As of now, there are officially 61 days until the end of the season on May 16, and as teams either prep for making their rosters stronger for the postseason or set a foundation for the draft or free agency, the opportunity exists this week with the Trade Deadline officially commencing on Thursday, March 25, 2021.
Slipping teams that desperately need a lineup adjustment like the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, and New Orleans Pelicans are said to be aggressive before Thursday’s transaction period, and several names like Lonzo Ball, Victor Oladipo, and John Collins are just some of the names that scratch the surface of the Deadline picture. It’s going to get hectic, like every season’s deadline, so be sure to check out our Trade Deadline preview that’ll be updated by the minute on Thursday.
The Brooklyn Nets saw Blake Griffin set foot on the floor of the Barclays Center in a win over Washington, and for the first time since 2019, he rose up and finished at the rim. Brooklyn looks to overtake the No.1 spot atop the rankings in the East as Kyrie Irving and James Harden continue to dominate and grow their indomitable chemistry.
But for the rest of the league, injuries have reared their homely head, as the injury bug has claimed yet two more victims: Rookie of the Year lock LaMelo Ball, (fractured wrist) and MVP candidate LeBron James (high ankle sprain).
Ball will miss the rest of the season, making what’s been so sweet of a season for the Charlotte Hornets has quickly turned sour. The injury to Ball, who had been averaging 15.9 points a game and had helped to make the Hornets one of the most exciting teams to watch this season, is the type of injury that can kill any momentum of a playoff push before the season ends. The same, in a way, could be said for the Lakers, who will have neither LeBron James nor Anthony Davis for an undisclosed amount of time. Davis, who is recovering from Achilles soreness, won’t be back for a Lakers team that looks out of sorts when their two best players aren’t on the court.
Throw in the wrinkle of the Utah Jazz stumbling out of the blocks following the All-Star break, and now the race for the top seed in the West is more open than you could imagine.
There’s a lot of madness going on as we enter the final week of March, so let’s go into detail where each team ranks heading into the 13th week of play.
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1. Philadelphia 76ers (30-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 4)
Just like last week, the Philadelphia 76ers hang tough for another week without Joel Embiid engineering the offense, going 3-1 in the extended week and 8-2 in their last 10 games. Their only loss came by way of an overtime loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks as the reigning MVP scored in every which way in the extra time period, which only happened due to some last-second heroics from Furkan Korkmaz who drilled a game-tying three with just seconds on the clock. They’ve looked like they haven’t missed a beat offensively, still posting an “okay” 105.6 offensive rating in their last four games but have absolutely hampered down defensively, posting a 99.7 defensive rating. They’ll head west this weekend, dueling with the Warriors, Lakers, and Clippers, and by this time next week, they could be adding a specific piece to their guard department ahead of the deadline.
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2. Brooklyn Nets (29-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 2)
Blake Griffin’s debut for the Brooklyn Nets wasn’t quite the most groundbreaking reveal – credit Griffin with only two points off two shot attempts and a couple of rebounds to supply on the stat line – but it’s going to be quintessential that the Nets factor the 6’8 Forward into primary and secondary lineups, especially during the anticipation of Kevin Durant’s return. With only a 1.5-game gap between them and the injury-plagued Philadelphia 76ers at the moment, the NBA’s top-ranked offense must gain a sense of knowledge of where Griffin is in his game. If he can resemble his former self, that’s a huge X factor for Brooklyn’s bench.
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3. Utah Jazz (31-11, Last Week’s Ranking: 1)
The Jazz have gone 6-6 since their 24-5 start and are ranked 21st in defensive efficiency during that period (113.9 points allowed per 100 possessions). They’re skidding, regardless of their win over Chicago on Monday night. And with the West tightening up, the margin for error for the team with the league’s best record is slim. After a defeat to the Wizards on Thursday, Rudy Gobert said, “We need to realize that we haven’t achieved s—-. We get upset when people laugh at us on TV and disrespect us. It’s on us to respect ourselves. We’re not the champions. We’re not a team that can just cruise and turn it on come playoff time. We have to stay hungry.”
