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.

What a wild week that was.

As the current season progresses into its fourth week, we’re starting to get a feel of who will play the role of contender after a tumultuous period of deals and trades, most notably the massive four-team trade that sent James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets via a Houston-Indiana-Brooklyn-Cleveland trade. The seismic shift felt ’round the world signifies a championship-or-bust opportunity for Brooklyn, now that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving get one of the most elusive scorers in NBA history to add to their increasingly impressive arsenal.

For the rest of the league, top teams still stand above all on the league’s totem pole, as the Los Angeles Lakers still have the best record in the NBA and are defending at high efficiency. The Clippers are racking up wins and are not too far behind them in the West, while teams like Atlanta, New York, Cleveland, and Memphis fall back down to earth.

It’s been an eventful season so far, full of surprises and slow starts alike. Let’s cut to the chase and get to this week’s power rankings. We will be adding in scores and occurrences from Martin Luther King Day games as well in this week’s rankings, since a lot of teams were not able to play three games this week.

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1. Los Angeles Lakers (11-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)

Standing at 7-0 on the road and a seamless 11-3 on the year, Los Angeles proved this week their defensive woes early on in the season had nothing to do with ability, but rather effort and the old “want to” on the other end of the floor. They rank No. 1 in overall net rating (11.0), rank first in overall defensive rating, only giving up opposing 104 points per 100 possessions, and have won four straight games by an average margin of 17 points. Offensively, they’re rolling, peaking at the fourth spot in terms of offensive rating, and are led by the ageless play of MVP favorite LeBron James, who is averaging 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists for his per 36 off 50/40/73 splits.

Now yes, their MLK Day loss to the Warriors by two points gave them their fourth loss at home, and fourth loss overall, but more importantly, they’re dominating opponents while LBJ and Anthony Davis, who is averaging a little above 18 points, are doing so with James as the two are getting appropriate rest with averages of 18 minutes per game each.

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2. Los Angeles Clippers (10-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)

Make no mistake about it – their record stands above everything else. But it’s the defensive concerns that Clips fans have that the team should be adamant about fixing. Yes, they finished off the week with some statement blowouts over the Pacers and Kings, winning by an average of 30 points in both contests. But, they still have the 20th ranking defensive rating in basketball and have won some closer-than-expected games against (respectfully) inferior opponents like the Pelicans.

Paul George and Kawhi Leonard averaging 24 points each is a rudimentary expectation, but the bench, very much chastized in preseason predictions by a variety of media personalities, are stepping up to the plate. Luke Kennard seems to have taken over the sixth man role as Lou Williams continues to struggle, averaging an eye-popping 17 points on 70 percent shooting from three-land this year.

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3. Brooklyn Nets (9-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)

Deservedly so, the Nets climb up 12 spots on the weekly rankings ladder, and not just for winning all three of their games this past weekend. Adding their cherry on top of their sundae, the Nets saw some roster adjustments as they traded away Jarrett Allen, Rodions Kurucs, Caris LeVert and Taurean Prince to pick up disgruntled Rockets star James Harden from the four-team trade last week. Pairing Harden with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant gives the franchise a massive facelift, if his first game as a Net wasn’t any indication of that.

He dropped 32 points and racked up a triple-double, while Durant, alongside him for the first time since 2012 where the young duo started their careers in Oklahoma City as teammates, became the first Net to score 25+ points in nine straight games during their win over Orlando on Saturday. During Monday’s highly-anticipated showdown between them and Milwaukee, Harden continued his hot start with Brooklyn, scoring 34 points and dishing 12 assists in the 125-123 home victory.

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4. Utah Jazz (9-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)

The Jazz seem to have finally gotten things back on the rails, for when the season started, that was not the case. Two convincing wins over the Cavs and Hawks followed a notable handling of the Nuggets on Sunday, and during this five-game winning streak, Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley are getting hot at the right time to stay afloat in the West. Their hot streak is rubbing off on the entire team, especially from deep as they are shooting 46.8 percent from downtown and on the other side of the ball, Utah has the sixth-best defensive rating in the NBA.

Bench scoring is a strength and a major catalyst to their winning streak, and Jordan Clarkson is a reason why Quin Snyder’s second and third units have been so strong. Over the course of the season, Clarkson is averaging a little over 20 points and 6 rebounds off 45 percent shooting from deep.

