Welcome to Def Pen’s NBA Power Rankings. These rankings will be updated every Monday from here on. These rankings aren’t necessarily based solely on talent level or team potential.They’re about who’s better right now/who has played better as of late. If a team has lost their last 5 games, they’re probably going to drop (at least) a few spots, even if they’ve got “better” players than a team ranked above them. Alright, let’s jump in.
Biggest Jump: Denver Nuggets: Up 6
Biggest Drop: Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans: Down 5
1. Golden State Warriors
Record: 46-4
Last Week’s Ranking: 1
The Warriors almost gave up a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who came roaring back from down 20, but Golden State was able to hold them off. The Warriors are on a 9-game winning streak, and been amazing all season long. They’re the best team in basketball, plain and simple.
2. San Antonio Spurs
Record: 43-8
Last Week’s Ranking: 2
This Spurs team is phenomenal. Manu Ginobili is expected to miss around 4-6 weeks with a groin injury, but this team is deep enough that it will be just fine without him.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder
Record: 38-14
Last Week’s Ranking: 4
The Thunder had won 5 in a row, until they lost to the Warriors on Saturday, and that was a close game. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant have both had incredible seasons thus far, and this team is a contender as long as those two are healthy.
4. Toronto Raptors
Record: 34-16
Last Week’s Ranking: 5
The Raptors have won 13 of their last 14. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan have led this team to truly elite status. They have a good group of young players, and are significantly better than they have been in recent years.
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
Record: 36-14
Last Week’s Ranking: 3
The Cavs drop 2 spots after losing 2 of their last 3 games(to Boston and Charlotte). Since firing Blatt, they’ve been letting teams score a lot of points on them. LeBron James’ shooting struggles continue; he’s made just 2 of his last 23 3-pointers(8.69%).
6. Boston Celtics
Record: 31-22
Last Week’s Ranking: 8
The Celtics are one of the hottest teams in the league right now. They followed up their exciting win over the Cavaliers with a dominant offensive performance against the Kings in which they shot 56% from the field and 54.2% from deep. The Celts have now won 9 of their last 10. Boston’s selling point is their defense; only the Spurs have a better defensive rating.
7. Los Angeles Clippers
Record: 34-17
Last Week’s Ranking: 6
Other than last Wednesday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Clippers have played surprisingly well during Blake Griffin’s absence. The Clips have won 6 of their last 7, and Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, and DeAndre Jordan have all been playing well.
8. Memphis Grizzlies
Record: 30-21
Last Week’s Ranking: 7
The Grizzlies have won 8 of their last 10. They’ve got their usual core group of players — Conley, Randolph, and Gasol. Jeff Green has also been contributing in a major way lately, and Mario Chalmers has been excellent off the bench. The Grizzlies have been playing very well lately. They have an extremely easy schedule coming up as well; 10 of their next 11 games are against sub-.500 teams. Expect Memphis to tear off a bunch of wins in the next couple weeks.
9. Miami Heat
Record: 29-23
Last Week’s Ranking: 10
The Heat went through a serious rough path, but seem to have gotten back on track. They’ve won 6 of their last 8 now, and the two losses in that run were against respectable teams(Bulls, Clippers). Miami is finally starting to play in accordance with their level of talent.
10. Atlanta Hawks
Record: 30-23
Last Week’s Ranking: 11
The Hawks haven’t been too consistent this season, but they’ve won 3 of their last 4 games now. They’ve had what feels like dozens of similar streaks, but then end up losing a few in a row immediately after that. Amidst trade rumors focused on Jeff Teague, the Hawks may look to make a move before the deadline.
11. Dallas Mavericks
Record: 29-25
Last Week’s Ranking: 9
The Mavs have lost 3 of their last 4, but all of those games(including the win) were against teams ranked ahead of them here. I don’t think they’re going through any problems right now, they’ve just been facing a tough schedule. In fact, I think this Rick Carlisle-coached Dallas teams is one of the more consistent teams in the league.
12. Indiana Pacers
Record: 27-24
Last Week’s Ranking: 13
Are the Pacers finally starting to win with some consistency? They’ve won 4 of their last 6, with those 2 losses coming to Atlanta and Cleveland. The Pacers have been excellent defensively this year; they have the 4th best defensive rating in the league. Rookie Myles Turner is looking like a steal, and Paul George, while inconsistent, is one of the best players in the league.
13. Utah Jazz
Record: 25-25
Last Week’s Ranking: 18
The Jazz are on a 6-game win streak right now. Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, and Rudy Gobert are one of my favorite young “big 3s” in the league. When Gobert and Favors are healthy, the Jazz’s defense is elite. The only team that has allowed fewer points per game this season is the Spurs. Gobert is already one of the best defensive centers in the league. I wouldn’t mind seeing this Utah team make a playoff push. I’d watch a series with them in it.
14. Portland Trail Blazers
Record: 25-27
Last Week’s Ranking: 15
How about the Trail Blazers? Expected to be one of the worst teams in the league before the start of the season, the Blazers have won 7 of their last 8, and are almost .500 now. Their defense is bottom-tier, but their offense has been legitimately good behind Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum(8th best offensive rating in the league).
15. Detroit Pistons
Record: 27-25
Last Week’s Ranking: 14
The Pistons are a middle-tier team, and have been struggling lately. They haven’t beaten an over-.500 team since the Rockets on January 20. Thanks to All-Star Andre Drummond, Detroit has been an excellent rebounding team this season, particularly on the offensive glass(they’re second in the league. A big weakness for this team has been perimeter shooting; they’re bottom-10 in the league in 3-point shooting.
