Getty Gallery: 4/6
Tier 3: Upside Is There, but Concerns Are Obvious
There's a ton of talent in the third tier, but still looming question marks around these teams. In some instances, fans may be disappointed with the recent play or even the full season outlook from this group. It's tough to put talented teams outside of the top two tiers, but that certainly happened this week and the Los Angeles Lakers are proof of that.
Unfortunately, the Lake Show isn't the only well-respected and overall talented team who's been knocked down a peg as of late. King James and company have a few teams who may prove to be serious contenders hanging with them here.
8. Los Angeles Lakers
Last week: 9
The Lakers are a brutal team to try to figure out right now. They're 19-14 after the week and have gone back-and-forth from showing flashes of being legitimate contenders to looking average. LeBron James is going to continue to do a lot when it comes to carrying this team at points, but they haven't taken that huge step forward yet.
If or when that happens remains to be seen, but last week wasn't exactly ideal for the Lakers. They went 1-2 defeating the New Orleans Pelicans and falling to the Brooklyn Nets and Memphis Grizzlies. The two losses aren't horrible, but even going one step further back than that, it's fair to have questions about this group.
Although three of the four losses came during a road trip, the Lakers fell to the Houston Rockets by 15, Washington Wizards by 18 and then the Nets. Their only wins over the six-game span came against the Charlotte Hornets and Pelicans.
For what it's worth, LeBron and company did reel off six wins in the seven games prior to that, but that's where the issue of figuring this team out begins. We'll receive clarity soon enough, and the Lakers have a few tough matchups this coming week starting with the Golden State Warriors on Christmas.
Upcoming week's schedule: at Warriors, at Kings, vs. Clippers, vs. Kings
9. Houston Rockets
Last week: 11
The injury to Chris Paul couldn't have come at a worse time for the Rockets, who had finally started to turn a corner it seems. Prior to the game in which Paul got hurt, Houston had won five straight games. While the injury certainly hurts the immediate outlook, they did bounce back with a solid win against the Spurs to wrap up last week.
Overall, the Rockets may take a bit of a step back without Paul, but they've played far better as of late. Along with that, during the stretch in which they won five of six, James Harden and company have picked up a few solid wins. They knocked off the aforementioned Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, and Washington Wizards.
While there's still plenty of room to improve and the Rockets need to add another piece if they really want to become contenders, we're trending in the right direction. For good measure, if they manage to post a solid record without Paul, it'll massively boost their outlook and the media's overall confidence in them.
Upcoming week's schedule: vs. Thunder, vs. Celtics, at Pelicans
10. Boston Celtics
Last week: 8
It's tough to figure out exactly where to put the Celtics. On one hand, this is a team dealing with a fair share of injuries, but for the most part, they've had a decent amount of their core. Unfortunately, it just hasn't been at the same time in many cases. Kyrie Irving has been playing excellent as of late, but it wasn't enough during the most recent stretch.
Boston has lost three of their last four, including two games to start last week. The first loss came at home against the Phoenix Suns while the other was also a home game at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks. The Suns loss was a tough one to take and looks bad, but it's easy to forget the Celtics won eight games straight just recently.
Upcoming week's schedule: vs. 76ers, at Rockets, at Grizzlies
Tier four comes with question marks but a whole lot of talent as well.
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NBA Power Rankings Christmas: Bucks & Rockets on the Rise