Another week of NBA action is in the books, and this previous week was littered with cancellations and postponements for teams playing in the state of Texas, as well as some teams like Charlotte and San Antonio that have been affected by the virus. Aside from that, it was just another regular week at the office, and this time around players got the notification that there will be an All-Star Game in the city of Atlanta come March 7, and the starters for this All-Star Game was announced to the masses Thursday night.

For the rest of the NBA, injuries are piling up for the Los Angeles Lakers, who are not panicking but are certainly monitoring their temporary fall from prominence in the West, while the Utah Jazz remains the hottest team in all of the Association. Milwaukee looks to not have all the answers to get the engine started and running, as Mike Budenholzer’s once-infallible regular-season plan that would usually generate the best record in the league in year’s past isn’t doing that much in the 2021 campaign.

For teams atop their respective conferences like Philadelphia and Utah, one loss during their road trips out West were merely chinks in their armor, and their momentum heading into the final week of February hasn’t ceased yet. As for the rest of the teams in the NBA, we’ll break those down as we head into the ninth week of the season for this week’s Power Rankings.

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1. Utah Jazz (24-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

The Jazz, who have played a league-low 20 minutes in the clutch (since they’ve beaten nearly every team that’s come their way by double digits) had their second loss in nearly a month when they couldn’t outlast the offensive firepower of the West’s second-best team in the Los Angeles Clippers this past week. It wasn’t exactly a sobering loss to remind them that they “aren’t as good as they think they are” but rather a learning experience and confidence-builder for the next time they play a team that’s as skillfully gifted as the revamped Clips.

They proved they’re serious about contending this season as they hung with LA until the fourth quarter, in which they allowed the Clippers to score 37 points and escape with a four-point win when it seemed Donovan Mitchell (35 points off 12-27 shooting) had no interest in letting the game slip away. It’ll get harder this week as they have the Lakers, flaming-hot Hornets and Heat coming in the next couple of days, but getting a healthy Mike Conley to compliment Donovan Mitchell emphasizes the championship effort they’re showing nine weeks into the season.

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2. Los Angeles Clippers (22-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

The other team in the Staples Center that was the punch line of the town last year in the bubble…is looking like anything but if this last week told us anything. Health has been the biggest detriment to a team that had been 15th in total defensive rating, but as they got Paul George and Kawhi Leonard back from lower body impediments, that sparked the entire team to go 2-0 with all their starters healthy, and a respectable 6-4 in their last 10 games. The Clips are right where they want to be — around the top of the thick of things in a saturated Western Conference as their most coveted stars in Leonard and George get a comfortable stretch of minutes and get enough rest so that they’re ready to go for the postseason. The defense, much like the offense, will take time to adjust itself and will do so the more that Leonard and George share the floor for an alloted stretch of games.

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3. Brooklyn Nets (20-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

So…not having Kevin Durant isn’t a setback, so it seems for the offensive supernova of a Nets squad, as told in the the past couple of games they’ve had to go without Durant as he recovers from his hamstring strain. As the rest of the Eastern Conference toils in current mediocracy, Brooklyn looks to be taking advantage of their conferences’ shortcomings, appearing as the most frightening team to guard in, perhaps, the entire NBA.

As the No. 1 ranked team in terms of offensive efficiency, (117.8 points per 100 possessions off of a 62.2 true shooting percentage) they showed they’re also intent on running through everyone in the conference by completing the greatest comeback in franchise history against the Phoenix Suns this past Tuesday, taking down the defending champion Lakers handily on Thursday, and surviving the 1-2 punch of the returning Kawhi Leonard and Paul George with a road win over the Clippers on Sunday.

And the narrative that they’re on pace to be the worst defensive team in NBA history? That’s finding it’s way in the dispensary, as they led only one opponent score over 110 points this past week. It’s a start, as the Nets will also be in play to make some acquisitions to address the defensice inefficiency come time for the Trade Deadline in the next week or so.

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4. Los Angeles Lakers (22-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

Are the defending champs human after all? Los Angeles failed to look like themselves last week, going a uncharacteristic 1-3 and on both ends of the floor, looking like a shell of themselves without Anthony Davis. Davis is expected to miss three more weeks dealing with Achilles Tendinosis, and executive medical officials in Tinseltown aren’t too privy in rushing the yearly MVP and DPOY candidate back on the floor to bandage the Lakers’ insufficiencies in defending at a high level and being one of the most fearsome teams scoring the rock in the entire league.

While residue of previous weeks’ defensive success have them perched above everyone else in the defensive rating totem pole, you’d be remissive in saying those statistics backed up by the eye test of seeing them on a nightly basis wouldn’t reduce in the coming days and weeks if they keep allowing opponents to score an average of 48.3 points in the paint every game.

Things aren’t going to start getting rosier for the Lakers in the weeks without Davis, and with a showdown against the Jazz approaches, seeing as these two teams that are capable of seeing each other in the Conference Finals, the task of stopping the inside-out, and now even more-accessible drive-kick game the Jazz run with fervent, it’ll be up to LeBron James (probably more than ever this season) to showcase his usual heroics to fend off a team that has their greatest chance to overthrow the Lakers as perennial favorites to come out of the West this year.

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5. Phoenix Suns (19-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

It’s almost as if everything Chris Paul touches turns into gold, and you can make the argument that the current 37-year old’s role of making fringe playoff qualifiers into contenders is in the best stretch of his 17-year career if these past two seasons ell any tale.

As said last week, CP3’s influence on not just the young, inquisitive minds of DeAndre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson and, certainly, Devin Booker, but on a veteran coach in Monty Williams and a Suns franchise that hadn’t acquired a player that had the mind to be as pragmatic in the role of being morale booster as they’d been accustomed to accept losing as a part of their yearly routine in the past decade, is purely infectious and inspiring when you look at the grand scheme of things during the progression of this franchise in their potential return to the playoffs after an 11-year drought.

Back on January 27, Suns fans tempered their expectations on a young team that didn’t have a littany of All Stars like the rest of the elites in the Western Conference, saying that just making the playoffs with Chris Paul as a part of the formula would be a big win in itself. Since then however, aspirations have flowered more than they ever have since the Suns’ rebuild (that started after Steve Nash’s departure) even began, as they’ve gotten successful results in the win column for 11 of their past 13 games.

In their last three games, they’re really becomg adept at putting the basketball through the nylon, scoring an insane 129.3 points per game, and in Friday’s 18-point thrashing of the Pelicans, netted a franchise-record 22 three-pointers. They felt like that wasn’t enough two nights later, toppling their own franchise record to make 24 threes against the Grizzlies on the road. Portland, Charlotte, Chicago and Minnesota come up this week, and the chance to make those already impressive records even better arise this week as the Suns look to climb further above the fourth spot in the West.

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6. Philadelphia 76ers (20-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

As the best team in the East, (at the moment) Joel Embiid is on pace to acquire his first-ever MVP award if all things end positively for Philadelphia, who’s recently seen a new version of Ben Simmons that’ll add a new layer to their offensive arsenal: an aggressive, “I-want-to-score-the-ball” version of the three-time All Star. In a battle that featured the two best teams in the NBA this past week, the 76ers had to go to war against the Western-leading Jazz without the usual artillery of Joel Embiid’s offensive and defensive contributions, but battled admirably in a single-digit loss where Ben Simmons’ tunnel vision paid off for a team missing it’s best player.

Simmons scored a career-high 42 points, but as he cooled off in the fourth, so did the rest of the Sixers. This 2-2 week did more to bolster Philly’s belief that they have a chance to come out of the East this year, but with another battle with Toronto in Tampa as well as a meeting with Luka Doncic’s Mavericks, the path to maintaining their record to stay on top of their conference will get that much more bumpier as we near the end of the season’s second quarter.

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7. Portland Trail Blazers (18-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

And up the Trail Blazers continue to rise in these weekly Power Rankings. With the nightly output that Damian Lillard is having, it shouldn’t take much thought to consider him in the Most Valuable Player race this season. When we talk about the true Alphas that never shy away from that proverbial “moment”, you’d better not exclude Lillard from the ranks of the game’s most fearless and brave winners in it’s extensive history. It’s truly an anomaly as to how routine and calculated he handles even the most adverse of obstacles, almost overcoming the odds more than anyone in the entire league in the clutch. Lillard ranks only second in clutch-time points, while scoring around 61.5 percent in the game’s tightest moments.

