Welcome to Def Pen’s NBA Power Rankings. These rankings are updated every Monday. Last week, the statistically-brilliant Josiah Brady updated the rankings here with his ‘SteadyLosing’ model. This week, it’s my turn. 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.
NBA Power Rankings
Biggest Jump: Heat Up 5
Biggest Drop: Hornets Down 9
1. Golden State Warriors
Record: 46-9
Last Week’s Ranking: 1
The Warriors have now matched their loss total from last season. That does not mean that they are worse than they were last season.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
Record: 37-16
Last Week’s Ranking: 4
J.R. Smith is expected to return early, which is huge for a Cavaliers team that looks to be stretched pretty thin. Only Kyle Lowry has played more minutes this season than LeBron James; that’s a problem. LeBron is 32 years old, and should be playing fewer minutes than usual, not more. The Cavs are winning, though. After a cold spell, Cleveland has won seven of its last nine games.
3. Boston Celtics
Record: 36-19
Last Week’s Ranking: 6
The Celtics have ripped off 10 of their last 11 games. Isaiah Thomas is incredible. Don’t be shocked if Boston overtakes Cleveland for the top seed in the East, especially if Kevin Love’s latest injury is serious, and/or the Cavs begin reducing LeBron’s minutes.
4. Washington Wizards
Record: 33-21
Last Week’s Ranking: 3
The Wizards and the Celtics (formerly the Heat) are the hottest teams in the league right now. Washington has won 18 of 20 (not a typo), and one of those losses was an overtime loss to Cleveland (also the biggest regular-season game of John Wall’s career according to John Wall). This team is crazy on fire right now, and shows no signs of slowing down. Despite a slow start to the season, they’ve passed the struggling Raptors for the third seed in the East.
5. San Antonio Spurs
Record: 42-13
Last Week’s Ranking: 2
Save for a weird loss to the Knicks, the Spurs have been playing just fine. It’s not their fault that they’ve been bumped down a few spots. Other teams have simply been playing better recently. That’s okay. The Spurs could coast to postseason home court advantage in their sleep.
6. Houston Rockets
Record: 40-17
Last Week’s Ranking: 7
The Rockets had a rough January, but have won four of their five February games thus far – admittedly, not against the stiffest competition. I hope that January was an anomalous outlier, because when this team is playing well, they’re a blast to watch.
7. Memphis Grizzlies
Record: 34-23
Last Week’s Ranking: 9
The Grizzlies have won seven of their last nine, and both of those two losses came to playoff teams (Thunder, Warriors). Memphis’ schedule for the rest of the season isn’t too bad; 14 of their remaining 25 games are vs. teams that are currently under .500. The Grizzlies are pretty good at winning games that they’re supposed to win, so look for them to challenge the Jazz and Clippers for the 4 seed.
8. Atlanta Hawks
Record: 32-23
Last Week’s Ranking: 11
The Hawks have been fine. They picked up a nice overtime win on the road in Portland Monday night, and are a game over .500 over their last 10. At least they didn’t blow a 28-3 lead… Sorry, Atlanta fans. That was mean.
9. Los Angeles Clippers
Record: 34-21
Last Week’s Ranking: 10
As Josiah noted last week, the Clippers’ defense has struggled as the injuries have piled up. The Clippers have had a tough schedule lately, and will continue to for the next few games. They’ve already had to face the Warriors twice in their last eight games, and will face them a third time in Oakland right after the All-Star Break. The very next night, they’ll host the Spurs. Yikes. On the bright side, Blake Griffin won player of the week!
10. Miami Heat
Record: 24-32
Last Week’s Ranking: 15
The most improbable streak in basketball history has finally come to an end, and Miami has already fallen to two bad teams: The 76ers and Magic. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Heat’s winning streak (to me, anyway) was the fact that Hassan Whiteside wasn’t really the driving force; the most important contributors were backcourt-mates Goran Dragic and Dion Waiters.
11. Utah Jazz
Record: 34-22
Last Week’s Ranking: 5
The Jazz had won four straight, but promptly dropped their last three. This team’s going to need to do more than play .500 ball if they want to secure home court advantage in the playoffs.
12. Toronto Raptors
Record: 28-21
Last Week’s Ranking: 8
Things are not going well in Toronto. The Raptors have dropped 10 of their last 14 games now, including some bad losses (the Hornets, Suns, Magic TWICE, Timberwolves, and Pistons… Come on Raps). Also, of the four games that they’ve won in that span, only one win was against a team that’s over .500 – the also-struggling Clippers.
13. Denver Nuggets
Record: 25-30.
Last Week’s Ranking: 14
The Nuggets absolutely smoked a gassed-looking Warriors team (and blew my four-team parlay, so really I should drop them a few spots for losing me money). If the playoffs started today, we would get that same matchup – Warriors-Nuggets – as a first-round series. That could be a lot of fun, and seems pretty likely to happen. Denver isn’t going to jump OKC for the 7 seed, and none of their competitors for the 8 seed – Portland, Sacramento, New Orleans, Minnesota – seem very dangerous.
14. Indiana Pacers
Record: 29-26
Last Week’s Ranking: 12
The Pacers have dropped four straight, and have to play the Cavs, Wizards, and Grizzlies in their next three games. Then they play the Heat (on the second night of a back-to-back), and then travel to Houston, San Antonio, and Atlanta for their next three games. That is an absolutely brutal schedule. If the Bulls, Pistons, or Bucks are going to make an attempt to climb the standings, now is the time.
15. Oklahoma City Thunder
Record: 31-25
Last Week’s Ranking: 13
Kevin Durant’s return to OKC went exactly as everybody expected: Russell Westbrook had a monster game, but the Warriors easily won. It’s almost certainly not going to happen, but if Denver managed to pass up OKC for the 7 seed, Warriors-Thunder would be the most fun playoff sweep of all time.
