MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2016 SPORTS KUWAIT TIMES NBA POWER RANKINGS By Ahmad Jabr KUWAIT: In addition to its usual coverage of the NBA, Kuwait Times introduces a new feature this year: the NBA Power Rankings. It is a weekly list ranking each team based on its performance during the week. The actual record for each team (put between brackets, for games played as of Sunday morning in Kuwait’s local time) plays a role in the assessment process but is not the main factor for deciding each team’s ranking, thus making it different from traditional league standings. In this week’s edition, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers lead the pack ahead of their highly anticipated finals’ rematch in this year’s Christmas Day specials. (For any comments or suggestions, e-mail the writer at: [email protected]) 1- Golden State Warriors (27 - 4) Last week: agent-to-be forward Paul Millsap remains with 1 - During their ongoing seven-game winning the team or gets traded before then. streak, the Warriors have shown the type of the offensive juggernaut it was feared to 16- Indiana Pacers (15 - 16) Last week: 15 - become when Kevin Durant joined the team The Pacers entered Sunday holding on to the Kuwait Team seen in action at the GCC wheelchair basketball championship.—KUNA this past offseason. Their narrow win over the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference stand- Pistons on Friday brought them down to earth ings, ahead of their matchup against ninth- a little, and set up for an exciting Christmas place Chicago. Their up-and-down season has Day clash against the Cavs. led star Paul George to proclaim that inconsis- Kuwait wins GCC wheelchair tency has become synonymous with his 2- Cleveland Cavaliers (22 - 5) Last week: 4 - team’s identity. basketball championship Speaking of the defending champs, the Cavs entered Sunday’s showdown riding their own 17- Washington Wizards (13 - 16) Last ABU DHABI: The Kuwaiti team on wave of momentum behind their own four- week: 18 - The Wizards had a doubtful result Saturday won the 8th GCC Wheelchair game winning streak, winning nine of their in its early test against fellow Eastern Basketball Championship in a row last 10, and fresh off seeing LeBron James sur- Conference playoff contenders, losing to the after beating Saudi Arabia 62-56 in pass Moses Malone to become eighth in the Bucks and Pacers and beating the struggling the final. The winners are likely to be list of the NBA’s career leaders for points. Bulls last week. The test continues with match- honored later in Abu Dhabi following es against the Bucks and Pacers tonight and the match between UAE and Bahrain 3- San Antonio Spurs (24 - 6) Last week: 2 - Wednesday respectively. for the third and fourth places. Saudi The Spurs ended the Rockets’ 10-game win- Arabia dominated today’s game at the ning streak with a road win over Houston 18- Detroit Pistons (14 - 18) Last week: 16 - beginning, but the Kuwaiti players Tuesday, before losing to the Clippers in Los During their current five-game losing streak, managed to perform well in the sec- Angeles two nights later; only their second the Pistons allowed their opponents to score ond half, raising their points until the road loss this season. Strong performance out- an average of 117.5, and their defensive woes end of the match. side of their home court will come especially have drawn the ire of outspoken coach Stan There were a number of counter- valuable come playoffs time. Van Gundy. They pushed the Warriors to the attacks made by both teams, but limit on Friday but came up short of securing a Kuwaitis could at the end of the 4- Toronto Raptors (21 - 8) Last week: 5 - victory in the end. match outperform the rivals. The Raptors found some success last week Following the win, Shafi Al-Hajri, tournament as well as technical skills the technical and administrative behind solid play from Player-of-the-Week 19- Sacramento Kings (13 - 17) Last week: president of Kuwait Disabled Sport of Kuwaitis, he said. Fahad Abdullah, a teams that contributed to wining the DeMar DeRozan, but it was fellow backcourt 21 - The Kings have won three straight games Club, extolled Kuwaiti players’ per- member of Kuwaiti administrative match. The training camp held in teammate Kyle Lowry’s heroics that were and six of their last 10, but most importantly, formance during today’s competition team, told KUNA in a statement that Turkey in preparation for the game instrumental in his team’s last three wins; DeMarcus Cousins has been unstoppable as so as to maintain the title for the 8th the players won the tournament, helped the team achieve