He comes through when his number is called to do so and when his heroics are required, rising to the challenge and succeeding almost every time. He wouldn’t have to do so, however, if the Blazers weren’t so abysmal defensively, ranking 28th in total defensive rating while giving up an average of 115.1 points per 100 possessions every game. Health hasn’t been on Portland’s side this season, (again) but they somehow manage to stay in the middle of the pack out West, appearing at 5th in the West with only a 1.5 game deficit behind Phoenix for the fourth seed in the conference.

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8. Milwaukee Bucks (18-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

Following a 98-85 win over the Sacramento Kings, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks were finally able to move on from their five-game skid.

Fat chance that absolves the offensive and defensive issues that keep Milwaukee out of any speculation of them actually looking like a competent competitor in the Eastern Conference at the moment, though.

It seems that Mike Budenholzer’s goal of being as synergetic and healthy as possible heading into the playoffs is slowly starting to dissolve into an irreparable disaster with 13 losses already in the month of February, and as they’ve gone the course of this losing streak without the assistance of new acquisition and two-way threat Jrue Holiday at the starting guard spot due to his exposure to COVID-19, things could slowly start to turn awry if, from a scheme standpoint, spacing and outside shooting start to trend downwards.

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 9. San Antonio Spurs (16-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

While the Spurs were rolling with five of their last six games resulting in wins, external factors out of their control have halted a season that’s become progressively positive. They haven’t played a game since February 14 due to Health and Safety protocols in which an increasing number of players and staff tested positive for COVID-19, and may not be able to compete in their home state with the entire state of Texas being in the midst of a statewide emergency from this past week’s winter snowstorm causing all types of problems to the state’s infrastructure, to put it as succinctly as possible. Their game against the Pacers last Monday was postponed, but they’re getting their season up and going agains with games against the Thunder and Pelicans this week.

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10. Denver Nuggets (16-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

A big win against the visiting Lakers on Valentine’s Day was supposed to kick off a fiery run for a Nuggets team that hasn’t kept the momentum left over from last season’s success in the bubble, but this last week has been anything but constructive for a banged-up nuggets team that can’t seem to stay consistent. Denver’s dropped three of four games coming into a new week, with their only win coming against the lowly Cavaliers in which Jamal Murray exploded for his first career 50-point game. Other than that, they struggled to claw out a win against a streaking Wizards team and continue to be held back due to Gary Harris’ unavailability, Nikola Jokic’s lack of complimentary help on a nightly routine, and an unfavorable schedule.

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11. Golden State Warriors (16-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

It’s a tale of ups and down for the Dubs as of recent. A 19-point comeback against the Miami Heat in one of the more exciting games of the season took place in the same span ofgames where they bobbled a late lead against the likes of Orlando as well as be crushed by a heartbreaking loss at the buzzer to a hosting Charlotte Hornets team in which Draymond Green, their leader and heart and soul of the team, made a boneheaded mistake by getting ejected late in the game’s fourth quarter. Stephen Curry was a surprise last-minute scratch due to illness, but the Warriors are finally starting to get healthy at the right moment. Kevon Looney is finishing up his rehabilitation process, and James Wiseman is nearing his full return from his wrist injury sustained earlier in the year.

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12. Indiana Pacers (15-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

The Pacers don’t move a muscle in this week’s rankings. While splitting a series of games against Chicago and Minnesota this past week, their then-impending game against the Houston Rockets in the Toyota Center was postponed due to the earlier mentioned winter snowstorm that’s sidelined all professional sports in the state of Texas. In the win over Minnesota, Domantas Sabonis is taking heed to Nate Bjorkgren’s plan of moving off-ball more in the journey of becoming a more unpredictable scorer, dropping 30 points while grabbing 15 rebounds. He became the first player in a Pacers uniform since 1976 to also get a triple double in his dishing of 10 assists in the win.

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13. Toronto Raptors (16-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Toronto takes a massive leap into the top-15 for this week’s rankings. After starting the season 2-8, with anxieties of missing the playoffs and facing what seemed like an inevitable reality in giving away fan favorite and Raptor legend Kyle Lowry away for future draft and free agency capital, the Toronto Raptors got over the .500 mark this past week, advancing past the struggling Boston Celtics and going 14-7 in their past 21 games. Apparently, these Raps only wanted the journey back to the playoffs to be as difficult as possible for reasons beyond our knowledge, but as of now, they look the part of a top-four team in all of the Eastern Conference, and certainly the second-best team in the Atlantic behind Brooklyn in the duration of the past month.

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14. New York Knicks (15-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

The Knicks are only one game out of a .500 record, and are still a playoff team despite not having another All Star aside Julius Randle, who Knicks fans hope to hear announced as a reserve in this year’s festivities. Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks keep on winning, and in the only fashion that Thibs’ coaching methods allow: tough-nosed, gritty, and direct. They currently own the East’s seventh-best record and the league’s third-best defensive rating, and what’s more; the guard rotation Thibs has formulated is working out in the best way that it can. Immanuel Quickley fits like a glove, RJ Barrett seemingly improves in his temperance on the offensive end every game, and Derrick Rose’s slashing and halfcourt game provides an offensive spark for when the starting five starts games out flat. They’re 6-4 in their last 10 games, and in this point in the season, are turning heads as a team not to be taken lightly anymore.

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15. Boston Celtics (15-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

What a forgettable week for the Celtics, who slid to an abysmal and unexpected even-.500 on the season. At this point last season, the Celtics hadn’t even encountered their 14th loss until mid-March, and by the way this team regresses and discombobulates even further the more time elapses, it might be in good consideration to go ahead and either use the $28M Traded Player Exception acquired in the Gordon Hayward-to-Charlotte Deal, or scavenge for the correct fit and trade players away for a guy that can help right away and keep these sinking C’s afloat in an East that’s growing unforgiving as each week passes.

And if bad could transform to worse; the Celtics ran out of gas and blew a 24-point lead to a Pelicans team that’s multitudinous in issues of their own, playing like a fringe lottery team in the final 6:34 of the fourth quarter in Sunday’s contest that saw the Pelicans win in OT and complete the greatest comeback in franchise history.

Kemba Walker’s health might factor into him trying to get his feet wet again, but to put it as nicely and as euphemistacally, he’s not helping out the likes of superstar duo Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, two All-NBA players expected to be on the cusp of being named reserves in this year’s All Star Game. And at this point with the way he’s played this season, It’s unclear if he stays in Boston past this season, or even if he finishes the season as a Celtic, for Danny Ainge may want to move him to get the best bargain as possible should he fail to return to his old self.

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16. Charlotte Hornets (14-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

Speaking of a team that looks as if they may have benefitted from their negotiations with Boston this past offseason, and in offseason’s past, the Hornets are a playoff team and by the looks of it, might just topple the Celtics in the Eastern standings with the way their trajectory has been trending upward in the past two weeks. Terry Rozier is playing out his mind for some career-best averages in the month of February, and in the last four games, has had stat lines that sound a little like this:

41 pts., 7 reb., 3 ast. vs. Minnesota, 33 pts., 7 reb., 4 ast vs. San Antonio, and 36pts., 3 reb., 4 ast. vs. Golden State.

Rozier’s been on a tear, and he’s had help from the likes of Gordon Hayward, who had his own splash in the monthof January and Rookie of the Year favorite LaMelo Ball. This upcoming week however, the Hornets will have their hands full as they battle with the Jazz, Suns, Warriors and Kings to enter the All-Star break and close out the first half of the season.