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4. Phoenix Suns (28-13, Last Week’s Ranking: 3)
Suns point guard Chris Paul became a member of an exclusive club during Sunday’s game against the Lakers. Paul joined John Stockton (15,806), Jason Kidd (12,091), Steve Nash (10,335), Mark Jackson (10,334), and Magic Johnson as the sixth player in NBA history to hit 10,000 career assists (10,141). Paul will overtake Johnson later this season based on his current average. As it stands in the West, the Suns are the likeliest to claim the second seed in the confererence, considering the Lakers’ injury woes.
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5. Los Angeles Clippers (28-16, Last Week’s Ranking: 7)
In an attempt to get the Clippers to play more regularly, head coach Ty Lue put Marcus Morris Sr. into the starting lineup, with Nicolas Batum coming off the bench, and prior to Monday’s 21-point comeback victory over the Atlanta Hawks, they’ve limited their three opponents to an average of 100.6 points in their last three games. With Patrick Beverley (knee) out, the Clippers could use some point guard support, so it’ll be interesting to see what they can do at the deadline with their limited trade chips.
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6. Milwaukee Bucks (28-14, Last Week’s Ranking: 6)
The Bucks have won six straight games and 11 of their last 12 as they attempt to reclaim first place in the Eastern Conference following Saturday’s victory over San Antonio. The question now is whether this team’s recent success will carry over to the playoffs, but reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is content with that for the time being. On Monday, it seemed so, as the Bucks dismantled the Indiana Pacers vis a 140-113 score as they are now 2.5 games out of claiming 1st in the East. However, they’ll be in negotiations over keeping or giving away Jrue Holiday as the new acquisition picked up this past offseason has had his name float in between trade talks.
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7. Denver Nuggets (25-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 11)
With Joel Embiid and LeBron James sidelined due to injury, Nikola Jokic’s MVP campaign appears to be gaining steam. Despite another triple-double from Jokic, the Nuggets lost to the Pelicans. Michael Malone’s offense averaged 127 points during the run before the Pelicans limited them to 108 points. Also, as the team’s third-most reliable scorer, Michael Porter Jr. has shot 50% or better in 12 of his last 14 games, continuing his hot streak. Denver, on the other hand, will play three games in a row on the road this week, and the bench will be able to use the formerly injured Monte Morris in his return back to the rotation.
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8. Los Angeles Lakers (28-15, Last Week’s Ranking: 5)
On Sunday against the Suns, the defending champions started Markieff Morris, Wesley Matthews, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, and Dennis Schroder, and lost back-to-back games. With LeBron James out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain, Marc Gasol getting his wind back after returning from Health and Safety protocols, and Anthony Davis (calf strain and tendinosis) out for at least another week, the Lakers are in a pickle, to put it lightly. “These challenges strengthen you throughout the course of a season…and will benefit you come playoff time,” head coach Frank Vogel said.
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9. Portland Trail Blazers (25-17, Last Week’s Ranking: 9)
Since CJ McCollum’s return last week, the Blazers are on the verge of reuniting. However, with reduced minutes and return-to-play management, having him all the way back would be an operation. With 32 points against the Mavs on Friday, he gave the Blazers all the signals they needed. To this point, Damian Lillard has taken on so much of the load that late-season fatigue is a concern. Still, With McCollum, and possibly some of the more developed role players returning soon after recovering from their individual injuries, those burdens of having an incomplete lineup will likely be eased in a few weeks.
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10. Dallas Mavericks (22-19, Last Week’s Ranking: 8)
Luka Doncic has 117 points in three games, shooting 59.5 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from deep. It’s the franchise’s second-highest-scoring three-game streak, behind only Doncic’s 118-point run last month. “When you feel like this, everything’s great,” Doncic said after scoring 37 points over three quarters (and hitting his first eight 3-point attempts) during Sunday’s rout in Portland. They’ll have the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, and New Orleans Pelicans this week, and Doncic will look to improve those marks and further climb up the MVP rankings going into the last week of March.
