NBA Power Rankings: Warriors Still in First

First, it was Blake Griffin returning to the Los Angeles Clippers. Then, Dwight Howard made his return to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. Both Paul George and Derrick Rose are expected to follow shortly.

Miraculously, the Rockets have been able to hold things together and it is primarily for that reason that James Harden has emerged as my Most Valuable Player. The case for him gets even stronger if the Rockets can somehow chase down the Memphis Grizzlies for the second seed out West—something that was given greater odds of occurring after the Cleveland Cavaliers beat up on them in Memphis on Wednesday. With LeBron James leading the way and David Blatt doing a better than advertised job for the franchise, the sky is truly the limit.

Of course, we can’t refer to the sky without calling out the team that has led the way, almost interrupted, from day one. That would be the Golden State Warriors.

On Tuesday night, by virtue of their defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, the Warriors clinched their first Pacific Division title in 39 years and will likely clinch the top seed in the Western Conference in short order.

Clearly, it’s the Warriors leading the charge. As usual.