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5. Milwaukee Bucks (9-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)

Milwaukee is continuing to put on a historic offensive pace while their seventh-best defensive rating is slowly improving. A 3-0 week and four-game winning streak featured the likes of wins over Dallas, Detroit, Cleveland and Orlando, and during this light stretch, Giannis Antetokounmpo has averaged 27.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 4 games.

His All-Star cohort Khris Middleton might garner All-Star votes again, as he has averaged 21.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 4 games. Though he was inches from knocking down a game winning jumper, the Bucks suffered a road loss on MLK Day in a game-of-the-year qualifier, as Middleton scored 25 points and Antetokounmpo did his part with a 34-point outing.

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6. Boston Celtics (8-4, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)

Per health and safety protocols, Boston could only play two games. And those two games were complete and opposite performances, judging by their standards. On Saturday, the C’s, without Jayson Tatum and two others pending some positive COVID-19 tests, blew out the Orlando Magic by 27 points behind a double-double from Jaylen Brown, and then proceeded to get eviscerated by 30 points against the Knicks at home one day later in Kemba Walker’s return. Losses like that happen every now and then, and in Boston’s perspective, it was one of those outliers that didn’t help their respectable top-15 defensive rating, as they’ve allowed 109 points per game per 100 possessions.

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7. Philadelphia 76ers (9-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)

Barring two embarrassing losses to the Atlanta Hawks and the Grizzlies on the road, Phily was able to grab consecitive wins against Miami, led by an MVP effort from Joel Embiid in their first game that went well into OT, as he scored 45 points in the win and took every shot in the late period, scoring 10 points in unguardable fashion. However, the two-point loss to Memphis, who did not have Ja Morant, saw the Sixers commit a nauseating 22 turnovers (and seven from Ben Simmons) in the loss with Joel Embiid not in the lineup.

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8. Indiana Pacers (8-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)

In what hopefully should not turn into a botched acquisition, the Pacers recently traded away Victor Oladipo in exchange for Caris LeVert as a part of the four-team trade but LeVert will be out indefinitely due to a mass found on his kidney. It’ll be a gradual process replicating the outings of Oladipo and LeVert by committee, but them going 2-2 over the course of last week helps. Malcolm Brogdon is still averaging 19.5 points and eight assists while burgeoning star Domantas Sabonis scored 22 points, 13.5 rebounds and 5 assists per game over the four-game stretch.

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9. Portland Trail Blazers (8-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)

A productive 3-1 week was soured due to some injuries to two of Portland’s most integral stars in Jusuf Nurkic and CJ McCollum, as Nurkic would be diagnosed with a wrist fracture that’ll keep him sidelined for two months in their loss to Indiana, and McCollum suffered a sprained right ankle during their loss to the Trail Blazers which will keep him out for a few weeks. Enes Kanter showed some defensive and rebounding fortitude in the win over Atlanta a couple nights later, scoring 12 points and grabbing 15 rebounds with five blocks.

Still, team defense continues to plague them, regardless of injury to their top guys, as they let Clint Capela score 25 points and grab 15 rebounds in a tight win. A 21-point loss to the Spurs on MLK day was bad enough, but now the Blazers have learned that they’ll be without CJ McCollum for four weeks as he tends to a broken bone in his foot.

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10. Phoenix Suns (7-5, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)

Consider the Suns as another team that’s slowly falling back to earth, and as a team that’s played only one game this week due to health and safety protocols, they did not show up in their one chance to improve their record, having lost in an conducive manner to the Washington Wizards without Russell Westbrook and Thomas Bryant in the active lineup. They cooled off from deep, scoring only 4 of their 27 attempted threes in the loss. They lost a close one on MLK Day, losing by four against a Grizzlies team that’s undermanned, but improving in the health department to close the week.

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11. San Antonio Spurs (8-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)

Isn’t it on brand for a Spurs team led by Greg Popovich to appear somewhere in the top three in the defensive ratings? Currently, San Antonio is the second most-efficient rating on defense over the last six games and their uptempo pace is reason to consider why they’ve been so adamant about suffocating offenses in the half-court. Moreover, the production from their younger pieces of Keldon Johnson and Lonnie Walker have helped to contribute mightily, as Johnson has averaged 19.3 points over the course of last week.

