Five weeks into the NBA season, and like every other season, a clear power structure is being formulated in both conferences. Teams who unsuspectingly started off on the winning path have realistically sunk down to sub-.500 record, while the East and West’s elite have become the cream of the crop that have risen to the top.

The Lakers, who are standing above all and blowing out lesser opponents with ease, are the team to beat, but below them lie the not-so-far-away Clippers and increasingly-intimidating Utah Jazz are on both team’s coattails, now winners of seven straight games.

In the East, the Brooklyn Nets have shown their roster isn’t all that complete just yet to seriously compete, though the new trio of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden has helped the Nets manage to score an average of 133.3 points per game through three games. Philadelphia still reigns supreme atop the East, but Indiana, Boston, and Milwaukee are all still surging beneath them.

Let’s get into these rankings for this week to see where each team is at heading into the fifth week of the season.

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1. Los Angeles Lakers (14-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

Where do we start… No. 1 in defensive efficiency, a perfect road record, LeBron James posting MVP stats at the tender age of 36…in short – the Lakers are rolling, secure in their spot atop the Western Conference. Anthony Davis may have struggled to score the basketball while lacking the aggressiveness to post the regular all-world numbers he usually posts come this time this year, but he quickly bounced back in his win over Chicago with a signature 37-point game.

These Lakers look like the team to compete with the best of them right now and have a fairly favorable schedule coming up this week. It started with Cleveland, and LBJ came back to his old stomping grounds to slice up JB Bickerstaff’s defense for 46 points off 73 percent shooting. Their game against Philadelphia on Wednesday features the battle of the two best teams with the best records in the league, and their interior defense will be put to the test going up against Joel Embiid and Philly’s breakneck offense.

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2. Los Angeles Clippers (13-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

That 22-point blown lead at the hands of the Warriors really pushed the Clippers to play better basketball, and after being led by Paul George as attributed to his ball-dominant role in the offense, they’ve won seven straight contests. Defensive breakdowns have been their Achilles heel, as they’ve become prone to allowing opponents to go on scoring runs that diminish double-digit deficits they build up, per their 16th-best defensive rating. A favorable part of their schedule has benefitted them handsomely to start the year, and Kawhi Leonard has been a nightmare to guard for defenders, averaging 32.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds in the past three games.

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3. Utah Jazz (12-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

Averaging over 16 made threes a game as a team, the Jazz is on pace to have one of, if not the best, three-point shooting seasons in NBA history, as they’ve cashed at least twenty 3s in six games this year. This is a really good team, and that’s not quoting media members who are simplifying the efforts of Donovan Mitchell and crew in verbatim; since his early-season woes, Mitchell’s snapped out of them and is averaging 27.3 points off 51/50/90 splits during the Jazz’s seven-game winning streak. Defensively, they’re the fourth-best squad in the game, and while they’re scoring only 113.2 points per game, they’re winning at a moderate and methodical pace, regardless of their 22nd-fastest pace ranking.

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4. Philadelphia 76ers (12-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

Despite exterior criticisms pertaining to Ben Simmons’ recent offensive inadequacy, he’d go on to score 11 points in a tight contest against the visiting Boston Celtics in a two-game series and will his Sixers to victory, as they went on to sweep their Atlantic rivals during their homestand. A major reason as to why they’ve been so dominant even amidst the turmoil of the pandemic and the lack of a 100% healthy roster as a result of health and safety protocols – Joel Embiid.

He’s having an MVP season, and more importantly, keeping a well manufactured 76ers team at the top of the Eastern Conference. As the team begins to have all of their players out of quarantine, Embiid has averaged 37.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the team’s last 3 games, carrying a ship that isn’t sinking above the shark-infested waters that are the Eastern Conference this early in the year.