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17. Dallas Mavericks (13-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

The Mavericks might be making their mark soon in the West again if Kristaps Porzingis continues his hot scoring streak in the month of February, and the Mavs surely hope that he can somehow keep that hot hand going as they head into the final stretch of the first half of the season. He’s currently scoring around 23 points per game as a 50/40/90 scorer, but just like last week and weeks prior, defense continues to plague a team that is looking to make a move to supplant themselves in the midst of the Western Conference at this point in the season. They cannot afford to continue giving up an average of 44.9 points in the paint in every game, making them the fourth-worst team in the entire NBA in terms of defensive efficiency and expect to contend with the likes of the Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets and Jazz, and Porzingis himself (who possesses the league’s worst defensive rating at 119.5 allowed points per 36 possessions) must be more reliable as their interior presence if they’re to do as such.

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18. Memphis Grizzlies (13-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

Justise Winslow returned to an NBA court after more than a year after the Miami Heat sent him to the Grizzlies in exchange for Andre Iguodala due to his lingering back and hip injuries. While he has a ways to go until he shakes off the rust (he shot an ugly 3-14 from the field in his return), it’s his defensive presence and veteran leadership that will come into frutition for a team that’s looked left and right for a semblance of a defensive identity, as their frontcourt has been marred with ailments to their most impactful players. A rough stretch of games await these young Grizzlies, as the Mavericks and Rockets are a part of their schedule. They’ll also have to gear up to stop the Clippers in a two-game series at home.

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19. Miami Heat (13-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

It’s safe to say that, for a brief period at least, #HeatCulture made a bit of a return this past Saturday night as the Heat finished off their week in exclamatory fashion, beating the Lakers in an NBA Finals rematch from the Orlando Bubble. In a night where Kendrick Nunn just about looked like the best player on the floor, the Heat held LeBron James’ Lakers to under 100 points, something done very seldom in a year where they’ve struggled to start fast out of the gate. But prior to that victory, all wasn’t great as they’d blown a 19-point lead to the Warriors and an embarrassing loss to the Clippers in which a majority of their regular starters in Kawhi Leonard, Paul George did not suit up, while Patrick Beverley returned from injury. They’ll return home after a game against the Thunder to start a week which will go into the beginning of the All Star break.

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20. New Orleans Pelicans (13-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

The Pelicans get to raise a spot in this week’s rankings, and for good reason. While they’ve had their own particular struggles, one thing is for certain: Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson should not ever, under any circumstances, be split up at any point in their careers (pending all contractual scenarios turn out well in their future) for they’ll be the perfect two franchise cornerpieces to build around during their future transitional years. In their win over Boston, which featured the greatest comeback in franchise history, Ingram and Williamson may have played their best ball as a duo, scoring a combined 61 points and looking as unstoppable as ever in the fourth quarter and overtime periods, while the Celtics could do nothing in standing in front of them.

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21. Chicago Bulls (13-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

Chicago went on a winning streak last week, and are playing some of their best ball as a team as of recently. It could have been four, but Joel Embiid’s career-high 50 points scored against the likes of Thaddeus Young and Lauri Markkanen made the Bulls finish the week at a productive 3-1. In those games won (and one lost) Zach LaVine did everything in his power, scoring at a elite level as one of the game’s most elusive ballhandlers and accurate shooters.

Get this: LaVine scored 281 total points in his last eight games, and the only other player to do that in franchise history? The other really good Shooting Guard revered in Bulls’ lore, Michael Jeffrey Jordan.

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22. Atlanta Hawks (13-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

Trae Young is still an elite scorer. That much we know. In their win over Denver this past week, Young recorded 35 points off 10-for-19 shooting, with an additional 15 assists and 6 rebounds to boot. It was Young’s 42nd time he scored over 25+ points and dished out 10+ assists in a game for his career, an NBA record since he debuted back in 2018. He also tied fellow 2018 draftee Luka Doncic with his fifth 30-point, 15-assist game as a player under the age of 23, something that a small list of players in NBA history have achieved (only Oscar Robertson has done as such).

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23. Sacramento Kings (12-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

As owners of the worst defensive rating in all of Basketball, the Kings have all but so much good going for them at the moment. They’re in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, and they’re being thrown into a woodchipper to end thei first half of their season with the Nets, Knicks, and Hornets up next on their schedule. However, Tyrese Haliburton looks like one of the most impressive rookies in the league in and in recent memory, scoring 23 points while also accumulating a total of eight assists with 5 rebounds and 2 steals against a Goliathic foe in Milwaukee this past week.

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24. Houston Rockets (11-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

The Houston Rockets have been without their standout star player in Christian Wood for the past few weeks, and without him, can only score an average of 103.1 points per game without him on the floor, which makes it fitting that they’re in the midst of an eight-game losing streak. With a tough schedule ahead to close out their first half of a much-publicized season, the Rockets are hopeful that Wood can return from his sprained ankle before the All Star break and play against the likes of Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto and Memphis this week.

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25. Orlando Magic (13-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

Injuries have ripped up any aspirations of the Magic making it back to the playoffs into shreds this year, and while a three-game winning streak has taken center stage for them this year, the Magic will be a team to look out for as they’ll receive calls about pieces they want to move in order to get draft capital and hope for the best when they become a lottery team at year’s end. Nikola Vucevic racked up a Triple-Double in their loss to the Warriors this past week, and alongside him has been the Frenchman Evan Fournier, who’s scored a total of 76 points in his past three games.

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26. Oklahoma City Thunder (12-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

The Thunder are a team that’s sifting through their talent to find a malleable-enough 12-man rotation while giving their young players enough burn and experience in an experimental year, and a couple of players have made it known they’re making strides to show they’re capable of keeping a spot in their starting five. Hamidou Diallo, the 2018 Slam Dunk Contest winner, has made improvements across all aspects of his game, and looks like he’s scratching the surface of his potential. As for the rest of Mark Daigneault’s team, he’ll continue to have guys audition for more minutes on the floor while playing alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who individually is blossomming into one of the NBA’s most polished talents.

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27. Washington Wizards (10-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

So the Washington Wizards….are on a five-game winning streak? Sounds inconceivable, but they are. Bradley Beal has silenced all trade talks, and he and Russell Westbrook continue to play a new, synergetic brand of basketball that results in high-octane offense on one end and stifling defense on the other. More impressively, Scott Brooks is finally getting the regular Davis Bertans numbers noticed in year’s past with a 35-point explosion against the Nuggets, and Rui Hachimura is living up to the hype many draft scouts pictured he would coming out of Gonzaga last season. They’re within arms reach of the eighth spot in the East as it stands, too.

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28. Detroit Pistons (8-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

The Pistons are in the midst of a three-game losing streak, and at the moment, are looking at other teams across the league to get some draft and free agent capital to move Blake Griffin, as they’ve personally expressed that it’s likely Griffin never suits up again as a Piston on the active roster. However, Jerami Grant has looked like a contender and favorite for the league’s Most Improved Player Award, evident in him scoring a career-best 43 points against the Bulls last week.

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29. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

Make that now 10 games in a row that the Cavaliers have lost. While Jarrett Allen looks to have a more prominent role in JB Bickerstaff’s offense moving forward since he scored 26 points off 11-for-11 shooting in their loss to the Thunder this past week, Andre Drummond’s name (and large contract) will be a topic of discussion in the coming days with him being placed on the trade block as a serious asset that’ll likely be dealt to a contender.

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30. Minnesota Timberwolves (7-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

This season is meant to be a developmental ladder for younger players and veterans to find an increased role, but that ladder has to have rungs of repeated winning and success to make it worth climbing. The T’Wolves have done the opposite of that this season, and Sunday evening, parted ways with Head Coach Ryan Saunders. Still, Wolves fans have a promising future to look forward to, if Anthony Edwards is a part of it. The first-overall pick and rookie out of Georgia became a viral sensation overnight after a crushing, posterizing, tomahawk of a slam over Raptors forward Yuta Watanabe on a baseline drive and elevation off two feet, but it wasn’t enough as Minnesota suffered their 23rd loss of the year, and have lost eight of their last 10 games.

Photo Cred: Fox Sports 1430 

Now that we’re past the festivities of Super Sunday, the focus of the sporting world is on the hardwood, both on the collegiate and professional levels. And concurrently, some of the league’s best teams at this point in the season are locked in on maintaining their momentum, while climbing teams like Milwaukee are beginning to get their legs under them as we enter the second week of February.