He scored a career-high 29 points in the loss to the resilient Houston Rockets who had traded Harden just hours earlier. They capped off a successful week with a confidence-boosting 21-point win over Portland on the road, as LaMarcus Aldridge led them in scoring with 22 points.

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12. Dallas Mavericks (6-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)

After a week of uncertainty surrounding the positive COVID tests that have struck the Mavericks, cancelling their week-opening game against New Orleans, they resumed basketball activities and played a road game against the Milwaukee Bucks, which resulted in a tight loss, but an encouraging one nonetheless. Over the course of this season, amidst the struggles of Luka Doncic and the rest of the Mavs’ rotation and losing several players to health and safety protocols, key returns and spectular performances by Doncic have kept the Mavs at the top of the Soutwestern division.

Kristaps Porzingis made his return, but looked a little rusty as he averaged an inefficient 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds off 26 percent shooting in three contests. But, it was the return to MVP form for Luka Doncic that made Dallas’ week, as the Slovenian superstar put up averages of 32.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 12.3 assists off a siginificantly-improved 44 percent shooting from downtown. Yet, losing to the Raptors in Tampa on Monday showed that a lot of that rust needs to be oxidized before these Mavs will pose as serious contenders in the West.

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13. Denver Nuggets (6-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)

Dropping a spot in these ratings are the Nuggets, who found a way to outlast Stephen Curry in a win over the Warriors at home but were blitzed against the Kevin Durant-led Nets, as they struggled to close the tightly-contested game and equally struggle to score down the stretch. Nikola Jokic has looked like a surefire MVP candidate, averaging 25.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the past four games but defensively, trading away Jerami Grant will prove to be injurious to a team on the cusp of seriously contending in the West as they’ve allowed 112.5 points per 100 possessions.

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14. Golden State Warriors (7-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)

Also dropping a spot in this week’s rankings are the Dubs, for reasons of little improvement from last week. They dropped consecutive contests to Denver and Indiana due to dying offense in the waning moments in both games as they couldn’t get any open good looks or, in general, any clean looks to fall, even with Stephen Curry on the court. Kelly Oubre and Andrew Wiggins are getting the hang of co-habitating in a Steve Kerr offense, but still struggle to remain consistent, averaging a suboptimal combined 15.1 points off a 40.7 shooting percentage.

Additionally, GSW’s -10.8 net rating and 92.8 offensive rating over the past few contests (not to mention their 24th offensive rating of 106.4) causes reason to believe things may not stay the same in the active lineup with the trade deadline approaching. However, if there is cause for concern, that does not absolve any good that the Warriors do. In fact, they knocked off the top team in the West with a 115-113 win over the Lakers for the final game on MLK Day, led by Stephen Curry’s 19-point second half and 26-point, 7-assist night.

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15. Oklahoma City Thunder (6-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)

Are we going to go through this again? An Oklahoma City team, awash with youthful, impressionable talent blended with notable veterans, causing shockwaves in the West and threatening to swipe a playoff spot with a positive .500 season so far? Sure, only one win came to them this week, but their one win came in comeback fashion as the Thunder were down 10 points and stormed all the way back against the struggling Bulls, and behind the effort of soon-to-be-All-Star-someday Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored a career-high 33 points and dished 10 assists in the win, OKC is replicating the success they found all last year, and Luguentz Dort is confident shooting the ball at a high clip, evident from his 10-of-23 shooting from deep in the win.

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16. Memphis Grizzlies (7-6, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)

The Grizzlies jump 11 spots in this week’s rankings, as they went 3-0 on the week and saw their coveted 2019 first-round pick Ja Morant return from a sprained ankle suffered three weeks ago. Shaking off the cobwebs seemed easier said than done for the 21-year-old, who looked as if he was getting back into the swing of things during Saturday’s win over Philadelphia, but he proved he was back with a 17-point, 6-assist night in the home win over an Embiid-less Sixers team that wasn’t too adept at winning road games.

This is still a young team in development, but they saw some flashes of what is to come in the future following some impressive usage of minutes from the likes of rookies Desmond Bane and Xavier Tillman, and vets Brandon Clarke, Grayson Allen and Dillon Brooks. Additionally, they saw some positive contributions from the latter mentioned in a tight 108-104 win over the Phoenix Suns on their annual MLK Day game.

