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
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