David Aldridge reveals which teams, to him, are the Top 15 squads in the NBA at this moment.
(last week’s record in parenthesis; previous ranking in brackets)
1) Golden State (2-1) [2]: KD’s offensive rating in Saturday’s 138-109 win over Phoenix: a cool 185.
2) San Antonio (2-1) [3]: Next man up: Spurs turn without hesitation to rookie point Nicolas Laprovittola with Tony Parker banged up again. Of course, the Argentinian does just fine in two starts.
3) L.A. Clippers (2-2) [4]: Salvaged horrible road trip with solid back-to-back wins at Cleveland, New Orleans. (Yes, that seems like a bit of a long way to go for back-to-back games to us, too.)
4) Cleveland (0-3) [1]: Cavs don’t need much, but they need better guard play for J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert — and to find a solid backup for Kyrie Irving.
5) Houston (2-1) [6]: Let’s flip the page on the “morose Rockets” narrative. This is a fun team to watch; they have absolutely no conscience, firing from increasingly long distances behind the line.
6) Toronto (4-0) [9]: The Raptors’ offensive explosion of late has left them basically tied with the Cavs for the top spot in the East.
7) Boston (3-1) [8]: Isaiah Thomas is not impressed with C’s recent offensive resurgence.
8) Utah (3-1) [10]: Anyone notice the Jazz offensive rating the last 10 games (110.7 points per 100) is fifth-best in the league?
9) Memphis (2-2) [5]: No good substitute plan for losing someone as vital as Mike Conley, Jr.
10) (3-0) Oklahoma City [13]: In non-Westbrook news, Andre Roberson continues to impress on a nightly basis with his all-around defensive excellence.
11) Detroit (3-1) [NR]: Pistons storm back into the top 15 off of three very impressive, consecutive road wins last week at East contenders Charlotte, Boston and Atlanta.
12) Charlotte (2-2) [11]: Hornets an unsightly 6-6 at home after Saturday’s overtime L to Minnesota at Spectrum Center.
13) N.Y. Knicks (3-1) [14]: The world is a better place when Kyle O’Quinn is playing basketball in it.
14) Chicago (1-2) [12]: They miss McBuckets — still in the concussion protocol.
15) Milwaukee (3-0) [NR]: Bucks still aren’t setting the world on fire with their shooting, but have been credible at 36 of 101 (36 percent) on 3s during four-game win streak.
Dropped out: Atlanta [7], Portland [15]:
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Toronto (4-0): Four games, four wins, average margin of victory: 27.8 points per game. That’s a pretty impressive week.
TEAM OF THE WEAK
Atlanta (0-4): Hawks’ overall defensive rating still second in the league—but during startling six-game losing streak, Atlanta rates 27th, at 111.5 points per 100 possessions.
More Morning Tip: Clippers still searcing for consistency | Wolves struggling on defense | Q&A with DeMarcus Cousins
Longtime NBA reporter, columnist and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer David Aldridge is an analyst for TNT. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
