NBA Power Rankings week 10: OKC Thunder vault up ladder

Golden State Warriors:

Offense: (104.0) 27th
Defense: (111.8) 23rd
Net: (minus -7.8) 27th

Games Week 10 (3-1): Beat Wolves: 113-104, Rockets: 116-104, Suns: 105-96 Lost to Mavericks: 121-141
Games Week 11 (3 games): Tues at Spurs | Thurs at Wolves | Sat vs. Pistons

After nine weeks the Warriors had six wins and just as we were writing them off they pull off half that many wins in one week and delivered four wins in a row. That one of those victories came on Christmas Day over the Rockets might indicate the Warriors weren’t amused by all the jokes and bets that James Harden was going to score 50 points before half time.

Instead, the Dubs held Harden to 24 points although he did hit six 3-pointers. The big news was the team who has ranked at or near the bottom defensively for most of the season found a way to defend Harden without fouling. His single trip to the charity stripe punctuated their success and no doubt their counterparts will all examine the film to see if they can emulate the effort.

In the loss to the Mavericks, D’Angelo Russell gave the Chase Center crowd a scare when he dove for a ball and went headfirst into Luka Doncic‘s hip. Russell laid immobile on the court for an extended time eliciting the stretcher to be brought on the court although he ended up walking off with his own power and then returned to the match later.

Marquese Chriss got a bit testy with Doncic later in the match launching him backward into the cameras. It’s something we’ve witnessed Chriss do over his career and demonstrates the youngster’s inability to recognize time and appropriate action.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Warriors (and Pelicans) suddenly performing well is the chase pack grouping suddenly got bigger. And, if the Warriors can stay close to the pack until Curry returns it will put a whole new spin on how teams close the stretch!