16. Detroit Pistons
Record: 26-30
Last Week’s Ranking: 18
The Pistons have, relative to earlier in the season, been getting their act together as of late. They’ve won five of their last eight games, albeit against a very easy schedule. Fortunately for the Pistons, their schedule for the remainder of the season isn’t too tough either. This season has been a massive disappointment for Detroit, but they could conceivably make the playoffs; they’re only half a game behind Chicago for the 8 seed, and the Bulls are the Bulls.
17. Sacramento Kings
Record: 23-32
Last Week’s Ranking: 21
Will DeMarcus Cousins finally make the playoffs? It’s certainly within reach, and they’ve won their last three games now, but knowing the #Kangz, that probably means that they’re about to go on a massive slide. It’s all about finding new ways to disappoint the fans.
18. Milwaukee Bucks
Record: 24-30
Last Week’s Ranking: 19
Jabari Parker tearing his ACL is a damn tragedy. The kid was having an unbelievable year. However, I’m not writing off Milwaukee’s playoff hopes just yet. A healthy Khris Middleton is a hell of a player.
19. Chicago Bulls
Record: 26-29
Last Week’s Ranking: 23
They’ve lost their last two games to Phoenix and Minnesota, but in the Bulls’ defense, those were the final two games of a six-game road trip. The Bulls are currently slated to make the playoffs, but it wouldn’t exactly be surprising to see the Pistons (or Bucks, maybe) pass them in the standings.
20. Portland Trail Blazers
Record: 22-32
Last Week’s Ranking: 20
The Blazers won their trade with Denver; Jusuf Nurkic has a much higher ceiling than Mason Plumlee. Plumlee is better right now, but the Blazers aren’t good, so the future is more important than the present. Plus they got a first-rounder out of the deal, and don’t have to worry about paying Plumlee.
21. Philadelphia 76ers
Record: 21-34
Last Week’s Ranking: 22
The Sixers snapped their five-game slide by winning three straight games. Expect some roster shakeup; Jahlil Okafor is as good as gone, whether to Chicago, New Orleans, or wherever else. He’s outta there.
22. New York Knicks
Record: 23-33
Last Week’s Ranking: 26
Remember Derrick Rose’s bizarre disappearance? Admit it, you kind of forgot about that. If this were like most years, we’d still be talking about that odd occurrence. However, the Knicks might be the new #Kangz. They’re just ridiculous as a franchise right now. It’s becoming difficult to keep up with all of their sitcom-esque misadventures.
23. Dallas Mavericks
Record: 22-33
Last Week’s Ranking: 24
You guys, Yogi Ferrell. No, you don’t understand. YOGI. FERRELL. The undrafted point guard is averaging 15.2 points and 4.9 assists on 46.7% (!) shooting from three-point range. Ferrell has also connected on 22 of his 23 (95.7%) free throw attempts as a Mav. When Brooklyn waived Ferrell, he was shooting .367/.296/.625… Poor Nets. How were they supposed to know what he’d become?
I’m very excited for the Yogi Ferrell revenge game when the Nets visit American Airlines Center on March 10. Yogi’s gonna go for 40, I can feel it.
24. New Orleans Pelicans
Record: 22-34
Last Week’s Ranking: 25
There isn’t a whole lot to write about the Pelicans. Anthony Davis is still awesome. Maybe they’ll get Jahlil Okafor? Or Brook Lopez? Or nobody? Who knows? It isn’t too late for the Pelicans’ playoff push, but we’re getting there.
25. Charlotte Hornets
Record: 24-31
Last Week’s Ranking: 16
The Hornets appear to have forgotten that they have a “Hor” in their name, because they’re playing like the Nets. Charlotte has lost 1 of their last 11 games, and 16 of their last 21. Yuck.
26. Minnesota Timberwolves
Record: 21-34
Last Week’s Ranking: 23
It’s time for us to admit that the Timberwolves won’t make the playoffs. It wasn’t going to happen with Zach LaVine healthy, and it certainly won’t happen without him. It’s disappointing because this team is a ton of fun, but at least another fun young team has emerged to take the 8 seed (Denver).
I’m so excited for the NBA’s future. Last season Karl-Anthony Towns vs. Kristaps Porzingis was all we talked about, and now we get to add Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid to the mix? Hell yeah.
27. Los Angeles Lakers
Record: 19-37
Last Week’s Ranking: 28
The “Hey, these top-10 superstars could team up in L.A. in a few years!!!” rumors are becoming a yearly thing. This time, it’s Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis. I’m not sure if this rumor was started by (a.) Lakers fans to distract from how bad the team is, or (b.) Magic Johnson because he 100% believes it. But I know that it’s one of those two.
28. Orlando Magic
Record: 21-36
Last Week’s Ranking: 27
It turns out that the “Hey, we already have two starting caliber big men but why not sign two more, and make the youngest and most promising one play out of position” strategy was a bust. Who would have guessed it? Everyone, that’s who. Literally. Everyone. Except for Orlando’s management.
29. Phoenix Suns
Record: 17-39
Last Week’s Ranking: 29
This team has Eric Bledsoe. He is good at basketball. They also have a bunch of players who are not very good at basketball just yet but will be soon. Phoenix has a pretty bright future. They just need to #TrustTheProcess.
30. Brooklyn Nets
Record: 9-46
Last Week’s Ranking: 30
Bad. So much bad. All of the bad. The Nets have lost 13 games in a row, and 24 of their last 25. Boston still has their first-rounder, meaning they have no incentive to tank. That is all.