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11. Miami Heat (22-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 10)
After winning 11 of 12, Miami cooled off to enter this week, dropping three straight last week. And more surprisingly, the re-energized team lost back-to-back games at home against the Pacers, a team they swept out of the bubble playoffs last season. Tyler Herro, who has gone 16-for-55 (29 percent) from the field in his last four games, needs to get back on track for Miami or he’ll likely have his name go around in trade talks as the team looks to bolster their unit of guards prior to Thursday’s Trade Deadline.
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12. San Antonio Spurs (22-18, Last Week’s Ranking: 16)
Keldon Johnson of San Antonio put on a display against the Cavaliers last Thursday night. The Spurs won with Johnson scoring 23 points and grabbing 21 rebounds, including 11 offensive rebounds as Johnson became the first Spur to have a 20-point, 20-rebound game since Tim Duncan in 2013. Additionally, the Kentucky product became the first player listed at 6-foot-5 or shorter to have 11 offensive rebounds in a game since Adrian Dantley did it for the Jazz on April 6, 1985. The Spurs could not keep up their momentum to open the week, as they lost to a Hornets team that wouldn’t have Rookie of the Year favorite LaMelo Ball on the floor.
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13. Atlanta Hawks (22-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 17)
Atlanta’s winning streak began under interim coach Nate McMillan on Saturday, when the Hawks defeated the Lakers for the eighth time in a row. McMillan’s eight victories are the most by an interim coach since Lawrence Frank led the New Jersey Nets to a 13-0 start in 2003-04. The Hawks are doing it in a number of ways as well, including bolstering their defense. Since McMillan took over the starting job on March 2, the Hawks have the league’s second-best defensive rating at 105.2. However, they experienced their first loss of the McMillan era as they fumbled a 21-point lead in a road loss to the Clippers.
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14. Golden State Warriors (22-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 13)
Given the Warriors’ injuries and COVID-19 problems, a 2-2 week isn’t too shabby. A bruised tailbone forced Stephen Curry to sit out two games. Health and safety protocols prevented James Wiseman, Eric Paschall, and Kevon Looney from playing. The good news is that second-year guard Jordan Poole is continuing to impress and is gaining more playing time almost every time he steps on the court. Since returning from the G League bubble on March 1, Poole is averaging 20.9 points a game.
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15. Boston Celtics (21-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 12)
Following disappointing defeats to Cleveland and Sacramento, Boston rebounded to defeat Orlando on Sunday. But as the story of this season goes on, Boston’s rollercoaster year saw another dip with an overtime loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on the road with Jayson Tatum not playing, or suiting up, due to an undisclosed illness. With the NBA trade deadline approaching and everyone in Boston waiting to see if Danny Ainge can use the $28 million trade exception to strengthen the roster, the Celtics continue to embark on this current four-game road trip that includes a pair of prime-time showdowns in Milwaukee on Wednesday and Friday.
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16. Charlotte Hornets (21-21, Last Week’s Ranking: 14)
The Hornets are dealing with the kind of injury that can derail a team’s season, with LaMelo Ball expected to miss the remainder of the season due to a broken right wrist that Ball recently had a procedure o Thursday morning. Ball was not only a front-runner for Rookie of the Year, but his success sparked national interest in the Hornets for the first time in years. Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward will have to take up even more offensive slack now that Ball is out.
The Hornets’ problem, as it has been all season, is their porous defense. They surrendered at least 116 points in four straight games entering Monday’s game against the Spurs but broke that streak when they only allowed the Spurs to score 97 points.