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5. Milwaukee Bucks (10-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

No, six losses aren’t quite ideal for Mike Budenholzer’s Bucks, who didn’t have a lot of roster turnover from last season but rather improvements in-depth and various starting positions. In what many perceived as a temporary slump in winning, Milwaukee started off the week dropping consecutive contests to the Brooklyn and the Lakers. While they may still be looking for their rhythm in an atypical season that’s missed an entire two opening months and a year full of postponements, MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is still in MVP form averaging 28.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in his last 3 games.

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6. Boston Celtics (10-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

Boston stays put and out of the top 5 for another week and causation: health and safety protocols. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown reunited Monday night against Chicago on the road, and if things go the way they went last night against the Bulls and Sunday night against the Cavaliers since they trounced a developing young team by 38, these Celtics will get healthy and hot at the perfect time.

Though they skidded through a two-game losing streak against Philly on the road, Boston has been led in scoring by Jaylen Brown, who in all accords will be an All-Star if these two weeks have told voters anything. He’s had to pick up the slack since Tatum tested positive for COVID-19 a few weeks back, playing an average of 29.1 mpg., but he’s made the most of those minutes, scoring 29.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in Boston’s last 5 games.

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7. Brooklyn Nets (11-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

As is with every big three throughout the multitudinous instances in NBA history, brand-new big threes never piece it together overnight. That’s the case for Brooklyn’s new trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. Though Harden has taken on the facilitating role, the trio is combining for an aghast 125.7 offensive rating. Which is really good. And then, you take a gander at the defensive side of the ball and you’d question if that was the same team out there.

Though they held the Jimmy Butler-less Heat to an astonishing 85 points in a home win over Miami, Brooklyn has posted a near league-worst 120.7 defensive rating after acquiring Harden via last week’s wild four-team trade that sent Taurean Prince and Jarrett Allen to Cleveland and Caris LeVert to Indiana. It’s expected for things to get better after being as worse as it’ll likely get, as the team is not done shopping assets and trading for defensive pieces to protect the rim.

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8. Denver Nuggets (10-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

“Ah, so that was the team we witnessed in the bubble,” said Nuggets fans everywhere over the course of their last four games. Denver is finally rounding into shape and resembling the team that advanced to the Conference Finals a few months back, now winners of three straight as their Western Conference Player of the Week Nikola Jokic has led them in every noticeable statistic. Additionally, as winners of their last eight of eleven games, they’re getting healthy at the right time, as Michael Porter Jr. came back from a 10-game absence due to health and safety protocols. In Monday night’s win over Dallas, Porter Jr. led all scorers wearing a Nuggets jersey with 30 points, while also grabbing eight boards.

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9. Indiana Pacers (10-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

Indiana is building up a lot of steam as of late, winning a game that went down to the final possessions in the fourth quarter against a resilient Toronto Raptors team that challenged the shorthanded Pacers who had lost Domantas Sabonis for the game early in the first half. Speaking of Sabonis, he’s making historic strides for himself, and they’re paying off in huge dividends for his franchise. In Sunday’s game against the Raptors, Sabonis became the first player in 45 years to record a double-double in his first 16 games of a new season, and despite the loss, they saw Myles Turner return from a fractured hand, upping his averages in the rejection category, now at 4.1 blocks per game.

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10. Phoenix Suns (8-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

 The Suns were another team struck by the inconvenience of health and safety protocols this past week, as they returned from postponements a week ago. After splitting their first two games of the week, they suffered back-to-back home losses in OT against the visiting Nuggets, but in what was more of an encouraging sign of things to come, it seems like Chris Paul’s influence is directly rubbing off on DeAndre Ayton and not just in the way he’s ramped up his play by averaging 22 points and 14.8 rebounds off 64 percent shooting, but how he’s conducting himself as a future leader of this team. Paul’s ageless distribution skills are on full display in a new uniform, as his 135 assists are the most for a Suns player through 15 games since Steve Nash’s 140 in 2011-12.