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17. Charlotte Hornets (6-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)

Charlotte has looked strong for their standards in the short duration of this season so far, and picked up only one win before suffering back-to-back losses to the Toronto Raptors on the road. Gordon Hayward has resembled his Utah self, averaging 25.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in three games, and has looked as if he has been liberated in James Borrego’s offense as a primary initiator while LaMelo Ball continues to gain more knowledge of running an offense alongside an intelligent playmaker in Hayward. Ball has filled the stat sheet as a do-it-all combo guard, but as rookie should every now and then, he’s gone into a shooting slump, shooting the three ball at 33 percent and shooting from the field at an underwhelming 29 percent.

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18. Toronto Raptors (5-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)

Early-season mishaps and losing streaks aside, Toronto finally looks as if they’ve shaken the bad juju out of the system with some key wins over the Hornets for a 2-1 week. Defensively, the loss of Marc Gasol to the Lakers and Serge Ibaka to the Clippers has yet to do any good for them, as they are the 22nd-ranked team when it comes to locking down opposing offenses, but they are doing enough offensively to scrape away some wins.

In their 2-0 series over Charlotte, they made a combined 41 three-pointers in both contests and Chris Boucher has been playing the best ball of his career, averaging 21.7 points 9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in three games. They’re streaking now, beating the Mavericks handily to finish the week, now possessing a three-game winning streak in the effort of turning things around.

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19. New Orleans Pelicans (5-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)

An incomplete roster and lackluster outside shooting have the Pelicans out of their 17th spot from last week’s rankings. While Nickeil Alexander-Walker poured on a career-high 37 points on 5-of-8 shooting from deep in a close loss to the Clippers, they looked as if nothing carried over from last game with a blowout loss from the Lakers was handed to them in a back-to-back. Still, Zion Williamson looked as if he was back playing High School basketball for the Spartanburg Griffins, scoring 31 points on an unbelievable 15-of-18 shooting night as driving lanes looked more open than all-night drive thru’s in New Orleans’ bounce-back win over Sacramento.

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20. Cleveland Cavaliers (6-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)

The Cavs offense looked incomplete in their inability to generate backcourt points this week without Darius Garland and Collin Sexton in the lineup, but Andre Drummond showed why he has been one of the best bigs in the league with a monster 33-point, 23-rebound performance in Friday’s win over the Knicks. While Sunday’s game against the Wizards was postponed, Cedi Osman has looked pretty good with more offensive responsibility with JB Bickerstaff and Koby Altman trusting one of their more tenured players evove into a potential 20/10 player, as he averaged 18.7 points and five assists per game for the week. The team was recently shaken up by the latest news surrounding Kevin Porter Jr.’s outburst, and will likely move on from the 2019 second-round pick out of USC.

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21. New York Knicks (7-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)

If there’s been any positives surrounding the Knicks, it’s been Immanuel Quickley and how well the rookie has performed tis season. Immanuel Quickley has taken NBA Twitter by storm, averaging 19.7 points and five assists on 47 percent 3-point shooting over his last three games off the bench, and has catapulted himself into Rookie of the Year talks. But, since then, Julius Randle has done everything he can and more to get the Knicks wins, but those efforts have not resulted in the Knicks staying above .500.

A blowout win against a Celtics team who were playing a back-to-back, but prior to that win, they were fresh off of losses to the Cavaliers (who were without Garland and Sexton) and the Hornets have proven that this roster is still ineffiently pieced together. And following their win over Cleveland, they beat Orlando by seven behind Julius Randle’s 21 points and 17 rebounds.

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22. Chicago Bulls (6-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)

After last Tuesday’s postponement against the Wizards, Chicago split two games against the Thunder and Mavericks, earning a double-digit win over Dallas following a loss to the Thunder. Lauri Markkanen is getting his bearings amidst having his names thrown in trade talks, averaging 22.5 points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes in both games. However, Zach LaVine cooled off from his fiery performances last week against the Clippers and Lakers, as he and Coby White only scored 10 points off 1-of-13 shooting in their win over Dallas.

Chi-town’s win over visiting Houston signified that the shooting slump many thought LaVine to be in was exaggerated, as the former UCLA Bruin scored 33 points in 37 minutes for the team’s third-straight win.

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23. Houston Rockets (4-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)

Hours after the James Harden-Brooklyn deal was finished, the Rockets, marred in controversy, earned a hard-fought victory over the Spurs for the nine guys remaining in the locker room and subsequently were handed a sobering loss to that very same Spurs team one night later. Until John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and the rest of the players return from injury as well as health and safety protocols, Christian Wood will have to hold down the fort. So far, he’s doing just that, averaging 25.5 points, 16.5 rebounds and three blocks in the two games after Harden was dealt.