Meanwhile, sobering pre-season expectations are hitting teams like the Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, and Orlando Magic, and it’s a mix of injury woes subsequently crashing into pandemic problems that have affected the NBA as a whole. Some teams have been hit harder than others by both plaguing issues and while they haven’t told the whole story as to how their seasons have gone so far, some teams like the Kings and Hawks have capitalized off of some streaks of key wins and are making the case to be within the realms of playoff qualification.

So with that, let’s get down to it and break down this week’s power rankings.

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1. Los Angeles Lakers (18-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

Should LeBron James be this year’s Most Valuable Player? Aside from Philly’s Joel Embiid, if this past week’s story told us anything, it’s a matter of why isn’t he atop the heap of the MVP race. James put up a near triple-double even in the hindrance of a maskless, rowdy, heckling Atlanta Hawks “fan” sitting courtside for 21-9-7, and then one game later goes for a 27-10-10 triple-double against the Nuggets. He finished the week putting up 33 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists against the Pistons and displayed LBJ-like heroics as per usual with back-to-back triples in OT against Detroit at home.

And speaking of that “Courtside Karen” incident, just like last night’s Super Bowl where Chiefs Safety Tyrann Mathieu unintelligently trash-talked Buccaneers Quarterback (and eventual Super Bowl MVP) Tom Brady, you’re much better off not tugging at Superman’s cape. James has averaged 30 points, 7.5 rebounds, 10.5 assists per game off 55.6 percent shooting from the field, and a near career-best 41.7 percent from three-land.

Anthony Davis has noticeably struggled as a scorer in the paint and concerns toward his interior game were accentuated this week, but this team has proven they can turn it on whenever they want, courtesy of their comeback win vs. Denver this past week.

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2. Utah Jazz (19-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

Staying within the top three is this Utah Jazz team that is still on fire as we enter a new month. Their only loss came this month to the Nuggets, and they’ve picked up from where they left off before their 11-game winning streak came to an end against Denver, still a top-5 defensive team in the NBA. Currently, Utah makes the most threes per game, owns the league’s best record, and they hold opposing offenses to an average of 105.7 points per game.

Up by more than 10 points entering Sunday’s contest against the Pacers, a Mike Conley-less Utah Jazz team (hamstring tightness) prevailed behind Donovan Mitchell, who engineered the win against a resilient Pacers team on the verge of a comeback with ferocity in his adeptness to attack the rim and score with ease on the perimeter.

Mitchell came just short of his first career triple-double when he had 27 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds off an inefficient but persistent 36 percent from the field. That’s now 15 of their last 16 games they’ve won, and they surely look the part of contenders at this point in the season.

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3. Philadelphia 76ers (17-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

Philly doesn’t move an inch in this week’s rankings, and why should they? A loss to Portland when they didn’t have either Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum was disappointing, but it didn’t dampen the tear that these Sixers have been on since 2021 began. The 76ers remain in first place in the Eastern Conference thanks to the inadequacy of both Brooklyn and rivals Milwaukee and Boston as they continue to sift through their own injury obstacles this early in the new year, and with Philly earning wins over the Lakers at home thanks to a Tobias Harris game-winner and a beatdown of a Nets team that didn’t have either Kevin Durant (health and safety protocols) or Kyrie Irving (finger(s)) it’s become that much more of a possibility the 76ers maintain this dominance over the Eastern Conference that will be leading to a first-place finish in the conference.

Joel Embiid is still a frontrunner on the MVP ladder, averaging a career-high 29.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists off 55 percent shooting in 19 games this season, and more importantly, post a top-15 defense to equal their high scoring outing on a nightly basis.

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4. Los Angeles Clippers (19-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

The Clippers played in what was arguably a finals preview this past Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets on the road and while they suffered a 124-120 loss, they were in a groove heading into that game. That groove, to their chagrin, has turned into a stumble as they’ve lost both Paul George and Patrick Beverley to lower-body ailments. Health has to be a primary focus if they’re to keep their deadlock at first with Utah atop the West, and they know just how lethal they can be when all of their guys are actively getting minutes and contributing to wins.

They gave up a second-half 16-point comeback and dropped a second-straight loss to Boston, an Eastern Conference foe in another inter-conference matchup on Friday night as they didn’t have Jaylen Brown, and then lost to the all-of-a-sudden red-hot Sacramento Kings two days later.

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5. Milwaukee Bucks (15-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

It was only a matter of time that the Bucks got back to playing their best brand of basketball, so it’s no surprise they’re getting back into the swing of things. They’ve recalibrated and molded new pieces into their offensive and defensive schemes so that they could get back to being competitive in the East, and a 4-0 streak will easily signify that noticeable improvements are being made, and quickly. They made the bludgeoning Indiana Pacers humble themselves with a 20-point scalping, then followed that with a performance from Eastern Conference Player of the Week Giannis Antetokounmpo that featured 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists that garnered national attention and exclaimed this statement: the Bucks are coming, and they aren’t backing down.

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6. Brooklyn Nets (14-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

So…that happened.

As if the most publicized team in town needed another lede to add to the already compelling tale about the first year of the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving-James Harden trio in Brooklyn, go ahead and add the 19 minutes that a previously-“quarantined” Durant would play in a game against Toronto (Tampa, I guess?) he apparently wasn’t supposed to even be in right into the scrapbook.

After being told he wouldn’t start as a precaution from being in contact with someone who had an inconclusive COVID-19 test an hour prior to the game, Durant went into the game during the second quarter and was ultimately pulled as a result of further inconclusive testing. It was a weird and inconceivable occurrence, but that leaves Brooklyn without their 7-foot shot creator for the next few games until at least Friday against Golden State.

Brooklyn suffered a couple of losses after Durant was pulled, including that exact game against the Raptors, and went on to lose against the Sixers on the road without both Durant and Kyrie Irving on the floor. These games where players are quarantining directly affect the team’s record and can make playoff positioning a slippery slope now that we’re a quarter way and more through the season.

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7. Phoenix Suns (13-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

Make that five of six games that the Suns have won in the past few weeks, but that doesn’t mean Monty Williams isn’t apprehensive to making lineup changes to fine-tune things about his defensive schemes to produce a couple more wins so Phoenix can remain hot in the middle of the pack in the West. Cameron Johnson was moved to the bench in their loss to the Pelicans last Wednesday as has he scored only 8 points in 26 minutes.

He came off the bench in a sixth-man role, the place he started his career at coming out of UNC back in 2019, and in his place was the stronger defender of the two in 7’0, 240-lb Frank Kaminsky III, who was a temporary plug-in that’s been appraised as an ode to teams playing big, and as he’s the appropriate substitution for that specific role (Monty Williams’ words).

He’s averaged 12 points and 7 rebounds in two starts this season and off the bench this year, Johnson has produced in significant dividends, scoring 17 points and grabbing five rebounds in Sunday’s win over Boston while averaging 15.5 points as an integral piece in the secondary lineup.

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8. San Antonio Spurs (13-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

Moving up three slots this week is the San Antonio Spurs, who are 6-4 in their last 10 contests and are getting healthier in an opportune time. Derrick White continues to get welcomed back into the fold, and DeMar DeRozan is quietly putting together an All-Star season, averaging 19.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5 assists in the Spurs’ last four games. Additionally, he’s putting up a career-best 60.7 true shooting percentage, keeping an attacking mindset to tuck his head to get to the line while making around 88 percent of his attempts at the charity stripe, and involving others in the offense as a point-wing, averaging a career-best 6.6 assists per game.

And, as a surprise to nearly everyone, he’s attempted and made as many threes this year than his first two seasons as a Spur with 14 threes made. Something to keep track of: the Spurs have a +12.0 net rating when DeRozan and White share the floor in Gregg Popovich lineups so far this season.

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9. Denver Nuggets (12-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

Denver is 6-4 in their last 10 games, and Nikola Jokic is still within the frame of the MVP picture. But lately, incomplete rosters for games have resulted in losses, and the injury reports are filling up going into their eighth week of the season. The week opened with the 11-point win and shocking road upset of a then-streaking Utah Jazz team, but they haven’t won since.

