Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.

Week 6 is upon us and although Golden State remains #1, we have a new second place team: the Phoenix Suns. Last year the Suns were a surprise contender, managing a 51-21 record and a trip to the Finals, only to lose in 6 to the Milwaukee Bucks. This was the first successful season since the 2012 trade that ended the Steve Nash era. Not coincidentally, the Suns added veteran Chris Paul before the year via trade and that veteran presence at point guard helped Phoenix make the leap from 34-39 and no playoffs to the very doorstep of a title in just one year. Now 36, Paul is still playing at a high level (14.1 PPG, 10.4 ASP, 2.1 SPG) and has helped young stars Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton learn how to win. After a poor 1-3 start led to some speculation that last year was a mirage of sorts, Phoenix embarked on a 14 game win streak that’s still going as of this post. The Suns have both a great offense (3rd in the league in scoring 112.3 PPG, thanks to the highest FG% at 47.9%) and a solid defense (#11th in points allowed at 105.3). It looks like they’re going to be good as long as Chris Paul can keep up this level of play.

Unfortunately, the Warriors have both the best scoring offense (114.3 PPG) and the best scoring defense (100.8), so even though the standings indicate that they’re only one game better than the Suns, it looks like nobody, Phoenix included, is particularly close to Golden State at the moment, which is also reflected in the points lead they have in our rankings. Neither team has faced the toughest schedule (#21 for the Warriors and #27 for Phoenix), but the underlying stats are more convincing for Golden State.

Tough week for Detroit with 4 losses and no wins. They had 4th quarter leads (and probably should have won) each of those first three against the Warriors (minus Curry, Green, and others), the Lakers, and the Heat, but were out of the Milwaukee game in the first 5 minutes and never could quite get close after that. Pretty tough week schedule-wise, because although L.A. (#21) and Milwaukee (#14) are off to slow starts, they’re both title contenders. G.S. (#1) and Miami (#5) are obviously difficult match-ups as well. It’s been more of the same, playing teams tough but not quite getting over the hump, with the young players struggling for consistency. If the cold shooting by Detroit and the hot shooting by their opponents can regress to the mean a bit, the Pistons will win some games. Until then, the struggle is real.

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