So…things are getting interesting at the top of the rankings list, aren’t they?
The Lakers, fresh off despondently dropping two straight games to the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets, are finally out of the top three teams on this list, and for various reasons that involve more than just a scoring slump. LA’s first loss on their slide was to the Bucks, and MVP frontrunner Giannis Antetokounmpo’s career-high five threes and 34 points in the season’s most anticipated game. But, more problems have arisen with these Lakers that surround a sudden ailment of their most integral piece.
The health of LeBron James is coincidentally, and eerily, at risk. Remember, around the holidays last year was the time that LeBron knelt in agony with a groin tear that not only sidelined him for almost two months but ended the Lakers’ chance at reaching the postseason with the Lakers, subsequently marred with other injuries to other parts of their offensive attack of course.
But now, lightning might strike twice on Tinseltown’s team due to some bad history and reoccurrences from last year. Though LeBron is probable for Wednesday’s war on Christmas against the Clippers, pessimism and a hint of paranoia is allowed in this instance because the Lakers are taking a chance at running the real risk of re-injury to the best player on the planet in an extremely meaningful midseason game.
Across the league spectrum, the Milwaukee Bucks are just manhandling every team that puts a foot in their path. This is the best team in the game right now, and they showed up and showed out against a Lakers team that initially was perceived to tightly contest the Bucks in last Thursday’s TNT duel on primetime television. LeBron and Anthony Davis may have combined for 57 points, but it felt at times like their scheduled heroics were nowhere to be found and a perimeter-favoring offense was held to just 34 percent shooting from deep and 46 percent overall from the field in a 111-104 road loss.
The rest of the league saw some fireworks happen with other teams either getting over the sub-.500 hump, while other teams rose to the occasion in some huge comebacks to beat their opposition. Let’s get into where these other 28 teams place in this week’s Power Rankings ahead of the five-game slate of all-day Christmas Basketball, shall we?
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1. Milwaukee Bucks (27-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)
As Philadelphia on St. Nick’s Day approaches on their schedule, Milwaukee’s looked dominant and unstoppable with convincing wins against the Lakers, as mentioned, the Knicks and Pacers during their two-game homestand and visit to the Garden this week. Their defense and offense are top-tier, Mike Budenholzer’s spacing is downright scary, Giannis is the lock to win the Most Valuable Player award, and on top of all that, their schedule is the most wonderful gift of all, as ten-straight teams that aren’t above .500 prepare to face the buzzsaw that is the Milwaukee Bucks in the next two weeks.
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2. Boston Celtics (20-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)
It’s a next-man-up approach for Brad Stevens and his Celtics, as he’s been forced to scavenge through the Celtics depth to find viable parts to compile other offensive pieces with Gordon Hayward being out. Fortunately, the play of the Celtics’ new big three has filled the gap. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are playing like All-NBA talents, and deservedly so are playing as if they are awaiting All-Star honors.
It’s as if the Celtics losing to the Sixers is a good luck charm, as the team finds a way to kickstart winning streaks after losing to Philadelphia. Since taking their first home loss to those Sixers just a week ago, the trio of Walker, Tatum, and Brown combined for 82 points in a road win against the Luka Doncic-less Mavs and then beat the Hornets and Pistons by double digits just nights later.
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3. Los Angeles Lakers (24-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)
LeBron’s been critical of load management recently after a reporter asked for his take on whether players should be given rest periods even if they’re uninjured. He was reportedly experiencing groin discomfort and opted to take a night off instead of facing the Nuggets, who absolutely humbled the Lakers as they suffered their sixth loss of the year. LBJ and AD have been putting up consistently impressive numbers but the possibility of dropping four straight with the Clippers up next on Wednesday cannot be of allowance if the Lakers want to keep their No. 1 spot in the West.
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4. Los Angeles Clippers (22-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)
Turbulence has been the deal for the Clippers’ streak of recent outings, as they are 2-3 in their past five games. That’s including a blown lead to the Rockets on Thursday night and a surprising loss to the impressive Oklahoma City Thunder. Some of that is because of their choppy lineups as they rest players (load management skeptics, step right up!) and additionally deal with injuries.
Sunday’s loss to Oklahoma City featured yet another fourth-quarter blown lead, as the Thunder clamped up Paul George and Lou Williams. What was more egregious was their defensive insufficiency, letting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of OKC score at will on the other end while Kawhi Leonard and Patrick Beverley sat. Last night’s loss was probably just a buffer for their stars, as they will be healthy enough for Christmas Day against the Lakers.