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17. New York Knicks (21-22, Last Week’s Ranking: 15)
The Knicks came within five points of winning all four games this week, including a one-point victory over Orlando on Friday and a one-point loss to Philadelphia on Sunday. With a tough second-half schedule, any chance at a win is crucial, which makes the two games against Washington this week crucial as New York attempts to avoid the play-in games in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race. They’re still a top-5 team in terms of defensive rating (ranked 4th, 108.3 DRtg), so all is not lost as of yet for the Knicks as they try to make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
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18. Indiana Pacers (19-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 18)
The Pacers drop two spots in these rankings this week and have lost six of their last 10. Indiana has lost five of its previous six games and nine of its previous eleven as they continue to look for answers, despite the addition of Caris LeVert. Indiana is now ranked ninth in the Eastern Conference and while they are ranked 13th in team defensive rating, they aren’t as productive on the other end of the floor, ranking at 16th in total offensive rating. It is now being reported that they are throwing the likes of Malcolm Brogdon, TJ Warren, and possibly Domantas Sabonis in trade talks to either bolster the talent level of the roster for now or the future or motivate their most integral pieces to play better.
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19. Memphis Grizzlies (20-20, Last Week’s Ranking: 19)
The Grizzlies stay put in this week’s rankings and stay as an even. 500-record team following a win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night, clutching a tough win over the Celtics in overtime. Despite the win, the jump shot of Ja Morant, Memphis’ point guard and biggest rising star, is the most conspicuous shortcoming for the second-year guard out of Murray State. This season, he’s shooting 22.9 percent on 3-pointers, the lowest rate of the 182 players who have attempted at least 100. When Morant runs the pick-and-roll, this causes defenders to repeatedly go under screens, forcing him to aim and negating his unusual explosiveness.
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20. Chicago Bulls (19-23, Last Week’s Ranking: 21)
With 19 30-point games this season, All-Star guard Zach LaVine is tied for third in the NBA with Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard. The Bulls, on the other hand, are continuing to experiment with their lineup and rotations in the hopes of finding long-term success, such as starting Tomas Satoransky and Thaddeus Young instead of Coby White and Wendell Carter Jr. Speaking of Coby White, his name could be included in a deal that sends him to New Orleans, as it’s been rumored that the Bulls are actively intent on trading for Pelicans starting guard Lonzo Ball to provide ball movement and defensive stability for the 17th-ranked defense in the NBA.
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21. New Orleans Pelicans (18-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 20)
For the Pelicans, it was another up-and-down week. The Pelicans surrendered a 17-point lead to the Trail Blazers in the final six minutes of Tuesday’s game, then lost an eight-point game to Portland two days later. They bounced back with a 113-108 win in Denver on Sunday, despite the absence of starting point guard Lonzo Ball (right hip flexor strain). Against the Nuggets, the Pels then bounced back and saw both Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram score with ease, as they both went for 30 points each, making that the third time they accomplished such a feat this season.
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22. Oklahoma City Thunder (19-24, Last Week’s Ranking: 23)
The game against the Rockets on Sunday had an irresistible force against an immovable object feel, but it wasn’t in a positive way. Thanks to Luguentz Dort’s lockdown defense, the Rockets lost their 19th-straight game. The Thunder started with the second-youngest starting lineup in NBA history, with four starters sitting. Houston was already a 4.5-point favorite at the start of the game, but if we’ve learned anything from Oklahoma City this season, it’s that Sam Presti is willing to play anyone.
Sunday, it was Lu Dort scoring 23 and coming up with a game-winning block. There’s something about the Thunder’s ability to play within a system and maximize their roster, which is somewhat reminiscent of the prime San Antonio Spurs days with Gregg Popovich maximizing the individual talents on non-household names.
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23. Sacramento Kings (18-25, Last Week’s Ranking: 24)
The Kings raise a spot in this week’s rankings, which was supplanted by a breakout, career-best performance by Tyrese Haliburton as the rookie scored a game-high 28 points with 2 assists and a rebound on his stat-line during Sac-Town’s 119-105 win over Cleveland on Monday night.
Prior to Monday’s win, Haliburton said that Sacramento is still looking for itself more than halfway through the season. “I don’t think we’ve found our identity yet,” Haliburton said after their loss to Philadelphia. “I don’t know that we’ve found exactly what makes us play our best basketball.” The quote was applicable for the week the Kings had: going 2-2 amid their six-game road trip and finding out that Marvin Bagley III will not require surgery on his fractured left hand but will still be out another month.
