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Winning when you play poorly is a trait you can't simply scoff at. In some cases, for some teams, you'd even call it a skill. So we've decided not to go overboard downgrading the Houston Rockets for their subpar performances against Philadelphia and Oklahoma City last week, even though the ESPN.com NBA Power Rankings committee (of one) certainly considered that approach. The reality is that you could make a case for the Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies or Golden State Warriors in the top spot on this Rankings Monday. Houston sports the league's No. 1 defense to offset the uncharacteristic shooting struggles (.383 from the floor) of an otherwise flourishing James Harden. The Grizz are merely one more basket in Milwaukee away from a 10-0 start. And the Warriors, whose net efficiency rating of plus-10.3 leads the league, could certainly make the argument that we've punished them too heavily for Tuesday's home loss to San Antonio. Maybe so. Maybe the Warriors, even though they were rested heading into Tuesday's play while the reigning champs were operating on the second night of a back-to-back, should have received more leeway from the committee so soon after rising to No. 1 last week. What can't be disputed is that the Western Conference, as you'd expect, is where the bulk of the power is found these days. All of the top five teams emanate from the West now that San Antonio has moved back up to No. 4 after sweeping that road back-to-back against the Los Angeles Clippers and Warriors, with Portland rising from No. 9 to No. 5 on the strength of Damian Lillard's big-time breakout after a slow start. Check the numbers now and you'll find Lillard averaging 20.6 points, 6.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 46.5 percent from behind the 3-point line. The Blazers, meanwhile, awoke Monday as one of just four teams in the league ranked in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency (joined by Golden State, Toronto and Chicago). Other teams who merit special mention in conjunction with the publication of the Week 3 Power Rankings: Cleveland's rise to No. 6 overall (and No. 1 in the East) thanks to a notable uptick in offensive efficiency; Miami's nosedive from No. 5 to No. 15 after following up such an impressive performance in Dallas with three especially limp losses; and jumps into the top 20 for two Eastern Conference teams -- No. 17 Milwaukee and No. 18 Indiana -- that no one expected to get that high so quickly. Friendly reminder: Join us again next Monday when the committee reconvenes to rank the teams 1 to 30 yet again and dissect that order here on Stein Line Live.
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