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5. Toronto Raptors (21-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)
Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol, and Norman Powell have been out for a while but in Nick Nurse’s world, that apparently doesn’t matter as they’ve won five straight wins, the fifth being the exclamation point to their winning streak as a 30-point comeback against the Mavericks was completed in which Kyle Lowry scored 32 points, and 20 individual 4th quarter points in a 47-point 4th quarter for the Raptors. Lowry and Fred VanVleet’s usage is going to skyrocket this week, averaging a combined 37.8 points per game as the team’s second (Lowry) and third (VanVleet) best scorers.
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6. Miami Heat (21-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)
The Heat had a bit of an up-and-down week by losing to the Grizzlies on the road, but ended it strongly with a statement win over the Philadelphia 76ers on the road, ending Philly’s 14-game undefeated streak at home to start the season while also avenging their embarrassing loss to the Sixers the last time they played in the Wells Fargo Center. Bam Adebayo continues to put it together, averaging 15.6 points and 10.6 rebounds per game off 57.5 percent shooting. He was arguably the best player on the floor in Philly last week, scoring 23 points off 9/16 shooting.
His development is running parallel to Miami’s ability to string together quality wins, and with the Jazz and Pacers coming up next, there’s more room for growth in his game as we near the end of December and enter the new year.
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7. Houston Rockets (21-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)
Russell Westbrook and James Harden are finally finding middle ground in creating that optimal offensive gameplan that’s beneficial for the both of them. Even more, Westbrook is finally out of that shooting slump that captivated him for more than a month, averaging 29.3 points on 50.7% shooting in his past seven games. He dropped 40 on one of the most defensively intimidating teams in the NBA in the Los Angeles Clippers last week, and if that mark improves, the Rockets benefit from his newfound stroke. They’re 9-1 when Westbrook makes at least 50 percent of his field attempts (that only loss was because of a Nemanja Bjelica-Kings buzzer-beater) and that record should rise since Houston is facing three teams who have a sub-.500 record this week.
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8. Denver Nuggets (20-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)
The Nuggets managed to blowout the Lakers on their Staples Center floor, but that was without LeBron playing. Still, the win was eye-opening for a lot of prognosticators who were starting to look past the Nugs as contenders due to their early-season mishaps. They took over in a dominant second half while it looked as if the LeBron-less Lakers were to keep pace with the Nugs, and their balance was on full display as they had six players in double figures.
The Nuggets may have finally woken up, and their position on this list may be starting to rise back to where it was at the beginning of the season due to their six-game winning streak.
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9. Philadelphia 76ers (21-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)
So after a 14-0 home streak, the Sixers dropped two straight against the Heat and Mavericks on primetime television. Before that, they were slapped by 20 points last Sunday, and have dropped 2 of their last three games. To quote Joel Embiid, the Sixers really might be “playing scared”, slipping back into their mid-November lulls that saw the quartet of Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, and their new acquisition Al Horford struggle mightily.
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10. Dallas Mavericks (19-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)
The Mavericks have put up the best fight they could have without Luka Doncic, but they finished an average (but expected) 2-3 3 with the MVP candidate on the bench. During their road trip, they found a way to knock off both the Bucks (ending their 18-game winning streak) and Sixers (giving them their second-straight home loss) all before losing at home to the Celtics and on the road in Toronto (blew a 30-point lead). San Antonio, Golden State and another trip to Los Angeles to play the Lakers await the Mavs as they try to piece together a respectable record as they wait for Doncic to get healthy.
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11. Indiana Pacers (20-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)
Indiana has won five of their last six contests (their lone loss was to the Bucks, who I doubt anyone is stopping right now) and have been one of the most dangerously quiet teams in the entire league. They were able to defeat the LeBron James-Anthony Davis led Lakers at home, and with all their success two things are in their favor: they’re getting healthier with Victor Oladipo’s season debut probably occurring in the new year, and they rank in the top six best defensive teams in the NBA.
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12. Brooklyn Nets (16-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)
Though they’re only a three games over .500 which isn’t much to hoot and holler over, Kenny Atkinson’s rotations and success he’s generated from his lineups that include the likes of soon-to-be all-star selectee Spencer Dinwiddie should be deemed worthy of coach of the year honors, as he’s had to navigate through missing Kyrie Irving, Wilson Chandler, Kevin Durant, Caris LeVert and now David Nwaba, who’s going to miss the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles. Now a starter in the absence of Irving, Dinwiddie has astoundingly averaged 37 points in their last three games, as the Nets went 2-1 in that duration.
