NBA power rankings: 76ers fall to No. 14 amid offensive struggles

After starting the week with a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Philadelphia 76ers bounced back with an overtime victory over the Boston Celtics only to lose to the Celtics on the second night of a back-to-back. The 1-2 week dropped the Sixers to 11-9 on the season.

Because of the two losses and the narrow victory, Philadelphia slipped three spots in the latest SB Nation power rankings. After knocking on the door of the top 10 at No. 11 last week, the Sixers fell to No. 14 in this week's rankings.

SB Nation's Seth Rosenthal explained why the Sixers fell in the rankings and speculated a reason for the struggles, writing:

The Sixers' best overall field goal percentage for a game this past week was their 42.2-percent output in a blowout loss to the Timberwolves. A problem, it seems, is that a decent three-point shooting outfit has suddenly started bricking in the month of December. Theory: Doug Collins screwed up his advent calendar order and gave his players calendars filled with tiny fingertip-sized bear traps instead of chocolates. ... Fine, then let's see you come up with a better theory.

Philadelphia's offense has gone cold early on in the month of December. The Sixers have failed to reach 100 points yet this month after doing so six times previously this season. They only reached the 90-point plateau once so far in December, needing overtime to beat Boston, 95-94.

The Sixers are at home for their first two games this week, hosting the Detroit Pistons tonight at 7 p.m. and hosting the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night.

To see where Rosenthal ranked the rest of the league you can check out the full SB Nation NBA power rankings here.