As of now, there are officially 61 days until the end of the season on May 16, and as teams either prep for making their rosters stronger for the postseason or set a foundation for the draft or free agency, the opportunity exists this week with the Trade Deadline officially commencing on Thursday, March 25, 2021.

Slipping teams that desperately need a lineup adjustment like the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, and New Orleans Pelicans are said to be aggressive before Thursday’s transaction period, and several names like Lonzo Ball, Victor Oladipo, and John Collins are just some of the names that scratch the surface of the Deadline picture. It’s going to get hectic, like every season’s deadline, so be sure to check out our Trade Deadline preview that’ll be updated by the minute on Thursday.

The Brooklyn Nets saw Blake Griffin set foot on the floor of the Barclays Center in a win over Washington, and for the first time since 2019, he rose up and finished at the rim. Brooklyn looks to overtake the No.1 spot atop the rankings in the East as Kyrie Irving and James Harden continue to dominate and grow their indomitable chemistry.

But for the rest of the league, injuries have reared their homely head, as the injury bug has claimed yet two more victims: Rookie of the Year lock LaMelo Ball, (fractured wrist) and MVP candidate LeBron James (high ankle sprain).

Ball will miss the rest of the season, making what’s been so sweet of a season for the Charlotte Hornets has quickly turned sour. The injury to Ball, who had been averaging 15.9 points a game and had helped to make the Hornets one of the most exciting teams to watch this season, is the type of injury that can kill any momentum of a playoff push before the season ends. The same, in a way, could be said for the Lakers, who will have neither LeBron James nor Anthony Davis for an undisclosed amount of time. Davis, who is recovering from Achilles soreness, won’t be back for a Lakers team that looks out of sorts when their two best players aren’t on the court.

Throw in the wrinkle of the Utah Jazz stumbling out of the blocks following the All-Star break, and now the race for the top seed in the West is more open than you could imagine.

There’s a lot of madness going on as we enter the final week of March, so let’s go into detail where each team ranks heading into the 13th week of play.

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1. Philadelphia 76ers (30-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

Just like last week, the Philadelphia 76ers hang tough for another week without Joel Embiid engineering the offense, going 3-1 in the extended week and 8-2 in their last 10 games. Their only loss came by way of an overtime loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks as the reigning MVP scored in every which way in the extra time period, which only happened due to some last-second heroics from Furkan Korkmaz who drilled a game-tying three with just seconds on the clock. They’ve looked like they haven’t missed a beat offensively, still posting an “okay” 105.6 offensive rating in their last four games but have absolutely hampered down defensively, posting a 99.7 defensive rating. They’ll head west this weekend, dueling with the Warriors, Lakers, and Clippers, and by this time next week, they could be adding a specific piece to their guard department ahead of the deadline.

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2. Brooklyn Nets (29-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

Blake Griffin’s debut for the Brooklyn Nets wasn’t quite the most groundbreaking reveal – credit Griffin with only two points off two shot attempts and a couple of rebounds to supply on the stat line – but it’s going to be quintessential that the Nets factor the 6’8 Forward into primary and secondary lineups, especially during the anticipation of Kevin Durant’s return. With only a 1.5-game gap between them and the injury-plagued Philadelphia 76ers at the moment, the NBA’s top-ranked offense must gain a sense of knowledge of where Griffin is in his game. If he can resemble his former self, that’s a huge X factor for Brooklyn’s bench.

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3. Utah Jazz (31-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

The Jazz have gone 6-6 since their 24-5 start and are ranked 21st in defensive efficiency during that period (113.9 points allowed per 100 possessions). They’re skidding, regardless of their win over Chicago on Monday night. And with the West tightening up, the margin for error for the team with the league’s best record is slim. After a defeat to the Wizards on Thursday, Rudy Gobert said, “We need to realize that we haven’t achieved s—-. We get upset when people laugh at us on TV and disrespect us. It’s on us to respect ourselves. We’re not the champions. We’re not a team that can just cruise and turn it on come playoff time. We have to stay hungry.”

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4. Phoenix Suns (28-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

Suns point guard Chris Paul became a member of an exclusive club during Sunday’s game against the Lakers. Paul joined John Stockton (15,806), Jason Kidd (12,091), Steve Nash (10,335), Mark Jackson (10,334), and Magic Johnson as the sixth player in NBA history to hit 10,000 career assists (10,141). Paul will overtake Johnson later this season based on his current average. As it stands in the West, the Suns are the likeliest to claim the second seed in the confererence, considering the Lakers’ injury woes.

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5. Los Angeles Clippers (28-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

In an attempt to get the Clippers to play more regularly, head coach Ty Lue put Marcus Morris Sr. into the starting lineup, with Nicolas Batum coming off the bench, and prior to Monday’s 21-point comeback victory over the Atlanta Hawks, they’ve limited their three opponents to an average of 100.6 points in their last three games. With Patrick Beverley (knee) out, the Clippers could use some point guard support, so it’ll be interesting to see what they can do at the deadline with their limited trade chips.

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6. Milwaukee Bucks (28-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

The Bucks have won six straight games and 11 of their last 12 as they attempt to reclaim first place in the Eastern Conference following Saturday’s victory over San Antonio. The question now is whether this team’s recent success will carry over to the playoffs, but reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is content with that for the time being. On Monday, it seemed so, as the Bucks dismantled the Indiana Pacers vis a 140-113 score as they are now 2.5 games out of claiming 1st in the East. However, they’ll be in negotiations over keeping or giving away Jrue Holiday as the new acquisition picked up this past offseason has had his name float in between trade talks.

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7. Denver Nuggets (25-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

With Joel Embiid and LeBron James sidelined due to injury, Nikola Jokic’s MVP campaign appears to be gaining steam. Despite another triple-double from Jokic, the Nuggets lost to the Pelicans. Michael Malone’s offense averaged 127 points during the run before the Pelicans limited them to 108 points. Also, as the team’s third-most reliable scorer, Michael Porter Jr. has shot 50% or better in 12 of his last 14 games, continuing his hot streak. Denver, on the other hand, will play three games in a row on the road this week, and the bench will be able to use the formerly injured Monte Morris in his return back to the rotation.

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8. Los Angeles Lakers (28-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

On Sunday against the Suns, the defending champions started Markieff Morris, Wesley Matthews, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, and Dennis Schroder, and lost back-to-back games. With LeBron James out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain, Marc Gasol getting his wind back after returning from Health and Safety protocols, and Anthony Davis (calf strain and tendinosis) out for at least another week, the Lakers are in a pickle, to put it lightly. “These challenges strengthen you throughout the course of a season…and will benefit you come playoff time,” head coach Frank Vogel said.

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9. Portland Trail Blazers (25-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

Since CJ McCollum’s return last week, the Blazers are on the verge of reuniting. However, with reduced minutes and return-to-play management, having him all the way back would be an operation. With 32 points against the Mavs on Friday, he gave the Blazers all the signals they needed. To this point, Damian Lillard has taken on so much of the load that late-season fatigue is a concern. Still, With McCollum, and possibly some of the more developed role players returning soon after recovering from their individual injuries, those burdens of having an incomplete lineup will likely be eased in a few weeks.

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10. Dallas Mavericks (22-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

Luka Doncic has 117 points in three games, shooting 59.5 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from deep. It’s the franchise’s second-highest-scoring three-game streak, behind only Doncic’s 118-point run last month. “When you feel like this, everything’s great,” Doncic said after scoring 37 points over three quarters (and hitting his first eight 3-point attempts) during Sunday’s rout in Portland. They’ll have the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, and New Orleans Pelicans this week, and Doncic will look to improve those marks and further climb up the MVP rankings going into the last week of March.

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11. Miami Heat (22-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

After winning 11 of 12, Miami cooled off to enter this week, dropping three straight last week. And more surprisingly, the re-energized team lost back-to-back games at home against the Pacers, a team they swept out of the bubble playoffs last season. Tyler Herro, who has gone 16-for-55 (29 percent) from the field in his last four games, needs to get back on track for Miami or he’ll likely have his name go around in trade talks as the team looks to bolster their unit of guards prior to Thursday’s Trade Deadline.

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12. San Antonio Spurs (22-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

Keldon Johnson of San Antonio put on a display against the Cavaliers last Thursday night. The Spurs won with Johnson scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds, including 11 offensive rebounds as  Johnson became the first Spur to have a 20-point, 20-rebound game since Tim Duncan in 2013. Additionally, the Kentucky product became the first player listed at 6-foot-5 or shorter to have 11 offensive rebounds in a game since Adrian Dantley did it for the Jazz on April 6, 1985. The Spurs could not keep up their momentum to open the week, as they lost to a Hornets team that wouldn’t have Rookie of the Year favorite LaMelo Ball on the floor.

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13. Atlanta Hawks (22-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Atlanta’s winning streak began under interim coach Nate McMillan on Saturday, when the Hawks defeated the Lakers for the eighth time in a row. McMillan’s eight victories are the most by an interim coach since Lawrence Frank led the New Jersey Nets to a 13-0 start in 2003-04. The Hawks are doing it in a number of ways as well, including bolstering their defense. Since McMillan took over the starting job on March 2, the Hawks have the league’s second-best defensive rating at 105.2. However, they experienced their first loss of the McMillan era as they fumbled a 21-point lead in a road loss to the Clippers.

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14. Golden State Warriors (22-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

Given the Warriors’ injuries and COVID-19 problems, a 2-2 week isn’t too shabby. A bruised tailbone forced Stephen Curry to sit out two games. Health and safety protocols prevented James Wiseman, Eric Paschall, and Kevon Looney from playing. The good news is that second-year guard Jordan Poole is continuing to impress and is gaining more playing time almost every time he steps on the court. Since returning from the G League bubble on March 1, Poole is averaging 20.9 points a game.

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15. Boston Celtics (21-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

Following disappointing defeats to Cleveland and Sacramento, Boston rebounded to defeat Orlando on Sunday. But as the story of this season goes on, Boston’s rollercoaster year saw another dip with an overtime loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on the road with Jayson Tatum not playing, or suiting up, due to an undisclosed illness. With the NBA trade deadline approaching and everyone in Boston waiting to see if Danny Ainge can use the $28 million trade exception to strengthen the roster, the Celtics continue to embark on this current four-game road trip that includes a pair of prime-time showdowns in Milwaukee on Wednesday and Friday.

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16. Charlotte Hornets (21-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

The Hornets are dealing with the kind of injury that can derail a team’s season, with LaMelo Ball expected to miss the remainder of the season due to a broken right wrist that  Ball recently had a procedure o Thursday morning. Ball was not only a front-runner for Rookie of the Year, but his success sparked national interest in the Hornets for the first time in years. Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward will have to take up even more offensive slack now that Ball is out.

The Hornets’ problem, as it has been all season, is their porous defense. They surrendered at least 116 points in four straight games entering Monday’s game against the Spurs but broke that streak when they only allowed the Spurs to score 97 points.

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17. New York Knicks (21-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

The Knicks came within five points of winning all four games this week, including a one-point victory over Orlando on Friday and a one-point loss to Philadelphia on Sunday. With a tough second-half schedule, any chance at a win is crucial, which makes the two games against Washington this week crucial as New York attempts to avoid the play-in games in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race. They’re still a top-5 team in terms of defensive rating (ranked 4th, 108.3 DRtg), so all is not lost as of yet for the Knicks as they try to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2013.

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18. Indiana Pacers (19-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

The Pacers drop two spots in these rankings this week and have lost six of their last 10. Indiana has lost five of its previous six games and nine of its previous eleven as they continue to look for answers, despite the addition of Caris LeVert. Indiana is now ranked ninth in the Eastern Conference and while they are ranked 13th in team defensive rating, they aren’t as productive on the other end of the floor, ranking at 16th in total offensive rating. It is now being reported that they are throwing the likes of Malcolm Brogdon, TJ Warren, and possibly Domantas Sabonis in trade talks to either bolster the talent level of the roster for now or the future or motivate their most integral pieces to play better.

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19. Memphis Grizzlies (20-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

The Grizzlies stay put in this week’s rankings and stay as an even. 500-record team following a win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night, clutching a tough win over the Celtics in overtime. Despite the win, the jump shot of Ja Morant, Memphis’ point guard and biggest rising star, is the most conspicuous shortcoming for the second-year guard out of Murray State. This season, he’s shooting 22.9 percent on 3-pointers, the lowest rate of the 182 players who have attempted at least 100. When Morant runs the pick-and-roll, this causes defenders to repeatedly go under screens, forcing him to aim and negating his unusual explosiveness.

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20. Chicago Bulls (19-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

With 19 30-point games this season, All-Star guard Zach LaVine is tied for third in the NBA with Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard. The Bulls, on the other hand, are continuing to experiment with their lineup and rotations in the hopes of finding long-term success, such as starting Tomas Satoransky and Thaddeus Young instead of Coby White and Wendell Carter Jr. Speaking of Coby White, his name could be included in a deal that sends him to New Orleans, as it’s been rumored that the Bulls are actively intent on trading for Pelicans starting guard Lonzo Ball to provide ball movement and defensive stability for the 17th-ranked defense in the NBA.

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21. New Orleans Pelicans (18-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

For the Pelicans, it was another up-and-down week. The Pelicans surrendered a 17-point lead to the Trail Blazers in the final six minutes of Tuesday’s game, then lost an eight-point game to Portland two days later. They bounced back with a 113-108 win in Denver on Sunday, despite the absence of starting point guard Lonzo Ball (right hip flexor strain). Against the Nuggets, the Pels then bounced back and saw both Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram score with ease, as they both went for 30 points each, making that the third time they accomplished such a feat this season.

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22. Oklahoma City Thunder (19-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

The game against the Rockets on Sunday had an irresistible force against an immovable object feel, but it wasn’t in a positive way. Thanks to Luguentz Dort’s lockdown defense, the Rockets lost their 19th-straight game. The Thunder started with the second-youngest starting lineup in NBA history, with four starters sitting. Houston was already a 4.5-point favorite at the start of the game, but if we’ve learned anything from Oklahoma City this season, it’s that Sam Presti is willing to play anyone.

Sunday, it was Lu Dort scoring 23 and coming up with a game-winning block. There’s something about the Thunder’s ability to play within a system and maximize their roster, which is somewhat reminiscent of the prime San Antonio Spurs days with Gregg Popovich maximizing the individual talents on non-household names.

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23. Sacramento Kings (18-25, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

The Kings raise a spot in this week’s rankings, which was supplanted by a breakout, career-best performance by Tyrese Haliburton as the rookie scored a game-high 28 points with 2 assists and a rebound on his stat-line during Sac-Town’s 119-105 win over Cleveland on Monday night.

Prior to Monday’s win, Haliburton said that Sacramento is still looking for itself more than halfway through the season. “I don’t think we’ve found our identity yet,” Haliburton said after their loss to Philadelphia. “I don’t know that we’ve found exactly what makes us play our best basketball.” The quote was applicable for the week the Kings had: going 2-2 amid their six-game road trip and finding out that Marvin Bagley III will not require surgery on his fractured left hand but will still be out another month.

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24. Toronto Raptors (17-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

As if things couldn’t get any worse during the eight-game losing streak the Raps had been experiencing, Toronto became the first team in nearly a month to lose to the Houston Rockets, ending Houston’s franchise-worst 20-game losing streak on Monday night. After the 117-99 loss to the Rockets, in which they allowed all five of the Rockets starters to score in the double digits as well as allow the quartet of John Wall, Sterling Brown, Jae’Sean Tate, and Christian Wood to score 19+ points, there was some friction between Pascal Siakam and Nick Nurse as the tandem that won a title together shared some choice words amongst each other after Toronto’s ninth-straight loss.

After falling to 11th in the East, it’s undetermined if Kyle Lowry or Norman Powell ever suit up in Toronto Raptor Red and black ever again as the Trade Deadline nears.

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25. Washington Wizards (15-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

Since appearing to turn their season around, the Wizards are going in the wrong direction. Washington has lost eight of its last ten games after winning seven of its first eight in February. It’s not going to get any easier: The Wizards’ loss to the Nets in Brooklyn on Sunday kicked off a 14-game road trip. They’ll be without sharpshooter Davis Bertans and are five games out of eighth place. Their season isn’t quite in jeopardy just yet, but the Wizards are running out of time if they want to at least make the play-in tournament this year.

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26. Cleveland Cavaliers (16-27, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

Collin Sexton (36 points, 4 assists, 2 steals) and Darius Garland (15 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds) stuffed the box score in the Cavs’ victory over the Raptors on Sunday. What wasn’t admired about Cleveland’s young backcourt? Despite Cleveland’s hot shooting from deep, the pair accounted for 12 of the Cavs’ 26 turnovers, a remarkable number that held the Raptors in the game (even though they went 17-33 for 51.5 percent shooting from the field).

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27. Orlando Magic (14-28, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

Aaron Gordon scored 38 points in 36 minutes to lead the Magic to a surprise victory over the Nets on Friday, snapping a nine-game losing streak. Conversely, the Magic have fallen to 14-28 in the Eastern Conference and have lost nine of their last 10, now trailing only the Pistons. The most important question for this team this season might be what the front office does before the trade deadline on Thursday.

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28. Detroit Pistons (12-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

The Pistons’ highlight of the week was handing the Rockets their franchise-worst 19th consecutive loss on Friday night. The Pistons must celebrate all of their successes and use them as tools for development as a rebuilding team that won’t come by many wins on occasion. Last  Wednesday, Detroit defeated Toronto, thanks to Saddiq Bey’s 28 points and 12 rebounds, but it’s becoming increasingly likely that Bey becomes a name for negotiation in the wake of the Trade Deadline on Thursday.

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29. Houston Rockets (12-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

The Rockets had an unfortunate NBA record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau – the longest losing streak by a team that started the streak above.500. Since starting 11-10, Houston lost 20 straight games but finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel with a home win over Toronto. Victor Oladipo has been the center of attention leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline, with his post-All-Star break output (25.0 points and 5.6 assists per game, 46.4 percent from the field) potentially rising his value.

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30. Minnesota Timberwolves (10-33, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

Prior to the draft, there was a widespread belief that there was no real No. 1 overall prospect and that the lottery was bad in general. Anthony Edwards, on the other hand, is looking like a first-round selection. “Ant-Man” is scoring 26.1 points per game in March, setting and resetting career highs almost every night. As this season winds down and we enter the final full month of the year, the likelihood of the Wolves landing the top prospects of either Cade Cunningham or Evan Mobley is increasing by the minute.

Photo cred: Fox Sports 1430 

So….we are 10 days from the Trade Deadline, and officially two months and some change away from the NBA Playoffs. This season is passing by expeditiously, and for the half of the heap, seasonal aspirations of making the playoffs are as “mad” in vision as expecting a winless College Basketball team to win an entire Division I tournament.

If there isn’t a clear diffidence that’s drawn between the contenders and pretenders, then people aren’t watching.

As we turn the bend to finish March and head into the last full month of the regular season, it’s time for the big moves to be made to either bolster championship rosters a little further, improve the probability of fringe postseason qualifiers to get into the playoffs or supply trade assets and draft capital for organizations that know their seasons are over. For some, big splashes have been made, such as Brooklyn’s signing of five-time All-Star Blake Griffin. For others, headline-stamping names will be moved in bunches in the next week or so in one of the more chaotic times of the NBA calendar year.

And to the current field of the Conference standings for the East and West. While Philadelphia clings on to their division and conference lead by a literal thumbnail, they are experiencing a downturn in health, as leading MVP candidate Joel Embiid suffered a bone bruise in his knee during a road win against the Washington Wizards, and will be out for the NBA’s 14th-ranked offense. Brooklyn, on the other hand, has won 12 of their last 13, largely without the assistance of Kevin Durant, as Kyrie Irving and James Harden have taken turns flexing on opposing defenses and finishing games in the clutch, while the Phoenix Suns out West are taking advantage of both LA teams slumping in the final weeks of March.

With another week approaching, let’s get into another Power Rankings.

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1. Utah Jazz (26-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

While the Utah Jazz aren’t off to the fiery start after the All-Star break you’d expect from the team that’s got the best record in the league, the reasoning for panic wouldn’t necessarily be an amicable perspective to embrace for both fans and supporters alike, but in thought, it’s certainly in play.

Utah is 5-5 in their last 10 contests, and have lost a tad bit momentum leaving the midway point of the season. What was a 22-2 run from January and February has turned into a mortal four losses in six games, and what’s more telling of the sudden fall-off: they’ve slipped to being the third-most defensively efficient team in the NBA while allowing 115.9 points per game during this six-game slump.

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2. Brooklyn Nets (26-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

If it wasn’t for the Joel Embiid-less Sixers stifling the visiting San Antonio Spurs at home and maintaining both their Atlantic and Eastern lead, the Brooklyn Nets would be your No. 1 seed in the East right now. While Kevin Durant has been nursing a hamstring injury (he hasn’t played since Feb. 13, has missed 12 games, will be receiving a third scan this week and will likely be out another 1-2 weeks) and with Steve Nash and crew still planning a way to factor Blake Griffin into the minutes distribution, the Brooklyn Nets are still the league’s most dangerous offensive team, both in the eye test department with two MVP-caliber talents leading the charge, but in the statistics category too.

And for some credibility to that sentiment: they have the best offensive rating in basketball, leading the NBA in total points per game (120.6), field goal percentage (49.9 percent), true shooting percentage (11.9) and are third in the NBA in total clutch rating (119.8) behind only Portland and Charlotte. Their main issue now is simply being on the floor enough to establish and sustain a sense of chemistry.

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3. Phoenix Suns (25-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

In last week’s Power Rankings, we asked the simple question of if the Suns can co-habitate with a glaring national spotlight as the season nears its final two months. And if the past week is any indication of them being able to handle the pressure, it seems they’re not as affected as some would predicate.

This is a team that isn’t just able to defend home court, now with a total 12-7 record inside Talking Stick Resort Arena while scoring around 115 points at home, but have a 13-5 record on the road while scoring above 112 points. They’re tied with th defending champion Lakers from a winning percentage standpoint (.722) and following the All Star break, went 2-1 on the week, picking up wins against arduous opponents like the Warriors and Trail Blazers. In their win over Portland, they survived a 30-point explosion from Damian Lillard and were led by a fresh and rested Devin Booker’s 35 points, as the All-Star wasn’t able to go in last Sunday’s game due to a knee injury.

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4. Philadelphia 76ers (27-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

“At least it was just a bone bruise, and nothing more severe” – said literally every Sixers fan in existence this past week. As Joel Embiid came down from contesting a layup during Friday’s win over the Wizards, his knee bent the opposite direction and from that camera angle, it looked as if his season would conclude prematurely. And it seemed at that point like Philadelphia’s season was dead in it’s tracks right then and there. Until they announced that Embiid would be out only 2-3 weeks with a bone bruise. A collective sigh of relief was let out, but for the time being, they would have to answer the hard question, “who leads us in scoring now?”

Ben Simmons, that’s who.

In their first game without Embiid during the post All-Star stretch, the Sixers embarrassed the visiting Spurs in a 40-point home blowout. They’ll have the Knicks, Bucks and Kings up next on the schedule and will be challenged by how they can manage to score without Embiid on the floor, considering they still are the 14th-ranked team in terms of offense.

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5. Los Angeles Lakers (25-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

Besides their 12-point comeback against the tenth-seeded Pacers in the East, L.A.’s looked a little underwhelming to start the second half of the year. They’ve only accumulated four wins in 10 games, and are still without Anthony Davis, who continues to rest and recover from his Achilles Tendinosis.

Even worse, the Lakers are, for the first time this season, going through their own bout with COVID-19, as starting big man in AD’s absence Marc Gasol will be out for an undisclosed time due to Health and Safety protocols. Their schedule doesn’t get easier, with games against the Warriors, Timberwolves, red-hot Hornets, Hawks and 2nd-seeded Suns in this extended week.

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6. Milwaukee Bucks (24-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

The Bucks saw some progress and a return to dominant normalcy this past week, as Giannis Antetokounmpo looked like his MVP self (and All-Star MVP self, since he won the honor last Sunday) by dropping consecutive triple-doubles against the Knicks on Thursday and Wizards on Saturday.

And as he dropped 33 points and snagged 11 rebounds, he became the first player in Bucks history to have two-straight Trip-Dubs in a game since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1973. Statistical accolades aside, the Bucks are rolling and are certainly in play to challenge both the likes of Brooklyn and Philadelphia as a top-3 seed in the East as they’ve proceeded to win eight of their last 10.

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7. Los Angeles Clippers (25-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

One win against the slipping Warriors wasn’t enough of a salient reminder that the Clippers had absolved their consistency-insufficient woes stemming from a lack of chemistry on the floor, as they suffered one of their more forgettable beatdowns at the hands of hosting New Orleans on Sunday night.

With guys constantly injured and the depth of this Clippers team playing under expectations, they’ve dropped five of seven and might look at the deadline to start making moves. And entering a week that might be one of their more toughest stretches, Luka Doncic’s Mavs, who have won seven out of their last 10 games, and the Charlotte Hornets, winners of six of their last 10, are on the calendar for the next three games.

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8. Dallas Mavericks (20-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

A 1-1 week puts the Mavericks back into the top-10 in the Power Rankings this week, making the Mavs winners of seven of their last 10 and 11 of the last 14. Though they have an offense that’s just outside of the Top-10 in terms of overall team rating, their chances of getting into the Top-10 could improve, for they’ll be playing the Clippers in a two-game series against a team they squashed back in December by 51 points.

And while there’s been talk of Kristaps Porzingis’ struggles as the statistical worst defender in the league, he’s posted a 103.1 defensive rating in the last four game. So, it’s a diminuitive sample size, but a start nonetheless.

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9. Portland Trail Blazers (22-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

Though it’s been a difficult task to stay afloat in a ravenous West, the Blazers would be a team to qualify for the play-in tournament for a second year as the current sixth seed. Defensively, it’s been an uphill battle without the likes of Jusuf Nurkic and other bench pieces like Zach Collins, but Carmelo Anthony has been a welcome presence and spacing help for Damian Lillard when the two share the floor. Anthony has looked like his former Denver and New York self at times, and in the month of March, he is averaging 20.3 points off 50 percent shooting.

Factor in around 3.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds, and in an average of 28 minutes, he’s producing a full stat sheet on a nightly basis. Still, it is the defensive side of the ball that haunts him, as he’s posted an abysmal defensive rating of 116.1 when he’s on the floor. The Blazers are still 29th in total defensive rating, and are nine points per 100 possessions worse when he’s on the floor.

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10. Miami Heat (21-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

Should Jimmy Butler be considered an MVP candidate? It’s not a question out of the realm of reality. Miami’s won 10 of their last 11, 14 of their last 18, they’re winners of six straight games away from American Airlines Arena, four straight without Bam Adebayo, and have won nine-straight games since Jimmy Butler’s return. They’re 15-6 with Butler on the court this season, and his numbers are other-worldly at the moment: how’s 28 points, 9.3 assists, and 4.7 rebounds in the month of March sound?

The Heat have overtaken Boston in the Eastern standings and if the season were to end today, they’d likely have one of the more favorable paths back to the Eastern Conference Semifinals and Eastern Finals as a clash with the Hornets would be first up. This second-half start for them is a strong one, and teams had better circle Miami on their schedules if this is the team they’ll be facing come gametime.

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11. Denver Nuggets (22-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

Back during last week’s midseason Power Rankings, we asked the question of whether or not a third scorer would come in and compliment Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, and well…it seems that the need for one hasn’t been more accentuated than now. Jamal Murray is really going through a rough patch in the scoring department, only averaging a total of 12 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds off 31 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent from downtown.

So as Jokic has carried the load offensively, averaging 26.5 points in his last 10 games off 55.7 percent shooting, they’ve needed someone else to space the floor with a consistent jumper and willingness to put the ball on the floor and make driving lanes. Michael Porter Jr. answered the call that we insisted he make as the team’s third go-to guy, averaging a little over 22 points and nine rebounds per game in his last three outings.

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12. Boston Celtics (19-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

A three-quarter quarrell resulted in a blowout loss against the overwhelming Brooklyn Nets, who limited the Celtics to only 23 points in the fourth quarter as opposed to their 33 points and 63 points overall in the second half. But, it wasn’t all that bad, considering that Marcus Smart returned from that ruptured calf he injured in a home loss to the Lakers. There was a different energy amongst the Celtics in that game, regardless of the outcome, that they surely brought into the Toyota Center to play the Houston Rockets, who before Sunday’s contest were in the middle of a 15-game losing streak.

The Celtics built on the momentum acquired from getting their core pieces back, and went on to brutalize the lowly Rockets by 27 behind a combined 57 points from their two All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Leading up to the Trade Deadline where Boston’s name will fly around like celebrity gossip, the Celtics will likely deal some players to strengthen their bench as well as be suitors for some trade pieces.

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13. Golden State Warriors (20-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

It’s mind-blowing to consider that these Warriors, who are on the outside looking in with a three-game advantage over a .500 record, would be a playoff team if they were in the Eastern Conference. But instead, as a 20-19 team entering the second week of March, while on a four-game losing streak, they won arguably their biggest game of the season during a showdown with the No. 1 team in the NBA, the Utah Jazz. And on Stephen Curry’s 33rd birthday, too. The Birthday boy finished with a game-high 32 points and shot 6-9 from downtown while the rookie, James Wiseman, put up 16 points and grabbed four rebounds in 23 minutes.

It was a nice answer to the adversity he faced following his mop-up duty he had to face as a result of missing last Thursday’s contest from missing a COVID test. With the young big man staying on the court and getting into a consistent rhythm with guys like Jordan Poole (who replaced Brad Wanamaker on the floor against the Jazz and scored 18 points) and Nico Mannion, the Warriors bench could vastly improve from what it’s been in the last two years.

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14. Charlotte Hornets (19-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

Winners of three straight, the Hornets are quickly becoming one of the most enjoyable teams to watch in all of basketball right now, and with a game against the Kings coming up next, they’ll have a clear-cut opportunity to improve those marks. LaMelo Ball is running alone atop the rest of the heap for the Rookie of the Year award, and has looked like a future All-Star throughout his rookie season.

Just last night in Charlotte’s win over Toronto, Ball scored 23 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, dished 6 assists and splashed six three-pointers, making it the third time that he’s posted a 20/5/5/5+ 3PM stat line this year. Only Stephen Curry has more of those lines in a rookie season in NBA history.

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15. New York Knicks (20-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

The Knicks didn’t move a muscle in this week’s Power Rankings, for the simple reason of them treading water as the seventh-seeded team in the East with a record that’s a game above .500. They have a big week coming up, for they’ll do battle with the rival Brooklyn Nets in a battle of the boroughs on Monday night. They’ll then have the Philadelphia 76ers for a two-game series, and have their only soft part of the schedule against the Magic this week. The Knicks have one of the harder schedules in basketball, and only have a 2.5-game margin of error to work with while ahead by a hair of the 11th-seeded Raptors.

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16. San Antonio Spurs (19-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

After the LaMarcus Aldridge trade, the Spurs went on a little bit of a rollercoaster ride. The week started out with a down-the-stretch loss to Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks, then quickly rose back up with a come-from-behind win over the slumping Orlando Magic. Soon after that, they traveled to Philadelphia and were, promptly, and proverbially, smacked in the mouth by the Philadelphia 76ers by 35 points on Sunday.

There are now recent reports that have came out that suggest the Spurs could be DeMar DeRozan sellers if both sides don’t come to an agreement to a new extension of his three-year deal. Despite all of that, the Spurs are still a playoff team as the West’s seventh seed.

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17. Atlanta Hawks (19-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

So it seems that the Nate McMillan era in Atlanta is going pretty well. Since letting Lloyd Pierce walk, the Hawks are on a three-game winning streak with former Pacers Coach McMillan. And for another crazy stat: Per ESPN, McMillan is the first coach to win his first five games as an interim coach since Mike Woodson did it with the Jeremy Lin-Carmelo Anthony-led Knicks in 2011-12. What was more startling in Atlanta’s win over Cleveland on Sunday was that Trae Young only scored 14 points off 44 percent shooting, meaning he only attempted 9 shots the entire game, against the NBA’s 23rd-ranked defense.

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18. Indiana Pacers (17-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

In one of the more heartwarming moments in recent NBA memory, Caris LeVert debuted as a Pacer in wake of not just the first time since his trade from Brooklyn as a part of the massive three-team trade that sent Victor Oladipo and Rodions Kurucs to Houston and Caris and crew to teams like Indiana and Cleveland, but the first time since Caris LeVert overcame Kidney Cancer, and in his first game back, scored 13 points off 5/13 shooting in a home win over the Suns.

Prior to that game, Indy had lost six of their last seven, and while the moment was one to be cherished, it’s back to business for the East’s 10th-ranked team as the the Nuggets, Nets and Heat are next up.

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19. Memphis Grizzlies (17-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

For the first time this season, Ja Morant’s Grizzlies fell under .500 for the first time this season with their loss on Sunday to the Thunder, and they allowed Aleksei Pokusevski to score a career-high of 23 points with five threes while OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Morant went at it for four quarters. While it was one of the games that they didn’t want to have slip away as it was one of the easier games on the week, they’d wish they could have that one back. It will get a little more difficult for them, as they have to go and play eight opponents next with winning records. And three of those games are against the Utah Jazz.

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20. New Orleans Pelicans (17-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

The Pelicans have a weird, unexplainable dilemma: consistency losing against teams they should beat, and consistency beating teams they should be losing to. Sunday’s 20-point win over the Clippers was another game they added to the top shelf of high-tier wins against the game’s best, as they join the ranks of the Bucks, Celtics, and Utah Jazz as teams that the Pelicans have found ways to beat this year.

And just like a lot of the league, they’ve had a rollercoaster of a two-week period that’s featured an ugly 30-point loss to the Timberwolves and five-point loss to the Bulls. One silver lining: Zion Williamson is really good at this basketball thing. Sunday’s win over the Clippers marked the 20th time he’s scored 20+ points in the paint this season.

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21. Chicago Bulls (17-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

The Bulls returned from the All-Star break with consecutive losses to the 76ers and Heat, though that’s more of a matter of difficult scheduling than it is a drop off in productivity. There’s not quite of a need to panic for the Bulls, since they’re still in good position to at least challenge for the play-in tournament, now only 2.5 games out of the eighth seed, and that’s more truth than fallacy if Sunday’s 23-point win over the Raptors told fans anything.

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22. Toronto Raptors (17-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Five losses in a row for the Raptors drops them five spots in this week’s Power Rankings, and they haven’t had nearly 3/4 of their roster due to Health and Safety protocols, made notable during their loss to the Chicago Bulls this past Sunday. While they are getting Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby back at some point this week, they’re sitting out of even the play-in tournament after a rough two weeks that have been out of their control for the most part.

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23. Oklahoma City Thunder (17-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

As a reminder: this season is primed to be one of development and confidence building. That was the case last year in the first season without Russell Westbrook, and well, that resulted in a spot in the playoffs and a near upset of the Rockets in the Orlando bubble.

Now…there’s no need to get too excited or long jump to conclusions that this Thunder team can do what Chris Paul’s Thunder did last year, but a 3-1 record in their last four games can indicate that this team is only a few skill position pieces away from becoming a playoff contender again. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to impress and show that he was an All-Star snub, averaging 23.7 points per game as a 50/40/80-esque scorer. But from the outlook of the bigger picture, Mike Muscala and Kenrich’s on/off effect on this team has played the most significant part this season for the Thunder; OKC is +8 per 100 possessions when the two wings share the same frontcourt.

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24. Sacramento Kings (15-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

There has been much positive talk surrounding Tyrese Haliburton’s impact on both ends of the floor, but every now and then, a rookie is going to have his signature “hey rook, welcome to the league moment”. That happened, as euphemistically put as possible, Saturday afternoon against the Atlanta Hawks.

Trae Young humbled the Iowa State rookie with 28 points with nine assists off 9-for-17 shooting in 32 minutes as opposed to Haliburton’s eight points on 3-10 shooting. The kid has a ways to go, but from what Kings fans have seen from one of the more impressive rookies in the league this year, they’ll enjoy watching him grow with Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox as mentors and compliments to his game.

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25. Washington Wizards (14-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

The momentum had to reach it’s equal and opposite force at some point. Defensively, the Wizards couldn’t stave off their urges of underwhelming, as they’ve now slipped to 27th in total defensive efficiency. They opened their All-Star break with three straight losses, letting opponents score 126.3 points per 100 possessions in losses to Memphis, Philadelphia and Milwaukee. While Russell Westbrook is regaining form – he’s averaged 29 points, 10 assists and 6.7 rebounds in three games – they’ve had to play without Bradley Beal and Davis Bertans.

And with the schedule picking up as a result of the makeup games from the COVID-19 postponements, the sight of the play-in tournament is starting to fade, as the Wizards are losers of six of their last seven. Bradley Beal, however, is scheduled to return in their game against the Bucks on Monday night.

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26. Cleveland Cavaliers (14-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

Though Kevin Love has returned from a strained calf that’s kept him out of competition for 10 weeks, he has yet to play a full game and wasn’t able to in Cleveland’s first game out of the All Star break against the Pelicans. He only scored four points and earned more fouls than rebounds in his first game back, and had to leave two minutes in during their game against the Hawks on Sunday. It’s unclear what the plan is for Love, but it’s not looking promising, to say the least.

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27. Orlando Magic (13-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

General Manager John Hammond keeping all of his players seems more harmful than helpful, and he’s better suited fielding offers for his players rather than keeping them on one of the worst teams in the East, and entire NBA. That’s now eight in a row for the Magic in the ‘L’ column, and the biggest question is when, not if, head coach Steve Clifford pulls the plug on this season and allows his front office to trade guys like Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic prior to the March 25 Trade Deadline.

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 28. Houston Rockets (11-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

The losing streak is at 16 games now, and it’s definitely time to tank away the rest of this season in the hopes that the Rockets can land a top-3 pick. While they’re the 13th-ranked defensive team in basketball right now, it’s practically meaningless considering that they lack a true No. 1 scorer, now peaking as the 27th ranked team in the league when it comes to putting the ball in the bucket.

It must be cathartic, however, seeing younger players like Kevin Porter Jr., Mason Jones and Jae’Sean Tate mesh with Sterling Brown and (when he comes back) Christian Wood, and with the cavalry returning – John Wall, Wood and Danuel House Jr. all come back this week from injury and Health and Safety protocol – there is hope yet for perhaps one final push to challenge for a play-in tournament berth. If not, the Rockets are in a good position to get some good return on sales when/if they send Victor Oladipo and John Wall to fringe contenders.

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29. Detroit Pistons (10-28, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

Detroit returned from the All-Star break with consecutive losses to the Nets and Hornets, but looks competitive in each game, fighting until the final possessions to try and claw out some wins to put on the resume for Dwayne Casey. They recently sold Blake Griffin on a buyout, and he signed with Brooklyn, and also sent away Svitoslav Mykhailiuk and a 2027 second-rounder to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for former Slam Dunk Contest winner Hamidou Diallo. Troy Weaver is building an identity for this team, and Pistons fans will come to appreciate it if their gloomy present turns into a positive future.

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30. Minnesota Timberwolves (9-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

This is a roster in development, so T’Wolves fans should take this season with a pinch of salt and accept the wins that come and go, for they knew they were going to be scarce. Chris Finch earned his first win as a head coach, and Anthony Edwards started to come out of his shell a little more entering the second half of the season in his past four games, where he’s averaged 25.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists off 43.7 shooting and 33.3 percent scoring from three-land.

On the season, he’s averaged 23.8 points per game and put up his career-high at this point in the season against the Trail Blazers, where the 19-year-old scored 34 points and knocked down 6 threes while hitting some defender-separating stepback jumpers with footwork that resembled his draft comparison, James Harden. He has what it takes to be an All-Star, perhaps an All-NBA talent. It is now up to the front office to build around him, and that process will likely start before March 25th’s Trade Deadline.

Photo Cred: Fox Sports 1430

While games were going on Wednesday night, Thursday officially kicks off the second half of the NBA season, and we’ve only got two months until it’s time to prepare for the (hopeful) first NBA playoffs that won’t be broadcasted inside a Disney World bubble. Fans and prognosticators alike have seen just what each and every team in the NBA is capable of in the span of 36 games, and there’s more of an aforementioned knowledge obtained that covers the simple truth that this pandemic was going to make things a lot more tedious to overcome than expected.

A litany of storylines have written themselves out in the first half of the season, and a lot of those just so happen to pertain to the two teams leading in their respective conferences. By keeping and maintaining their pedigree atop the Western hierarchy, are the Utah Jazz for real as a legitimate threat to overthrow the Lakers as the West’s best team? Can the Philadelphia 76ers survive in the vaunted Eastern Conference while the burgeoning Brooklyn Nets get even more multiplicative in offensive firepower?

And below them, various questions that have to do with the top four to five teams in both conferences have yet to be answered: while their records may not indicate it right now, just how intimidating are the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, and Los Angeles Clippers to the team that leads the league in wins and, statistically, average win margin? In the East, would it be hogwash to write off teams like the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, and Charlotte Hornets for their impeded starts due to lingering injuries to integral pieces or the COVID-19 pandemic directly affecting their ability to effectively compete in games?

This Power Rankings article is going to be slightly different from weeks prior, as we’ll feature the storylines that all 30 teams are involved in, as well as their statistical advantages, or disadvantages, that have impacted their season.

Let’s get into it.

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1. Utah Jazz (27-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

Biggest storyline: Are the Utah Jazz the best team in the NBA, or was the first half of the season just a quick jump out of the blocks that will result in a stumbled finish through the second-half tape?

When we last visited the Jazz, they were flying high and confident heading into the break with the best record in the NBA. They posted statistical accolades that would supplant that take too: being fourth in the NBA in both total offensive and defensive rating, third in 3PT shooting (percentage-wise), and first in point differential and average win margin (+8.8) would make that case a little more believable. Rudy Gobert was all but a lock for his third Defensive Player of the Year award, Quin Snyder was only to go through the formalities of being named Coach of the Year, and Donovan Mitchell played his way into his first All-NBA First Team selection.

But as is the case with the NBA: it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Utah starts their second half of the season with the easiest schedule in the league, with a 2.5-game advantage over the Phoenix Suns for the best record in the West. This will likely ease their path to attaining the best record in the regular season since it’s likely opposing candidates for the best record in their conference will opt for resting their stars a little more than regulated in preparation for the long haul of the postseason.

But the theory of it taking until the Conference Finals to face their biggest adversaries of the Lakers or Clippers in the Finals will likely be debunked, for they’re likely to see at least one of them in the Conference Semifinals with the Phoenix Suns surprisingly appearing at second in the Western standings.

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2. Philadelphia 76ers (24-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

Biggest storyline: Is COVID-19 through with the Philadelphia 76ers, and if so, are they as offensively sound enough to maintain that conference lead against teams in the East that are getting healthier and growing in talent?

There’s a shortlist of teams that have been excessively tampered with by the onsetting of the pandemic, and the 76ers inconveniently top that list. Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid were reportedly in close contact with a COVID-positive barber prior to playing in this past Sunday’s All-Star Game and were disallowed to even set foot inside State Farm Arena amidst concerns of potentially infecting the field of All-Star Teammates and colleagues that would have to go home to their respective organizations, and we’d have a general idea of how that would negatively snowball and hurt other team’s chances of winning. It’s being reported that the two stars will be quarantined until the weekend, and won’t be with their team as they visit Chicago, Washington, and play host to the Spurs.

So as they solve their own Health and Safety Protocol issues, injury concerns, and offensive inconsistencies, the question remains: is Philly still capable of fending off what’s becoming a deafening roar from that of the Brooklyn Nets, who last Sunday signed Blake Griffin after his contract buyout with the Detroit Pistons?

If the answer to that question is “watch Joel Embiid work”, then well, points are made. You know what you’re getting from the consensus-favored lock for MVP: how’s 30.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists off 52 percent shooting from the field and 41.6 percent shooting from downtown for his MVP argument? However, aside from the heroics Embiid posts on a nightly occurrence, Philadelphia is the 14th-ranked team in the NBA in terms of offensive rating, and their offseason acquisitions to address their need for outside shooting have underperformed.

But, there is a pattern of thought that should be respected that says say some advanced analytics don’t provide a bevy of context but just the latent, objective narrative. Heading into the break, Ben Simmons’ uptick in aggression on the offensive end, notable in the fifth-year guard scoring a career-high 42 points against the Utah Jazz in a road loss. When Simmons is inconspicuously fighting for his own shot instead of just being the facilitator, it does wonders for the Sixers’ spacing and Doc Rivers’ offense. He keeps that up in the second half, Philly stays healthy, and well, they’re a dangerously different team. But their second All-Star’s productivity on the scoring side of the game could predicate just how much of a success – or slip-up – this first season with Doc Rivers calling the shots could be.

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3. Brooklyn Nets (24-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

Biggest storyline: Can the Nets keep everyone healthy, fresh, and rested, but at the same time on the court enough to build malleable chemistry heading into the playoffs?

When we last saw these Nets, they had just seen an eight-game winning streak come to an end but in retrospect, had won nine of their last 10 as the league’s No. 1 offense that scored an average of 121.1 points per game off an insane team-wide average Field Goal percentage of 50%. Individually, we talk about 50/40/90 scorers, but this team nearly fully embodies that with team-wide 50/40/80 shooting splits. They’re only getting better and more comfortable playing with one another in this uber-spacious system devised by Head Coach Steve Nash and a slew of assistant coaches headlined by Mike D’Antoni.

And it seems like they’re fully intent of banking on this season’s aspirations of achieving a title in this ensemble’s first season together: they went and pulled the trigger to get five-time All-Star and former All-NBA mainstay Blake Griffin to bolster their already overwhelming offensive output. Chemistry and its direct funnel into success is the largest question that permeates the mind of Nets skeptics who don’t quite think their roster is complete enough to go blow-for-blow against the game’s absolute best, as they’re still missing a reliable roll threat and rim protector, as well as a sixth man and predominant floor general that directs traffic once their three stars sit.

But if the Nets solve the puzzles of finishing the roster leading up to the March 25th Trade Deadline that’ll translate to their defensive inefficiencies as well as the incorporation of new offensive parts, it’s only a matter of time until this team that is 0.5 games out of first place finishes with either the best record in the East or finishes in the conference’s top two seeds at the least.

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4. Los Angeles Lakers (24-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

Biggest storyline: Even with Anthony Davis returning from Achilles Tendinosis soon, does the LeBron James MVP campaign take a backseat to staying rested and healthy heading into the playoffs?

While it might seem grabbing the West’s top seed is an utmost priority, a favorable path back to the Finals while every part of Rob Pelinka’s championship roster is healthy and available for the second half of the season seems like the safest route for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. If the regular season were to be suspended right now (which we don’t hope happens again since it was *literally* this time last year) Tinseltown’s team would currently be the fourth seed heading into the playoffs, but that might not be to their advantage, since they wouldn’t have a predominant home-court advantage heading into the postseason.

Last year’s effort to secure that advantage was for nothing, as the rest of the season played itself out in the neutral bubble. And the Lakers got their franchise’s But with government restrictions easing across the country and, potentially, in the state of California which could allow a generous amount of fans back inside the Staples Center at one point in this year’s regular-season or playoffs, could that be enough incentive to push these Lakers to win as many games as possible? Would that prompt Head Coach Frank Vogel to make the decision to keep LeBron James on the floor (who’s only sat out one game this season for rest reasons) with his high usage and average of 34 minutes per game?

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5. Phoenix Suns (24-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

Biggest storyline: While it seems the Suns are a lock to get into the postseason for the first time since 2010, how will they operate under the microscope as a top-two team in the West with the Lakers and Clippers grasping at their seed, and just how far with the tandem of Chris Paul and Devin Booker take them in their first year together?

Phoenix entered the break with the second-best record in the Western Conference, and was just getting to scratch the surface of their potential on both ends of the ball. Engineered by the elder architect Chris Paul, this organizational resurgence now has them behind the Jazz for the second-best record in all of the NBA.

