Power Rankings: Bucks, Wiz, Clips streak up charts
Updated: November 7, 2005, 12:06 PM ET
Week: Team:
Even for an early edition of the NBA Power Rankings, when you're expecting some shuffling, there's a lot of movement to contemplate already.
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But that's what happens when the best basketball of the first week comes from a certifiable surprise team (Milwaukee) and a slew of significant injuries -- suffered by Nene, Tracy McGrady and, of course, Shaquille O'Neal -- afflicts other clubs near the top.
Read on to find out why San Antonio held on to Marc Stein's No. 1 slot, how the upstart Bucks jumped from No. 13 to No. 5, and just how far Houston and Denver have fallen.
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| 2005-06 Power Rankings: Week 1 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |  | -- Last Week: 1 | Spurs are such heavy title favorites that one loss can't drop 'em. But as Brent Barry notes: ''I guess we can put to rest all those rumors about us going undefeated.'' | |
| 2 |  | 1 Last Week: 3 | The opposition hasn't been top-shelf, true, but the transition to the new coach seems to be off to a rather smooth, focused start. | |
| 3 |  | 1 Last Week: 2 | Shaq goes down against Indy, Pacers escape Miami with a win ... and then it's Pacers who stumble at home to Philly the next time out? Huh? | |
| 4 |  | 4 Last Week: 8 | The comeback in Phoenix and the home rout of San Antonio -- as well as the flashes of good D in both -- made more of an impression here than the setback in Utah. | |
| 5 |  | 8 Last Week: 13 | Bucks have to be Team O' The Week, with a couple candidates for Player O' The Week (Redd and T.J. Ford). Bogut's week wasn't bad, either, was it? | |
| 6 |  | 2 Last Week: 8 | Amare-less Suns have just started a five-game homestand ... but perhaps that's not such great news after the torturous manner of their losses to Dallas and Sacto. | |
| 7 | New Jersey 2-1 | 2 Last Week: 9 | J-Kidd, RJ and Vinsanity, according to Kidd, are a modern-day Run TMC. Maybe so, but after all the good press lately, losing to Milwaukee was a jolt. | |
| 8 |  | 6 Last Week: 14 | Don't get carried away even with this jump. A 3-0 start is a 3-0 start, but Wiz haven't racked up many strength-of-schedule points yet in beating Raps, Knicks and Magic. | |
| 9 |  | 4 Last Week: 5 | The only solace for SVG with Shaq out is that the coach can't be under the microscope when one of the two franchise players is injured. Can he? | |
| 10 |  | 5 Last Week: 15 | What does Smush have in common with Kareem, Wilkes, Ceballos and Shaq? True story: They're the only five Lakers ever to score at least 20 in their first two games with the team, which includes the Minneapolis/Mikan days. | |
| 11 |  | 13 Last Week: 24 | How many guesses would you need to identify the only team in the West that hasn't lost yet? A few, I'm guessing, before you went with Clips. | |
| 12 |  | -- Last Week: 12 | Suggested SportsNation poll: Which is the uglier look -- Pau's scraggly beard or the sight of Battier with a nasty head wound? | |
| 13 |  | 9 Last Week: 22 | AK-47 is filling up box scores again and the rookie Williams looks OK, but Boozer's ongoing absence slices into the optimism somewhat. | |
| 14 |  | 8 Last Week: 6 | Interim coach Scotty Brooks said it best: After a nightmare start, Nuggets already need an ''early-season turnaround'' from rally specialist Furious George. | |
| 15 |  | 11 Last Week: 4 | If Denver's outlook has changed, how about Houston's? Rockets won't be doing any playoff damage if T-Mac doesn't shake these back and knee woes. | |
| 16 |  | 5 Last Week: 11 | Despite going 13-2 after an 0-3 start last season, Kings really didn't want to try their luck twice. Hence their relief to pull out Sunday night's thriller in Phoenix. | |
| 17 |  | 1 Last Week: 16 | As if they didn't already know it, Warriors needed only one week to reconfirm that their whole season rides on Baron's durability. They're 2-0 with him, 0-1 without him. | |
| 18 | Seattle 1-1 | 1 Last Week: 17 | Sonics Nation is undoubtedly thinking that a loss to Clips on Opening Night isn't the worst karma. Except when Supes did it last season, it wasn't at home like this time. | |
| 19 |  | 9 Last Week: 10 | LeBron hasn't been the problem in Cavs' two defeats, but they do need even more from him (only 11 boards so far) with this group still getting to know each other. | |
| 20 |  | 2 Last Week: 18 | There's not much you can dissect at this juncture except to say that OT has not been kind at all to KG and Co. so far. | |
| 21 | NO/Oklahoma City
2-1 | 8 Last Week: 29 | Hornets should pay to fly me in for all of their season openers at home. They're 2-0 in the two I've covered ... with an average win margin of 25.5 points. | |
| 22 | Charlotte 2-1 | 4 Last Week: 26 | The first winning record in franchise history is nice. Nice, though, could (and should) be even nicer: Bobcats blew a 3-0 start with that giveaway in Chicago. | |
| 23 |  | 2 Last Week: 21 | They will not start 0-9 again, but that's all we know for sure. It's too soon to know whether to focus on the big deficit or the big comeback vs. Charlotte. | |
| 24 |  | 5 Last Week: 19 | Sixers can only hope Dalembert is an All-World defender. Because they're giving up 111 ppg without him, even after winning in Indy. | |
| 25 |  | 2 Last Week: 23 | They've been to OT twice already and lost another game at the buzzer. So they're young and exciting, at least for starters. | |
| 26 |  | 2 Last Week: 28 | The good news: Blazers' next road game isn't until Nov. 20. The bad news: Blazers are scoring just a basket more per game than Orlando. | |
| 27 |  | 7 Last Week: 20 | With an 0-3 start and the next six games on the road out West, is it too early to say Larry misses Pistons more than they miss him? | |
| 28 |  | 3 Last Week: 25 | Winning without Grant Hill is obviously a problem, but the first step is learning how to score without Grant Hill. Magic are at a measly 80.7 ppg so far. | |
| 29 |  | 2 Last Week: 27 | Three roadies out West -- two routs and a one-point defeat -- add up to a tough first assignment for young, mourning Hawks. | |
| 30 |  | -- Last Week: 30 | Interesting. Now that the games have started, I haven't been getting as many ''You're crazy to put Toronto that low'' e-mails. | |
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