Piston Powered NBA Power Rankings: January 2016

The Los Angeles Clippers are hot right now. Very hot. Winners of six straight, they’ve climbed into the four-seed in the Western Conference. While the West is perplexingly unimpressive in the middle and the lower levels, the top echelons of the West is as tough as ever and it’s impossible to suggest that the Clippers don’t belong. J.J. Redick has proven to be one of the most important Clippers, scoring 15.9 points per game in just 27 minutes, shooting 48.5 percent from the floor and a staggering 49.1 percent from long range. Redick is shooting 5.3 threes per game, so he’s not picky about when to fire away from outside.. 22-13. Previous: 11th. Los Angeles Clippers. 5. team. 77

Previous: 3rd. Cleveland Cavaliers. 4. team. 156. The Cleveland Cavaliers have been the best team in the East this season since the first tip, and it would take an impressive set of circumstances to unseat them from that spot. Now that the Cavs have Kyrie Irving back in the fold, fresh from injury, the gap has widened. The Cavs are 5-1 in the six games Irving has played since his return, and the only loss was a hard-fought 89-83 road loss to the mighty Golden State Warriors.. 23-9

Oklahoma City Thunder. 3. team. 149. Speaking of hot teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder are scintillating, having won 12 of their last 15 games. Not coincidentally, Kevin Durant has played all but one of those games, averaging 25.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists on shooting splits of .520/.364/.887. It’s fun to see Russell Westbrook go off when Durant sits, but for this team to really cook, the Thunder need both parts of their <a href=. 24-11. Previous: 7th

Previous: 2nd. San Antonio Spurs. 2. team. 29. The Golden State Warriors got off to such an incredible start, people almost forgot about the San Antonio Spurs. You never, ever, ever forget about the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have the third best offensive rating in the NBA, scoring 107.8 points per 100 possessions, boast a historic defensive rating of 93.1, and have quietly taken over the best net rating in the NBA from the Warriors, outscoring their opponents by 14.7 points per 100 possessions. Until the Spurs can unseat the Warriors themselves, Golden State is the undeniable best team in the NBA, at least in the court of public opinion, but the Spurs are team 1b to the Warriors 1a.. 30-6

team. 41. Surprise surprise, the Golden State Warriors are still number one. They’ve lost twice now, once to the Milwaukee Bucks at the end of a seven game road trip (the Warriors would have been the first team to ever go undefeated on a road trip of that length if they had been able to beat the Bucks) and again to the Dallas Mavericks in a game Stephen Curry sat out of. The rest of the season almost feels like nothing more than a prelude to when the Warriors play the Spurs on January 25th, but knowing the Spurs, head coach Gregg Popovich will probably send four starters home to keep some secrets for the playoffs and rest considerations.. 33-2. Previous: 1st. Golden State Warriors. 1