Because power rankings done by national media outlets are often biased and frankly boring, we are going to do a Pretenders/Contenders of the Western Conference with less than one week til the Christmas games.

Who’s Good

Houston Rockets

Yes, you migh find yourself thinking that since this is a Houston Rockets blog it would be biased to put them into the “good” category, but if you have paid attention to the Rockets recently you know they are playing really good basketball. The Houston Rockets have been the hottest team in basketball since the start of December, winning their last 10 games. Not only are the Houston Rockets in 3rd place in the Western Conference, but the Rockets have faced the toughest schedule in the NBA to date and have played 4 more games on the road than at home, where at home they are 10-2. The Rockets success has come from James Harden playing well enough to merit “MVP” talk, and the Rockets shooting the 3-pointer more than any other team by at least 5 3’s a game.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz finally seem to be climbing out of the Western Conference cellar and look to be a team to watch out for in the new year. The Jazz strength has always been having an elite defense in the Quin Synder era, and the offense had usually been middle-of-the-pack. This year it seems as they are putting it all together, being ranked 8th in the league in offensive efficiency and 2nd in defensive efficiency. The scary part is that they can be even better because they have had to deal with injuries throughout the season and are currently dealing with their new point guard George Hill missing his last 9 games and being measured on a week-to-week basis for return. The Utah Jazz sit in 5th place in the Western Conference and are 8-2 in their last 10, but look to see how they do this week as their opponents include the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors.

San Antonio Spurs

Greg Popovich’s squad is once again an elite team in the NBA and are quietly only one game behind the best record in the league. Spurs star Kawhi Leonard, ranked 5th among all players in ESPN’s Player Efficiency Rating, is averaging a career-high in points this season with 24. The most impressive aspect of the Spurs record is that they are 14-1 on the road compared to 8-4 at home, unlike last year where they lost only one game at home. Some are concerned with Pau Gasol’s production thus far, but similar to Lamarcus Aldridge last year, Gasol is being eased into the role seeing about 26 minutes a game, which is 5 less than what he averaged last year with the Bulls.

Who’s Not

Oklahoma City Thunder

There might not be an NBA team in the last 10 years that relies on one player for the team’s success as the Thunder rely on Russell Westbrook. When Russell Westbrook is on the court for the Thunder, the team’s net rating is 5.4, but when he is off the court the Thunder’s team rating plummets down to -14.4, which would be worse than the worst net rating of any current team by at least 6 points. The Thunder, who are 7th in the Western Conference, have had one of the easier schedules in the league, but still have not shown any signs that they can win sustainably with all the production coming largely from Westbrook. Although we have not reached the midpoint of the season it looks like they could regress into a New Orleans Pelican or Sacramento Kings team that have a marquee player (Anthony Davis and Demarcus Cousins), but still find themselves among one of the teams fighting for one of the last playoff spots.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers carried some high expectations coming into the season, but have disappointed many with their 13-16 record and sit in 8th place in the Western Conference standings. The Trail Blazers woes come from having the worst defense in the league with a defensive rating of 110.4, which can be partly atributed to elite defender Al-Farouq Aminu sitting out most of the season with injuries. There should be some positive regression for the Trail Blazers as they have had the second toughest schedule in the league, but the stuggles are not just on the court. Damian Lilliard called out the team after they were blown out by the Warriors saying that they “have to play with some damn heart and compete out there”,which is certainly not a good sign for their “team chemistry”.

Los Angeles Clippers

I fully expect the Clippers to make the playoffs and are not a “bad” team, but their early season shine has rubbed off and they still feel like they are missing a piece. Writers were ready to lock in the Clippers as the 2 seed in the West after a 14-2 start, but recent losses to the Wizards and Nets are reasons for concern. It does not help losing Blake Griffin for 3-6 weeks for a team that has one of the lowest rebound percentages in the league. The bright spot for the Clippers is Chris Paul who leads the league for Real Plus Minus, which measures a player’s impact on a team, but the Clippers have found little production from their wing players and have one of the worst benches in the league.

Photo by Ben Margot, Associated Press

*******

Follow us here on WordPress for Rockets and NBA content.