Apologies for the delay on this. Got sidetracked looking at LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Clyde Drexler earlier Monday.
The 15-13 Portland Trail Blazers went 1-3 last week, remaining No. 4 in the Northwest Division while dropping from No. 6 to No. 9 in the Western Conference. Here's this week's Power Rankings round-up. Last week's rankings, if available, appear in parentheses.
Marc Stein, ESPN.com: Blazers are No. 14 (No. 10)
The NBA's admission that it got the late goaltending call wrong in last Monday's heartbreaking home loss to the Thunder was so galling because the Blazers' late-game woes are only deepening. They're 1-9 now in games decided by five points or fewer ... 0-6 when the margin is three points or fewer.
John Hollinger, ESPN.com: Blazers are No. 5 (2)
John Schuhmann, NBA.com: Blazers are No. 15 (No. 14)
The Blazers won the first game of the season by four points. Since then, they're 0-9 in games decided by five points or less, including heartbreaking losses to the Thunder and Mavs last week. With the league's fifth-best point differential, they're a lot better than their record (which is 16th best) says they are.
David Aldridge, NBA.com: Blazers not in top-15 (No. 14)
Chris Sheridan, SheridanHoops.com: Blazers are No. 14 (No. 13)
Should have had a 2-2 week, but erroneous goaltending call cost them victory over OKC (a call that could ultimately cost them a playoff berth in crowded West race).
Kurt Helin, ProBasketballTalk.com: Blazers are No. 16 (13)
Two losses at home last week, they had had just one all season before that. They keep losing a lot of close games, and you expect that scale to balance out at some point.
Tom Ziller, SBNation.com: Blazers are No. 18 (No. 9)
It would be a much happier Valentine's Day potluck in Tualatin if Raymond Felton and Marcus Camby hadn't eaten all of the cupcakes.
Jeff Sagarin, USA Today: Blazers are No. 10 (No. 10)
John Hollinger of ESPN.com's advanced stat team rankings...
- No. 12 in Offensive Efficiency (same as last week)
- No. 4 in Defensive Efficiency ( same as last week)
- No. 9 in Pace (down from No. 6 last week)
- No. 16 in Rebound Rate (down from No. 9)
- Raymond Felton -- No. 45 among point guards
- Wesley Matthews -- No. 32 among shooting guards
- Jamal Crawford -- No. 13 among shooting guards
- Gerald Wallace -- No. 19 among small forwards
- Nicolas Batum -- No. 7 among small forwards
- LaMarcus Aldridge -- No. 2 among power forwards
- Marcus Camby -- No. 32 among centers
- Kurt Thomas -- No. 43 among centers
Blazers All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge is currently No. 16 in the NBA in dunks with 28, according to the CBSSports.com Dunk-O-Meter.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter