Consider this the first power rankings that come before the end of the first half of the season. We’re at this point, where the All-Star Break is expeditiously approaching, and it’s as soon as this Friday. Most teams at the top are more than able to roll into the second half of the season comfortably, while some of the bottom tier teams that are just at the cusp of entering the break while being inches out of the playoff race are looking at the second half as a new start to a new season.

While being one of those upper teams, however, Milwaukee is streaking again and doesn’t look like they want to take their foot off the gas. And for teams like Portland, who were involved in a controversial no-call situation that resulted in a crucial loss, they, and many others, are skidding into this break hard and don’t have as much momentum for the second act of the year.

Where both teams, and the rest of the 28 others, will be broken down into this week’s rankings.

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1. Milwaukee Bucks (45-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

This is practically the normality at this point. Milwaukee is still on pace for 70 wins and are back to their winning streak ways, getting good results in 5 of their last 6 games and while still maintaining their weekly streak of possessing both the league’s highest average scoring margin and defensive rating. It’s a mere formality that they’re going to stay atop the Eastern standings and don’t look as if they’ll come down anytime soon with the league’s best record, and Giannis Antetokounmpo went an unbelievable 10 games straight scoring 30 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists – something not accomplished since the NBA/ABA merger.

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2. Los Angeles Lakers (39-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

In the midst of a small rough go of things, Los Angeles hasn’t lost its luster, going 3-3 in their last six games. It’s been their substandard 14-10 record against above-.500 teams that have Lakers fans worrying. And, worth adding, they were unable to make any major moves or trades before Thursday’s deadline as many fans wanted either someone in exchange for the struggling Kyle Kuzma or Rajon Rondo, but a deal involving Dion Waiters is possibly in the works for the Lakers.

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3. Toronto Raptors (39-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

Not only do the Raps maintain their spot from last week’s rankings, but they currently possess the league’s longest winning streak, now at 14 games. What’s more impressive: they’ve gotten it done without several of the key guys that have gotten them to have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Their latest injury that affects the team as a whole is Kyle Lowry’s whiplash, sustained in the road win over the Pacers on Friday, but if this season has been indicative of anything, it’s that the next man up mantra has carried this team to have one of the most respectable track records in basketball. In the short week ahead, the Raptors get an early gift of a soft spot on the schedule, setting up dates with the Timberwolves and Nets before the All-Star break.

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4. Boston Celtics (37-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

The Celtics are another team that doesn’t see any movement this week in the rankings, following a strong outing that saw them go 4-0 and win 11 of their last 12 since Jan. 18. Rookie Grant Williams has chipped in his defensive contributions and impressed Brad Stevens enough to be trusted enough to play additional minutes, all of which have led to the Celtics possessing the third-best defensive rating in the Association. Now completely healthy, Boston looks like the real deal, especially after grinding out a tough win against the surprisingly exceptional Thunder on Sunday on the road.

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5. Denver Nuggets (37-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

Denver was one of the few teams to brand the league-best Bucks an L on their loss column with what could be the biggest win of the season, after shipping off nearly 1/3 of their roster before Thursday’s trade deadline. Sitting at 2nd in the arduous West, Nikola Jokic has seemingly popped right back into the MVP conversation, averaging an astounding 24.8 ppg., 10.9 rpg., and 7 assists in the new year, where his Nuggets have won 14 of their games played in 2020. Also, Jamal Murray came back at the most opportune time, as he’s scored a combined total of 67 points in his past two games off an efficient 60 percent shooting from the field.

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6. Los Angeles Clippers (37-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

So, Friday night was certainly a forgettable night, to put it euphemistically. The Clippers were taken behind the woodshed by the new-look Timberwolves this past weekend, as the Clippers watched them drill 26 threes while losing by 27 on the road against a team that hadn’t won a game with Karl Anthony-Towns since Nov. 27, 2019. But, as the saying goes: the collective NBA, and Clippers prognosticators altogether may feel as though they’ve won the small battle seeing them getting shelled by a sub-.500 team, but the Clippers are in the marathon to win the whole war in their late addition of 19.6 ppg. scorer Marcus Morris Sr., who provides even more wing depth and toughness off the bench.

And perhaps the biggest win? The Lakers failed to grab him, potentially making the next time they matchup even more enjoyable.