Barring postponements in previous weeks due to the pandemic affecting their season, the Suns finished the first half with a 8-2 run in their last 10 games, but a bigger area of concern has to do with an increasingly difficult schedule that’ll obviously feature some battles against the likes of the Lakers and Clippers, who are both insistent on finishing top-three in the Conference at year’s end even if their abridged plans of Load Management alter their plans of giving 100% effort in the final two months of the regular season. They ended up going a combined 2-1 against the Lakers and Clippers in the first half of the season, but it remains if they’ll replicate that success in the second half.

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6. Los Angeles Clippers (24-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

Biggest storyline: Much like the Lakers, where keeping a sense of synergy is paramount, how much will Tyronn Lue prioritize health for full optimization of their stars? And will they make a move at the deadline to acquire a guard?

Much of the criticism toward the Clippers stems from lineup and roster incompletion, and what usually isn’t doubted is how dominant the Clippers are when they’re at full strength. Because when Paul George and Kawhi Leonard share the floor, they score in multitudes as the second-highest scoring duo in the NBA. As a team, prior to their first-half-ending loss to the Wizards on the road, they led the NBA in 3PT% at 41.8, and were tied for fourth in the NBA in shooting percentage from the field.

The Clips are a team with two dominant stretch wings that can score on anyone and lock up on the other end, but a major adjustment they’ll have to make in order to crack the top two in the conference is being able to finish in the clutch. Evident in their loss to the Bucks a couple of weeks ago, where they couldn’t score a point in the game’s final four minutes as Leonard and George got too stagnant on the offensive end when the system ran through them.

However, it’d be the most optimal solution to keep Leonard and George on the floor as much as possible, since rest and recuperation leading up to the playoffs did them in during them blowing a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the Orlando Bubble’s Western Conference Semifinals was in part due to their lack of established roles in closing out games. L.A. is also a name to watch as the Trade Deadline nears, since it’s more than possible they scavenge for a veteran point guard to make their own shot and control the tempo of the floor for the second unit.

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7. Milwaukee Bucks (22-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

Biggest storyline: Can the Bucks stay healthy and find a consistent groove leading into what should be a deep playoff run? 

While a first All-Star Game MVP award was certainly a welcomed addition to the growing legacy of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored 35 points on a perfect 16-of-16 night with three 3PTs made in the NBA’s 70th annual midseason classic, now is the time to hunker down and get to business, especially since their first half had it’s uneven share of pitfalls. As the Greek Freek continues to play at an Elite level, the Bucks return from a break that saw enter into with a nauseating 128-97 loss to the Denver Nuggets at home for their 14th loss of the year and their fourth loss in ten contests.

One game later though, they’d fight tooth and nail to beat the Memphis Grizzlies via a score of 112-111, thanks to a stepback game-winner by Jrue Holiday, their guard they traded Eric Bledsoe away for, and the guard they hope can stay COVID-free and physically healthy the rest of the way.

More than ever, consistency to help build the reputation of a Mike Budenholzer-coached team that has, for two seasons straight, produced the league’s best record as a top-three staple in the offensive and defensive rating departments, is more than required if these Bucks want to put up a fight against the likes of Philadelphia and Brooklyn.

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8. Portland Trail Blazers (21-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

Biggest storyline: Will these Blazers get healthy enough to go on a run with Damian Lillard’s help before playoff time, and can they improve on the defensive end?

It’s as if it’s a case of Deja Vu from last year – Lillard has to carry the weight of a franchise like a cargo ship carries Amazon packages as they tend to their ailments to some of their most important players. But this year, it’s been the story of “Logo Lillard” as he has kept these injured Portland Trail Blazers (who, in all accords, are 28th in total defensive rating) afloat with the seventh-best offensive rating, and his nightly effort is commendable, to put it euphemistically. Over the course of the season’s first half, Lillard has put forth his own MVP campaign, scoring 29.8 points, dishing 8 assists and grabbing 4.3 rebounds off 45 percent shooting and 38 percent from deep, and no one has a higher offensive rating in the clutch than him.

While he may have entered the break with the highest amount of shot attempts per game and the highest usage rate of his career, you’d have to factor in that those advanced statistical anomalies are warranted when your backcourt cohort CJ McCollum had been nursing a broken bone in his foot for nearly two months, and your go-to rim protector had been rehabbing from a broken hand. So, what he’s done since they started racking up DNPs has been phenomenal.

It’s scary to fathom just how arduous of an opponent they’ll be once their guys are off the injury report and on the floor. If and when they get healthy, they’ll become more dangerous as each game passes with more time on the floor together.

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9. Denver Nuggets (21-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

Biggest storyline: Who does Mike Malone give the nod to for the Nuggets’ third-most reliable scorer?

While it seems that it’s unnecessary for a team that’s fresh off of a trip to the Conference Finals to need someone other than Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic to be asked to score more than 20 points a night as the fifth-ranked offense in basketball, they’ll have to look to someone to knock shots down on the wings off the catch following Jamal Murray or Facundo Campazzo breaking down opposing defenses and kicking the rock out to those areas.

Therefore, Michael Porter Jr.’s role could greatly increase in Mike Malone’s offense, due to the ongoing injury plague and the raging pandemic that has kept guys like Gary Harris Jr. and Will Barton out for considerable amounts of time. Porter is averaging nearly 15 points off 50.2 percent shooting and 41.2 percent shooting from downtown, but specifically, his presence on the offensive end is felt when the third-year wing out of Missouri plays with fervent and confidence. Heading into the break, Porter Jr. had acquired five double-doubles in the Nuggets past six games.

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10. San Antonio Spurs (18-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

Biggest storyline: Is it time for Gregg Popovich to unleash the youthful part of this roster as opposed to the older pieces of Rudy Gay and Patty Mills?

You could make the argument that DeMar DeRozan was absolutely snubbed from this year’s All-Star Game with his averaged 20 points of 48.4 percent shooting form the field, but what isn’t being largely discussed is the average age of some of their best players — DeRozan, Patty Mills, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Rudy Gay — is 33, which doesn’t quite spell progressive and conditioned heading into the second half of the season.

So it makes sense that, now, the Spurs and LaMarcus Aldridge decided to mutually part ways.

We’ve seen that specific lineups on the floor without LaMarcus Aldridge (ex. – DeRozan, Derrick White, DeJounte Murray, Lonnie Walker IV, and Jokob Poetl/Trey Lyles) post a significantly better positive net rating, which gives reason to believe that the team was better off either keeping the more tenured big man in secondary units as a bench scorer in order to get out to quicker starts against the West’s best teams, or releasing him. Seems that they picked the latter.

And as their second half of the season begins Wednesday against Dallas, that change might occur sooner than you think, as Pop might commit to his 180-degree turn of negating analytics, opting for a quicker pace to the offense and more threes for the rest of the season to follow the trend of the modern NBA.

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11. Dallas Mavericks (19-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

Biggest storyline: Can Kristaps Porzingis earn his keep and prove he’s the second-best player on this team on both ends of the floor, or should a playoff threat like the Mavericks start to look for trade partners in the offseason, or before the Trade Deadline?

As touched on in the last Power Rankings, the Mavericks were 9-9 when Porzingis played (that mark has since improved to 11-9 in the two games prior to the All-Star Break), and a pedestrian 7-7 when he sits. But per the NBA defensive rating ladder for players, he’s still the worst defender in the NBA, and while it’s taken him time to adjust to a regular schedule in lieu of knee surgery rehabilitation, patience could be running thin for the seven-foot stretch big. He has shown significant strides over the past month, but if there’s to be a consistent presence that attracts attention from two-time All-Star Luka Doncic, Porzingis has to be better.

If he doesn’t, the Mavs will likely look to Maxi Kleiber to fulfill Porzingis’ role, who before the break was having a career year from deep, shooting 45 percent from downtown.

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12. Boston Celtics (19-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

Biggest storyline: If health and a resurgent Kemba Walker is to be at Boston’s advantage, does General Manager Danny Ainge pull the trigger and use the Trade Player Exception to add shooting depth, or wait until the offseason?

When we last left off with the Celtics, it seemed like the 8.0 magnitude earthquake of a three-game skid had sent the Celtics into an “inescapable purgatory” that was sure to push even the most equanameous to the brink of insanity. And many onlookers frustrated with the Celtics’ downward spiral called for the sacking of Danny Ainge due to his situational inaction from of not getting on the phones to make some team-altering trades.

And then the Celtics stopped the rain from falling, going 6-0 heading into the All-Star break with significant wins against teams like the Pacers, Raptors, and Clippers as a team that entered the week under .500, and finished the first half of the season two games above an even record as the fourth-ranked team in the Eastern Conference. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown would go on to display just how far they’ve progressed during Sunday’s All-Star game, scoring a combined (on opposite teams, of course) 43 points as two of the game’s most noteworthy contributors.

And now for the current scenario at hand: Boston is in talks to acquire a lengthy wing that can make plays on both ends of the floor as well as shoot the rock at an efficient clip to assist the core of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and a star guard in Kemba Walker that is slowly returning to his Charlotte form, if the last week going into the break was any indication.

Boston’s Marcus Smart is slated to return for their blockbuster rematch against Brooklyn Thursday, and if the Celtics are intent of running the risk to make such a move now to acquire a lengthy playmaker, the opportunity is there for the Celtics to make yet another deep postseason run.

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13. Miami Heat (18-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

Biggest storyline: While not graced with the amenity of resting stars heading into the postseason much like NBA Finals counterpart Lakers as the sixth-seeded team in the East, does Miami have enough gas in the tank to make it back to the playoffs?

*Inserts tired Jimmy Butler GIF from the Bubble*

Butler and the Heat are one of two teams that competed for a championship through six games, and are still feeling the brunt fatigue of a short offseason that’s clearly affected the productivity of a Miami squad that, with a few losses, could easily be on the outside looking in during the second-half of the season.

Factor in the COVID-19 protocols making Miami one of the most pandemic-tattered teams in the NBA with annoying injuries to stars in Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, and Tyler Herro, and you have a team that’s been a shell of their former selves that reached the NBA Finals back in October. Recently though, Miami had won seven of their past 10 games and had started to get hot at the right time, but sustainability might be the biggest thing for them to overcome.

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14. Golden State Warriors (19-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

Biggest storyline: As the West’s eigth-ranked squad, just how aggressive will the Warriors be at the Trade Deadline to improve areas of need, especially if James Wiseman continues to struggle?

Everyone is going to focus on how Stephen Curry can etch his way onto the shortlist of MVP candidates by getting a talent-developing Warriors team to the playoffs, but the bigger focus should be on (1) Bob Meyers’ aggressiveness toward the Trade Deadline, as it was reported that the Warriors’ General Manager was to be “more open in making calls” as the March 25th deadline nears, and (2) the onward development of rookie James Wiseman, who’s had a bumpy start to his NBA career as he both cannot stay on the court as a result of his wrist injury that kept him out for nearly a month back in January, as well as struggle, and get visibly discouraged in getting into a flow and rhythm in the minutes he plays.

It’s a difficult task for a rookie to learn to grow a comfortability for the pace and nuances on an NBA floor, but twice as much when the 19-year-old is trusted to offer substantial minutes to help get the Warriors back into to the playoffs for the first time in almost two years. If he continues to struggle, Meyers might observe the roster needs for veteran depth at the power forward and center spots.

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15. New York Knicks (19-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

Biggest storyline: Can the Knicks keep this magic carpet ride of a season going?

If you ask any rational Knicks fan if this team now would be playoff-caliber this time last year, they’d dismiss the message as trolling. That isn’t happening anymore. The Garden is turning into Eden again, thanks to the play of Julius Randle, who appeared in his first All-Star Weekend festivities since the Rookie-Sophomore game back in 2016 as a first-time All-Star. The skepticism is valid, since the Knicks weren’t supposed to be in the middle of the pack in the East this time post-All-Star break and ahead of teams like the Raptors, Heat and Pacers as they’ve gone 7-3 in their last 10 games leading up to the break.

Fans will wonder if this team can sustain its statistical and record success – the Knicks are still the second-best defensive team in the NBA – and if this is a real, latent playoff team. But if one thing is for real, The Tom Thibodeau – Leon Rose era is off to an infathomable start, and the Knicks are an attraction in New York City again.

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16. Charlotte Hornets (17-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Biggest storyline: Just like the Knicks, are the Hornets a serious playoff contender?

It’s more than likely a formality that LaMelo Ball will become the Rookie of the Year at season’s end, as the rookie who plays with the most natural feel for the game has averaged 15.8 points, 6.3 assists, and 6 rebounds in 35 games for a Charlotte team that is currently seventh in the East behind the Knicks. The team around him, however, is in the business of making history and are all having career years in James Borrego’s system.

While they do give up an averaged total of 120 points per game to rank as the 17th-best defensive team, the Hornets walk into the second half of the season only a half-game behind the Heat in the Southeast division as a playoff team with seven scorers who average numbers in double-digits per game. As the 16th ranked offense in basketball, they’ll have to be led by the nightly effort from former Boston Celtics Gordon Hayward (21.5 ppg., 5.4 rpg., 3.9 apg. in an avg. 35 minutes on the floor), who is starting to look like his old Utah self. This is a team that’s capable of reaching the postseason or play-in tournament, but their biggest concern will be consistency in the final two months of the season.

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17. Toronto Raptors (17-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

Biggest storyline: If this is not the end of the Kyle Lowry era in Toronto, what could they do at the deadline to improve their record and make their path back to the postseason easier? 

Kyle Lowry, the franchise’s third all-time scorer, is slated to become a free agent at the end of this season, but if current reports line up, it’s unlikely he gets moved before the March 25th trade deadline. Toronto has shown their intent to build around a younger core of Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet and while Lowry – who will turn 35 on the exact day of the deadline – is expected to remain in a Raptors uniform. However, Toronto would be remiss to ignore the large market for the All-Star guard, and if, in the hypothetical sense, were to make a trade including Lowry, teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers and more would have their ears and arms wide open to accept the two-way guard.

Should they keep him, Toronto’s trade targets should directly assess their most significant weakness – the lack of a lengthy shot creator that forces opposing coaches to adjust their defensive coverages around. If Norman Powell doesn’t move the needle, they could trade with Orlando in a deal to send a player like Evan Fournier (18.5 ppg., 3.8 apg) to Tampa to assist the likes of Toronto’s talented backcourt.

In order to seriously compete in the vaunted East, another gamechanger with their own role set in stone would make scoring the ball a little easier for the Raps, who own the NBA’s tenth-ranked offense in basketball.

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18. Memphis Grizzlies (17-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

Biggest storyline: Can a Jaren Jackson Jr. return salvage the season to get the Grizzlies back into the Play-In Tournament? 

The Grizzlies saw another return from major injury when Justise Winslow came back from a back injury and is one of Memphis’ most efficient defenders whenever he sets foot on the floor. They’re hoping that it’s more of the same when Jaren Jackson Jr. comes back at some point during the rest of the regular season, now that his knee is nearly healed from meniscus surgery this past summer. And for the Grizzlies, their draft goals from a few seasons ago were to lock in both Ja Morant and “JJJ” as franchise cornerpieces to build a championship roster around them one day.

Well, injuries and additional ailments out of their control have hindered the progression of this duo in the past two years, and with them strengthening the bench by drafting several additions to their frontcourt like Brandon Clarke, Desmond Bane, and Xavier Tillman, the ceiling of these Grizzlies for their longevity and their success this season, is largely incumbent on them staying healthy the rest of the way through.

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19. Chicago Bulls (16-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

Biggest storyline: Can Zach LaVine keep it up for the Bulls to be deemed qualifiers for the first-ever Eastern play-in tournament?

 When we last visited the Bulls, they were ninth in the East with a slender lead over Indiana in the rankings, but were barely treading water in their efforts of getting in the playoff picture for the rest of the year.

But perhaps the largest component of that probability becoming likelier per game – Zach LaVine. The seven-year guard became the tenth Bull in franchise history to be announced as an All-Star and the first since Jimmy Butler earned the same honor in 2017. He joined a legendary list that included the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Joakim Noah, and Derrick Rose, and will look toward the second half of the season to get Chicago’s team back into the postseason for the first time since 2017.

Entering the second half, LaVine’s scoring is the lifeblood of this offense, as he had become the second Bull since Michael Jordan to average 35 points in the span of more than ten games. This is,undoubtedly, his best season as a pro, but it’s to be found out whether up-to-the-minute coaching adjustments of working players in and out of lineups due to injuries and Health and Safety Protocols by first-year Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan pays off in the end.

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20. Indiana Pacers (16-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

Biggest storyline: Are the Pacers capable of returning to their former playoff-qualifying selves, or have they burned out?

The last time we saw these Pacers, they were winners in only four of their last 10 games. And yes, Domantas Sabonis was selected as an All-Star for the second time, but as a team, they went into a tailspin. The first-half of Nate Bjorkgren’s first year as the Head Coach of the Indiana Pacers was a rather turbulent one, and while other stars like Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner are having decent individual seasons, those offensive and defensive inefficiencies have worn on the Pacers’ season, now appearing as the tenth seed in the East with both the league’s 18th-ranked offense and 13th-ranked defense. Just getting into the postseason is the key for the Pacers, who haven’t won a playoff series since the Paul George days back in 2014.

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21. New Orleans Pelicans (15-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

Biggest storyline: What pieces will get moved in the wake of the March 25 Trade Deadline?

By the way the first half of the season has gone for the Pelicans, a massive reset button on the schematics of this roster might be exactly what stars Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and others need to navigate the murky waters of this season’s second half. It’s no secret that the offense will gladly run through the three-level scoring of Ingram, who starts the second half of the season averaging 23 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.8 rebounds off 48.9 percent shooting from the field as well as Williamson, the strong, adept finisher at the cup, fervent rebounder and incontainable slasher you can’t keep just one guy on that’s averaging 25.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 0.7 blocks per game.

There’s a blossoming curiosity that certain parts of this roster just don’t mesh, and debates about rotational guards Lonzo Ball and Eric Bledsoe, as well as veteran big man Steven Adams are coming to conclusions that those guys may not be in the final plans of building a competitive roster that’s to do battle with the West’s very best.

And while Ball has posted career-highs in field goal percentage, points per game and three-point percentage this year, he and others like Bledsoe hinder their spacing, making it harder to score and win basketball games. Ball will be a restricted free agent and if David Griffin determines his lack of value added to this team, he, and others, could be on other teams after March 25.

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22. Washington Wizards (14-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

Biggest storyline: Can the Wizards make the play-in tournament?   

It’s not too far-fetched of a question to ask. A 3-12 record to open the season, followed by a COVID-19 outbreak that kept the Wizards off the court for nearly an entire month and the title of the 29th-ranked defensive team in the NBA could be enough for the most loyal players to demand trades, but Washington stayed resilient, now a whole two games out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference. What’s more encouraging, Bradley Beal shows no signs of stopping as the league’s leading scorer, and Russell Westbrook is back to playing his explosive brand of basketball that bestowed him a league MVP award back in 2017.

Washington has life, but their second-half of the season is no joke; they’ll have play a total of 38 games (some are catch-up games in part of their quarantine periods) and about eight of those games are back-to-backs. It’s difficult, but the possibility o making it back into the playoffs for the first time in four years is enticing enough to push further.

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23. Atlanta Hawks (16-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

Biggest storyline: Can these Hawks get healthy and advance to the play-in tournament?

Atlanta shook the basketball universe when they let Lloyd Pierce go after nearly three years without a playoff berth, and in his place came Nate McMillan, the former Head coach of the Indiana Pacers. For the second part of this season, Trae Young and the rest of the Hawks will be tasked in being coached by an entirely different coach in McMillan, as he is one who has his own idiosyncrasies that differ from that of Pierce’s.

When we last left off, the Hawks were in the midst of a two-game winning streak, highlighted by their 14-point comeback against the Miami Heat on the road and their 19-point comeback against the Orlando Magic just a few nights after. Injuries are the only thing holding the Hawks back from being a borderline elite team in the scoring department, and in the ball pressure area of need, as they’re still awaiting DeAndre Hunter’s return while Cam Reddish fields trade offers.

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24. Oklahoma City Thunder (15-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

Biggest storyline: With a playoff berth all but out of the question, how big of sellers will the Thunder be at the Trade Deadline?

While the case can be made that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might have played his way into an All-NBA team member selection, the Thunder are in no means equipped to challenge for a playoff spot with such a deteriorated and talent-inept roster. And yet, their record is better thatn expected at this point in the season, which will likely negate their path to earning a top-four pick in this year’s upcoming draft.

They’ll likely ship off a majority of the pieces they have now in order to achieve additional draft capital, making the process of turning traded players into picks to gather even more first-round selections in the 2021 Draft a little easier. Guys like Al Horford and Mike Muscala, two timely veterans with postseason experience, will likely be available at or before the deadline to help teams that need rim protection and outside shooting.

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25. Sacramento Kings (14-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

Biggest storyline: is Marvin Bagley III going to remain a King? Is this the beginning of the end for Luke Walton?

The former No. 2 pick and big man out of Duke back in 2018, Bagley has largely underachieved over the span of his NBA career. And while he’s gotten a little more consistent on the offensive end, he’s not directly contributing to wins, as he loses his starting minutes more and more as the games pass by.

MB35 is playing at an average of 26 minutes per game, not ideal for the Kings’ first-round selection they entrusted to have an entire championship team built around at some point in his career. His 14.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and one assist off 50 percent shooting and 37 percent shooting from downtown isn’t all that impressive, and it’s festering into an indictment on Head Coach Luke Walton, who himself is on the hot seat and could be let go during the second part of this season. At least there’s Tyrese Haliburton, though.

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26. Cleveland Cavaliers (14-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

Biggest storyline: Can these Cavaliers find an identity?

At first, a 3-0 start was met with optimism, for it seemed that Koby Altman drafted and scouted seamlessly when he went ahead and selected Isaac Okoro with the fifth-overall selection, a lengthy wing scorer with projections as lofty as the heights to Paul George. And then one loss snowballed into ten-straight losses in the month of February. And then the Cavs went four for five heading into the All-Star break, ultimately keeping them within arms reach of challenging the Indiana Pacers for the eleventh seed in the East. It makes zero sense to me as well.

Now the question stands: if these Cavs can consistently find a way to win basketball, do they decide to keep Kevin Love on the team to help provide spacing for Collin Sexton, Darius Garland and rookie Isaac Okoro during their progression? Or do you chalk up this season and opt for selecting a top-three player in the draft.

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27. Orlando Magic (13-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

Biggest storyline: Just how much is General Manager John Hammon willing to give away heading into the Trade Deadline?

As one of the more mediocre franchise in all of sports right now, bad luck and injuries have played a big role in the destruction of their 2020-21 season. And so it seems like they won’t be making it back into the playoff picture for the third year in a row, now with the second-worst record in the East with only four wins in their last 10 games. They’ve made it loud and clear they’re not shipping off lone All-Star Nikola Vucevic, but at the same time they’re still not winning games.

It’ll have to be an executive decision for higher-ups in the Magic’s organization on whether to move the likes of Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier (as mentioned earlier), and Vuc to better supplant some youthful help as they wait for Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz to recover from their ACL tears heading into next year.

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28. Houston Rockets (11-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

Biggest storyline: In the second half of the season, can the Rockets find a way to generate offense when Christian Wood isn’t on the floor?

When All-Star hopeful Christian Wood sprained his ankle, all hope of his Rockets being deemed competitive enough just went out of the window. Currently on the cusp of extending their losing streak from 13 games to 14 games, it’s apparent that these Rockets are in the midst of a massive talent overhaul as they not only wait for Wood’s eventual return, but at some point, thy’ll want to be able to score the rock with effectiveness while their best player is down.

Houston is still the 27th-ranked offense in basketball, only scoring 105.7 points per 100 possessions and while they could use Wood to return to fix some of the team’s most salient issues, their priority should be to look towards the draft and the Trade Deadline as they look for landing spots for players like Victor Oladipo, PJ Tucker and Eric Gordon.

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29. Detroit Pistons (10-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

Biggest storyline: Should Pistons fans “Trust the Process” and be patient with this young team’s development?

General Manager Troy Weaver knew exactly what he was getting himself into. This rebuild was not going to happen overnight, and certainly, it wouldn’t be a gradual rebuild with wins coming from the woodwork. Now that the buyout with Blake Griffin is complete, with the star forward now headed to Brooklyn to up their chances of winning an NBA title, these Pistons are keen on getting the young pieces here already as confident and prepared as they’ll need to be for seasons beyond this year. Should they decide not to move reliable infrastructure designed to be built around for their future, players like Jerami Grant, rookie Saddiq Bey, and veterans Josh Jackson and Isiah Stewart are all to play in the team-wide aspect of development, so that one day they’ll be able to challenge for a playoff spot.

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30. Minnesota Timberwolves (7-29, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

Biggest storyline: How do they build momentum heading into next season?

This season has been a bit of a mess for the team that selected first in last year’s NBA Draft. Whether it be the nagging injuries keeping their best players out, pandemic halting basketball activities, or sudden coaching changes, it just hasn’t been pretty. While Karl Anthony-Towns remains a loyal centerpiece and focal point, it seems that the pairing of he and his good friend D’Angelo Russell hasn’t gotten off to the quick start folks were assuming they’d be on when they first joined forces.

There is promise beyond Towns though; Malik Beasley is experiencing a career year scoring the rock as a primary initiator, and Anthony Edwards, should he fix the consistency issue that’s relatively normal for rookies at this point in the season, has the potential to be one of the game’s most dominant two-way players. This second half of the season should be a time used to further establish that chemistry between each other so that a playoff push in the coming years seems likely.

Photo Cred: Fox Sports 1430

If the regular season were to end today…both teams in the New York area would be hosting playoff series. That’s a crazy sentence to say aloud.

As it stands, the Knicks are currently on pace to secure the fourth seed in the playoffs with only two full months of the regular season to go, and while in the midst of a three-game winning streak with them having won seven of their last 10 games, are only the fourth team to post a .500-or-greater record in the Eastern Conference. While that may be an indictment on the competitive difficulty of the East, the conference’s unpredictable parity, and overall, the state of an atypical season during a pandemic factor greatly into how tight the standings are.

Conversely, it’s a completely different scenario for the opposite conference. The Utah Jazz are still perched above all others, only getting their second loss in a 10-game span via a road loss to the resurgent Heat. Meanwhile, the struggles previously mentioned about the Lakers in recent Power Rankings? Those offensive and defensive mishaps have cleaned themselves up, and LeBron’s crew only finds themselves 4.5 games behind the Jazz for first in the West. The Clippers are on their tail with only a half-game deficit to the Lakers, as Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks outlasted them in an exciting Sunday Matinee on ESPN.

All that craziness and more will be mentioned in this week’s rankings, so let’s not fool around and get into it.

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1. Utah Jazz (27-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

It’s remarkable just how efficient and prepared Utah is for every contest, and it will be a national travesty if Quin Snyder isn’t a runaway lock for Coach of the Year honors at year’s end. Winners of eight of their last 10, they still own the best home record of any team in the Association, have the second-best defensive rating, fourth-highest offensive rating, possess the league’s third-highest 3PT%, and more shockingly, had done all that and more without Mike Conley Jr., who leads the league in total net rating, for a total of seven games that he missed. News flash: they went undefeated in those contests! Currently, the Jazz have two of their starters in the top three for overall net rating, as Rudy Gobert ranks only second behind Conley Jr.

It’s an enriching testament to an otherworldly and magical first half of the season for the Jazz, who face the Pelicans and have a much-anticipated rematch with the 76ers to head into the All-Star Break.

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2. Los Angeles Lakers (24-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

So, it seems that the Lakers weathered the storm of the supposed “Category 5 Hurricane” that occurred when Anthony Davis was ruled out for the remainder of the first half of the season. Ever since Davis was diagnosed with Achilles Tendinosis, the disposition of the Lakers was one of illegitimacy, as their depth in the big man department and offensive variety when Dennis Schroder was sidelined as a result of Health and Safety protocols was met with brutally honest criticism.

A defending champion only winning a pedestrian five of their last ten contests while being in the middle of a four-game losing streak, and being grotesquely humbled at the hands of the conference-leading Jazz on the road by 25 points is concerning enough to the point of wanting to break the proverbial emergency glass case to slam the panic button, but getting Schroder back from his temporary quarantine did wonders to keep LAL afloat, as they’d proceed to outlast the Trail Blazers at home by nine points and administer a Tinseltown-sized beatdown to the visiting Warriors on Sunday night.

They’ll have another battle with the Suns and Kings in a short week before the All-Star break commences, and want to go into the break with as much momentum as possible while shorthanded, waiting for Anthony Davis’ eventual return to the hardwood once the break ends.

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3. Los Angeles Clippers (24-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

To say it wasn’t a great week at the office for the Clippers would be an understatement. They started off the week on a good note, blowing out a Wizards team that was fresh off of a back-to-back, but then things went sour when they split a series against the Grizzlies and were routed in the second game. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games and while it doesn’t seem like they’re far off from being the second-best team out West, a loss to the Bucks when it seems things were under control from a schematics standpoint simply cannot happen.

In the waning minutes of their fourth quarter against Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon, the Clips let one slip away when they decided to not force the Bucks to switch their most sub-optimal defenders onto Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, while allowing the tandem of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton to run rampant on them in the game’s final four minutes – a time period elapsed where the Clippers wouldn’t even score a point.

They went on to blow an eight-point lead, and allow the reigning MVP Antetokounmpo to put on a convincing performance of 36 points off 15-27 shooting from the field. It was a loss they’ll need to learn and move on from, and will have the chance to do so during this Eastern road trip with games against the Celtics and Wizards to close out the first half of their season.

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4. Milwaukee Bucks (21-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

Speaking of these Bucks, Sunday’s win over the Clippers may have been the most momentum-formulating win of their season. As mentioned earlier, not allowing the offensively-stacked Clippers to get whatever they wanted in the last four minutes of the game while Giannis (who outscored the entire Clippers team 17-10 in the final 8:30 of the fourth quarter) and crew held the Clippers scoreless to close out Sunday’s contest. Moreover, it was the fifth-straight successful result for the Bucks, and in their progression back into the top spots in the Eastern Conference, a win like Sunday’s goes a long way for their plan of creating a favorable path to the Finals, and building momentum going into the break is paramount for a team that struggled to get out of the blocks in the beginning of this year.

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5. Brooklyn Nets (22-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

The Nets saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end this past Saturday night, succumbing to an MVP-caliber performance from an MVP-caliber player in Luka Doncic as they were routed by the Mavericks for their 13th loss on the season.

Losses like Saturday’s need context, since there wasn’t much of a vivid picture to paint about the complexion of an equal matchup between Doncic’s fully-healthy Mavs and a Brooklyn team that was without both Kevin Durant for a third-straight game due to hamstring soreness and Kyrie Irving, who experienced soreness in his surgically-repaired shoulder.

Prior to their top stars missing time due to injury, Brooklyn had been rolling, having won eight of their last 10 and possessing the second-highest winning percentage in the Eastern Conference. It’s doubtful that finishing through the tape as the East’s best team is Steve Nash’s No. 1 priority, so keeping all three all-world offensive talents in tip-top shape heading into what should be a promising postseason is the goal as the Nets advance to the second half of the season.

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6. Phoenix Suns (22-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

Following their 22-point collapse to an undermanned Nets team on February 16, the Suns went into high gear, going 5-1 in their last six games and possessing the league’s seventh-best defensive rating. They’ve sustained their fourth seed in a shark tank of a Western Conference, and look to heading into the break with a better record than the Philadelphia 76ers, the team that currently leads the Eastern Conference with a 22-12 record.

National notoriety is coming their way, and with more eyes on their success come the accolades as further incentive to continue their progressive trend upwards. Both Chris Paul and Devin Booker (as a replacement for Anthony Davis) were selected as All Stars with the reserves named this past Tuesday, making this the first time in 11 years that the Suns will send a duo of stars to the NBA’s midseason classic, as there hadn’t been a pair of Suns in the All Star Game since Amar’e Stoudamire and Steve Nash back in 2010.

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7. Philadelphia 76ers (22-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

The 76ers slip down to the seventh spot in this week’s rankings, and that might not be the only dropping in rankings they’ll do before the end of the week. Sunday’s confusing home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers blatantly exposed their true lack of depth in the 3PT shooting department, as Philly currently ranks 28th in total percentage from deep as well as attempts from downtown. And of course, that negatively affects their ability to score the ball as they’re now in the danger zone of falling out of the top-15 in the offensive rating department, ranking at 13th while only scoring 111.9 points per 100 possessions.

Yes, Joel Embiid is an MVP candidate and what he’s done this year on the offensive end should not be ill-emphasized or undersold, but after him, the Sixers lack a true preeminent second, or third scorer that’ll confidently and consistently stretch the floor and score at a high efficiency. The margin for error is slim now, since they’re only 0.5 games ahead of the dangerous Nets for the conference lead.

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8. Portland Trail Blazers (18-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

As it seemed things were going okay in an extended period of time without the advanced scoring ability of CJ McCollum and the rim protection of Jusuf Nurkic, their absence in the starting lineup was more felt than ever as the Blazers are currently going through a rough four-game losing streak. They’re having trouble cracking into the top-four in the West and with Phoenix not budging an inch, injuries are beginning to take a toll and dampen the Blazers’ plan for success heading into the All-Star Break.

Four losses against quality competitors expose the need for time that the Blazers need to heal up, and while there’s recently been the difficulty to both defend (29th in total defensive rating), offense hasn’t been hard to come by at all, as they rank only seventh in offensive rating, scoring 118 points per 100 possessions. And now for some more good news: McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic are set to have their injuries reevaluated for their return to play, surely set shortly after the end of the All Star Break.

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9. San Antonio Spurs (17-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

The Spurs don’t move an inch in this week’s Power Rankings, thanks to DeMar DeRozan’s effort as an elite scorer in the midrange and dually, as a playmaker who spreads the ball around the floor to incorporate the rest of Gregg Popovich’s weapons. While a 4-0 week wasn’t exactly in the cards (thank Luguentz Dort for that, since he drilled a wide-open weakside catch-and-shoot three at the horn to give San Antonio their 12th loss of the year), a 3-1 week with a signature 32-11-10 triple-double from the likes of the former All-NBA team member in a win over visiting New Orleans will do wonders for a team that’s scratching and clawing to remain the fifth-best team in the West.

San Antonio is winners of six of their last 10, and are starting to resemble a playoff team specifically crafted by Popovich himself that finds a way to shake things up with gritty halfcourt defense and consistent offense from their stars in DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge.

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10. Denver Nuggets (18-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

What’s been an off-putting rollercoaster of a season for a team that reached the conference finals last season didn’t correct itself this week at all, if that was the goal for the Nuggets to do. They went 2-1 on the road and are currently on a five-game winning streak playing away from Ball Arena, but in the same week lost to the then-streaking Washington Wizards in embarrassing fashion for what might be a “Shaqtin A Fool” nominee for blunder of the year.

A good defensive possession on Washington’s last time with the ball resulted in a steal and fastbreak during a two-point game, and as Michael Porter Jr. opted to flare out to the wing instead of cut the rim on a 3-on-1 breakaway, leaving Facundo Campazzo to get the ball and settle for an easily-contested, ill-advised three-ball that, promptly bounced off the front of the rim resulting in a loss. Denver proceeded to then dismantle the Oklahoma City Thunder by 30 to close out the week.

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11. Golden State Warriors (19-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

The Warriors experienced their first three-game winning streak of the season before getting trounced on the road by 30 against the second-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in a game that leading assist man Draymond Green would exit due to an undisclosed ankle injury that Head Coach Steve Kerr deems as “not serious”. Still, a 3-1 week for a team that recently got healthy is only positive news, and the undermanned Dubs will take that result any time if it means health and playoff qualification at year’s end.

Draymond Green has by all means been their most efficient and productive player, accumulating a total of 30 points, 42 assists and 30 rebounds over the course of the Warriors’ winning streak last week, and has helped the Warriors immensely during their six wins in 10 games. In their win over Charlotte, Green put on a passing clinic and was the defensive anchor during their nine-point win with 19 assists and a triple-double to boot as he scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

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12. New York Knicks (18-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

Didn’t expect these Knicks to be spotted in their highest ranking of these Power Rankings all season, now did you? As the only team not in the top-three of the East with an above-.500 record, these Knicks are operating in only a way Tom Thibodeau knows: stingy, tight defense with an air-tight reluctance to show a minute amount of drop coverage for his bigs, an unrelenting and lengthy presence on the perimeter, and speedy, aggressive offensive productivity from the frontcourt.

