On January 18, the NBA officially announced the latest issue of the strength list, the Memphis Grizzlies jumped to the first place in the league, the Phoenix Suns second in the league, and the Golden State Warriors fell to the third place in the league.
For the Grizzlies, although their 11-game winning streak ended last week, it didn't in any way affect the assessment of the team's strength, given that they had played eight games in the past 12 days and that they had twice beaten the Golden State Warriors, who were then the league leaders.
The Grizzlies' offensive side has been particularly prominent throughout the winning streak, with data showing that they rank fourth in the league in terms of offensive efficiency and seventh in the league so far this season. In addition, the Grizzlies rank second in the league in offensive rebounding efficiency and first in the league in secondary offensive scoring.
The Suns have also risen 1 place in their ranking compared to last week. To put it simply, two weeks ago, the Warriors and Utah Jazz were the only two teams in the league to rank in the top six on both ends of the league. Now, only the Suns can do that, and they're number one offensively and third defensively in January.
The Golden State Warriors slipped from no. 1 to no. 3 in last week's power rankings, and although they have welcomed back Klay Thompson in the past week, the Warriors have lost five of their last seven games, including four consecutive road trips, during which time their offense has dropped sharply to 29th in the league, and the team can only score 96 points per 100 games after the victory over the Chicago Bulls.
The fourth to sixteenth in the power list are: Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks (sixteenth).
The Los Angeles Lakers are ranked 20th this week, down three places from 17th last week. During its three-game losing streak, the team had big problems defending, conceding up as many as 130 points per 100 possessions.