timeframe. It sure doesn't seem like they intend to make any major changes at the deadline, the Melo trade hanging overhead as the exception…” – Matt Moore

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Power Rankings Roundup: Week 17

NEW YORK – The Clippers beat the Suns to start last week before falling at home against Golden State and on the road in Boston.

Clippers No. 9 (Last week: No. 10) – “Blake Griffin had the Fancy Pass of the Week and has averaged 23.0 points on 53 percent shooting since his return. The Clippers' offense has been potent (121 points scored per 100 possessions) with Raymond Felton, J.J. Redick and Austin Rivers on the floor together over the last eight games, and Paul Pierce got a proper send-off in Boston on Sunday…The Clippers have ranked last defensively (118.3 points allowed per 100 possessions) since Chris Paul's injury.” – John Schuhmann

Clippers No. 14 (Last week: No. 13) – “The Clippers are the only team in the league that will be asked to play 10 road games within an 11-game span this season. They lost three of five on the road from Jan. 21 through Feb. 1, returned home for a one-game pasting by the Warriors, then began another five-game trip Sunday with what we all believe to be Paul Pierce's final appearance at Boston Garden. According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index, LA's February schedule ranks as the toughest month any team will face all season, followed by the Suns' December and Houston's March; Oklahoma City's January and Chicago's March are tied for fourth. The Clippers, of course, are facing all of this without Chris Paul...” – Marc Stein

Clippers No. 14 (Last week: No. 12) – "’Hey, maybe we should sacrifice all of our depth for a ball-dominant, high-usage star who doesn't defend,’" is an idea being floated, which shows you how bleak their prospects are with what is still a very talented core. Imagine if this team was in the East. How good would they feel about their situation?” – Matt Moore

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Power Rankings Roundup: Week 16

LOS ANGELES – The Clippers started the week on a high note with a shorthanded win in Atlanta before falling in Philadelphia and Golden State.

Clippers No. 10 (Last week: No. 8) –“Blake Griffin returned from an 18-game absence on Tuesday, but the Clippers fell to 3-9 without Chris Paul with a loss to the Embiid-less Sixers and a thrashing at the hands of the Warriors (to whom they've lost eight straight games). The bigger difference between the Clippers with and without Paul has been on defense, where they held their opponent under a point per possession in each of the last four games he played, and where they've allowed 121 per 100 in the five games since (though the Golden State skews that number a bit).” – John Schuhmann

Clippers No. 13 (Last week: No. 11) – “… They fell to 3-9 this season without the injured Chris Paul thanks to that 46-point humbling in Golden State and remain right in the heart of an 11-game stretch that features 10 dates on the road ... with the only home game in that span coming Thursday against (gulp) Golden State. Blake Griffin is back now, but the Clips have had their three best players together just 26 times in 48 games this season.” – Marc Stein

Clippers No. 12 (Last week: No. 10) – “Wow, that 46-point loss to the Warriors was embarrassing. Again. But at least they don't have to see them again for ... three days…” – Matt Moore

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Power Rankings Roundup: Week 15

ATLANTA – The week started positively with a trouncing of the Thunder, but the Clippers lost Chris Paul in that matchup, and two losses followed at home against Minnesota and on the road in Denver.

Clippers No. 8 (Last week: No. 7) –“Chris Paul is out 6-8 weeks with a torn ligament in his left thumb…With 12 of their next 15 games against teams with winning records (and 10 of the next 12 on the road), a big slide could be coming. But the Clips definitely won't be falling any further than seventh in the West.” – John Schuhmann

Clippers No. 11 (Last week: No. 7) – ��At the time of his thumb tear, Chris Paul had a better individual net efficiency than any other player in the league who had logged at least 1,000 minutes so far this season. When they lost him for six to eight weeks, the Clippers were plus-15.9 points per 100 possessions with CP3 on the floor this season ... Blake Griffin is coming back this week, so perhaps the Clips will be whole come playoff time, but who knows where their collective psyche will be at that stage after yet another significant injury blow. (It certainly doesn't help that L.A. is in the midst of a stretch in which it plays 10 of 11 games on the road ... with the only home date against the Warriors on Feb. 2.)” – Marc Stein

Clippers No. 10 (Last week: No. 7) – “I hedged on dropping them to give them a week for Blake Griffin to get back. They're in bad shape, no doubt. And it gets rough this week as they finish a five-game road trip, with the red-hot Sixers and then the Warriors, all without CP3. It may get worse before it gets better.” – Matt Moore

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Power Rankings Roundup: Week 14

LOS ANGELES – Two games last week, two more wins, as the Clippers remain undefeated to start 2017.

Clippers No. 7 (Last week: No. 7) – “The Clippers are the only unbeaten team and have the league's best defense in 2017. In his four games back from his hamstring injury, Chris Paul has averaged 17.8 points and 12.3 assists and the Clippers have outscored their opponents by 25.5 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor. The schedule is about to get tougher; The Thunder are in town on Monday and Saturday's game in Denver begins a stretch where they play 10 of 11 games on the road. But Tuesday marks the four-week point since Blake Griffin was ruled out for 4-6 weeks after knee surgery.” – John Schuhmann

Clippers No. 7 (Last week: No. 9) – “The same team that lost its final six games of 2016 has launched its 2017 by winning six in a row, good for the league's longest active winning streak; when comparing the two stretches, the Clippers have been fueled by a dramatic improvement defensively. Tuesday, meanwhile, marks a full four weeks since Blake Griffin was shelved to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Doc Rivers said Griffin is progressing "great," which means a return by month's end is in play...” – Marc Stein

Clippers No. 7 (Last week: No. 11) – “So much for that struggle without Blake Griffin. He's back practicing without a brace and the Clippers have rattled off six in a row in the meantime to recapture the 4th spot. Their February schedule is hellish, though. Is it too early to say they're already out of it for a top-two seed?” – Matt Moore