NBA Week 3 Power Rankings, College post coming on Wednesday after week 11 NFL Review on Tuesday

Time for week 3 of the power rankings.

#1. Memphis Grizzlies (8-1) (Last week, #3): The Grizzlies just keep on proving the doubters wrong. This week, they racked up impressive wins at Oklahoma City (by 10 points), they handed the Knicks their first loss of the season, and they beat a surprisingly good Bobcats team on the road. Leading the way for the Grizzlies are Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph. Gay is doing what he always does. He quietly racks up stats, with 20 points and 6 rebounds per game, although he is only shooting 42%. Randolph leads the league in rebounds, with 14 per game, and is also the Grizzlies second leading scorer. The Grizzlies have 8 straight wins, and have four very impressive wins: They beat the Knicks, Thunder, Bucks, and Heat, 4 of the top 6 teams in these rankings. They lost their opener to the Clippers, but opening the season on the road is always tough. In a wide open Western Conference, they could be a surprise favorite

#2. New York Knicks (7-1) (Last week, #2): The Knicks lost their first game, but they still had a good week. They lost to Memphis, but they beat San Antonio on the road. Every win of theirs have been by double digits except for a four point win over the Spurs. They only have three people averaging in double digits, but they have a lot of depth. Rasheed Wallace and Jason Kidd are playing like it’s 10 years ago and they are in their late 20’s.

#3. Oklahoma City Thunder (8-3) (Last week, #5): Outside of a loss to an 8-1 Memphis team, they have won seven straight, beating up mostly on bad teams. Kevin Durant recently had a triple double. Kevin Martin is one of three Thunder players averaging over 17 points.

#4. LA Clippers (7-2) (Last week, #4): I was tempted to rank the Clippers higher than the Thunder, but I couldn’t. They had only two games this week, and won them both. They were both great wins. They beat the Heat by 7 and the Bulls by more than 20. Jamal Crawford is averaging 21 points per game, which is extremely surprising. Eric Bledsoe has been great. In just 18 minutes per game, he is averaging 10.7 points, 3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. That would be 20/6/3 with starters minutes.

#5. Milwaukee Bucks (6-2) (Last week, unranked): The Bucks could be this year’s underrated team. This week they won three straight games. They have an exciting backcourt. Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis combine to average 38 points, 6 rebounds and 14 assists per game, to go along with 4.5 steals per game.

#6. Miami Heat- 3 losses already, but Dwyane Wade has been hurt. Not a bad start.

#7. San Antonio Spurs- Fell a bit with a loss to the Knicks.

#8. Brooklyn Nets– 6-2. They’ve beaten up on bad teams

#9. Los Angeles Lakers- New coach, new life? Back up to .500. Kobe is playing amazingly.

#10. Minnesota Timberwolves- Over .500 without their two best players. Bad news: Brandon Roy needs another knee surgery. He probably will never play again.

#11. Boston Celtics- They are over .500, but it’s clear that Rajon Rondo is jeopardizing his team’s chances by trying to boost his assist total.

#12. Dallas Mavericks- Over .500, even without their best player. With Dirk out, OJ Mayo has been great.

#13. Philadelphia 76ers- It hasn’t been pretty, but they are 6-4. The bad news is Andrew Bynum is out until January.

#14. Atlanta Hawks- The Hawks are just a mediocre team.

#15. Chicago Bulls- At .500. If they can hover a little above .500 until Derrick Rose gets back, they should be ok.

#16. Portland Trailblazers- Led by their big 3 (Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard), they have won 3 straight and are up to .500. This team is incredible- they have four players with more than 37.5 minutes per game. All four are in the top 12 in minutes per game, and they have two in the top four.

#17. Utah Jazz- The Jazz are under .500, but have a +.3 +/- differential.

#18. Golden State Warriors- Another .500 team. They’ve done decently when you consider that two of their best players- Brandon Rush and Andrew Bogut are out indefinitely. They have room to improve. Their two best shooters- Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, are shooting poorly (41% and 35% respectively)

#19. Denver Nuggets- Ha! I love that the Nuggets are struggling, not because I hate the city of Denver but because they were stupid enough to take on Andre Iguodala. Iguodala has really stunted Ty Lawson’s growth and has made the team worse.

#20. Charlotte Bobcats- The Bobcats top 20? Whatt?? They are 4-4, but I don’t think they’ll keep it up. Probably finish with around 20 wins.

#21. Houston Rockets- After winning their first two, they have lost 6 of their last 8, and their only wins in that stretch are over Detroit and New Orleans.

#22. New Orleans Hornets- Anthony Davis is a beast, but they are just 3-5.

#23. Phoenix Suns- The last 4 win team on this list, but also the first 7 loss one.

#24. Indiana Pacers- The Pacers have been a big disappointment. They’ve been great on defense, but horrible on offense.

#25. Detroit Pistons- After starting 0-8, they’ve won two of the last 3.

#26. Orlando Magic- At 3-6, the Magic haven’t been horrible.

#27. Toronto Raptors- Hey! The Raptors have a one game winning streak!

#28. Cleveland Cavaliers- The Cavs stink. After starting 2-2, they’ve lost six straight, and they’re just horrible. They aren’t talented enough to do anything, unlike this next team…

#29. Sacramento Kings- The infuriating thing about the Kings is that they have the talent to succeed. They just aren’t doing it.

#30. Washington Wizards- The Wizards are your. last. win-less. team!!!! They were supposed to be a playoff contender. Not at 0-8 they won’t be.

GAMES OF THE NIGHT:
NBA: Clippers at Spurs
NCAA: New Mexico vs Connecticut