NBA Power Rankings, Week 11

Health and safety protocols continue to be a concern around the league. Several stars sat out their teams’ Christmas Day matchups, including Trae Young, Luka Doncic and Kevin Durant, though James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to action for Saturday’s slate of games.

Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks past the Boston Celtics, while Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors took the rubber match against the Phoenix Suns. Harden and the Brooklyn Nets overcame LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on the final Saturday of the year.

In the last Power Rankings of 2021, our NBA experts break down each team’s New Year’s resolutions. How can the league-best Warriors and Suns get even better? Can Kyrie Irving improve the Nets as a part-time player? Can the Bucks’ Big Three stay healthy? Can James and the Lakers find consistency in the new year?

What about the teams fighting for contention? Who needs to add a player before the deadline? Here’s where all 30 teams can improve in 2022.

Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.

1. Golden State Warriors
2021-22 record: 27-6
Previous ranking: 2

After knocking off the Suns on Christmas Day, Steve Kerr and Co. don’t appear to have many worries. The key for this group is to get healthy and keep the momentum rolling in the second half of the season. In the short term, that means getting Andrew Wiggins, Damion Lee, Jordan Poole and Moses Moody out of health and safety protocols and getting Klay Thompson (ACL and Achilles rehab) and James Wiseman (meniscus rehab) back in the next few weeks. — Friedell