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7. Miami Heat (34-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

Miami wasn’t able to scrape out a win against Portland on Sunday night, even with the defensive chip-ins from new trade deadline acquisition Andre Iguodala, who sent shockwaves throughout the league by signing with the Heat after being bought out by the Memphis Grizzlies last week. Miami could use a spark of luck in their next couple of games, as they’ve now lost three straight after their 32-point smackdown of the Philadelphia 76ers on their home hardwood inside the American Airlines Arena. Not having Jimmy Butler can do that, as he’s averaged 20.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per contest this season.

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8. Utah Jazz (34-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

Mike Conley’s return to the active lineup has done wonders for a team that’s starting to fulfill its potential before the All-Star break arrives. In the four games after his return, Conley has put up numbers that would suggest that he didn’t suffer any ailments in the first place, scoring an impressive 20.3 points, 5 rebounds, and nearly 5 rebounds a game. But, there is a negative to his return, and it has nothing to do with him. He was the only player on the court with a positive plus-minus for the Jazz during this stretch. Call that a means of getting readjusted to the pace he brings to the game, but if those adjustments are to be made before the season reaches its final quarters in the last three months of the season…be wary of this Jazz team.

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9. Houston Rockets (33-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

We’ve got good news since the Small Ball brand of play was adapted by the Houston Rockets in their past three outings after trading away both Clint Capela and Nene to the Atlanta Hawks. The good news? They found a way to knock off the Lakers with their tallest players in PJ Tucker and new acquisition Robert Covington after a humongous, four-team, 12-player trade. The bad news? They haven’t won a game since then, recently succumbing to a buzzer-beating three by Utah’s Bojan Bogdanovic to lose late to the Jazz, and they have been severely outrebounded by both Phoenix and Utah in their two-straight losses. It’s yet to be determined if this brand of basketball can be sustainable in a West that, at this time of year, always seems to tighten up.

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10. Oklahoma City Thunder (32-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

Well, won’t you look at that: the Thunder have finally cracked the top-10 for the first time this season. Their roster remained intact through the trade deadline, luckily, and are 100 percent locked into not just maintaining their sixth seed in the West, but acquiring a better position in a shifty West. They lost to Boston by a point and were unable to complete a spirited comeback against the third-best defensive team in the NBA, but succeeded in keeping the game nail-bitingly close while gaining additional learning lessons and experiences of competing against borderline elite teams for four quarters. Though they’ve already toppled Vegas’ seasonal expectations in wins, they’re still a revealing 8-17 against teams .500 or above.

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11. Philadelphia 76ers (33-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

For a second week, Philly pops up on the list outside of the top-10, and many are starting to speculate, “Is this process worth trusting, after all?” The Sixers are now an even more grotesque 9-19 on the road, and while outside of the Wells Fargo Center resemble a team that could get bounced early in the playoffs, which is quite unbecoming for a team many prophesized to win the East commandingly.

Four of their last six games this month will be against sub-.500 squads, and one of those teams that are .500 or better that play this Sixers team that’s scrounging for answers? The Clippers, as they visit Philly on their home floor this upcoming Tuesday. They’ll have their third game against Milwaukee right after the break, so those games should serve as a measuring stick to see just how far Philly has to go in looking the part of a championship favorite.

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12. Dallas Mavericks (32-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

Things aren’t exactly falling apart in Dallas, as told by this past week’s results for them, but you have to think it’s getting to that point since they’re still without Luka Doncic, going a pedestrian 5-5 without him. Jalen Brunson, however, has done his best to keep the Mavs boat afloat in the treacherous waters of the West in this stretch without their all-star, as the former Villanova standout has put up a respectable 14.6 points per contest and nearly 7 assists in the 10 games he’s started for the Mavericks. They have both the Jazz and Kings up next on the schedule before the All-Star break and want to get back to their winning ways while also needing to keep and upgrade from their seventh spot in the conference.

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13. Indiana Pacers (31-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

Indiana welcomed back Victor Oladipo, but it’s been anything but cheeky for the slipping Pacers who are now in the midst of a rough five-game losing streak. They’ve temporarily lost the war for the fifth spot in the East against the 76ers, and are currently in sixth place for the East. In what’s easily the most head-scratching code to decipher for the Pacers, the re-integration into this new lineup compact with guards Justin Holiday and Malcolm Brogdon has been a tough nut to crack and it’s certainly resulted in some losses as of late.

But if there are any consolations, his scoring output and field goal percentages have increased in each game he’s played (10.6 ppg. off 28 percent shooting) and, bit-by-bit he’s starting to look like his old self again. A well-needed break after the All-Star break is probably the best thing for Oladipo as he continues his process of assimilation into this playoff-ready lineup.

