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NBA Power Rankings: Where Are The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets In ESPN’s NBA Power Rankings?

By Kenneth Teape

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NBA Power Rankings: The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets faced off for the first time this season last week; did that game have an impact on their standing in ESPN’s NBA Power Rankings?

Each week over at ESPN, they release their NBA Power Rankings that are written by Marc Stein. Here at Empire Writes Back, we will have our weekly reaction to where the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets are ranked by Stein and a little feedback on the rankings as a whole.

The Knicks and Nets played each other for the first time this season last week, and for the Knicks it was a great time; the same cannot be said for the Nets. The Knicks blew the Nets out essentially from the opening tip, scoring a season-high 42 points in the first quarter on the back of an impressive showing from the three-point line.

That was the second blowout victory in the week for the Knicks, who also blew out the Philadelphia 76ers last Wednesday. It was a good win for the Knicks, who avoided the embarrassment of losing to the 76ers. Despite them getting their first win against the Los Angeles Lakers earlier in the week, it still would have been an unacceptable loss.

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Coming off those two victories, the Knicks were feeling good going into their third meeting, second on the road, against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks came into the game extremely shorthanded, but looked like the fully healthy team as they blew the Knicks out of the water, winning 106-91.

Despite having a 2-1 record in the week. the Knicks were dropped one spot in the Power Rankings, falling from 18 to 19. They are looking at an uphill battle to move up next week as well, as the first meeting between Kristaps Porzingis and Dirk Nowitzki did not go well for the Knicks; they were getting blown out most of the second half until some Porzingis heroics made the score a more respectable 104-97. Now they will be heading on a three-game trip through the West Coast, playing the Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers.

For the Nets, the week started out strong. They defeated the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night by three points for some positive momentum going into their crosstown rivalry game against the Knicks. That is where the good moments ended, as they got blown out of Madison Square Garden with ease. The only highlight to come from that game was a highlight blocked shot by Shane Larkin that looked like something out of a videogame or movie.

That was about all the Nets could excited about during the week. If they thought playing the Knicks wasn’t enjoyable, it’s hard to imagine what they thought about Sunday night trying to slow down the Golden State Warriors. After playing the Warriors so tough earlier in the season in Golden State, the Warriors brought it at Barclay’s Center this past Sunday and defeated the Nets with relative ease.

The Warriors knocked down 14-of-33 from deep, led by Stephen Curry and his 28 points, as he knocked down 5-of-9 from deep by himself. Jarrett Jack struggled to keep up, and without rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson the Nets were unable to slow down the Warriors much.

That will be a problem for the foreseeable future for the Nets, as Hollis-Jefferson has to undergo surgery on his ankle. What was originally thought to be an ankle sprain turned out to be a broken bone, and he does not have a timetable to return. The Nets defense will suffer greatly without him as he is one of their strongest and most versatile defenders on the roster.

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The poor week dropped the Nets in the Power Rankings, as the only thing between them and the cellar are the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers, who seem poised to take up permanent residence in the bottom two spots all season. They will look to move back up this week as they are in the middle of their six-game homestand and will host the Houston Rockets, 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers this week.

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