2015 NBA Power Rankings: Breaking Down All 30 Teams at the End of February
The end of February brings with it the beginning of the NBA's regular-season stretch run.
The league's roster tinkering is all but done. Per NBA rules, any player signed after March 1 is ineligible for postseason play.
That doesn't mean you won't see sad-sack squads like the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers bring in live bodies for late-season auditions. Nor does it preclude short-handed playoff hopefuls like the Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls from bringing in helping hands to bridge the gap between now and mid-April.
By and large, though, the Association's 30 teams are what they are, injuries and otherwise.
That doesn't guarantee that ranking them all from week to week, based on recent performance and available personnel, will be any more straightforward than usual. A cursory comparison of last week's power rankings to this week's edition should make that much clear.
30. Philadelphia 76ers
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The Philadelphia 76ers' first game against Michael Carter-Williams went about as well as you might expect—which is to say, not well at all.
The Sixers trailed by as many as 29 points before ultimately succumbing to the Milwaukee Bucks, 104-88. Carter-Williams wasn't dominant by any means, though his 8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio at the point in his Milwaukee debut beat the pants off the 1.76-to-1 ratio he posted while in Philly.
On the bright side, the Sixers added Thomas Robinson to their ever-shifting stash of misfit youngsters...so there's that.
29. New York Knicks
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Phil Jackson had some harsh words for his New York Knicks following their 101-83 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers this past Sunday.
"Each NBA game is an opportunity for players to show their 'best' nature and please the basketball gods...and those who know what 'It' takes," Jackson tweeted. "Today's game vs Cavs gave bb gods heartburn and those that know what 'it' takes/means a smh."
Perhaps the Zen Master deserves some head-shaking of his own for ripping his team on Twitter rather than voicing his concerns behind closed doors. Even more than head-shaking could be in store for Jackson, who traded away Tyson Chandler over the summer, purged J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the roster in January and is as responsible as anyone for the Knicks' sad state of on-court affairs.
What's worse is that Jose Calderon, the centerpiece of the Knicks' return for Chandler, is nursing a sore Achilles and figures to add many more to the 14 games he's already missed this season.
28. Denver Nuggets
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Denver Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly probably puts his pants on the same way all of his peers do: one leg at a time. He also longs for the same thing they do: the arrival of a true franchise player.
"We'd love to get a superstar," Connelly said after the trade deadline (via The Denver Post's Christopher Dempsey). "We'd love to think we potentially have one on our roster, or we can get one in the draft. I think that's the most tried-and-true model. And we've been pretty active trying to get 'that guy' in the last 18 months."
At this rate, the Nuggets may have a shot at one by early summer. They've dropped 17 of their last 19 to fall into the West's bottom three, with mere percentage points separating them from the Magic in the NBA's lottery pecking order.
27. Orlando Magic
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The Orlando Magic may not have to search far and wide for their next full-time head coach after all. If not for Henry Walker's late-game heroics on behalf of the Miami Heat, the Magic would be 5-2 under interim coach James Borrego right now.
The difference? Defense, and lots of it. Orlando hasn't allowed an opponent to hit triple digits on the scoreboard since Borrego took over for Jacque Vaughn. In fact, the Magic have surrendered just 96.5 points per 100 possessions under Borrego—the third-best mark over that span, per NBA.com, and one that's stingier than the Golden State Warriors' league-leading, season-long mark.
With Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton smothering opponents at the point of attack, Orlando should be able to string together defense like this for years to come, especially if Borrego gets to stick around.
26. Utah Jazz
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By and large, the Utah Jazz have been playing quality ball of late. The Jazz even won their first two games sans Enes Kanter, downing the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs in Salt Lake City.
But losing to this year's Los Angeles Lakers is never a good look, especially when the defeat happens at home...and especially while Nick Young's nursing a sore knee on the bench. Jordan Clarkson's career-high 22 points only further laid bare Utah's need for a steady point guard—a need that isn't likely to be filled by recent 10-day signee Bryce Cotton.
25. Los Angeles Lakers
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Kobe Bryant, who's busy rehabbing his shoulder and promoting his Showtime documentary, wasn't pleased to see his fellow Los Angeles Lakers so vociferously celebrating a home win over the threadbare Boston Celtics.
