NBA Power Rankings: The Splash Brothers are back, and the rest of the league should be worried

It was only one game, but it was the first time in two seasons Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson appeared in a regular season game together. And barring setbacks or injuries, it should worry the rest of the league.

The Golden State Warriors demolished the Cleveland Cavaliers in Thompson’s comeback, with the shooting guard scoring 17 points on 7-18 shooting in 20 minutes. There was expected to be some rust, but Thompson was moving around well on both ends of the floor. As for Curry, he remained hot with 28 points, five assists and five rebounds. There will still be some load management for Thompson and he likely won’t play back-to-back sets for a while, but this was as good of a debut as possible for the Hall of Fame backcourt. When Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green are healthy, the Warriors have not lost in the West playoffs since the 2014-15 title run.

The Phoenix Suns have quietly kept pace with the Warriors and now have Deandre Ayton back after a stint in COVID protocols. The Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls have kept winning despite some personnel issues, although Chicago’s luck finally ran out against the Dallas Mavericks Sunday. The Mavericks have won nine straight themselves and are in the top 10 now.

Let’s take a look at Chinmay Vaidya’s power rankings for Week 13 of the NBA season.