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14. Memphis Grizzlies (27-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

At this point, it’s Ja Morant’s Rookie of the Year award to lose, if that schtick hasn’t been nauseatingly reiterated all season. That point was presumably driven in even further last night as the rookie guard out of Murray State posted a 27-point Triple-Double against the Washington Wizards Sunday night. With that accolade, Morant joined an exclusive club of players to score a trip-dub at the tender age of 20, with those members including LeBron James, Luka Doncic, DeAaron Fox, and former Grizzlies Forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

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15. Portland Trail Blazers (25-29, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

Can Damian Lillard catch a break? The All-Star guard, who just averaged a whopping 30.5 points per game a week, was  victimized by a blown goaltending call in their loss to Utah as the Trail Blazers suffered their third loss in ten games. Otherwise, while only being a calm 5 1/2 games out of eighth place in the West, the Blazers have won seven of their past 10 contests, and they bounced back with an impressive win over the (talent-wise) superior Miami Heat while showing some sturdiness on the defensive end when Miami was without both Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler.

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16. Brooklyn Nets (23-28, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Caris Levert has unabashedly carried this Nets team while Kyrie Irving was out, averaging a significant 29.7 points per contest off 68.8 percent shooting during the Nets 2-1 week. That stretch in a week that saw a banged up Nets team winning all but one game as they lost to Toronto by one point. And talk about a massive improvement: in the minutes he split with both Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie, the former Michigan guard averaged 7.6 points per contest and 21 percent from deep in his previous five games before his monstrous stretch.

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17. San Antonio Spurs (22-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

This season has been a tale of one step forward, two or three steps back for the Spurs, who went winless in this past week’s four games. And what worse way to put the cherry on top than to concede defeat in an ugly blowout at the hands of the Sacramento Kings. San Antonio is almost a whole five games out of the eighth seed, and now that postseason streak of 23 straight seasons with a playoff berth is in serious jeopardy of ending, especially with the Nuggets and Thunder appearing on the short schedule this week.

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18. New Orleans Pelicans (22-31, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

New Orleans was another team unaffected by the trade deadline last Thursday, as the much speculated trading of longtime Pelican Jrue Holiday never commenced. Holiday will stay put in the Pels’ attempted playoff push, and since it makes sense for David Griffin to keep his original pieces around Zion Williamson so that he can continue his development into a perennial All-Star someday, just witnessing how Holiday compliments the rookie phenom Williamson was enough of a reason not to trade him. Statistically, the Pelicans have outscored opponents by nearly 15 points per 100 possessions when Holiday and Williamson share the floor, and while Williamson and Brandon Ingram were inactive in New Orleans’s win over Indiana, Jrue scored 31 points and 14 of those points in the fourth quarter.

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19. Orlando Magic (22-31, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

Orlando’s track record against playoff contenders during this nine-game stretch has been anything but admirable, clawing only one win against an above-.500 team in the process as opposed to the seven other teams in the playoff picture they lost to in this rough skid of games for Steve Clifford’s squad. As a reprieve, they will be graced with a soft period of six games against bottom-tier teams, giving them the opportunity to get right back into the playoff hunt as Atlanta and Detroit are the first teams up on the list.

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20. Sacramento Kings (21-31, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

Sacramento is finding a bit of luck stringing together a three-game winning streak, now also in arm’s distance from the eighth seed as they’re 5 1/2 games out of playoff contention and now at just 10 games within reaching an even record. But with Milwaukee and Dallas appearing next to each other in back to back games, that task could become a little more unattainable heading into the All-Star break.

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21. Phoenix Suns (21-32, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

Again, undeterred by any trade news, the Suns did not pull the trigger on making any roster changes prior to last Thursday’s deadline. What was worth documenting was the stupendous play of Kelly Oubre Jr. a couple of nights ago, as he dropped a career-high 39 points in a 127-91 blowout over the center-less Houston Rockets, in which the Rockets were outrebounded 51-29 in Phoenix’s win.

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 22. Washington Wizards (18-33, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

This Wizards team is certainly fun to watch, you’d have to agree. They do so little on the defensive end but do just enough on the offensive end to the point that they could be considered odds-end picks to reach the postseason. After somehow losing to the Western-worst Golden State Warriors, Bradley Beal avenged that loss with an upsetting buzzer-beater against the Dallas Mavericks as he made a b-line to an uncontested hoop for an easy layup and gritty win. He’s led them in scoring for the past 10 games with at least 25 points in all 10 of those contests.