Two straight losses featured a 21-point loss to the Lakers that looked nauseatingly similar to the Western Conference Finals in the Orlando bubble and then they ran into a trap game against the suddenly succeeding Sacramento Kings, losing by five and allowing Harrison Barnes to score 28 points and rookie Tyrese Haliburton to drop 23 points, while Jokic went off for a now meaningless 50 points in a losing effort. Denver is still a top-5 defensive team, and that accolade will be put to the test the minute they face Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.

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10. Boston Celtics (12-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

Following their nerve-racking loss to the Lakers last week, the Celtics set their GPS for a Western road trip and during a trip they’re still on at the moment, they’ve gone 2-2 and have some key wins against the Warriors who were at full-strength, and the Clippers when they didn’t have both Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown. Led by the superstar trajectory of Jayson Tatum and a “return to what he used to be before injury” game by Kemba Walker, they outlasted the West’s best team before subsequently laying an egg against the Kings and Suns a few days later. They’ve lost four of their last six games and while it’s reportedly truthful that Danny Ainge is looking to make some rapid roster improvements in the coming weeks leading up to the trade deadline, most notably at the center position, they have to be focused on getting healthier just to stay afloat near the top of the East with all other teams in the conference showing their progress in becoming contenders.

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11. Portland Trail Blazers (12-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

Though it’s understood that Damian Lillard has to burn the candle on both ends since his compatriot CJ McCollum will be out for a few more weeks, Lillard’s minute-by-minute usage is something worth the worry, as the 2020-21 season marks the third-highest usage percentage of his career at 30.7. The highest? His 31.5 usage percentage in 2015-16, a season that featured Terry Stotts utilizing Lillard to play over 35.7 minutes per game (second-highest MPG of his career since his rookie season) as he averaged over 25.1 points per game.

This season is almost mirroring those efforts, it’s just that Lillard has become a much more skilled scorer since then, now averaging 29.1 points per game while playing around his career average of 36.4 minutes played at 36.1 minutes per game. It’s something to monitor for sure, and while he’s already showed he could handle the extra workload with season’s past as examples, rest isn’t something they can afford Lillard to have while they tread through the time of not having multiple starters in their five on the floor.

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12. Golden State Warriors (12-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

A 5-5 stretch of 10 games has the Warriors on the cusp of qualifying for a playoff spot at eighth in the oversaturated Western Conference, and a 2-2 week that featured wins over the Pistons and Mavericks as well as losses to the Celtics and Mavericks in a two-game series on the road told one major inconvenient truth about these Dubs: even Stephen Curry’s greatness cannot absolve the ineptitude of a roster that is compact with injuries. The Warriors need to get healthy and get their deep frontcourt composed of James Wiseman, Kevon Looney, and Eric Paschall back as well as hope that Kelly Oubre, who’s struggled mightily to score the basketball, will start to resemble the star wing that averaged over 18 points off an efficient 45.2 percent shooting and 35 percent from deep during his lone but career-best year in Phoenix.

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13. Indiana Pacers (12-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

Hanging on to a .500 record by a thread, the Pacers have lost 6 of their last 10 games and while they’ve been close, defensive lapses and Nate Bjorkgren’s reliance on floor-shrinking Domantas Sabonis played cause to Indy blowing an opportunity to beat the league’s hottest team in the Jazz on Sunday. As this three-game losing streak goes on, It’s becoming apparent the offense will have to diversify from a spacing standpoint and put their lone All-Star Sabonis in different areas around the halfcourt for the offense to not sputter as it has during this period of shifting pieces (ex. Victor Oladipo heading to Houston) and coaching adjustments.

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14. Houston Rockets (11-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

Following some tough news surrounding the faulty right ankle of blossoming All-Star hopeful Christian Wood, Houston will now have to rely on DeMarcus Cousins to do the dirty work inside as the hybrid forward/center for a Rockets team that ranks second in defensive rating and 23rd in offensive rating. Though undermanned, Houston is exceeding expectations this year as a team that’s supposed to coast and monitor the progression of its younger, developing players, as they’ve outdone all prior prognostications with a 7-3 record through their last 10 games to show for it. The West may not allow them to break into the playoff picture with it being so rigid in difficulty, but if the former All-Star Center Cousins can return to pre-injury form like he’s slowly doing (14.6 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per contest) they might just do it.

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15. Sacramento Kings (12-11, Last Week’s Ranking:

Make that seven of eight games that have resulted in wins for the flaming hot Sacramento Kings, who saw their coveted leader and Point Guard De’Aaron Fox reel in Western Conference Player of the Week awards. Moreover, they’ve earned some key wins over the likes of Boston, Denver, and the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-point shooting has been a welcome attribute that’s inflated Fox’s offensive production during this winning part of their season, increasing his 3PT% of 29.2 to now over 32 percent from the field.

Interestingly, his field averages have raised as Luke Walton feels confident to run the offense through the fourth-year guard out of Kentucky as he’s put up a little over 27 points, eight assists, and 4 rebounds in the last eight games. Since he’s one of the more athletic finishers at the cup, he’s converting around 70 percent of his looks from inside the restricted zone. More importantly, he’s finishing off games in the clutch, scoring an average of 10 points every fourth quarter which is third-best in the league, only behind two elite scorers in Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine.

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16. Atlanta Hawks (11-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

Clint Capela is experiencing a career year in the rebounding and scoring department, but when you play in such a spacious offense coached by Lloyd Pierce and operated by 2019-20 All-Star Trae Young, that’s more than a prerequisite to success. Playing 30.9 minutes per game, he’s grabbing a career-best 14.9 boards and 9.8 offensive rebounds per game, as well as 17.7 rebounds for his Per 36 stats. While on the topic of their frontcourt, the loss of DeAndre Hunter will be keenly felt throughout the defensive presence of Atlanta, as he’ll be sidelined for three to six weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on a lateral meniscus. He’s averaged over 17.2 points per game with 32.2 minutes on the floor.

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17. Toronto Raptors (10-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

Toronto doesn’t seem as if they’ve gotten worse or better, and that’s an issue. Since starting the season 2-8, they’ve shown they still have enough to compete and remain competitive in the East, but injuries and, albeit, just a lack of talent is catching up to them in the most inconvenient of times. And, promptly, they’ve seen their season act in parabolic motion; a tale of highs and lows puts them in a vegetative state of perpetual flux.

In one instance, Fred VanVleet will drop a career-high 50 points in a home win, followed by a rare road win against a Kevin Durant-less Brooklyn Nets team. And in another, the sobering reminder of them not having their best on-ball defender in OG Anunoby as he rehabilitates himself back from a calf injury to them still playing sub-.500 basketball with the possibility of shopping longtime Raptor great Kyle Lowry to build the future in the midst of an average 5-5 record in the stretch of ten games hovers above their heads. Staring at ninth in the East and now hoping that they can qualify for the play-in tournament, things are souring quickly for Nick Nurse’s Raptors.

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18. Memphis Grizzlies (9-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

Speaking of a roller-coaster season, Memphis has had a three-game losing streak, a seven-game winning streak, and another three-game losing streak, which have all been in 2021. In Ja Morant’s return to the hardwood since his ankle injury, Memphis has been outscored by 81 points in his 88 minutes spent on the floor through this current losing skid, as they’ve now lost three in a row after winning seven games straight. Offensively, he’ll need to see his numbers rise if the Grizzlies are to seriously challenge for the eighth seed in the West since he’s only shooting 33 percent from the field during this low period.

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19. New York Knicks (11-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

Currently sitting at eighth in the East while losing 6 of their last 10 games, the Knicks find themselves clinging to the edge of the playoff picture – which is 1000% better than how anyone predicted they’d be at this point of the season. Additionally, they’re beginning to get some big names in New York and some old ones too for Tom Thibodeau. As of Sunday afternoon, the Knicks traded for Detroit’s Derrick Rose and gave away Dennis Smith Jr. and a 2nd round pick in the deal, but it’s yet to be seen if the acquisition for Rose will pay off in the long run.

