Cleveland defeated Boston last weekend to regain the top spot in these power rankings. With around 20 games remaining, teams are preparing for a playoff push or stepping up their tanking efforts.
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1. Cleveland Cavaliers (51-10, Last Week No. 2). The Cavaliers have won 11 straight, the third time this season the team has won 10+ games in a row, and if that streak reaches 12 on Wednesday vs. the Heat, then Cleveland becomes the first team to officially clinch a playoff spot. This latest winning streak includes a come-from-behind win over Boston, where Cleveland trailed 25-3 out of the gate but got the victory, the kind of signature win the squad could use for confidence heading into the playoffs, where they seem to be on a collision course with those Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Cleveland is so far ahead in the East it is a lock for the No. 1 seed and what matters most now is keeping players healthy heading into the postseason and maybe getting some key guys rest.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (50-11, LW 3). “I just think they’re a regular season team not built for the playoffs.” That’s what one former front office person told me recently about the Thunder, which echoes what a lot of people around the league are saying — they don’t believe in these Thunder. Those critics quickly point to the collapse against Minnesota a few weeks ago as evidence, ignoring OKC’s elite defense, the MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the 50 wins. This is what we do in American sports: A team or player can’t win it all until they do (see Jalen Hurts with the Eagles). OKC will earn the No. 1 seed easily in the West, but the doubters will remain until they are standing on a podium with the Larry O’Brien trophy.
3. Boston Celtics (43-18, LW 1). Boston would not have caught Cleveland for the No. 1 seed anyway, but last Friday night’s loss sealed it. Home court is not what matters most for the defending champions, what matters is getting healthy — Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday missed that Cavaliers loss. What is the biggest difference between this season’s Celtics and the ones that won the title? Last season’s Celtics were clearly the most dominant team in the league, unchallenged, and that is no longer the case. If the Celtics aren’t healthy or firing on all cylinders, Cleveland and teams out West can beat them. Fun test on Saturday vs. the Lakers.
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4. Los Angeles Lakers (39-21, LW 4). The question is not, “Are the Lakers a threat in the West?” They are contenders. The only question is how serious a contender? The kind that everyone knows can win it all, or the kind that needs things to go perfectly for them to win it all? The Lakers have looked more and more like the former as Luka Doncic has gotten comfortable across a seven-game win streak, but these coming two weeks are a good test, especially Boston on Saturday. Every time LeBron James steps on the court or makes a bucket history is made, but him reaching 50,000 points was a special moment.
5. Golden State Warriors (34-28, LW 6). The impact of Jimmy Butler on the Warriors was never more evident than in the past week. Butler was out (back spasms) against the stumbling 76ers and suddenly the Warriors reverted back to all their bad habits and lost a game they should be able to win regardless. In Madison Square Garden against the Knicks Tuesday, Butler was back and was the settling influence on both ends of the court, with his 19 points (with nine free throw attempts) earning Golden State a quality road win on their third game in four nights. This team is legit and likely will get and keep the top-six seed (they are playing better than Minnesota).
6. Denver Nuggets (39-22, LW 5). In their last five games, the Nuggets faced playoff teams and have gone 2-3 with some offensive struggles from the shooters around Nikola Jokic and an average defense. The offensive production is concerning. The schedule doesn’t get any easier this week with the Kings and then two games in Oklahoma City, at the end of next week we should have a better idea of just how big a threat Denver is in the West. The Nuggets are always a threat because of Jokic, but if Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and the rest of the crew are not clicking this team makes the second round at best.
PLAYOFFS OR BUST
7. New York Knicks (40-21, LW 7). Mitchell Robinson is back, and while it’s been just two games (and he’s on a minutes limit), how he helps the Knicks is immediately evident. Robinson just being good at the basics of drop coverage helps. The added depth matters, too. This isn’t a surprise on a Tom Thibodeau team, but the Knicks’ preferred starting five — Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, and Jalen Brunson — has played 300 more minutes than any five-man unit in the league. The unit is also good, with a +4.2 net rating, thanks to what would be a top-seven offense (the defense would be respectable).
8. Indiana Pacers (35-25, LW 8). Since the All-Star break, Tyrese Haliburton is averaging 23.2 points a game on 60.7% shooting (53.2% from 3), plus he is dishing out 11.5 assists to one turnover a night. That has sparked a top-five offense in the league since Jan. 1, but losses recently to Miami and Denver highlight long-standing questions about whether this team can play enough defense to win playoff games. Starting Thursday, the Pacers have 6-of-7 on the road.
9. Detroit Pistons (35-27, LW 13). The Detroit Pistons hosting the first round of the playoffs? It’s not crazy in the least. Detroit has climbed up to the No. 6 seed in the East, but is just half a game back of Milwaukee in the No. 4 seed. Wild. J.B. Bickerstaff is deservedly getting mentioned as a potential Coach of the Year winner because of Detroit’s improvement, but give the Pistons players credit for their part in the turnaround of this franchise. Cade Cunningham has remained healthy and taken a step forward, Ausar Thompson made a leap this season, Jalen Duren has stayed healthy and is having a strong season, Tobias Harris is changing NBA Twitter’s narrative around him (which was always off-target), and Malik Beasley doesn’t seem to miss from 3.