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23. Chicago Bulls (19-35, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

Chicago is in desperate need of this seasonal halftime, as the Bulls are quite the banged up franchise. That now makes Otto Porter Jr. (broken foot), Wendell Carter Jr. (ankle), Lauri Markkanen (hip), Kris Dunn (right knee), Denzel Valentine (hamstring) and Daniel Gafford (ankle) a part of the injured/waiting to return to action list for a Jim Boylen-coached team that’s path isn’t going to let up on them with a trip to Washington next on their schedule.

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24. Detroit Pistons (19-36, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

Now that the Andre Drummond era is over after abruptly concluding before Thursday’s deadline, this marks the beginning of an official rebuild. Keep in mind that the last time a player of Drummond’s caliber — and by caliber, that means a player regularly putting up 15 points and 15 rebounds per game — being traded mid-season was when Wilt was dealt from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Lakers during the ’60s, so what the Pistons did to their 2nd-all-time rebounder in franchise history was no minuscule transaction.

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25. New York Knicks (17-37, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

To say that the Knicks stole all of the media’s attention in yet another creative way this past week would be sugarcoating just what happened, as things weren’t so quiet in the Big Apple, both on and off the court. Other than a rather productive week that saw the Knicks go 3-1, the off-court news was too salient to ignore.

And talk about a roster and organizational overhaul; not only did Steve Mills be informed he would no longer be serving as the Knicks’ President of Basketball Operations, but the Knicks made some big trades involving the sending away of Marcus Morris to the Clippers in exchange for Moe Harkless and a 2020 first-round pick from the Clippers. Also, hiring a new president in former CAA Agent Leon Rose is certainly a gamble, but one so maddeningly crazy that it could pan out in the long run if Rose is able to attract big names to play in the Garden.

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26. Minnesota Timberwolves (16-35, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

What felt like the biggest monkey on the back of Ryan Saunders’ Timberwolves finally leaped off and onto someone else as they finally snapped their 13-game losing streak that persisted since November 27 with a 27-point beatdown of the Los Angeles Clippers. And as of late, there is extra optimism for the future of Minnesota basketball, as D’Angelo Russell dominated media headlines after his blockbuster trade from Golden State to Minnesota was finalized and completed this past Thursday. Russell joins alongside his longtime friend Karl Anthony-Towns to create an All-Star duo with a new rotation of guards, as Towns and Russell pairing is now the eighth duo of top-2 picks from the same draft to play together.

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27. Charlotte Hornets (16-36, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

The Hornets have won only one game since January 4, and have been visibly struggling to find their groove again as they also went winless this past week. But, this season, like many other bottom-bunk teams, should be used as means for the professional development of your young core pieces and not be used for gunning for a playoff spot when they’re just not able to yet. Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were the latest Hornets to leave the Hive, and now with Detroit and Minnesota on the schedule next, more of those learning lessons will take place for a team that’s in need of upping the confidence of its younger players.

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28. Atlanta Hawks (15-39, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

The Hawks climb two spots on the list this week, mainly due to Trae Young’s ability to get the Hawks a respectable 5-5 record in their last 10 games, given with the arsenal that he has around him. Coach Lloyd Pierce is in no rush to throw new acquisition Clint Capela on the court with his bruised heel and is probably a no go until after the All-Star break, where Trae Young will be getting the start come Sunday’s All-Star game in Chicago.

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29. Cleveland Cavaliers (13-40, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

Koby Altmann made a pretty smart move that just so happened to shake tables across the league with the unexpected signing of Andre Drummond this past Thursday’s deadline. And usually, a team that hasn’t won more than 2 games since Jan. 11 isn’t a preemptive suitor for a player of Drummond’s aura, but all they had to do was give up a second-round pick in 2023, and the expiring veteran contracts of Brandon Knight and John Henson (a.k.a. a bag of peanuts). So, they’ll have two months and the financial leverage to evaluate whether Drummond fits in John Beilein’s system, which is a win for Cleveland’s upper management.

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30. Golden State Warriors (12-41, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

The Warriors find themselves back in the cellar of NBA teams in this week’s power rankings, as Andrew Wiggins was the only acquisition the Warriors made this past week when they shipped D’Angelo Russell for Wiggins in return. While the move was presumably for the future when Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the rest of whatever Steve Kerr will throw on the court next year, Wiggins’ Warriors debut was a solid one, as he scored 24 points off 8-12 shooting, snatched 5 steals and drained 3 threes in the five-point loss to the Lakers this past Saturday.