The rotation of Elfrid Payton and rookie Immanuel Quickley is possibly coming to an end soon, with Payton’s name being involved in some trade packages to playoff contenders as this month’s trade deadline nears. The Knicks are still ranked No. 6 in total defensive efficiency, but find themselves tied with Detroit for 24th in offensive efficiency. That’s significant to the Rose deal, for Detroit was better offensively when Rose wasn’t on the court for them (6.5 points per 100 possessions).

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20. New Orleans Pelicans (10-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

It seems as if last week’s ailments have been cured, as ever since their last embarrassing loss to the Timberwolves on Jan. 23, the Pelicans have won five of their last seven games and are only two games away from obtaining an even-.500 record through 22 games this year. While Stan Van Gundy’s starting five that consists of Eric Bledsoe, Steven Adams, Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball, and Brandon Ingram have earned their fair share of flack in their molasses-slow start to the season, they’ve netted a rating of plus-37.4 and an offensive rating of 137.4 in the past seven games. They have a fairly easy slew of games coming up with trips to Chicago, Dallas, and Detroit, but what will be of interest will be if, and who, the Pelicans decide to deal before the trade deadline is up.

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21. Charlotte Hornets (11-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

James Borrego’s reliance on his backcourt depth has told the story of this season so far. Malik Monk looked like his elder Kentucky self as he put up 36 points in an overtime win against Miami last Monday, LaMelo Ball following that performance with one of his own, a stainless career-high 34-point, 8-assist night in a losing effort to Utah, and Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward’s combined 51 points in their blowout win over Washington. But the question remains: is James Borrego keeping Ball on the bench productive, or conducive to his confidence and insulting towards his ability this early in his career?

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22. Dallas Mavericks (10-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

Putting Luka Doncic’s most recent display of the “Luka Magic” he’s so accustomed to putting on – I’m obviously referring to his 42-point, 11-assist double-double he put on for the patrons watching Saturday night primetime hoops on ESPN, Dallas has largely underwhelmed, and the team that owns the First-round pick they gave away in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis is the Knicks, who have a better record than them at the moment. They’re 3-7 in their last 10 games, but Luka is doing what he does best, averaging a little over 30.3 points, 9.8 assists, and 6.5 rebounds in four games.

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23. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

The Cavaliers are 3-7 in their last 10 games after setting the world ablaze in the past two weeks. Now a whole four games out of posting a .500 record, they’ve been unable to stick with teams after the halftime mark, losing by a combined 43 points in two games this past week against Milwaukee, and by 22 against the visiting Clippers. Things will not get easier for a young team that’s still learning to put the pieces together for a whole 48 minutes, as they’ll play the Suns, Nuggets, Trail Blazers, and Clippers during a voyage out West.

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24. Oklahoma City Thunder (10-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

Mark Daigneault’s Thunder have managed to weather the storm of a strenuous schedule despite them appearing as a team many would perceive to not be as good as they’ve been at this point in the season. Yet, just like last year, a massive reason they’ve been able to not go on long losing streaks has been their ability to finish games in the clutch, going 5-4 on the year in the game’s final moments with a baffling 127.1 offensive rating. They have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to primarily thank for that, as he’s now ranked in the top-15 of any statistic relating to the clutch this year.

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25. Miami Heat (9-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

Jimmy Butler is back, which is good. They’re trying to get him back into the fold of things this year, and it’s been hard to do so when the schedule conflicts with that. They begin a tedious seven-game road trip that begins with a faceoff against Houston and Utah this week and need to find some sort of defensive identity quickly due to the hole that injuries, inconsistency, and the pandemic have left them to dig themselves out of.

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26. Chicago Bulls (9-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

Look for Chicago to be a high-seller once the trade deadline approaches, as they’ll likely be adding to their backcourt if Lonzo Ball from New Orleans becomes available and if they can find proper compensation from a suitor that will take on Thaddeus Young’s contract. Other than that, Chicago should finally be receiving heavy Zach LaVine votes for an All-Star selection, as he scored 39 points on yet another occasion against Orlando. He then became the sixth player in Bulls history to record at least 40 career 30-point games in a Bulls uniform. That win over Orlando was their largest margin of victory so far this season.

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27. Orlando Magic (9-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

Orlando finally got a win this past week as they split the series against Chicago from Nikola Vucevic’s 43 points, and subsequently were handed an L by the same Bulls one game later by way of a 26-point blowout. Orlando is without rhythm and flow offensively, and it translates in transition, as they currently possess the 25th best defensive rating in basketball. Their schedule gets rather gruesome this week, as they’ll have to play the Trail Blazers, Warriors, Kings, and Suns as they head out West.

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28. Minnesota Timberwolves (6-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

Karl Anthony Towns has had a rough go of it, but he’s graciously returned from his bout with COVID-19. Towns has played in only four games this year, but he’s helped the Wolved get wins at 2-2. They’ve only won four games without him, and his floor-stretching ability is the impact he leaves on the court as their best player. Momentum is key in this league if getting ahead in the rankings is the goal, and Towns can help with manufacturing that.

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29. Washington Wizards (5-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

Washington doesn’t move an inch in this week’s rankings, not just because they’ve lost seven of their last 10 games, but they’re getting healthier. Still, the defense continues to be their weak point as they simply cannot stop anyone, and their failure to build off their epic upset against the Nets last week resulted in them getting hammered by the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets two nights after. Bradley Beal finally cooled off against Miami, scoring only a bucket on a 1-14 night from the field.

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30. Detroit Pistons (5-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

Losers of eight of their last 10, Detroit went 0-4 in their Western road trip with losses to Golden State, Utah, Phoenix, and Los Angeles in overtime. Though Jerami Grant has been the diamond in the rough in his 32-point night against the Lakers to force OT, the team lost a tightly-contested battle and is now shipping away talent; Derrick Rose was sent back to New York in exchange for a 2021 second-round pick and Dennis Smith Jr.

Photo Cred: Fox Sports 1430

We’re back with another Power Rankings Article as we are gearing up for the sixth week of NBA action in 2021! This week, we saw the Utah Jazz extend their winning streak to 11 games, ultimately having it snapped on the tail end of the week, while the Clippers steadily gain traction on the No.1 seed Jazz. The Lakers are slipping, due to their once-perfect road record getting its first L on the board, thanks to a resilient home win in the last second of the game by Tobias Harris and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Meanwhile, it’s teams like Boston, Miami, and Portland that are struggling with injuries heading into week six, and their record shows that they’re having issues getting into the midst of the fight in their respective conferences. Now that we’re officially in February, we ended January on a fiery note. Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook both played as the hero in a wild conclusion between the Wizards and Nets in the final 12 seconds that saw the Wizards go on an 8-0 run in a winning effort. A night before that, Damian Lillard drilled a game-winning fadeaway jumper after hitting a deep three with 8.9 seconds remaining to beat Chicago, and the Clippers now possess the best record in the NBA.

Let’s go ahead and find out what that means for the rest of the league in this week’s power rankings.

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1. Los Angeles Clippers (16-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

Ever since the Clippers had been touched by the pandemic’s icy hand, with their most integral pieces being forced to quarantine for a total of six games, the Clippers saw their seven-game winning streak snapped by Atlanta this week as they didn’t have either Kawhi Leonard and Paul George out for that game. Since then, however, they’ve begun a two-game winning streak, have both Leonard and George back in the lineup, and have some big defensive tests this week against the Nets and Celtics.

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2. Utah Jazz (15-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

An 11-game winning streak saw its end for the hottest team in basketball right now, as the Jazz suffered an 11-point loss to the Denver Nuggets. Still, in the losing effort, Bojan Bogdanovic dropped a season-high 29 points, signalizing the second-best scoring effort of his season. A rare double-digit loss indeed, but it’s unlikely that becomes the precedent since Utah’s been a machine at home and on the road, averaging 114.8 points per game this month and more importantly, post the sixth-best defensive rating in all of basketball. Additionally, they’re winning games with the fourth-largest average scoring margin in the NBA, winning all of their games by 7.3 or more points per game.

