Power Rankings: More pain for the patient

We waited till the end of the day to make sure we got all the Power Rankings.  Probably not a good idea this week.  Just more pain. No one seems to be giving the Nets the same leeway fans are. Well, some fans anyway.  Other than one pundit, who has the Nets at No. 14, the rest have them at No. 20 or below, with two of them at No. 26.

Marc Stein, ESPN (21)

After 31 of them last season, Paul Pierce doesn't have a single 20-point game as a Net yet. KG doesn't 
exactly resemble KG, either. And oft-flat Brooklyn has racked up as many ankle injuries (KG, Brook Lopez and D-Will's scary one) as wins so far. How do you say disconcerting start in Russian?

John Schuhmann, NBA.com (22)

A bad start got worse when Deron Williams, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Brook Lopez were all injured in Friday's overtime win in Phoenix (though three of the four finished the game). None of the four injuries appear to be serious, and in the case of Williams and Garnett, their back-ups -- Shaun Livingston and Andray Blatche -- have played better than they have so far. And Blatche hasn't been very good.

Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports (26)

Brooklyn Nets (3-6; last week's ranking: 22): Deron Williams (ankle), Paul Pierce (groin), Kevin Garnett (ankle), Brook Lopez (ankle) and Andrei Kirilenko (back) are all hampered by injuries.

Jason Patt, SB Nation (22)

Deron Williams' ankles remain a huge problem. The star point guard dealt with an ankle issue all training camp and sprained his left ankle in a win over the Suns, a game which ended in thrilling fashion:

Matt Moore, CBS Sports (26)

Did you know that the dead can play basketball? Because I didn't, and then I saw this team. No, wait, sorry, that's not accurate. The dead move faster.

Kurt Helin, NBC Sports (20)

Nets (3-6, LW 18). We said before the season injuries would matter a lot to this team, so the fact that Deron Williams, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Brook Lopez were all out against the Clippers Saturday is not a good sign. This team needs time on the court with its stars to figure out some chemistry issues.

Jimmy Spencer, FOX Sports (14)

Wasn’t this thing supposed to be plug-and-play? The Nets have struggled and Paul Pierce didn't score a single point in regulation before the Nets fell to the Wizards in overtime last week. It’s a good thing old people are usually pretty patient.

Matt Dollinger, Sports Illustrated (23)

The injury woes are starting to pile up, with Kevin Garnett, Brook Lopez, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko all missing Saturday's game against the Clippers. Brooklyn's lone remaining star, Joe Johnson, went 5-of-17 from the field in the loss, which dropped the Nets to 1-5 on the road.