Neither was fellow curmudgeon and Lakers head coach Byron Scott. "Kobe's reaction was pretty much my reaction when I was watching it," Scott said after a recent practice (via ESPN's Baxter Holmes). "I was just shaking my head like, 'I can't believe this.' "
Then again, his Lakers probably couldn't believe they'd actually won. Prior to downing the C's in overtime, the Lakers hadn't tasted victory since January, and had racked up just three other W's in 2015.
After pulling out a fourth-quarter comeback in Utah, the Lakers have now won consecutive games for the first time since mid-December, when they ripped off three straight. Hopefully, Scott and Bryant didn't mind rookie point guard Jordan Clarkson flexing a bit after posterizing fellow first-year Dante Exum.
24. Sacramento Kings
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Just when it looked like the Sacramento Kings might build some positive momentum under new head coach George Karl, the injury bug strolled back into town.
Darren Collison, out since early February, will sit out the next three-to-six weeks with a right hip flexor strain, the team announced. In that same update, the Kings revealed that All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins will miss some time with a right ankle sprain and a right hip contusion.
Losing two key starters is never a good thing, but the timing of this news couldn't have been much worse for Sacramento. The Kings will host the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers this weekend before embarking on a grueling eight-game road trip.
23. Minnesota Timberwolves
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Was Kevin Garnett responsible for the Minnesota Timberwolves' 20-point pounding of the Washington Wizards on Wednesday? Probably not.
Garnett wasn't the one who sent the Wizards into their recent tailspin (more on that later). Nor did he injure Bradley Beal and former Celtics teammate Paul Pierce, both of whom were in street clothes in Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, the Big Ticket's statistical contributions (5 PT, 8 REB, 2 AST, 2 BLK, 1 STL in 19 minutes) paled in comparison to those of Kevin Martin (a game-high 28 points), Nikola Pekovic (15 points, 13 rebounds) and rookie Andrew Wiggins (19 points).
But the Wolves didn't bring KG back to Minny expecting him to dominate like he did when he last suited up for them in 2008, as Grantland's Jason Concepcion noted:
"The Timberwolves have the sixth-youngest roster in the NBA. [Zach] LaVine and Wiggins can’t legally buy alcohol. Gorgui Dieng is promising but raw as sushi. Anthony Bennett is an existential tweener with no idea how to play and one foot in the D-League. And so it logically follows that when part-owner/GM/coach [Flip] Saunders looked at his players and decided they needed a mentor, he would turn to Garnett.
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And if Game 1 of Garnett's twilight tour with the T-Wolves was any indication, Saunders made the right choice.
22. Boston Celtics
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So far, so good for the Boston Celtics' Tacoma Twosome of Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas.
Bradley, the incumbent starter at shooting guard in Beantown, has averaged 18.3 points and 3.7 steals while knocking down 42.1 percent of his threes over his last three games. Thomas, meanwhile, has poured in an average of 20.3 points and 5.7 assists off the bench for the C's.
More importantly, Boston has won its last two games, and came close to a 3-0 mark w/ Thomas and Bradley together, thanks to the latter's late-game heroics in L.A. Coming into Friday's action, the Celtics were one of four teams sitting within a game of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
Not bad for a squad that's seen its front office spend the season tearing down the roster, and that will have to finish the campaign without the injured Jared Sullinger.
21. Brooklyn Nets
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Brook Lopez hasn't said or done anything to suggest he's disappointed by the Brooklyn Nets' inability to move him before the Feb. 19 trade deadline.
"I'm here. I like being here. I'm not asking to be traded," Lopez told the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy.
On the court, the Stanford product has continued to produce, despite being passed over to fill Kevin Garnett's starting spot. Since returning from the All-Star break, Lopez has averaged 18.7 points and 10.0 rebounds off the bench, all while siphoning minutes from starting center Mason Plumlee.
20. Detroit Pistons
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Reggie Jackson's looked much more like a budding star since joining the Detroit Pistons after the trade deadline. In two games with the Pistons, Jackson has posted 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and seven assists—comparable to the 20.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.8 assists he averaged as a starter in Oklahoma City earlier this season.
"I thought Reggie has played very well," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said after his team's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday (per The Associated Press via ESPN). "He's got to get better on the defensive end, so that's something we have to work on, but I like the way he rebounded the ball, and he was aggressive on offense."
The Pistons will need Jackson to keep this pace up if they're to win the jam-packed race for eighth place in the East.
19. Charlotte Hornets
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Things are looking up for the Charlotte Hornets again.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has averaged 17.7 points and 7.3 rebounds while hitting 56.4 percent of his shots since returning from a two-game absence. Mo Williams, Charlotte's lone deadline acquisition, has poured in an average of 21.0 points and 6.7 assists since joining the Hornets.
