Piston Powered NBA Power Rankings: Week 5
By Duncan Smith
The upper echelons of both the of the NBA power rankings are starting to take shape, and a new team is forcing its way into the conversation near the top of the Eastern Conference.
The most interesting storyline this past week in the NBA (other than the pending retirement of Kobe Bryant) might just have to be the surging Indiana Pacers and the superhuman Paul George. The Pacers have been the second best team in the NBA in net rating of 13.4 over the past eight games, just behind the mighty Golden State Warriors 16.7 net rating over that timeframe. The Pacers have played at the fastest pace in the NBA–with 102.23 possessions per game–over that span, which is surely a sign that the apocalypse is upon us.
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The Pacers are 7-1 over those eight games, and Paul George is on another planet right now. He is averaging 30.4 points per game over the last eight outings, adding 7.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He’s shooting 48.6% from the floor and a preposterous 53.6% from long-range, shooting 7.7 three-pointers per game.
Naturally the Warriors are still unbeaten, despite a valiant effort from the Utah Jazz on Monday night who forced the Warriors to battle to a 106-103 win.
As for unexpected developments this season, in a twist nobody could have seen coming at the beginning of the season, the Eastern Conference is actually out playing the mighty Western Conference. The East has only five teams under the .500 mark while the West has eight teams with losing records, and both conferences have several surprising teams who are underachieving.
As for short-term variance, Monday night was especially kind to the East against the West.
The East is about to go 4-0 vs West teams tonight if the Hawks hold vs the Thunder
— Duncan Smith (@DuncanSmithNBA) December 1, 2015
The Atlanta Hawks did in fact hold against the Oklahoma City Thunder, winning 106-100.
With that said, lets dig into the week five edition of the Piston Powered NBA Power Rankings.
Next: Nos. 30-26