For those who think visually, it's easy to see that Golden State has moved into recently-uncharted territory. Something we're not used to is that the persistence of opinion happens just as much when you lose a game - one bad loss to a top team that was supposed to beat the Warriors isn't going to knock the team down in the rankings too much - especially when it has no immediate effect on the standings.
Sure enough, the Warriors haven't dropped much - in some cases not at all. While the range of opinions has widened again, the consensus has Golden State in the top 10 again.
[<a href="//storify.com/SFSportsball/warriors-power-rankings-review-1-7-2013" mce_href="//storify.com/SFSportsball/warriors-power-rankings-review-1-7-2013" target="_blank">View the story "Warriors Power Rankings Review - 1/7/2013" on Storify</a>]<h1>Warriors Power Rankings Review - 1/7/2013</h1><h2></h2><p>Storified by <a href="http://storify.com/SFSportsball" mce_href="http://storify.com/SFSportsball">SF Sportsball</a>· Mon, Jan 07 2013 10:00:30</p><div>As you can see from the chart above (a screenshot of the trending rankings on ESPN.com, available at http://espn.go.com/nba/team/rankings/trended/_/name/gs/golden-state-warriors ) Mr Stein has the Warriors up to fourth.</div><div>4 Golden State 22-11 1 Last Week: 5 The main knock on the Dubs is that their glorious December came almost exclusively at the expense of teams from the overmatched East. Yet you also can't deny, even if the schedule helped out some last week, that Golden State is the only team going with two wins over the Clips.NBA Basketball Power Rankings - National Basketball Association - ESPN</div><div>5 Golden State (22-11) Pace: 96.5 (5), OffRtg: 104.5 (9), DefRtg: 100.8 (10), NetRtg: +3.7 (7) Clippers-Warriors has turned into an interesting rivalry of teams that have combined for just four playoff appearances in the last 18 years. They traded blowouts last week and meet for the final time this season just 14 days from now. The Dubs can take fourth place in the West from the <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="https://www.grizzlybearblues.com/" mce_href="https://www.grizzlybearblues.com/">Grizzlies</a> on Wednesday, but face the Blazers, <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="https://www.denverstiffs.com/" mce_href="https://www.denverstiffs.com/">Nuggets</a>, <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="https://www.hothothoops.com/" mce_href="https://www.hothothoops.com/">Heat</a> and Spurs after that.Power Rankings: Spurs No. 1 after crazy week | NBA.com</div><div>Still a fair number of rankings have the Dubs at sixth. Some of these are pre-Saturday, and likely to drop before next Monday - well, depending on how Golden State performs over this week.</div><div>6 WARRIORS (21-10) No, really: Warriors, winners of 18 of their last 24 – including nine of 13 on the road – play Clippers home-and-home this week to settle who’s whom in Pacific. You could look it up. 7NBA Power Rankings have <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="https://www.welcometoloudcity.com/" mce_href="https://www.welcometoloudcity.com/">Thunder</a> at No. 1</div><div>6 Last Week: 7 Since: 3-0 <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/" mce_href="https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/">Golden State Warriors</a> (22-10) I'm running out of nice things to say about the Warriors. Golden State pulled off its latest head-turning feat with a stomping of the West-leading Clippers on Wednesday night. <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21909/david-lee" mce_href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21909/david-lee">David Lee</a> outplayed <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/71901/blake-griffin" mce_href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/71901/blake-griffin">Blake Griffin</a> in every facet -- as he's done most of this season -- and Steph Curry bested (and irritated) <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21662/chris-paul" mce_href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21662/chris-paul">Chris Paul</a>. Luckily for fans, we get to see these teams duke it out again this Saturday in Los Angeles. Unfortunately for the Clippers, it'll be the second time they have to face the Warriors in the second half of a back-to-back this week. Don't expect the Warriors to take it easy on them.NBA Power Rankings: <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="https://www.poundingtherock.com/" mce_href="https://www.poundingtherock.com/">San Antonio Spurs</a> take top spot - NBA - Matt Dollinger - SI.com</div><div>6 Owner Joe Lacob needs to hold an About That Whole Booing Me Thing Night. (6)Power Rankings: Clippers enter 2013 on top, on historic 17-0 run - NBA - CBSSports.com News, Scores, Stats, Fantasy Advice</div><div>6 Golden State Warriors 22-11 7 W: LAC; L: LAC Golden State of Mind Golden State played two games this week. The first was a sort of "you should be taking us seriously, guys" win over the Clippers, the second was a "wow, being taken seriously is kinda rough" loss to the Clippers.NBA power rankings, Week 11: Clippers make some statements - SBNation.com</div><div>Seventh. It's such a comfortable place, given the amount of time the Dubs have been hovering around that number. And a reminder that things could be much, much worse.