A complicated week two of the 2019 Rec. Basketball season has passed. A weekend filled with emotions as teams finally found their form, some completely dominated the opposition while some hid in their shells. Here are the Week Two Power Rankings and Review.

1. Warriors: ( – ) W vs. Wizards – W vs. Spurs: The Warriors remain the top seed as they have not tasted defeat in their first four games. Junior Jack Magane had 28 points against the Wizards that was followed up by a solid 23 against the Spurs. Magane and the Warriors are consistently averaging 72 points per game. “I do not think we have played our best basketball yet and we are still 4-0, but we are not going to fall off, we are just getting better,” Magane said.
2. Thunder: ( – ) W vs. 76ers – W vs. Cavaliers: The Thunder are also undefeated as they sit pretty at the number two seed. They do not put up as many points as one would expect, but they show their strengths on defense as no team has put up more than 50 points against them. On Saturday, the 76ers put up a fight late in the game that was not enough as the Thunder won, 51-48. On Sunday, the Cavaliers kept it a close game only to lose as the Thunder won, 55-50, with senior Gautam Narayan of the Thunder dropping a cool 28 points. “Nobody expected us to be this good. We got the whole league on notice, and the scary thing is, we have not even reached our full potential yet. Not even the WHS varsity basketball team manager Russo could formulate a defensive scheme to take us down. We are the real deal,” Narayan said.
3. Knicks: ( – ) W vs. Nuggets – W vs. Nets: After losing their first game of the season against the Thunder, the Knicks are on a three game win streak, dropping shots as smooth as a waterfall in Niagara Falls. On Saturday, senior Andrew White had 40 points along with senior Aidan Murray who had 30 points. The Knicks put up 103 points in a 43 point victory as they cleared the gym of die-hard Nuggets fans who could not bare to watch their team lose in such a blowout. Against the Nets, the Knicks kept their cool, winning 95-54, as sophomore Jonathan White led with 30 points. The Knicks are averaging a loud 85 points per game. “I do not think there is a team that can guard us. Our lineup is too deep […] for anybody to stop us. Just look at the last three games, absolute annihilations. Keep sleeping on the Knicks,” Murray said.
4. Mavericks: ( ↑ ) W vs. Magic – W vs. Lakers: With the recent addition of junior Niall Gallagher, the Mavericks won both their games over the weekend. They move up to the number four seed as they took care of a tough Magic team and a weak Lakers team. “We are the greatest show on Earth and if you do not believe it, you have not watched us yet,” senior Ian Hollister said.
5. Magic: ( ↓ ) L vs. Mavericks: The Magic drop one spot to the number five seed due to their loss against the Mavericks, which was followed by their matchup with the Bulls on Sunday to be cancelled. On Saturday, the senior leadership of the Magic fell asleep in which Gallagher of the Mavericks took as an invitation to earn double-digit points on his debut. “We started out strong and had a tough loss last Saturday, but we are a resilient team and we will come back and win the next ones,” senior Tom Shea said.
6. Rockets: ( ↓ ) L vs. Celtics – W vs. 76ers (OT): With a very disappointing start to their season, the Rockets drop all the way to the number six seed. On Saturday, the Rockets fell to the Celtics in which they were handed their second straight loss after putting up only 49 points. On Sunday, they went up against the weak 76ers who put up a fight, forcing overtime. Eventually the Rockets won by just two points in what should have been an easy win. The Rockets need to forget about their rough start as they take on the Cavaliers and Warriors in their next two games that will not be easy. “We are not clicking yet but all that matters is the postseason. Once it is the postseason, nobody is going to want to see us,” senior Pat Sullivan said.
7. Bulls: ( – ) W vs. Heat: The Bulls remain the number seven seed even though they won their only game of the weekend, which was a four point victory against the Heat. Their second game on Sunday was cancelled, which kept them from a shot at another win. “We are back on track now. We started the season 2-1 but it should be 3-1. The Magic were scared to face us so they cancelled the game. All I know is that if I were an opposing team, I’d be scared if I saw the Bulls on our schedule,” senior Ben Scannell said.
