We made it through the third week without a coaching casualty, but this is an impatient league, so Phoenix had to do something. Anyway, onto the rankings . . .
#30 Phoenix Suns (2-7, -12.2, LW: 29)
#29 Cleveland Cavaliers (1-9, -10.8, LW: 27)
#28 Washington Wizards (2-7, -9.3, LW: 30)
#27 Chicago Bulls (3-8, -7, LW: 25)
#26 Atlanta Hawks (3-6, -9.4, LW: 24)
#25 Minnesota Timberwolves (4-7, -7.1, LW: 20)
I have a simple take on the Jimmy Butler situation: he’s a jackass, get rid of him before he completely poisons the locker room. Thibodeau is a big reason for this because he’s going to hang on even though he’s probably gone after the season. I have never been a fan of the one guy head coach/general manager. There is too much involved in each job for one person to handle.
#24 Orlando Magic (4-6, -8.7, LW: 26)
#23 Dallas Mavericks (2-7, -6, LW: 23)
#22 New Orleans Pelicans (4-6, -2.6, LW: 13)
#21 New York Knicks (3-8, -3.3, LW: 22)
#20 Detroit Pistons (4-5, -2.9, LW: 15)
Blake Watch: So far he’s played in all eight games. He hasn’t played in 70 games in four years, so I’m before Christmas that he starts missing significant playing time.
#19 Utah Jazz (4-6, -0.3, LW: 7)
#18 Los Angeles Lakers (4-6, -1.1, LW: 18)
#17 Brooklyn Nets (4-6, -1.4, LW: 21)
How can the city that embraces basketball more than any other have such a horrible history of it? Both teams have been terrible this decade, both peaked in the 70’s, both had finals runs just to fall short in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. The Nets are paying Dwight Howard over $18 million this season and owe Michael Crabbe about the same this season – and Crabbe has a player option for next year. It’s as if Isaiah Thomas took over both teams at once. Unreal.
#16 Houston Rockets (4-5, -4.8, LW: 28)
#15 Miami Heat (4-5, +0.8, LW: 16)
#14 Philadelphia 76ers (6-5, -1.3, LW: 17)
#13 Boston Celtics (6-4, +2.9, LW: 6)
#12 Sacramento Kings (6-4, -0.6, LW: 12)
#11 Memphis Grizzlies (5-4, +1.6, LW: 8)
#10 Indiana Pacers (7-4, +4.4, LW: 10)
#9 San Antonio Spurs (6-3, +2.6, LW: 14)
The last time the Spurs had a losing season we hadn’t heard of Monica Lewinsky yet. Baseball has had the Cardinals and Red Sox. Football has had the Patriots. Hockey has had the Penguins. And basketball has the Spurs. Some organizations just get it. They have an older roster, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Spurs in round two with another 55 wins and building a solid team for the next decade.
#8 Oklahoma City Thunder (5-4, +1.9, LW: 19)
#7 Charlotte Hornets (5-5, +7.6, LW: 11)
#6 Los Angeles Clippers (6-4, +6.4, LW: 9)
#5 Portland Trail Blazers (7-3, +9.4, LW: 5)
#4 Denver Nuggets (9-1, +9.4, LW: 4)
#3 Toronto Raptors (10-1, +9.4, LW: 3)
#2 Milwaukee Bucks (8-1, +15.8, LW: 1)
#1 Golden State Warriors (10-1, +13.7, LW: 2)
As we all know, the writer of these power rankings enjoys stats. Today is the basketball version of Pythagoras. It works the same way as baseball, but the exponent is 14. This was discovered by Darryl Morey of the Houston Rockets years ago, but for some fantastic reading, go to Terry Pluto’s Loose Balls and read about Hubie Brown and his time with the Kentucky Colonels. He was an early analytical genius. He mentions that I team that has a scoring margin of 105-100 will win 55 games. “You can write it in cement.” Well, according to Pythagoras, a 105-100 margin would get you to a 54-28 record. Not bad.
So today I’ll include last year’s final records and the difference between actual and Pythagorean.
| Team | Actual | Pyth. |
| Atlanta Hawks | 24-58 | 27-55 |
| Boston Celtics | 55-27 | 51-31 |
| Brooklyn Nets | 28-54 | 31-51 |
| Charlotte Hornets | 36-46 | 42-40 |
| Chicago Bulls | 27-55 | 23-59 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 50-32 | 44-38 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 24-58 | 33-49 |
| Denver Nuggets | 46-36 | 45-37 |
| Detroit Pistons | 39-43 | 41-41 |
| Golden State Warriors | 58-24 | 56-26 |
| Houston Rockets | 65-17 | 62-20 |
| Indiana Pacers | 48-34 | 45-37 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 42-40 | 41-41 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 35-47 | 37-45 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 22-60 | 25-57 |
| Miami Heat | 44-38 | 42-40 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 44-38 | 40-42 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 47-35 | 47-35 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 48-34 | 44-38 |
| New York Knicks | 29-53 | 32-50 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 48-34 | 50-32 |
| Orlando Magic | 25-57 | 28-54 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 52-30 | 53-29 |
| Phoenix Suns | 21-61 | 19-63 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 49-33 | 48-34 |
| Sacramento Kings | 27-55 | 23-59 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 47-35 | 49-33 |
| Toronto Raptors | 59-23 | 60-22 |
| Utah Jazz | 48-34 | 53-29 |
| Washington Wizards | 43-39 | 43-39 |