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Power Rankings are a funny thing. But people love to make ordered lists and then talk about them, so we do get a new set of NBA Power Rankings to discuss every week. And since they are weekly, the performance during that seven-day period -- a seven day period that in reality represents about 4% of the regular season -- figures into a team's positioning.
The Clippers have won five straight games, the last four wins coming during the past seven days. Those wins came against some decent Western Conference teams, including a decisive win against the San Antonio Spurs. So the Clippers consequently make a move up the power rankings this week.
The reality is that there are five teams that have five or six losses, while the Clippers have nine, so it's difficult to make a case for anything higher than sixth right now. Nonetheless the Clippers did wind up ahead of some of those other teams on a couple of lists based on the strength of their week.
The average ranking for the week (after tossing out the highest ranking and the lowest ranking) is 5.5.
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| Source | Pundit | Rank(LAC) | Comment |
| ESPN.com | Marc Stein | 5 | Just to reiterate what sort of onslaught the surging Clips survived Sunday night: Kevin Love is the first player since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1996 to rumble for at least 45 points, 19 boards and 6 assists in a single game. Before that? Bob McAdoo did it twice in the 1970s for my Buffalo Braves. |
| Yahoo.com | Marc Spears | 6 | There will be no good tidings when the Clippers visit Golden State on Christmas. The Pacific Division contenders hate each other. |
| SI.com | Matt Dollinger | 5 | Starter jacket. For former Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford, who has dazzled since being moved into the Clippers' starting lineup. Even better, Los Angeles is 5-0 since making the move. Even when J.J. Redick does come back, the Clips would be crazy to mess with success like this. |
| CBS Sports | Matt Moore | 6 | Four straight wins by double-digits, three against teams in the playoffs if the postseason started today. Maybe they're starting to get it together. |
| Pro Basketball Talk | Kurt Helin | 5 | Winners of five in a row and while we expect their offense to be strong (115.4 points per 100 possessions in those five) their defense has given up just 97.7 points per 100, sixth best in the league in that stretch. As we have said from the start, if the Clippers defend they are a real threat. |
| NBA.com | John Schuhmann | 5 | The Clippers have come a long way defensively. They ranked 30th on that end through their first 11 games and rank first through 12 games in December. But they haven't played any elite offensive teams in this stretch (the Spurs haven't been at their best), and to keep that No. 1 Defense of the Month title, they'll have to slow down the No. 1 offense on the second night of a back-to-back in Portland. |
| NBA.com | David Aldridge | 4 | Since calling himself out on Twitter a week or so ago for poor play, Jared Dudley is 28 of 53 (52.8 percent) from the floor. |
| SB Nation | Jason Patt | 6 | The Clippers have won five games in a row, with the latest an absolute theft of a victory against the Timberwolves on Sunday. Blake Griffin has been excellent during the five-game win streak, averaging 24.0 points and 10.8 rebounds while adding to his highlight reel. |
| Sheridan Hoops | Brian Kamenetsky | 6 | Perfect week at home. Four games, four wins. DeAndre Jordan has two single-digit rebounding games in his last 20. Crawford averaging about 20 as a starter but under 40 percent from the floor. |
| USA Today | 6 | It turns out Jamal Crawford as a starter is not all that different from Jamal Crawford as a sixth man. |
| WP | MOV | RPI | SRS | Hollinger | |
| Total | .690 | 6.00 | .552 | 6.40 | 107.544 |
| Rank | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 |