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11. Dallas Mavericks (8-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

If one thing is for certain, the Mavericks must be jubilant as ever getting Kristaps Porzingis back this month, who has shaken off the oxidation onset from his January return from a knee injury. He’s averaging 24 points per game off 65 percent shooting from the field, and alongside him is Luka Doncic, who is returning to MVP form. He is putting up 32.3 points, 11.7 assists, and 8.3 rebounds in the last 3 games for the Mavericks, but defensively they struggle out the gate, ranking as the 17th best defensive team in basketball.

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12. San Antonio Spurs (9-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

In the past seven games, the Spurs haven’t had one consistent leading scorer on a nightly basis, but rather by committee, with a different leading scorer every night. Whether it’s Lonnie Walker IV, Keldon Johnson, LaMarcus Aldridge, or Patty Mills, San Antonio has had six different players lead the team in scoring in the past seven games.

Ball movement and pace is the way for Gregg Popovich to modernize his gameplan and familiarize it with his young stars, and it’s working so far. DeJounte Murray looks as if he’s rounding into shape this season, coming off of his second triple-double of his career last Sunday against the Wizards. Currently, the Spurs are facing postponements, as their contest against the Pelicans to start the week was put off due to potential contract tracing following their game against the Wizards, who until their game against the Spurs, hadn’t played a game in more than 13 days.

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13. Portland Trail Blazers (9-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

Portland’s injury woes were supposed to be a thing of the past, but it seems their Mr. Misfortune has placed his cursed hand on the Blazers’ franchise yet again. CJ McCollum being out for a little over a month and Jusuf Nurkic being sidelined for quite possibly the same duration has done them in, evident in them losing four of their last five games. Moreover, their defense still poses as a major red flag for a team that’s fifth in the West and without McCollum or Nurkic, gave up 125 points to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder at home.

Damian Lillard has no other choice to carry this offense until his cohort McCollum returns, and with him dropping 35+ points in three straight contests leading up to his 26-point night against the Thunder, expect more of the same for Dame in the near future.

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14. Golden State Warriors (9-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

Staying put in these weekly rankings are the Warriors, who are treading water at the moment winning three of their last six. The week started with an eye-opening 19-point comeback and win against the Lakers, and then the rollercoaster took another dip, as they followed their Laker performance with an ugly loss at the hands of both the Knicks at home and the Jazz on the road. There was some silver lining, however; Stephen Curry eclipsed second-place Reggie Miller on the all-time 3PM list, and now has only 404 threes to go until he ties Ray Allen for the most made three-pointers in a career. Putting those games behind them, the Dubs then defeated the Timberwolves handily, as Curry literally put Minnesota out of their misery in the fourth quarter by scoring 15 points in three minutes.

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15. Toronto Raptors (7-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

It was only a matter of time until these Raps shook off the abhorrent 1-6 start and got back to playing winning basketball, winning five of their last seven and having their winning streak snapped by Indiana in a split series. In their most recent win, they got it done without Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry and relied on the talents of the guys not named All-Stars (Norman Powell, Fred Van Vleet, Chris Boucher, etc.) to finish a healthy Pacers team. Though they have a rematch with vaunted rival Milwaukee this week, they enter a soft spot in their schedule to get back on the winning track and affirm themselves into the top eight of the Eastern Conference.

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16. Atlanta Hawks (8-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks are no longer ice cold from the field, and the shooting slump is no more. Winners of three straight games, they’ve been allowed to get back into normalcy with a preferred easy spot of the season with wins coming by teams who hold the worst record in their respective conferences (two over Minnesota and one over Detroit) but fell back down to earth with a loss to Milwaukee who did not have Trae Young or the rim presence that Clint Capela provides. In Capela’s two games this past week prior to sitting, he had 27 points and 26 rebounds against the Wolves as well as 13 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 blocks against the Pistons.

