Warriors jump 15 spots to No. 12 in ESPN power rankings as Lendeborg powers a five-game run
Golden State rose from 27th to 12th in ESPN's power rankings after five straight wins, with rookie Yaxel Lendeborg at the center of the turnaround.
Two weeks ago the Golden State Warriors were 0-3 and sitting near the bottom of the league. They have since won five straight, and the latest ESPN NBA power rankings moved them from 27th to 12th. That 15-spot climb is the biggest of any team in this edition. Memphis, at eight spots, and Dallas, at nine, were the closest.
The network's panel gives most of the credit to Yaxel Lendeborg. Anthony Slater writes that the No. 11 pick in June's draft has already put up games of 26, 26, 31 and 37 points. The 37 came with six 3-pointers in a win over the LA Clippers, and Stephen Curry and Draymond Green both sat out that night. When Curry was asked what had changed during the streak, he answered with the rookie's nickname. Slater adds that the Warriors never won five in a row at any point last season. He describes the 24-year-old, 6-foot-10 forward as someone who already looks like roughly a top-30 player. Steve Kerr went further. "Changes everything," the coach said, according to ESPN.
The streak also held up through a heated finish. ESPN separately reported that Green was ejected after a scuffle with Dillon Brooks and the Suns in the most recent game. Curry said the incident fired up the team, and Golden State held on to win 116-113.
The rankings now put the Warriors one spot behind Minnesota, whom they beat 119-114 on the road during the run. Houston (7-1), Detroit and Philadelphia hold the top three spots.
What it means against Miami
Golden State is 5-3 heading into Thursday's home game against the Miami Heat on NBA TV. The two halves of the season so far look very different. In the three opening losses (at the Lakers, home to Memphis and at Phoenix), the Warriors were outscored by an average of about 11 points. In the five wins since, they averaged 121 points and allowed just under 110, which works out to about 11.4 points per game in their favor. The run started with a 134-114 win in Denver and also included a 112-95 home win over the Lakers, the team that beat them by 22 on opening night. Across all eight games the Warriors are plus-23.
Miami comes in at 2-5 and ranked 19th by ESPN. The Heat also get a hard turn in the schedule, since they play the Clippers on Wednesday and then visit Chase Center the next night on the back end of a back-to-back. ESPN's Bobby Marks points to defense as Miami's problem. The Heat have the fourth-worst defense in the league and have given up an average of 125 points in their five losses, including 138 to the Lakers on Monday. That is a tough matchup for a team that has struggled to get stops against a Golden State offense that has topped 110 in every game of its winning streak.
The homestand continues with Orlando on Saturday and New Orleans next Monday. After that, the Warriors face top-ranked Houston on the road on Nov. 11, which should be a clearer measure of how real the climb is.