10. Memphis Grizzlies (38-23, LW 9). They have gone 0-3 in the past week but by a total of five points. Unlucky. Memphis has lost 6-of-8 and will now be without its leading scorer and best defender in Jaren Jackson Jr. for a few weeks with an ankle sprain. Memphis is in danger of falling back to the five seed, and the issues with the team go beyond the injuries to Jackson and Ja Morant. What is going on? Here is what Santi Aldama told Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “Energy is not there,” forward Santi Aldama said. ”…I can sit here and just say it’s there, but it’s not. It’s clearly not. We’re just letting teams punk us every single night, and then we make up for it and we just hope the coin flips our way. We can’t play that way. We’re not that team that needs a little bit of luck. We normally set the tone and we haven’t been doing that.”
11. Sacramento Kings (32-28, LW 15). Zach LaVine is looking more and more comfortable in a Sacramento uniform. In his last five games, he’s averaged 23.8 points a night, shooting 58.8% from 3 (on almost 7 attempts a game), plus pulling down five rebounds a night. Domantas Sabonis is out with a strained hamstring but the Kings have strung four wins in a row together, including beating Houston and Dallas on the road. Every win matters for the Kings because 1.5 games separate the four play-in teams in the West, and getting in as the 7/8 seed and needing to win one out of two games, rather than being the 9/10 and having to win two games, is a much easier path to the playoffs. There is a tough schedule ahead this week with the Nuggets, Clippers, and Knicks.
12. Milwaukee Bucks (35-25, LW 11). Milwaukee has gone 7-2 in its last nine — ever since Kyle Kuzma started getting 30+ minutes a night. Coincidence? The bigger change may be Milwaukee’s defense, which is fifth-best in the league over that stretch. The Bucks need the wins because they, the Pacers and the Pistons are all within a game of each other for the 4/5/6 seeds in the East, and landing fourth with home court advantage could be huge. The Bucks’ biggest challenge is they have the toughest remaining schedule of any team in the East.
13. Houston Rockets (37-25, LW 10). Houston was finally healthy for the first time in a month with the return of Fred VanVleet from a sprained ankle, then he tweaked it in that game (a loss to Sacramento) and missed a couple more. The Rockets need to get right, they have gone 5-10 in their last 15, the dominant defense from earlier in the season is 11th in the league over that stretch while the offense is 25th. Houston sits as the five seed in the West, but the red-hot Warriors are just three games back, the Rockets need to start stacking wins because we know these Warriors will.
14. Minnesota Timberwolves (34-29, LW 12). Julius Randle has returned to the Timberwolves, and in two games he has scored 36 points on 13-of-23 shooting (56.5%). The team went 5-8 without him, while the offense was slightly better with the spacing Naz Reid provides (114.5 offensive rating, +1.1 from with Randle), the defense was worse but hard to judge because Rudy Gobert was out for much of that (and remains out). Minnesota has won two in a row, and while that was against struggling teams (Phoenix and Philadelphia), the rest of this week, the Timberwolves play below .500 teams — this is when the team needs to rack up wins.
15. Los Angeles Clippers (32-29, LW 14). Kawhi Leonard has started to find his groove. In his last five games, he’s averaging 23.4 points a game with six rebounds a night, shooting 41.2% from 3 (on 6.8 attempts a game) and playing quality defense. His improved play hasn’t helped the Clippers, who have looked like a team the rest of the league has figured out of late. The Clippers have lost 6-of-7 because the elite defense that carried them early in the season has fallen apart and is bottom 10 in the league over those seven games.
16. Miami Heat (29-31, LW 18). Miami is 3-1 at the start of a stretch where they play 9-of-10 at home (and 14-of-17), and the one loss was to the Knicks where the Heat led by a dozen in the fourth and blew it. It’s too big an ask for Miami to make up the five games they are back of Detroit for the No. 6 seed, but this home stand is when Miami can secure the No. 7 seed and be home for the play-in (plus they just need to win one of two games to get into the playoffs proper). Shout out to Bam Adebayo, who set the franchise record for double-doubles this week.
17. Orlando Magic (29-34, LW 16). Dreams of Orlando turning things around and finding its first-half form went up in smoke with the news that Jalen Suggs is out with surgery to repair his trochlea (a fancy way of saying a bone spur in his knee). The Magic miss his defense and his shot creation. Still, making the playoffs can be a learning experience for Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and this young roster, which is why holding off Atlanta for the No. 8 seed matters. The Magic have a half-game lead over the Hawks, and while the Magic have one of the 10 easiest remaining schedules in the league, the problem is Atlanta’s is even easier.
