Stupid Power Rankings (Week 24 of the 2020-21 NBA Season)

Features, Power Rankings, WNBA Leave a comment

People LOVE Power Rankings in sports. It’s pretty stupid. So, of course, I have MY Stupid Power Rankings. I take 10 things from the NBA and WNBA (or not) in the past week and rank them accordingly. You don’t like them? Make your own rankings!

Playoffs! Game-winners! Speculation! All here in this week’s list.

1) The Audacity of Atlanta

Is Trae Young the new villain of the NBA? Well, in New York, he certainly was. You know how he did against the Knicks. And in his final blow for this season, he made a three in the middle of the Madison Square Garden fans giving the Knicks a standing ovation for their performance (which quite frankly surpassed all expectations) this season. After that three, he took a bow as he was showered with boos from the Garden.

I love it. And then the Hawks went into Philly, stole Game 1, and ended with a defiant alley-oop to John Collins.

If they’re the new bad guys, bring it on.

2) Brittney Jams It In Again

For the second week in a row, we had another Brittney Griner jam. This time around, she drove baseline for it. We were talking about how we rarely see dunks in the WNBA and we got two from Griner in a span of two weeks.

She now has 16 of the 24 WNBA dunks in history (including all-star games).

3) Kia Nurse With The Eurostep Fling

What a wild shot this was. The Mercury certainly had plenty of time to call a timeout and set up for a shot but Kia Nurse decided it was now or never. She EUROSTEPPED in front of Courtney Vandersloot and flung a 30-footer that went in and beat the buzzer. What a shot. What a win.

4) Arike Ogunbowale Does It Again

This was a counter to a previous shot later in the list. But Arike Ogunbowale is the most terrifying player in situations like this. And she did it again; this time, it was against the defending champions. This gave them the lead and the win.

5) Jewell Loyd Keeps Doing This

And this is said shot Arike countered. In their previous match-up, the teams were tied at 102. Stephanie Talbot missed Breanna Stewart cutting to the basket but Jewell Loyd got it, put it up, and swished it. Worst that could happen here was overtime but Jewell said they weren’t doing that.

6) Liz Cambage Laughing at the Post

Liz Cambage got on the post against Tina Charles, who is NOT a small player at 6’4″. No big deal. Liz (all 6’8″ of her) LAUGHED it off, posted up against Tina, and made the shot.

I want to have that much fun like Liz.

7) Dame Time in Denver

Damian Lillard did all he could. He went for 55-6-10 and made incredible shot after incredible shot. But Denver still survived that Game 5 onslaught. The Nuggets would go on to win the series but that indelible effort by Lillard won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Ainsworth/AP.)

8) That Weird Clippers/Mavs Series

It was such a weird series. The Mavs weren’t really expected to make this competitive but they won the first two games in L.A. And then for the first 6 games, neither team won at home. Kawhi Leonard scored 45 to save the Clippers in Game 6.

Then suddenly, everything returned to normal in Game 7. If anything, it was an anticlimactic win by the Clippers.

We did see Luka Doncic be brilliant. But now it appears that this roster needs some fine-tuning. The Clips will now face Utah.

(VIDEO CREDIT: Yoboimo.)

9) The Lakers’ Title Defense Ended in a Whimper

The Suns/Lakers series was riddled with untimely injuries. First, Chris Paul‘s shoulder put the Suns in jeopardy. He would eventually recover. But on the other side, Anthony Davis hurt his groin. He tried to make a go at it in Game 6 but he was out after 5 minutes. The Lakers were making it a competitive series but then injuries (likely due to fatigue, too) took over.

Both finalists were eliminated in the first round. We’re going to have a new champion for this season.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Bruce Ely/Portland TrailBlazers.)

10) The Dame Speculation, Which is Part of a Huge Problem

I’ve always been irritated by trade speculation. And I think, more than ever, this sort of thing is a huge problem. I’d love to talk about the very fun playoff series that are going on but instead, people want to talk about where so-and-so is going. ESPECIALLY Damian Lillard, who has said time and time again that he doesn’t want to leave Portland. Yet it doesn’t stop from the talking heads from saying he’s going to go to New York. Dude. Just stop. When it happens, fine; talk about it. But let’s not play guessing games on what could happen 4 years from now. I don’t even remember what I had for dinner last night.

Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.

You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.

You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.

R.I.P. Nala.

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