It’s a matter of health, and for a team that looks as if they’ve prioritized the future by acquiring pieces like Victor Oladipo and Rodions Kurucs to accompany John Wall, Eric Gordon, and DeMarcus Cousins, they can still remain somewhat competitive while having enough capital to kickstart their rebuild in the offseason. They gave Oladipo the minutes against the Bulls, and he delivered in a losing effort, scoring 32 points in his first 33 minutes as a Rocket.

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24. Orlando Magic (6-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)

Since losing Markelle Fultz, the Magic, who started the season 4-0, have only won two games and are currently in the midst of a six-game losing streak. Losses to Milwaukee were understandable, but having to face the Nets, who had literally activated James Harden via the Houston trade just minutes before, have just been unlucky. Add in a loss on MLK day to the Knicks on the road and being stomped on by an undermanned Celtics team by 27, and you can see how things just have not gone their way this year. Their defensive efficiency has been grotesque to watch, as the team has surrendered 123.4 points per 100 possessions in the past five games. And even if they gave up only 91 points to the Knicks on MLK Day, it was in a loss.

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25. Sacramento Kings (5-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)

So let’s just get the bad news out of the way: the Kings are on pace to have the worst defensive rating in the history of the National Basketball Association, having allowed an average of 120 points in each of the past eight contests, and opponents are getting whatever they want against the defensive coverages devised by Luke Walton and his coaching staff’s defensive schemes. The good news? De’Aaron Fox had an amazing week, averaging 26.8 points, 7.8 assists off 43 percent shooting from downtown.

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26. Detroit Pistons (3-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)

Consider the Pistons getting the short end of the stick as a reason to believe that their league-worst 3-9 record was caused by that, but at least they’ve competed well so much that their record does not indicate how they’ve played. Jerami Grant is proving that an offense can be built with him as a focal point, averaging 23 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 blocks in Detroit’s 1-1 week.

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27. Miami Heat (5-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)

Is it fair to drop Miami a whopping 18 spots in these rankings this week? Perhaps not, since they too have been rocked by COVID-19 holdouts and an incomplete starting five, as well as concurrent injuries to Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler. Two straight losses to the Philadelphia 76ers on the road, and a gut check from Adebayo to the rest of the roster on how they have not applied themselves to “Heat Culture” arise suspicion on whether or not their trip to the NBA Finals in the bubble was a fluke, but it’s rather premature to write off a team impacted by the pandemic so early on, so time will tell about this Heat team.

As shown in their 113-107 win over Detroit, where the returning Bam Adebayo scored a game-high 28 points and snatched a team-high 11 rebounds, they haven’t quite packed things in yet.

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28. Atlanta Hawks (6-7, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)

Dropping 10 spots this week is a Hawks team that grows more discombobulated by the day. Though they got a win against a shorthanded Sixers team, they were blown out by the Jazz and lost a close one to the Trail Blazers, in which their star guard Trae Young stayed in his shooting slump, scoring 4 points off 1-of-11 shooting in their loss to Utah. He’s averaged a little over 16 points off 26 percent shooting in the last three games, while his team has lost six of their last seven games. In their win over Minnesota on Martin Luther King Day, the Hawks guard scored 20 points on just eight shots, as only three of them fell.

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29. Washington Wizards (3-8, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)

After a shocking blowout handed to the Phoenix Suns, it’s been an entire week since the Wizards have played a basketball game due to the COVID-19 outbreak that has seven players on the roster testing positive for the virus. It’s caused them to pause all basketball activities until further notice. Since then, the Wizards have been underwhelming with the 29th defensive rating in basketball, but in their third win, they kept the Suns to under 108 points, the first time they’ve held an opponent under 110 points all season.

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30. Minnesota Timberwolves (3-9, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)

Karl Anthony-Towns recently tested positive for the virus, and it’s been anything but pleasant for this T’Wolves team that’s only played one game last week. They played an MLK game against Atlanta in which they allowed only 97 points in an 11-point win, while during the loss on the road, are playing only their second game of the two-week period since their game that was supposed to happen last Friday was postponed.

Photo Cred: Fox Sports 1430