18. Dallas Mavericks (32-30, LW 17). Trading Luka Doncic didn’t destroy this season in Dallas (it cut their future short), but the Kyrie Irving torn ACL does end any dreams of a postseason run. It’s just brutal for Mavs fans. The team is at a crossroads. Should they bring Anthony Davis back and push him into the postseason, or should they pull the plug on him and focus on next season? If the Mavericks are going to hold on to the No. 10 seed, a win Sunday against Phoenix is critical, that is the team directly behind them in the standings and the one with the talent to string together wins.
PLAY-IN HOPEFULS
19. Atlanta Hawks (28-34, LW 19). Caris LeVert has averaged 16.8 points a game since coming over from Cleveland, adding some needed spark in Atlanta. Plus, he finished off my favorite game-winning sequence of the year, completing the contested lay-up after a Dyson Daniels strip against Memphis.
20. Portland Trail Blazers (28-34, LW 22). The rash of injuries that has hit Dallas — Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis among them — opens the door just enough to give Portland hope of making the play-in. The Trail Blazers are four games back of the Mavericks with 21 to play — and have a much tougher schedule — but with Dallas slumping and Portland having won 5-of-6, anything is possible. It was almost a week ago, but we can all watch this Shaedon Sharpe dunk and be awed (insert the political ramifications of a Canadian dunking all over Washington D.C. here if you wish).
21. Phoenix Suns (29-33, LW 20). With the unfortunate injury to Kyrie Irving in Dallas, the door is open to the postseason for Phoenix — the Suns can make up the three games on the Mavericks and get their foot in the door of the postseason (Phoenix is just four games out of the No. 8 seed). The Suns just have to start playing up to the level of their preseason hype — and it has to start with a win against Dallas on Sunday. That is a must-win game for Phoenix. The bigger challenge is that the Suns have the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA.
22. Chicago Bulls (24-38, LW 21). Chicago has won just two of its last 11 games, but those two wins were the two most important ones to hanging on to the No. 10 seed in the East: Beating Philadelphia and Toronto (two of the teams chasing them). Josh Giddey is playing like a restricted free agent who wants to get paid this summer, averaging 22.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists a game since the All-Star break.
CAPTURE THE (COOPER) FLAGG
23. Toronto Raptors (20-42, LW 24). Don’t expect Toronto to pivot into full tank mode anytime soon, despite hurting their draft stock some by taking two games from Orlando this past week, because they are finally getting Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes some extended run together. The more chemistry that pair develops, the better the future looks in Toronto.
24. New Orleans Pelicans (17-45, LW 26). Is Zion Williamson’s impressive play of late — including 37 points and an earth-shattering dunk against the Lakers Tuesday — a sign of what will come next season in the Big Easy, or is it just upping his trade value this summer? Some teams are willing to take a swing on him. Either way, it’s fun to watch.
25. Philadelphia 76ers (21-40, LW 25). Philadelphia took longer to get there than some of us might have liked, but Joel Embiid is done for the season to get treatment on his troublesome knee, and with that the 76ers throw in the towel on the season. All that’s left to do now is hope the lottery gods favor Philly and it gets to hold on to its top-six protected pick. That and watch Quentin Grimes go off — 44 points against Golden State and 30 vs. Minnesota. Well done by the restricted free agent this summer
26. San Antonio Spurs (26-34, LW 27). Stephon Castle has looked like the leading Rookie of the Year candidate of late, including three straight games of 20+ points, followed by 17 in the win over the Nets. In a wide-open race, a strong finish over the final weeks of the season could secure the second straight ROY trophy going to San Antonio.
27. Brooklyn Nets (21-40, LW 23). Jordi Fernandez has gotten the most anyone could expect from this roster, and now he’s about to get scorers Cam Thomas and D’Angelo Russell back from injury — could this team string together a few more wins before management pulls the plug on this season?
28. Utah Jazz (15-46, LW 28). The Jazz currently have the third-worst record in the NBA and, while it’s only a couple of percentage points in the lottery, they would like to stay bottom three. What we’re seeing in Utah is the best of both worlds: The team keeps losing but young players like Walker Kessler, Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski are showing they can be part of whatever is built in Salt Lake City in the future.
29. Washington Wizards (11-49, LW 30). With its win against Charlotte last week, the Wizards move out of the cellar in these power rankings (they also beat Brooklyn recently). What are the Wizards doing better to pick up some wins? Defending. Washington is 15th in the league in defense in its last 15 games, and that looks even better when Marcus Smart and Khris Middleton are on the floor. The Wizards are not suddenly threatening, but this team is no longer an automatic win on the schedule.
30. Charlotte Hornets (14-46, LW 29). We try to find positives here and for the Hornets… Mark Williams had a couple of strong games in losses to the Mavericks and Wizards. So there’s that. Charlotte has lost seven in a row and have just one win in their last 11, which begs the question: How did they beat the Lakers?