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17. Cleveland Cavaliers (8-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

With the basketball world’s eyes showing upon these young Cavaliers as they went toe-to-toe with the Nets during James Harden’s debut with the Brooklyn Nets, Collin Sexton decided that his Cavs wouldn’t be run out of the gym by three all-world talents on the same team, at least not on his watch. He would end up dropping 42 points that included an unfathomable 20-straight point run to help beat the Nets in double overtime for a team that many are starting to consider as one of the surprise squads that could likely challenge for a playoff spot if their success continues.

They ended up beating the Nets in consecutive games but finished off their week in sour fashion, but they were promptly blown out by Boston by a grotesque 38 points this past Sunday. One night later, they played the visiting Lakers, and homecoming LeBron James, tightly up until the end of the third quarter, where James would score 21 points and finish the night with 46 points off 73 percent shooting, resembling his dominant self that would routinely put on performances inside the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse a many years ago.

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18. Miami Heat (6-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

Miami is still without Jimmy Butler as he is still nursing an ankle injury, Avery Bradley is adhering to health and safety protocols, Tyler Herro is experiencing neck spasms, and Meyers Leonard is recovering from a shoulder strain. And yet, the Heat are still remaining competitive in every contest in their absence, thanks to Bam Adebayo doing his very best to keep the Heat alive in the East. During Saturday’s loss to the Nets, he dropped 41 points, and in their second game against Brooklyn for the series, scored 26 points and put up a double-double with 10 rebounds in Miami’s second-straight loss.

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19. Memphis Grizzlies (7-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

While in the midst of a five-game winning streak, the Grizzlies’ season was put on halt when the NBA decided that it was in the best interest to not have the Grizzlies play for over 10 days, with contact tracing becoming an issue. The good that comes with this layoff is that the Grizzlies have more time to get healthy, which means Ja Morant has more time to rest his ankle, and Jaren Jackson Jr.’s return should come up in a few week’s time.

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20. New York Knicks (8-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

In an atypical up-and-down season to kick off the Leon Rose era in New York, the Knicks experienced a three-game winning streak, then a five-game skid, and then a three-game winning streak in the last 11 games prior to their loss on Friday against the Knicks and a loss against the Blazers one game later. Currently, a Tom Thibodeau-coached team ranks fifth in defensive rating, which is totally something you’d say in the year 2021, right?

Though it’s unlikely for that regard to uphold itself, there is a noticeable improvement for the Garden’s team this season – evident in the play of rookie Immanuel Quickley. This season, he’s taken over the lead guard role off the bench and looks comfortable having the offense run through him, as he’s averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.2 rebounds in the last six games.

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21. Orlando Magic (8-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

Let’s just say things would be a lot worse for the Orlando Magic if Cole Anthony wasn’t playing for them. They’d be in the midst of a nine-game losing streak had it not been for his heroics against Minnesota, in which the 19-year-old guard out of UNC splashed a last-second fadeaway three in the corner during a quick sideout action. They ended up also beating the Hornets a few nights later to regain some of their early-season form and have the Kings and Raptors coming up next on the schedule.

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22. Chicago Bulls (7-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

Chicago stays put in this week’s rankings and doesn’t move below where they’re at thanks to Zach LaVine, who is keeping the Bulls in reaching distance of a .500 record. He’s averaging a career-best 26.8 points, 5.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game, keeping Chicago in the running with its longest winning streak in over a year before their two-game skid with losses coming from Los Angeles and Boston.

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23. Charlotte Hornets (7-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

Gordon Hayward is thriving in his new uniform and is showing why Michael Jordan did right by the Butler swingman in signing him to a massive 4 yr/$120M deal. He’s continuing his impressive run in his first few weeks as a Hornet, averaging 28.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in Charlotte’s last 6 games. They got out of a four-game losing streak by beating the Magic on the road, before splitting the series against Orlando Monday night.