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3. Philadelphia 76ers (15-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

Moving up a spot from last week’s rankings are the Philadelphia 76ers, who highlighted the week by giving the initially-perfect-on-the-road Los Angeles Lakers their first loss on the season away from the Staples Center, thanks to the late-game heroics of Tobias Harris as the 8th year pro hit a game-winning fadeaway jumper on the left hash of the right goal inside of the Wells Fargo Center, while switched onto Alex Caruso. They’re 8-2 in their last 10 contests, and just like last week, Joel Embiid has been putting the All-Star committee on notice, still averaging 34.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in the Sixers’ last four games.

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4. Los Angeles Lakers (16-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

After dropping consecutive road losses on an Eastern Conference voyage this past week, Los Angeles got their mojo back with two key road wins over offensive juggernauts in Boston and Atlanta to close out a 13-day trip. As they head back home, however, the case for not having a home crowd advantage could be made for their otherwise pedestrian home record of 4-4, one unbecoming of a title-contending favorite this early on. Still at third in the west – a noticeable improvement from their initial fifth seed in the West following their tightly-contested duel with Eastern favorite Philadelphia and head-scratching loss to Detroit in which Anthony Davis did not play, but before their consecutive wins against Boston and Atlanta on Monday night.

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5. Denver Nuggets (12-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

Winners of six of their last seven, Denver is finding its groove and Nikola Jokic is playing the role of the main catalyst to this uptick of productivity. Most significantly, they knocked off the league’s hottest team this past week and didn’t just skate by the Jazz, but rather blew right past them for an 11-point win nary a soul saw coming. Jokic came out firing and stayed aggressive for the 37 minutes he spent on the floor and made his presence felt against a former Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert, scoring a career-best 47 points and swiping 12 boards off the glass in the Nuggets’ 12th win of the season. Fun fact – Jokic is making history as the 2nd player in league history to have a double-double in every game so far this season.

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6. Brooklyn Nets (13-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

Good news: the Brooklyn Nets have won 7 of their last 10 games behind the spectacular chemistry built by the trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden, who currently post the NBA’s highest offensive rating (122.6). They’ve handily beaten the likes of the Thunder and survived the likes of Atlanta just to stay above water, but now it’s time for the bad news: Brooklyn is horrendously underperforming on the defensive end, now posting a 119.9 defensive rating, the absolute worst defensive rating in the NBA. If their defensive inadequacy continues, they’ll be on pace to have the worst defensive rating in NBA history. Their biggest test of the season happens Tuesday night against the Clippers, and that marquee matchup could very well be an NBA Finals preview.

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7. Milwaukee Bucks (12-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

So, it’s not all bad for Milwaukee, but they argue they could have played a lot better to start the year. Surely, you could chalk it up to entering in new pieces, but they’re not complaining as they’ve won six of their last 10 games in lieu of a 12-8 record. But, through 19 games, they’ve uncharacteristically lost eight games, something they didn’t do last year until three quarters through last season.

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8. Indiana Pacers (11-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

In last Wednesday’s win over Charlotte, Domantas Sabonis continued to make his case for his second All-star selection, scoring 20 points and racking up a triple-double while shooting over 90 percent from the field. Additionally in the same frontcourt, Myles Turner continues to rack up an acumen for what should be a year where he, at the minimum, touches an All-NBA Defensive Team with five blocks or more in six games played this season. They have a fairly easy schedule coming up, as they’ll have Memphis and New Orleans but will have to bring their best game to take on the likes of Milwaukee and Utah later this week.

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9. Phoenix Suns (11-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

Phoenix dropped their first two games of the season without Devin Booker, who had to miss time due to a sore left hamstring, but quickly got back into the win column with some noteworthy wins over the streaky Golden State Warriors and slumping Dallas Mavericks. Chris Paul’s impact on this team extends far beyond his floor general presence, and in his mentorship role that he’s become accustomed to, his confidence in his younger teammates to play their best game is not taken for granted. Mikal Bridges is now being trusted to be an off-the-catch, spot-up scorer along the perimeter now, shooting above the league average from deep at 40.4 percent. DeAndre Ayton, CP3’s trusty Pick and Roll man, is becoming adjusted and comfortable with both Paul and Booker helping to get him touches, as he’s averaging 15.3 rebounds, 11.3 points, and 2.3 assists in Phoenix’s last four games.

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10. Boston Celtics (10-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

Injuries are piling up for the Celtics, first losing Payton Pritchard during a freak accident where Jaylen Brown landed on his knee, spraining his MCL which would keep him out for an undisclosed time. One week later, in a primetime battle with the rival Lakers, Marcus Smart went down with what was configured as a strained calf and will miss the next 2-4 weeks. Guard depth is one thing that’ll be missed, but what cannot be replaced is the heart and soul of the Celtics’ locker room, as Smart has helped Boston in a variety of ways as their best on-ball defender. They’ll have a five-game road trip without Smart on the floor, and it won’t be easy, considering that the Warriors, Kings, Clippers, and Suns are up next on their schedule.

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11. Portland Trail Blazers (10-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

Damian Lillard is the superglue to a levy that’s splitting at the seams at every turn, proven in his dropping of back-to-back threes in the game’s final 8 seconds to break the hearts of the Chicago Bulls and winning the game with a side-fading three-ball in the right corner to give Portland their 10th win on the year. Down multiple role players and starters like both Jusuf Nurkic and CJ McCollum, Dame Time has had to given unlimited minutes as their lone All-Star has needed to lead them in scoring (he is) and chariot them through murky waters. Averaging 34 points a game during the stretch of losing both McCollum and Nurkic, expect Lillard to do more of what he’s accustomed to doing during this period where his Blazers will have to face the Wizards, 76ers, and Knicks this week.

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12. San Antonio Spurs (11-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

The Spurs don’t see any movement in this week’s rankings, and just miss out on cracking the top 10, as they’ve been snake bitten by some health and safety protocols. Fortunately, all tests for the players sent to quarantine came back negative. As they returned to action, they beat a Celtics team at home after storming to close a halftime deficit, winning the game by double digits. Also, Derrick White came back from his toe injury this past Saturday, making it the first game he’s played since New Year’s Day. In a return win over Memphis, White led the team in scoring with 22 points in 18 minutes off the bench.

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13. Golden State Warriors (11-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

A positive note: the Dubs finished the week at 3-1 and beating the Timberwolves twice and Detroit by nearly 30 once bolstered the confidence in many of the role players Steve Kerr has on his bench. James Wiseman, their coveted Rookie, has averaged around 12 points and 6 rebounds per game off 50.3 percent shooting and, more impressively, has shot above the league average from deep, shooting 40.3 percent from behind the arc. But, recently the rookie had one of his worst performances of the season against Phoenix, as he only scored five points and had a team-worst -20 in the +/- margin. He quickly bounced back one game later, scoring 25 points in the win over the Timberwolves.

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14. Atlanta Hawks (10-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

The Hawks are a cumulative 4-5 in their past nine contests, and while that may sound unsatisfactory to some, it means a leg up for Lloyd Pierce’s team, who saw Trae Young return to early-season form following his confusing scoring slump. Young dropped 41 points against the Washington Wizards this past Friday, becoming the fifth player in league history to score 40+ points in 14 games in an NBA career. For some perspective, only Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Rick Barry, and Kevin Durant have achieved the same feat. Also, Young has 404 threes through his three-year career, doing so in just 160 games – the shortest amount of time ever needed to reach 400 threes in league history.

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15. Houston Rockets (10-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

Well, what was supposed to be a year that the Rockets would rest on their laurels, play their younger guys, and allow their more tenured pieces in Victor Oladipo, DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall look good enough so they can get shipped out of Houston to build draft capital, turned out to be a year that they can realistically challenge for a playoff spot and honestly, their aspirations are not that lofty. The Mavericks and Pelicans are on a swift downturn, and Houston has won 7 of their last 10 games by just playing hard defense and getting some major contributions from Christian Wood, who will probably be an All-Star, as he is only in company with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic as the only players in the league to average 20 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 55 percent from the field. Additionally, Houston currently has the second-best defensive rating in the NBA at 102.8.