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24. Toronto Raptors (17-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 22)
As if things couldn’t get any worse during the eight-game losing streak the Raps had been experiencing, Toronto became the first team in nearly a month to lose to the Houston Rockets, ending Houston’s franchise-worst 20-game losing streak on Monday night. After the 117-99 loss to the Rockets, in which they allowed all five of the Rockets starters to score in the double digits as well as allow the quartet of John Wall, Sterling Brown, Jae’Sean Tate, and Christian Wood to score 19+ points, there was some friction between Pascal Siakam and Nick Nurse as the tandem that won a title together shared some choice words amongst each other after Toronto’s ninth-straight loss.
After falling to 11th in the East, it’s undetermined if Kyle Lowry or Norman Powell ever suit up in Toronto Raptor Red and black ever again as the Trade Deadline nears.
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25. Washington Wizards (15-26, Last Week’s Ranking: 25)
Since appearing to turn their season around, the Wizards are going in the wrong direction. Washington has lost eight of its last ten games after winning seven of its first eight in February. It’s not going to get any easier: The Wizards’ loss to the Nets in Brooklyn on Sunday kicked off a 14-game road trip. They’ll be without sharpshooter Davis Bertans and are five games out of eighth place. Their season isn’t quite in jeopardy just yet, but the Wizards are running out of time if they want to at least make the play-in tournament this year.
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26. Cleveland Cavaliers (16-27, Last Week’s Ranking: 26)
Collin Sexton (36 points, 4 assists, 2 steals) and Darius Garland (15 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds) stuffed the box score in the Cavs’ victory over the Raptors on Sunday. What wasn’t admired about Cleveland’s young backcourt? Despite Cleveland’s hot shooting from deep, the pair accounted for 12 of the Cavs’ 26 turnovers, a remarkable number that held the Raptors in the game (even though they went 17-33 for 51.5 percent shooting from the field).
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27. Orlando Magic (14-28, Last Week’s Ranking: 27)
Aaron Gordon scored 38 points in 36 minutes to lead the Magic to a surprise victory over the Nets on Friday, snapping a nine-game losing streak. Conversely, the Magic have fallen to 14-28 in the Eastern Conference and have lost nine of their last 10, now trailing only the Pistons. The most important question for this team this season might be what the front office does before the trade deadline on Thursday.
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28. Detroit Pistons (12-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 29)
The Pistons’ highlight of the week was handing the Rockets their franchise-worst 19th consecutive loss on Friday night. The Pistons must celebrate all of their successes and use them as tools for development as a rebuilding team that won’t come by many wins on occasion. Last Wednesday, Detroit defeated Toronto, thanks to Saddiq Bey’s 28 points and 12 rebounds, but it’s becoming increasingly likely that Bey becomes a name for negotiation in the wake of the Trade Deadline on Thursday.
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29. Houston Rockets (12-30, Last Week’s Ranking: 28)
The Rockets had an unfortunate NBA record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau – the longest losing streak by a team that started the streak above.500. Since starting 11-10, Houston lost 20 straight games but finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel with a home win over Toronto. Victor Oladipo has been the center of attention leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline, with his post-All-Star break output (25.0 points and 5.6 assists per game, 46.4 percent from the field) potentially rising his value.
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30. Minnesota Timberwolves (10-33, Last Week’s Ranking: 30)
Prior to the draft, there was a widespread belief that there was no real No. 1 overall prospect and that the lottery was bad in general. Anthony Edwards, on the other hand, is looking like a first-round selection. “Ant-Man” is scoring 26.1 points per game in March, setting and resetting career highs almost every night. As this season winds down and we enter the final full month of the year, the likelihood of the Wolves landing the top prospects of either Cade Cunningham or Evan Mobley is increasing by the minute.
Photo cred: Fox Sports 1430
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