Thibs has merged the two-way philosophies that helped both the Bulls and Timberwolves to the heights of the postseason in year’s past with the pace-and-space style of play younger players are accustomed to, and it’s transcended beautifully. While the offense surrounding their lone All-Star Julius Randle (who’s averaging a little over 23 points and 11 rebounds) hasn’t been overwhelmingly impossible to stop, (15th ranked offensive rating) their defense has been more effective and peskier than anyone not named the Jazz and Lakers (The Knickerbockers are 3rd in defensive rating, 2nd in total defensive efficiency, and number one in points allowed). Also, since acquiring Derrick Rose, the Knicks have won seven out of 9 games with him on the court, and as a whole went 9-5 in the month of February.

If this keeps up…They’re primed to make the postseason for the first time since the 2013-14 season, something Knicks fans wouldn’t have expected to see again for the next couple of years. Oh, and they’re off to their best start in almost an entire decade. So yes, it’s safe to say that it’s no longer inconceivable that these fourth-place Knicks can overcome the insurmountable.

Regardless of what happens during the second half of the season, the Leon Rose-Scott Perry-Tom Thibodeau era is off to the best start possible, and the Garden might slowly be transforming back into Eden…

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13. Miami Heat (17-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

Miami jumps up six whole spots in this week as one of the league’s hottest and healthiest teams, as the reigning Eastern Conference champions are seeing the results of the grind as #HeatCulture is, finally, back in full effect. Now 7-3 in their last 10 games, the Heat are on a six-game winning streak and are beginning to resemble the team that reached the Finals last season. In this current uptick in positive productivity, they’ve acquired some key wins over teams with their own array of offensive firepower by suffocating their gameplans in the clutch and scoring with fervent in transition.

First, it was against the league-leading Utah Jazz in which Jimmy Butler scored 33 points while accumulating 10 rebounds and 8 assists, and then it was against the Hawks, in which they kept Trae Young to under 20 points for the entire night and conclude the contest in typical Heat syle, going on a 14-4 run in the final three minutes for their sixth-straight win. They’ll have another game against the Hawks to start the short week and head into the All-Star break with a game against the Pelicans on the road.

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14. Toronto Raptors (17-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

Toronto joined the list of the 27 teams that’s had their season impeded by the pandemic, as it was reported on Friday evening that several coaches and fellow staff were in close contact with individuals with positive tests, including Head Coach Nick Nurse and All-Star Forward Pascal Siakam. Their game this past weekend against the Chicago Bulls was postponed due to contact tracing, and it’s unclear if their remaining games until the All Star Break against the likes of Detroit and Boston will be played. If not, they’ll have to negotiate a plan to play over 39 games in the span of 67 days for the second half of the season.

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15. Boston Celtics (17-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

The sky wasn’t falling after all, so it seems.

While it appeared so after a blown 24-point lead to the New Orleans Pelicans in a heartbreaking overtime loss, it was more evident than ever after Luka Doncic’s demoralizing stepback three canned with 0.1 seconds left on the clock on Tuesday and when Danilo Gallinari looked like prime Larry Bird in him staying perfect from deep with seven made threes in a 15-point blowout. The three-game losing streak finally seceded with the struggling Kemba Walker finally returning to a semblance of his former 20-10-5 self with a “turning back the clock”-esque 32-point night off 10-19 shooting in a win on the home parquet against the Indiana Pacers.

Boston then saw the same success from the combination of the backcourt and frontcourt, as it was then Jayson Tatum’s turn to play hero without his sidekick Jaylen Brown, who was resting from knee soreness as the now two-time All-Star went on a 4-0 run all by himself in the game’s final 12 seconds to defeat the Washington Wizards in lieu to a 31-point night in which he hit an acrobatic game winner in. They’re back to .500, but their schedule isn’t a cakewalk heading into the break, as they’ll duel with both the Clippers and Raptors before both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (for the first time!) head down to Atlanta for next Sunday’s festivities.

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16. Dallas Mavericks (16-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Dallas is an 9-9 when Kristaps Porzingis plays, and an even 7-7 when he sits, but the Mavericks are patient with his recovery and rehabilitation for his knee he had a procedure done this past offseason following his left meniscus tear. Amidst trade talks, there is a persistence to keep Porzingis in the Mavericks’ starting lineup, and if things looked the way they did in their blowout win over the shorthanded Nets on the road, it’ll make all the sense in the world to keep him around for what the Mavericks have planned as they plan to chase a spot in the play-in tournament due to their slow start to the season. They’ve found success and an established chemistry the more that KP is on the court, and as a team have won seven of their last 10 contests. Currently on the outside looking in, they’re a full 3.5 games out of eighth in the West.

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17. Charlotte Hornets (16-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

Lo and behold…the most exciting team to tune into on League Pass, if you ever have the time to watch them.

So after the hot streak these Hornets were on from last week, they cooled off by almost dropping three of their past four contests on Sunday, but thanks to what probably felt like an out-of-body experience for Hornets fans in their improbable eight-point comeback win in under a minute over the Kings, they were able to salvage a 2-2 week as PJ Washington saw his best individual outing as a Hornet and NBA pro with a 42-point night against Sacramento.

When you watch them, the fact that they are in the 15th place in total point differential, and 24th in defensive rating against teams under .500 doesn’t seem to stand out as you’d expect, as their offense, while ran by Rookie of the Year favorite LaMelo Ball conducts this offense with an infallible confidence. While their defense needs to improve, as they’ve given up 120 points in four-straight contests, James Borrego’s plan of confidence development has an even bigger incentive: making the playoffs in his second year as a head coach with one of the league’s youngest rosters.

And he may very well have the opportunity to do so.

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18. Indiana Pacers (15-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

Other than Domantas Sabonis being voted in as an All-Star for the second-straight season, the Pacers have looked anything but like a team that’s primed to contend in the postseason, having lost three straight and losing seven of their last 10 games to fall two games under .500 for the first time this season. Finding themselves out of the playoff picture for the moment, they dropped three of their games this past week in the clutch to the likes of the Warriors to start the week, and then did the same against the Celtics and Knicks on the road. They’ve unraveled in the last couple of weeks, and with Philadelphia and Denver on the schedule to close out the week, things could get worse before they get better.

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19. Memphis Grizzlies (15-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

Though the Grizzlies have put forth a pedestrian effort this season due to the multidinous injuries that have piled up, their 133-84 scalping of the lowly Houston Rockets featured a bunch of record they set. The most glaring: their bench scored 85 points, while the entire Rockets team scored 84 points. That’s a franchise record for bench points in a single game, highlighted by Justise Winslow’s return to a full workload this past week. He had 20 points in the win, one shy of his total in his previous three games in a Grizzlies uniform.

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20. Chicago Bulls (15-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

Currently tied for 10th in the East with the Pacers, the Chicago Bulls have been fighting and clawing to get – and stay – in the playoff picture for the entire season. While it was reported they were in the middle of a winning streak with five of their seven last outings resulting in wins, Chicago would be right into the mix for the play-in if the season were to end today. Zach LaVine won’t be representing his franchise in the Dunk Contest anymore, since he’ll be primed to get some minutes in this Sunday’s All-Star as a first-time participant, the first Bull to do so since Jimmy Butler in 2017.

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21. Washington Wizards (13-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

Quietly, the Wizards have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA since their five-game winning streak continued through last week, as they continued to keep their foot on the pedal with a 3-1 week on their Western road trip this past week. With some big wins over the Lakers and Nuggets, they stumbled, however, by blowing a five-point lead to the Celtics in the game’s 43 seconds, and lost a lead to Jayson Tatum’s Cs in the game’s final 12 seconds. That loss, Scott Brooks hopes, doesn’t deter the Wizards from chasing the eighth seed and final spot in the play-in tournament for a playoff spot, since the Wizards have made noticeable improvements on both ends of the ball during this uptick in wins.

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22. New Orleans Pelicans (14-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

While offense came easy to the likes of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and the rest of the Pelicans in the month of February, as they went on to have the best offensive rating in basketball (122.7 points per 100 possessions), the defense has been, lackluster, to put it euphemistically. They gave up over 120.5 points per 100 possessions this past month, and that was the worst defensive effort in the NBA. Only the Trail Blazers and Kings have a worse defensive rating in the NBA other than these Pelicans.

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23. Atlanta Hawks (14-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

The Atlanta Hawks proceeded to nearly go scoreless in the final three minutes of an initially tight contest against Miami on the road while Trae Young shot under 20 percent from the field for a measly 15-point night, and lost their sixth-straight game while succumbing to a 14-4 Heat run to close the game. Following the loss, the Hawks announced that they would relieve Head Coach Lloyd Pierce of his coaching responsibilities, and in his place would be interim Head Coach Nate McMillan, who Atlanta signed after the former Pacers coach was let go from his former team.

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24. Oklahoma City Thunder (14-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

Was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and All-Star snub? If his February said anything, it’s that he likely had a case for a selection as a near-50/40/90 scorer. The third-year combo guard out of Kentucky averaged 25.4 points on 51.8/47.4/84.6 shooting splits this past month, and just to express his “frustration” of not qualifying for the game, he dropped a career-high 42 points against the Spurs in a game that was ultimately won by the fearlessness of Luguentz Dort, who knocked down a game-winning weakside three at the buzzer to give OKC their 13th win on the year.

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25. Cleveland Cavaliers (13-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

Darius Garland and the Cavaliers picked up one of their more impressive wins over the Philadelphia 76ers in extra time on Saturday, as the second-year guard out of Vanderbilt scored 11 of his career-high 25 points in an overtime period that he just couldn’t miss in. Also, with him adding nine assists, he helped his Cavaliers get on track for a three-game winning streak following last week’s (and the week before that’s) horrendous 10-game losing streak.

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26. Orlando Magic (13-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

Another ugly week followed another horrible week for a Magic team that can’t seem to find any positive direction, having lost three-straight and only having won four of their last 10 games. They finish their first half of the season with a game against the Mavericks and Hawks at home, and when the break ends, it’s uncertain if a majority of the players on this team will remain in Magic jerseys for the duration of this season as the trade deadline nears.

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27. Sacramento Kings (13-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

The Kings drop four spots after going 1-3 on the week, and especially so with their blown eight-point lead with a minute and 14 seconds left to the Charlotte Hornets, with only two free throws that needed to be made to secure the victory. Instead, the potential history makers on the defensive end – Sacramento currently owns the worst defensive rating in basketball and could own the worst in NBA history if things continue – allowed the Hornets to score 12 points as opposed to their 3 points and steal the win in bizarre fashion.

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28. Houston Rockets (11-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

Just as we mentioned last week, offense is nearly impossible to be found from the rest of the Rockets when Christian Wood isn’t on the floor, as their woes in scoring the ball got even worse this past week with them only being able to score 100.3 points per 100 possession for the NBA’s 26th offensive rating. They’re still on an ugly losing streak, now at 11 games, and  are losing in some remarkably historic ways. In their loss to the Grizzlies, they allowed the Grizzlies bench to outscore the entire team, as they scored a franchise-best 85 points to Houston’s team-wide 84 points for their 21st loss on the year.

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29. Detroit Pistons (9-25, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

While they were able to snap a three-game losing streak stemming from last week against the Magic, momentum didn’t grow at all for the Pistons, who have started another three-game losing streak with only three wins in their last seven games. However, Pistons fans have to think, at least Jerami Grant continues to put in the work as a venerable piece to build around as this roster makes its transactions both during the trade deadline and in the offseason as well as during the draft. He scored 30 points for the seventh time this season during last Friday’s loss to the Kings.

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30. Minnesota Timberwolves (7-28, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

Regardless of them switching head coaches from Ryan Saunders to Chris Finch, the T’Wolves still went winless, extending their consecutive loss total to eight games in an 0-4 week. It’s been less than rosy for these Wolves, who are now looking at this upcoming Trade Deadline as potential heavy sellers with pieces that haven’t helped their statistical reputation this year, as they finished this past week with a sub-optimal 118.3 defensive rating. Offensively, they’ve been just as underwhelming, only scoring 103.2 points per 100 possession. They start and finish the week against the Hornets, with only one game to go until their All-Star Break begins.

Photo Cred: Fox Sports 1430