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16. Memphis Grizzlies (8-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

Memphis hasn’t lost a game since January 7. Okay, great! Since then, however, they’ve been hit hard by the pandemic, not being able to resume any basketball activities until this past week, when they picked up where they left with a win over the Spurs. That extended their winning streak to six games, and they’re still fourth in the West at the moment even with a long layoff. Ja Morant’s health has been in question, but in the past week, he’s looked good at full strength as he dished out 10 assists against the Suns and 11 assists against the Spurs a few nights later.

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17. Charlotte Hornets (10-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

Moving up six spots in these rankings are the Hornets, who might need to start LaMelo Ball a little more often. This past Saturday, the Hornets found a way to upset the Milwaukee Bucks to go 2-2 on the week, as Gordon Hayward finished that game with 27 points in 38 minutes. Consistency has been their issue and while Terry Rozier and DeVonte Graham may have the experience from being Charlotte’s starters in the backcourt for two seasons, James Borrego turning to LaMelo Ball sooner rather than later should have more of a benefit than cost at the expense of the Hornets’ improvement in 2021. Ball also scored 27 points off 8-10 shooting from the field in the win over Milwaukee over the course of last weekend, and earned his first start of the season against Miami on Monday night, scoring an inefficient 14 points but dishing 7 assists and grabbing 5 rebounds in the win.

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18. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

After such a momentum-gaining week 5 of play, Cleveland fell back to earth with a 1-3 week, giving up 46 points to the homecoming LeBron James while losing a tight contest to the Lakers. They then unceremoniously dropped two games against the Timberwolves and Knicks, which they couldn’t lose a game to since they are the types of teams that need to be beaten in order to keep the Cavaliers in the playoff hunt. They ended the week on a good note, beating the Pistons as Collin Sexton had yet another insane scoring outing of 29 points off 10-14 shooting with 5 rebounds and 5 assists to boot. They earned a win on Monday against the Timberwolves on Monday night but barely, as Sexton kept up the fiery and energetic stat-stuffing with 26 points, 3 assists, and 3 rebounds.

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19. New York Knicks (9-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

The Knicks lost a tough battle against the Chicago Bulls on Monday, and have lost six of their last 10 games. It was expected that these Knicks would tail off and toil away down in the bottom tier of Eastern teams; the roster just isn’t talented enough to credibly compete. But what has been a sight for sore eyes: Immanuel Quickley should be in consideration for Rookie of the Year at the least. In back to back games this past week, Quickley dropped 25 points in 27 minutes against the Clippers, and on Monday, scored 16 points while racking up 6 rebounds and 7 assists. The Knicks have been pragmatic and optimistic about competing this season as any team should, but they should see the first full month of the Thibs/Rose era in NYC as a right-on-track situation.

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20. Toronto Raptors (8-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

Toronto is another team that’s dealing with a multitude of injuries, as they’ll now be without OG Anunoby due to a calf strain. A 6-4 record in their past 10 games signifies that they are finally getting out of the hole they dug themselves into earlier on the year and with somewhat of a soft schedule coming up with an exception to Brooklyn, the question remains: is this Toronto team good enough to keep up the momentum for the entire duration of what’s left this season, or are they a barely-.500 team, that’s grown anemic from injuries and free agency departures?

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21. Dallas Mavericks (8-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

It’s hard to fathom just how disappointing the Mavericks have looked this season, and no matter the numbers that Luka Doncic puts up, they don’t translate to wins if what we’ve watched over the course of this past week tells us anything. Dallas is the league’s worst 3 point shooting team at 32.8 percent, and they’ve lost nine of their last eleven games. You could say that their roster is just incomplete since they ended up getting Maxi Kleiber back from health and safety protocols, but even he doesn’t immediately solve the issue of how the team looks right now. Scoring looks like a foreign language to them, and the ball at times doesn’t move as much as it’s supposed to in the halfcourt. Dallas needs all the help they can get at the moment.

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22. Miami Heat (7-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

After getting Jimmy Butler back from a sprained ankle, the All-Star scored 30 points in the Heat’s win over the Kings which snapped a five-game losing streak. Meanwhile, there is a bevy of injured bodies on the Heat bench that won’t be activated any time soon, as Goran Dragic tends to a groin strain, Avery Bradley deals with a knee contusion, Meyers Leonard is set to miss the rest of the season to surgically repair a shoulder strain, Mo Harkless has a thigh contusion, and Tyler Herro recently tweeted that he may have been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Though the season extends to May, they’re walking on eggshells to reclaim the Eastern throne, and a week-opening loss to Charlotte doesn’t do them any favors.

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23. Oklahoma City Thunder (8-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

These Thunder don’t know the meaning of “concede” on the road but know all about it at home. Weird, right? Count OKC AKA Loud City as a key place where crowd sound doesn’t play to the benefit of the home team and the silence is rather discouraging as the Thunder are an abysmal 1-7 inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.  And they’re 7-3 on the road, but those wins don’t translate on home hardwood. Their most recent losses featured ex-Thunder players in Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and James Harden coming back to where their careers started to drop 147 points on the Thunder, and following that, John Wall, Victor Oladipo, and Christian Wood came back to drop 136 points on this building team to give OKC their 7th loss at home this year.

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24. Chicago Bulls (8-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

Dame Time is something that every now and then just happens. The Bulls played a great game against an undermanned Trail Blazers team that Chicago blew a late lead to, but if there was a silver lining, Lauri Markkanen has shut down all trade talk and could be a viable piece to build around in the era of Arturas Karnisovas, scoring a season-high 31 points in the loss.

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25. Sacramento Kings (9-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

Is Marvin Bagley III turning the corner? Consistency has always plagued him, but in two of the three contests this week for the Kings, the former Duke big man had a week where he scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Orlando and scored 17 points on 7-8 shooting against the Heat. The Kings are getting valid help from the likes of De’Aaron Fox and rookie Tyrese Haliburton (combined for 41.5 points per game off 43.7 percent shooting) and if Bagley can find a way to stay consistent, the Kings will definitely have something to compete within the West.

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26. Orlando Magic (8-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

That’s now 11 of the last 13 games the Magic have lost now, after their 4-0 and 6-2 start of the season. The loss of Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac is too damaging to their season and chances to make it back to the playoffs but to make matters worse, Aaron Gordon will be out for 4-6 weeks with a severe ankle sprain. Two games against Toronto follow a heated matchup against the Raptors this week.

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27. New Orleans Pelicans (7-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

If there ever was a restart button to not just the offseason, but the entire coach hiring and drafting process, Pels fans would certainly slam it, right? New Orleans is officially 3-7 in their last 10 games, and pose the sixth-worst defensive rating in basketball while simultaneously being 18th in total offensive rating. Their only positive of this past week: an upset over Milwaukee in which the Pelicans splashed a total of 21 threes against the Bucks’ defense, tying a franchise-best effort.

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28. Detroit Pistons (5-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

After getting shellacked by Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors last week, Detroit has lost 15 of their last 20 games for the sixth time in franchise history. They’ve still yet to win back to back games this year.

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29. Washington Wizards (4-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

In what was undoubtedly their biggest win of the season, the Wizards (ironically) helped the Nets become the worst defensive team in the NBA with a shocking 147-145 home win in the last few seconds of the game; Bradley Beal splashes home a transition three to draw the Wizards within a point, and a Brooklyn inbounder accidentally gives it to Beal, who kicks it out to Russell Westbrook (who had 41 points in the victory) cash out on the go-ahead jumper to give Washington their fourth win of the year. And amidst trade rumors, Beal has stated that his interest is to not leave the Wizards this year.

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30. Minnesota Timberwolves (5-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

Losers of eight of their last 10 games, the Timberwolves have probably already chalked this year up as a year for developing their younger players, most notably Anthony Edwards, who looks to be turning a corner. Over the last two games, the first-overall pick has looked impressive, scoring 25 points against the Warriors while shooting 5-8 from deep as well as having a 23-point night agains the Cavaliers a few nights later. He’s scored in double figures for five straight contests and leads all rookies in scoring.