</div><div>7. Golden State Warriors "Massacre of the Season" might go to the <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="https://www.clipsnation.com/" mce_href="https://www.clipsnation.com/">Los Angeles Clippers</a>' home domination of the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. It was far uglier than the 115-89 score might lead you to believe. There might be some bad blood between the teams because rookie <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/158032/kent-bazemore" mce_href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/158032/kent-bazemore">Kent Bazemore</a> had a grand old time celebrating an embarrassing Blake Griffin miss:7. Golden State Warriors | NBA Power Rankings: Where Every Team Stands Heading into Week 11 | Bleacher Report</div><div>7 (7) Golden State Warriors 22-11 Split their two games this week, both against the Clippers and are now 2-1 against the top-team in the NBA Power Rankings. First game, the Warriors put up 115 points at home behind a 31-point, 8-assist, 6 rebound performance from <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/71907/stephen-curry" mce_href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/71907/stephen-curry">Stephen Curry</a>. In L.A., Golden State missed 15 of their first 18 shots and couldn’t overcome a 22-6 deficit. They’re going to need more than 2.8 PPG + 4.1 RPG from <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/157921/festus-ezeli" mce_href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/157921/festus-ezeli">Festus Ezeli</a>, the starting center.NBA Power Rankings: Week 10</div><div>7 Warriors 22-11 - 7/21 Can just bury you via 3-pointers, but are so much more than that. Basically, no reason to doubt these Warriors are for real.NBA Power Rankings - Top 30 NBA Basketball Teams - FOX Sports on MSN</div><div>7 Golden State Warriors 21-10 7/20 <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21816/jarrett-jack" mce_href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21816/jarrett-jack">Jarrett Jack</a> plays off Stephen Curry in ways <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21527/monta-ellis" mce_href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21527/monta-ellis">Monta Ellis</a> never could.USA Today | Sports | NBA | Rankings</div><div>7 Golden State (22-11) 104.2 3-3 3-2 6-0 2 24 7NBA Power Ratings - NBA Team Overall Power Rating</div><div>And then the laggards of the pack. Hollinger, Sagarin, and Covers.com don't think the Warriors are elite - but then again, they all have the Dubs in the top third of the league. The worst ranking Golden State is getting now would have made the entire fanbase deliriously happy, just two months ago. It would also have seemed impossibly optimistic.</div><div>8   103.711 22-11 +2.30 .495 7-3 +6.80 .503 Lost 1 15/18 2nd 5th 9 103.6842012-2013 Hollinger Power Rankings 1-15- National Basketball Association - ESPN</div><div>9 Golden State Warriors = 92.54 22 11 90.16( 10) 6 5 | 12 7 | 93.16 8 | 91.96 10USA TODAY</div><div>10 10 21-10 (19-11-1) -7.3 Golden State One of only eight teams that has won two-thirds of their games. Yet they have the same point differential as the <a class='sbn-auto-link' href="https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/" mce_href="https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/">Lakers</a>.NBA Basketball Power Rankings - Check your team's Power Ranking now</div><div>Playoff Probabilities Report | Basketball-Reference.comMobile Site You Are Here > BBR > Frivolities > Playoff Probabilities Report</div>
Incidentally, the most likely win total for Golden State this year is between 46 and 50. Teamrankings.com has the Dubs at 48 as their most likely, with 43 wins if they melt down, and 54 if they've got an amazing finish. Basketball-reference.com also has them at a likely 48.5 wins, with a wider range of possibilities, between 38 and 58 wins. Both of those include a 90% chance (or thereabouts) of making the playoffs.