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13. Utah Jazz (18-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)
The Jazz has had a relatively easy stretch of games, winning six of their last seven games against teams with losing records. Although Mike Conley is still experiencing difficulties with his hamstring (again), it seems that Joe Ingles has earned the right to be reinserted into the Jazz’s starting lineup. But, that Jazz rotation needs to show some improvement if their record is to mirror that of the West’s most elite and efficient squads.
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14. Oklahoma City Thunder (15-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)
To all who predicted and debated in favor of the Thunder’s increasingly heightened chances to score a playoff spot: I’m listening, and I agree. Last week, the Thunder experienced unprecedented territory with perhaps three of the franchise’s greatest comebacks and four-straight wins, finally a game over .500 for the first time this year.
Since last month – November 29th to be exact – OKC has gone 9-3, and have been playing team basketball while Dennis Schroeder looks as if he’s returning to his former self when he was in Atlanta. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had never reached 30 points in a single night up until this past week, as the young Canadian second-year guard out of Kentucky managed to accomplish the feat twice (scored 32 in consecutive games against the Suns and Clippers).
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15. Portland Trail Blazers (14-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)
The losing skid for the Blazers finally came to a halt last week, with Portland having a 4-0 stretch against some low-quality competition. Damian Lillard and crew have taken some of those games for granted, paying for it in the end after not taking their gifts of easy scheduling seriously, though that hasn’t been the case in the last couple of weeks as Portland has gone 5-1 in their last six games. Speaking of Lillard, he’s back to his old All-Star self, averaging nearly 31 points per game off 41 percent shooting.
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16. Sacramento Kings (12-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)
The Kings got both Marvin Bagley III and De’Aaron Fox back for their first game back in the starting lineup together since late October against the Memphis Grizzlies last week but lost on the road to Ja Morant’s squad. About 18.6 points, 6.7 assists and 3.9 rebounds amount as the averages for Fox in his 10 games this season.
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17. Charlotte Hornets (13-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)
Barring a forgettable loss to the Celtics and a heartbreaking two-point loss to the Cavaliers, Devonte Graham is making the case that he’s a serious All-Star participant with his averaged 19.3 points and 40.5 percent shooting from beyond the perimeter. Beside him is the suddenly spectacular play of Malik Monk. In their most recent stretch of games, he’s put up a solid 10.3 points per game off 53.3 percent shooting and 41.7% from deep, all while coming off the bench. In the lone win against Sacramento, Monk scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out 4 assists.
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18. Orlando Magic (11-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)
It’s not like the Magic are a really bad team, it’s just that they just can’t beat good teams, if that makes sense. They’ve lost six-straight games against teams that made the playoffs last year, but at the same time they’ve played some solid defense, just two spots on the outside of the ten most defensively efficient teams in the NBA. The problem is that, even with such an offensive repertoire in pieces like Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier and Markelle Fultz, they have difficulty in scoring the basketball, only combining for 105.0 ppg. per 100 possessions.
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19. Chicago Bulls (12-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)
The Bulls are on a run, and from winning four of their last six games, Jim Boylen is starting to figure out his minute distribution situation and is monitoring the usages of other parts of the team like Lauri Markkanen to compliment their leader on both ends of the court, Zach LaVine. In this six-game stretch, the former UCLA guard has posted up averages 29.0 points, 3.5 made 3-pointers and 6.5 made free throws per game. These Bulls haven’t just beaten simple competition either; chart wins over the Clippers and Pistons as part of their winning streak.
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20. San Antonio Spurs (11-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)
This week, the Spurs get to face off against rookie phenomenon Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, as they are looking to get back on the winning track while letting DeJounte Murray return to his old form. He’s played decent basketball, only averaging 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. It’ll take some time for Murray to get his footing and while he is struggling on defense (owned the team’s worst plus-minus as SA was outscored by 45 points whenever he was on the floor during their 2-2 stretch), the Spurs have the chance to get some quality wins against some near sub-.500 teams in the Doncic-less Mavericks and Pistons this week.