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24. Oklahoma City Thunder (7-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

Though they’re only two games away from obtaining a .500 record, Oklahoma City’s played hard, and have been negatively impacted by injuries and missed time from their most reliable pieces. Al Horford hasn’t played in the last three contests, mainly due to personal reasons (newborn child!) and their schedule is getting increasingly difficult with trips to Phoenix (and a reunion with Chris Paul) and a home game against the intimidating Nets next on the schedule. Again, this season should be taken with a grain of salt, since OKC likely won’t resemble the team fans saw last year advance to the playoffs as a fourth-seed with Chris Paul leading the charge. It’s a roster in development, so passing judgement about this team will lack context.

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25. Houston Rockets (6-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

That’s now 11 different starting lineups Stephen Silas has experimented with within the span of 15 games, and it’s been rather metaphorical of the entire organization’s turnaround now that it’s been a full week that James Harden has been a Brooklyn Net. Between that drama, the roster’s had injury and COVID-19 protocol impact their season, and it’s done both good and bad for them. On the bright side, young players like Jae’Sean Tate are getting more minutes and game by game, look like guys worth keeping around to develop. Conversely, it’s yet to be configured if Victor Oladipo and DeMarcus Cousins are still worthy of being in a starting five.

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26. Sacramento Kings (6-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

There isn’t a whole lot of movement for the Kings this week, who have lost five of their last six games and just ended a rough losing skid with a home win over the visiting Knicks. Again, for another week, Tyrese Haliburton looks more and more like a future starter, as their win over the Knicks may have made Knicks fans reconsider taking Obi Toppin in this year’s draft to pick Haliburton instead. They’ll resume basketball activities soon since their next two games against Memphis that they were planning to build a winning streak on were postponed per the health and safety protocols.

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27. New Orleans Pelicans (5-10, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

It might sound harsh, but this roster is poorly built together. At least, that’s how Stan Van Gundy is making this team look as discombobulated as ever. Their losses to Utah in which they were in it for the most part behind Zion Williamson’s dominance around the basket and Brandon Ingram’s scoring adeptness were expected since the Jazz are streaking at the moment, but the loss to a Minnesota team that had been resting D’Angelo Russell and still were without Karl Anthony-Towns due to him getting the virus has to be nauseating for Pels fans to digest.

Currently, rumors are surfacing about the Pelicans potentially blowing this thing up already, as both Lonzo Ball and JJ Redick are reportedly in trade talks and will be dealt if traction is gained on a pair of good deals.

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28. Minnesota Timberwolves (4-12, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

A record doesn’t quite indicate context as to how things have started to unravel, as is the case for these T’Wolves. Despite losing Karl Anthony-Towns for an undisclosed time due to the star big man getting COVID-19, they’ve stayed in some games and have gotten blown out in others, but they’re 29th in total defensive efficiency and 27th in total offensive efficiency. Moreover, first-round selection Anthony Edwards is shooting a little under 23 percent from the field to start his NBA career.

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29. Washington Wizards (3-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

Leading up to Sunday’s embarrassing (but on-cue) loss to the Spurs away from the Capitol One Center, it had been two weeks since the Washington Wizards had a regular week of basketball activity, as there was a serious COVID-19 breakout that crippled the organization as a whole.

In their contest against the Spurs, however, they could only trot out weight available players with a league-high six players and additional staff members being held out to mitigate the spread of the virus from the team. Russell Westbrook didn’t look like himself in the 121-101 loss, as the new Wizard only scored nine points off 27 percent shooting. This is a team that’s in dire need of its most integral pieces, and while Bradley Beal gets some much-needed rest, so did the rest of the team during their proverbial waiting period.

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30. Detroit Pistons (4-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

Rookie Killian Hayes remains out due to a hip injury and will continue to be out for eight more weeks. And after suffering four more losses this week, the Pistons matched their worst start to a season in franchise history. Still, they earned a home win against Eastern-best Philadelphia in a game where Jerami Grant continued to build his Most Improved Player resume, leading all scorers with 25 points while also dishing 5 assists and grabbing 8 rebounds in the upset win.