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