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21. Phoenix Suns (11-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)
DeAndre Ayton’s return to the starting lineup hasn’t really been that significant, as with and without him the Suns have dropped six-straight losses. He came back last Tuesday and scored 18 points while grabbing 12 rebounds, but has missed the past two games because of an ankle injury.
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22. Memphis Grizzlies (11-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)
Without Ja Morant, the Grizzlies were able to scratch and claw out a reputable 6-6 record in the month of December despite the absence of Ja Morant. To replace his productivity was the play of Jaren Jackson Jr. who decided to play more aggressively on both ends of the floor, averaging nearly 21 points per game and shooting around 40 percent from downtown this month. What’s more impressive is that he’s taking more than seven threes a game, since his confidence is rapidly growing in his willingness to keep putting the rock up from deep.
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23. Detroit Pistons (11-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)
The health of Blake Griffin and the durability of his knee is of serious concern for the Pistons, because without him leading the charge for the Pistons’ nightly attack, they’re a very one-dimensional team. Yes, Derrick Rose, Luke Kennard and Andre Drummond account for 50% of the points scored on a nightly basis but before Griffin was taken out because of his knee problems last week, Detroit was compiling a respectable 5-2 overall record with the former All-Star and first-overall pick out of Oklahoma on the floor.
Since then, Detroit has lost four straight games by an average of 15 points. He is day-to-day in tending to that knee, but with the Sixers and Spurs up next on the schedule, this could turn from bad to worse for the Pistons.
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24. Minnesota Timberwolves (10-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)
The freefall that the T’Wolves were still on from two weeks ago poured into last week, as Minnesota has lost 10 straight games with an atrocious defense that ranks 21st in the entire NBA. They give up an average of 122 points per game and to make matters worse, they’re missing Karl Anthony-Towns due to a knee sprain that’s kept him in street clothes for three games.
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25. Washington Wizards (8-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)
The Wizards defense continues to be the most substantial pitfall of a team that’s offensively complete thanks to the consistent and red-hot scoring of Davis Bertans and Bradley Beal. They haven’t held an opponent under 110 points since the beginning of the season and just look like complete doormats for above-.500 teams that encounter these Wizards. The future is still bright for such a young roster, for the impending return of John Wall floats above DC’s team as his comeback will occur next year.
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26. Cleveland Cavaliers (8-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)
The Cavs have seen a smidge of success from their youthful core of Kevin Porter Jr. and Collin Sexton in two-straight wins over the Hornets and Grizzlies, but almost lost Kevin Love to one of the nastiest near-posters NBA fans may have ever seen had it gone down as Ja Morant nearly jumped over Love from the free throw circle in last week’s win over Memphis. Jordan Clarkson could be one of the names moved before the trade deadline, as he quietly put together a 33-point performance in the win.
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27. New York Knicks (7-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)
Miami and Milwaukee whooped up on the Knicks this past week, but have gone an optimistism-raising 3-3 under new interim head coach Mike Miller. They were able to beat the Hawks by 23 on the Garden floor, but lost by a combined 36 points to Milwaukee and Miami. The “Battle of the Boroughs” is coming up against the Nets this week, though many speculate the expected result of that one already with how the Knicks have struggled on defense, ranking 26th in the league in terms of total defensive efficiency.
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28. New Orleans Pelicans (7-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)
Luckily, the 13-straight losing streak finally came to an end against the Timberwolves for the Pelicans. As the worst losing skid in franchise history was finally abolished last week, the pipe dream of a playoff spot for a team so stocked with talent at just about every position suffered the same fate. Jrue Holiday is getting traded, and that’s more of an eventuality than a rumor. Worst of all, Zion Williamson’s debut is the only thing to look forward to for Pels fans and executives, and that may not happen this year either. Looks like JJ Redick’s career-long streak of making the playoffs is ending abruptly, to his chagrin.
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29. Golden State Warriors (6-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)
The Warriors stay put in this week’s power rankings. The only positive thing to look forward to in the Bay is the impressive play of rookie Forward Eric Paschall, who is averaging a steady 15.4 points 4.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game even after cooling off from his early-season fast start. Still, he’s putting up around 12 points this month while taking fewer shots a game.
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30. Atlanta Hawks (6-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)
Trae Young is doing his part, while the rest of the Hawks are struggling, big time. The second-year guard has dropped 40 points this season in four games, and has scored 30 points in 16 of them. One positive: John Collins returns from his 25-game suspension Monday night against the Cavaliers.
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