8. Cavaliers: ( ↓ ) L vs. Spurs – L vs. Thunder: After beginning the season 2-0, the Cavaliers were brought back down to Earth as they have now lost back-to-back games against the Spurs and Thunder. On Saturday, they fell to the Spurs by a small margin of just two points. On Sunday, they fell to the Thunder by just five points to make it another loss that could have easily been a win. “We had a disappointing second weekend, but we will bounce back in a big way this weekend,” senior Matt Donato said.
9. Spurs: ( ↑ ) W vs. Cavaliers – L vs. Warriors: Beginning the season with two straight wins, the Spurs kept it consistent with another victory on Saturday against the Cavaliers. Their confidence was crushed on Sunday, as they fell to the Warriors by eight points. “We are on track for a successful season, a championship appearance is a guarantee,” senior Marco Banano said.
10. Wizards: ( – ) L vs. Warriors – W vs. Heat: The Wizards started week two with a 14 point loss to the Warriors in which Magane of the Warriors took charge. On Sunday, they turned it around for a win against a struggling Heat team. Once the Wizards find their form they will be able to take down the lesser opponents with ease. “Our team is coming off our best game of the season, we are starting to make some shots and younger players are stepping up on defense. I think we can play better team basketball in our upcoming games in order to win,” senior Kevin Nealon said.
11. Celtics: ( ↑ ) W vs. Rockets – W vs. Nuggets: Heading into the weekend, the Celtics were 0-2 and did not want to go up against what was expected to be a challenging Rockets team. But, the Celtics led the entire game against the Rockets and closed it out for their first win. On Sunday, the Celtics took on the Nuggets and with their confidence booming, they were able to put them away, finishing week two even, with a record of 2-2. “As we began with two losses in the first week, our chemistry and confidence greatly improved with our two wins most recently. We hope to stay consistent in our success and we keep our chin up knowing that we are going to put 110% of effort into every next game,” senior Faris Ghantous said.
12. Nuggets: ( – ) L vs. Knicks – L vs. Celtics: The Nuggets remain the number 12 seed even though they lost both their games this weekend. On Saturday, the Nuggets simply did not show up on defense, allowing the Knicks to score 103 points. On Sunday, the Nuggets were missing their star player, junior Conor Copponi, in their loss to the Celtics, 53-32. “We are just getting started,” junior Varun Mandulapalli said.
13. Heat: ( ↓ ) L vs. Bulls – L vs. Wizards: The Heat keep on falling as they now sit at the 13 seed with a record that shows four L’s. One might say they are unlucky as they lost by one, four, four and three points in all defeats. For what was expected to be a better team, the Heat lack the clutch ability to put away their opponent. “Our team has great potential and we just have not executed on offense yet. We can only go up from here,” junior Chris McLean said.
14. Nets: ( – ) W vs. Lakers – L vs. Knicks: The Nets began their weekend with a huge win against a fellow bottom three seeded team of the Lakers. Going into Sunday on a high note, the Nets had to face the Knicks in which they allowed 95 points. The Nets stay the number 14 seed, with a record of 1-3. It could be worse but it could be a lot better. “It is tough developing a team of young guys, but we are willing to be the underdogs all year,” senior Darius Martinez said.
15. 76ers: ( – ) L vs. Thunder – L vs. Rockets (OT): A not so hot start to their season leaves the 76ers as the number 15 seed and unable to taste victory. Although, two of their four losses have come from games that required overtime, leaving them so close to their first win they could smell it. “We are a solid team, that just has to execute a little better to come out on top in those close games. I have high hopes that we will turn things around,” senior Tom Russo said.
16. Lakers: ( – ) L vs. Nets – L vs. Mavericks: The Lakers yet again sit still as the number 16 seed, losing both their games against the Nets and the Mavericks. A long season is ahead for the Lakers as they are just waiting for the playoffs to arrive, starting the season, 0-4. “Everyone says they would love to have Rudy from Notre Dame on their team, but when your entire team is just a bunch of Rudy’s, you are not going to win a lot of games,” senior Ethan Kelley said.