How the major power rankings view the Miami Heat: January 14th

With another week in the books across the NBA, it’s time to check in on the major power rankings to get a pulse on their perception of the Miami Heat.

It ended up being a rough week for the Miami Heat. In a three-game road trip, the Heat recorded a win against the Indiana Pacers before taking two bad losses in the state of New York against the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks.

In our newest weekly feature, we’ll take stock of those outlets and their evaluation of the Heat. We’ll also take their total rankings and produce an average in order to give a clearer idea of how the group at large estimates them.

If there’s an outlet that we miss that you read regularly and would like to see it included, let us know on Twitter at @AllUCanHeat1.

Let’s get started.

NBA.com: 7th (previously 4th)

It’s no surprise that the Heat should be in free fall in the power rankings, and NBA.com gets us started off in the right direction. The Heat only dropped three spots, which seems generous after the week they just had.

An excerpt from John Shuhmann:

"The Heat are still just percentage points behind the second-place Celtics, but have seemingly lost their defense-first identity a bit. They rank 25th defensively since Christmas, with the one strong defensive game of the nine they’ve played since then being the one — Jan. 2 against Toronto — in which they played zone for most of the final three quarters. They now rank 30th in opponent field goal percentage in the restricted area, having allowed a season-high 60 points in the restricted area at Madison Square Garden on Sunday."

ESPN: 4th (previously 5th)

So… ESPN had the Heat go up one notch after going 0-2 against the imploding Nets and the Knicks…

I got nothing.

An excerpt from ESPN staff:

"Miami has largely avoided letdown games this season, but boy did the Heat have one Sunday against the Knicks. These kinds of lackluster performances are excused, as long as it doesn’t start happening consistently."

CBS Sports: 9th (previously 7th)

CBS has a more reasonable take on the Heat this week, dropping them two notches. This places them behind the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference hierarchy.

An excerpt from Colin Ward-Henninger:

"Justise Winslow returned for one game before suffering a setback, and now he’s going to see a back specialist. The Heat defense has been awful for the last 10 games, ranking 22nd in the NBA at 112.6 points allowed per 100 possessions."

Yahoo Sports: 8th (previously 5th)

Yahoo opted to drop the Miami Heat three spots, and we get it. It’s fair.

An excerpt from Tommy Beer:

"Like many a tourist visiting the Big Apple, the Heat had an awful weekend in New York City. On Friday in Brooklyn, they lost to the Nets despite leading by 12 points at halftime. And on Sunday, they allowed the Knicks to score 40 points in the fourth quarter in a loss to New York."

Bleacher Report: 10th (previously 8th)

Bleacher Report, our final outlet, dropped the Heat by two notches. It’s an outlet that has been low on the Heat from the start, but this is an entirely reasonable placing for them.

An excerpt from Grant Hughes:

"Miami is the league leader in free-throw rate, and you’d think crafty, aggressive foul-drawing would travel. But the Heat get to the line significantly less on the road, and it costs them a couple of points per game. Paired with poor road rebounding, that seemingly small difference can loom large."

Make sure to check back next week for our power rankings breakdown.