16.Chicago Bulls
Record: 27-23
Last Week’s Ranking: 11
The Bulls have not been great lately. They’ve lost 4 of their last 5, including very winnable losses to Denver and Minnesota. Without Jimmy Butler, this team is significantly worse, and Butler is out(hopefully not for any serious length of time) with a knee injury. The Bulls need butler healthy to be relevant.
17. Charlotte Hornets
Record: 25-26
Last Week’s Ranking: 17
The Hornets are trending upwards since the return of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. They’re 3-2 with him healthy, including a big-time win over the Cavs. Al Jefferson has been out for some time now, but was recently cleared for non-contact drills. The Hornets could definitely use Big Al’s presence inside, and could make a playoff push if the team can stay healthy once he returns.
18. Houston Rockets
Record: 27-26
Last Week’s Ranking: 16
With Utah and Portland looking ready to make a playoff push, the Rockets need to start stepping up. They’ve been one of the least consistent teams this year, and that can’t continue if they want to make the postseason. The defense desperately needs to improve for Houston. Only the Kings and Suns give up more points per game.
19. Denver Nuggets
Record: 21-31
Last Week’s Ranking: 25
The Nuggets have won 3 of their last 4 games, including a huge upset of the red-hot Toronto Raptors. They also got an impressive win against the Bulls. Emmanuel Mudiay seems to be adjusting to the NBA, Danilo Gallinari has been great, and Nikola Jokic has been an unexpected bright spot. The Nuggets aren’t a playoff team, but they are better than they were expected to be.
20. Washington Wizards
Record: 22-27
Last Week’s Ranking: 19
The Wiz have lost 6 of their last 8, but 4 of those 6 losses came against top-6 teams(per this list). I can’t tell whether the Wizards are falling apart, or have just struggled against better teams.
21. Sacramento Kings
Record: 21-30
Last Week’s Ranking: 22
The Kings didn’t do anything in particular to go up a spot, other teams around them have just been worse. Ever since I ranked the Kings 16th amidst their 5-game win streak, they’ve come crashing down to reality. They have now lost 7 of their last 8, including a brutal 9-point loss to the Nets.
22. Minnesota Timberwolves
Record: 16-36
Last Week’s Ranking: 26
The Timberwolves had lost 16 of 18 before they surprisingly pulled off back-to-back wins against the Bulls and Clippers. Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins have impressed as expected, but so has Gorgui Dieng. The third-year Louisville product has averaged 18.2 points and 10.5 rebounds over the course of his last 6 games.
23. Orlando Magic
Record: 22-28
Last Week’s Ranking: 24
The Magic have lost 8 of their last 10, but got a nice win against Atlanta yesterday after a fantastic game-winner by Nikola Vucevic. Playoff hopes are dead for Orlando, as they aren’t winning, and don’t have a very easy schedule for the rest of the year. For now, they should focus on developing their young talent.
24. New York Knicks
Record: 23-31
Last Week’s Ranking: 21
Bye-bye Derek Fisher. Kurt Rambis will reportedly spend the rest of the season as interim head coach, which I would say does not bode well for the Knicks. There is reportedly a strong mutual interest between New York and Tom Thibodeau, which could be a good match.
25. New Orleans Pelicans
Record: 18-32
Last Week’s Ranking: 20
Last week I wrote “don’t look now, but the Pelicans are winning.” Well, I hope that you did, in fact look then while you had the chance, because NOLA’s winning ways have screeched to a halt. They went 0-4 this week, and while 3 of those losses were against good teams, one came against the Lakers. The Pels will look to snap their losing streak tonight in Minnesota.
26. Milwaukee Bucks
Record: 20-32
Last Week’s Ranking: 23
The Bucks have lost 5 games in a row now. It seems fairly likely that Milwaukee tries to make a trade before the deadline. As I’ve been saying since the Greg Monroe signing, this team has a lot of pieces that don’t fit together remotely well. If I’m Milwaukee’s GM, I’m actively shopping Greg Monroe and Michael Carter-Williams. Perhaps gauging value for Jabari Parker as well, since I’m not convinced you can keep him and Giannis together long-term.
27. Philadelphia 76ers
Record: 8-43
Last Week’s Ranking: 27
The Sixers have won twice in their last 7 games, although both of those wins came against teams ranked below them on our list(Nets, Suns). Ish Smith has been a godsend for this team(unless you’re #TeamTank), but he had to sit out last game with a sore ankle. He will return tonight on limited minutes.
28. Brooklyn Nets
Record: 13-39
Last Week’s Ranking: 28
The Nets have lost 11 of their last 13. Their only solace is that win against OKC 8 games ago. They had a chance to move up a spot by beating the Sixers on Saturday, but Philly beat them… Without Ish Smith.
29. Los Angeles Lakers
Record: 11-42
Last Week’s Ranking: 30
To the surprise of literally everyone, Kobe has performed incredibly the past few games. Over the course of his past 4 contests, the Mamba has averaged 28.3 points and 6.5 rebounds on .407/.432/.910 shooting. Aside from the FG%, those are phenomenal numbers
30. Phoenix Suns
Record: 14-38
Last Week’s Ranking: 29
The Suns have usurped the Lakers for the position of worst team in basketball. The Suns have lost their last 7 games, and 13 of their last 14. This team is so, so much worse than I thought they would be without Bledsoe. It’s startling how bad they are. Their next 5 games are all almost certainly losses — vs. OKC, Golden State, Houston, San Antonio, and @ Clippers. After those 5 maybe they can get a win at home against the Nets.
