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