its goals, he especially on Friday against Utah. of late, averaging around 29 points per game year in a row. He told KUNA in a state- thanks to excellent exercises and stressed. Abdul-Elah Al-Megren, head in December, and even scoring 32 points ment that the Kuwaiti players made a training. He said the team was deter- of Saudi team’s delegation, congratu- 5- Houston Rockets (22 - 9) Last week: 3 - (including three 3-pointers) against the brilliant show, despite the difficulty of mined to snatch the championship lated the Kuwaiti team on maintaining Losing to the Spurs at home and seeing their Wolves’ frontcourt of Karl-Anthony Towns and the competition and the developed and return home with the trophy. the title, noting that his country’s 10-game winning streak get snapped did not Gorgui Dieng on Friday. levels of the Gulf teams in this tourna- For his part, Ahmad Al-Shatti, the team was about to win the game, but probably hurt as much as their loss to the ment in particular. Today’s achieve- team’s assistant coach, lauded the failed as Kuwaitis were determined to Grizzlies on Friday, which gave them a glim- 20- Denver Nuggets (12 - 18) Last week: 20 ment was made due to excellent Kuwaiti team for adherence by the snatch the title. Bahrain defeated mer of the tough defense they are surely to - The Nuggets gave up an eight-point lead team-work and experiences for the directions and instructions made by Oman 54-49 today. — KUNA expect and will have to figure out a way to with less than two minutes remaining on deal with should they intend to make a deep Friday, and allowed the Hawks to go on a 9-0 playoff run. run and snatch a 109-108 victory. A win there would have made Denver winners of four of 6- Los Angeles Clippers (22 - 9) Last week: 6 their last five games. - The Clippers beat the Spurs on Thursday despite playing without injured forward Blake 21- Orlando Magic (14 - 18) Last week: 24 - Griffin, then lost to the Mavs the following The Magic blocked a franchise-record nine night when Chris Paul sat out for injury as well. shots in the first quarter alone (11 total) in While they hope to stay competitive as Griffin their victory over the Lakers on Friday, which is recovers from his mandatory annual long-term a testimony to their recently improved injury, the Clippers know for sure they are defense that ranked eighth in the league in going nowhere without their star point guard. the last five games. 7- Memphis Grizzlies (20 - 12) Last week: 8 - 22- Portland Trail Blazers (13 - 19) Last week: Memphis’ gritty defense returned to form as of 19 - Damian Lillard played well for the Blazers late. The Grizzlies entered Sunday’s Christmas over the past couple of weeks, but there is little Day games ranked first in the NBA in defensive that he could do when his team allowed their ratings, allowing their opponents to score only opponents to score an average of 122 (!) points an average of 99.7 points so far this season. in its last five games - all losses. They will need a And while the same cannot be said about their lot of luck when they host the league’s best offense, they had no problem outshooting the offense, the Raptors, on Wednesday. Rockets in their 115-109 victory on Friday. Prized trio from same high 23- Miami Heat (10 - 21) Last week: 23 - 8- Oklahoma City Thunder (18 - 12) Last There is no doubt that Shaquille O’Neal school finally together at BYU week: 9 - ‘Mr Triple Double’ is back at it again. deserves to have his no. 32 jersey retired in In Oklahoma’s Friday win over Boston, Russell Miami, as he played an extremely important PROVO: BYU coach Dave Rose has aspirations of where we wanted to play, Westbrook recorded his 14th triple-double role in the team’s first title win and in setting been waiting for this moment for four but ultimately we just wanted to play this season and 51st in his career, while also up a winning culture for the franchise. In four years. The program struck recruiting with each other. And find a good school snapping the Celtics’ streak of 230 straight seasons with the Heat, O’Neal averaged 19.6 gold when it landed the major pieces that fits within what we do offensively.” games without allowing a triple-double. points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. from the 2012-13 Lone Peak High The plan may have been laid out years School national championship team - ago, but all parties had to be patient. 9- Utah Jazz (18 - 13) Last week: 7 - Injuries 24- Minnesota Timberwolves (9 - 20) Last four-star recruits Nick Emery, Eric Mika Mika was a senior on the national have left a dent on an otherwise very solid week: 27 - With Zach LaVine’s 40 points in and T.J.