Meanwhile, Kemba Walker, the player whose place Williams is keeping warm, should be back from his knee surgery at some point in March. The sooner Walker returns, the better the Hornets' chances are of hanging onto a playoff spot at the bottom of the East.
18. Miami Heat
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Bad news for the Miami Heat: Chris Bosh is officially done for the rest of the season on account of blood clots in his lungs.
Good news: The Heat have won three out of four without their All-Star big man.
Less encouraging news: Those three wins have come against the Knicks, Sixers and Magic (in overtime).
Better news: The Heat are a gritty bunch, replete with veterans who've been there and done that.
"It's been a strange year, but we've all learned to manage through it," head coach Erik Spoelstra told Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick. "I think what you're seeing now is a group that's becoming more resilient every single day because of these adversities."
17. Washington Wizards
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You could blame the Washington Wizards' recent struggles on Bradley Beal's absence, just as Jamie Foxx once blamed it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol. Beal's missed the Wizards' last seven games, including the entirety of the team's current five-game skid, on account of a stress reaction in his right leg.
But Washington's struggles predate Beal's latest setback. In fact, the Wizards suffered through a five-game slide just prior to Beal going down in Charlotte in early February.
So what's wrong with the Wizards? According to Grantland's Andrew Sharp, their problems, particularly on the offensive end, stem from a piecemeal approach to team building that's stunted the Wizards' growth for years:
"The answer is that all the shortsighted, lazy, and cheap tendencies that have defined this team for decades are now being exposed all at once. It’s happening with [Wizards President Ernie] Grunfeld’s roster, and it’s compounded by [Randy] Wittman’s coaching. The Wizards have been a step behind and playing catch-up ever since [Gilbert] Arenas got hurt, and this year it’s all catching up to them.
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16. Indiana Pacers
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He's coming, Pacers fans. Get ready...
Well, you can wait a bit. Paul George is going to need some more practice time before he's ready to play for Indy.
But at least he is, indeed, back at practice, just about seven months after suffering that ghastly compound fracture during a Team USA scrimmage.
The Pacers, for their part, won't rush George back into action. "Paul is not going to be out there unless he's Paul George," head coach Frank Vogel said (per The Associated Press via ESPN.com). "He's eager to get back on the court, but not before he's ready. Once he's mentally cleared to play in a game, he's still got to be ready to (actually) play in a game."
When he is, though, things could change in a hurry—and for the better—for the Pacers.
15. Phoenix Suns
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The Phoenix Suns are a Monty Python skit right now; they're not dead...yet.
The Suns seem to have shaken off their five-game funk—a funk in which they never lost by more than nine points—with the help of Brandon Knight.
After turning in a pair of solid performances in close losses to the Bulls and Celtics, Knight led the team in points (19) and assists (six) as the Suns handled the Nuggets in Denver. On Thursday, Knight backed up Eric Bledsoe's near-triple-double with 15 points of his own in a thrilling overtime win against the streaking Thunder.
It's possible that the Suns are, indeed, better off now, even after trading away Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas. The former clearly wasn't comfortable with the point guard triad, and the latter will always be an awkward fit defensively.
Knight is younger than Dragic, better than Thomas and the best player on his previous team before the trade. Throw in Knight's impressive pedigree (Gatorade National Player of the Year, one-and-done at Kentucky), and the notion of Phoenix coming out ahead post-deadline looks more like a real thing.
14. New Orleans Pelicans
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Before anyone even begins to get any silly ideas, let's set one thing straight: The New Orleans Pelicans are not—I repeat, are not—better off without Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson.
The Pelicans have won three in a row, one of which Davis and Anderson left during the first half and two from which The Brow was entirely absent on account of a shoulder sprain. But two of those wins came against the Heat and Nets, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Still, this time without those two could prove valuable to New Orleans. The Pelicans have been scrambling all season for just the sort of support they've gotten of late from the likes of Eric Gordon, who put up 24 points against Miami, and Quincy Pondexter, who went for a career-high 25 points at Brooklyn's expense.
13. Chicago Bulls
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In the words of Drake, nothing was the same for the Chicago Bulls when Derrick Rose tore his left ACL in 2012, and even less so after Rose's right meniscus first required surgery early last season.
Now, Rose rehabbing from knee surgery seems all too close to the status quo, with a second operation on his right meniscus scheduled for Friday. Nobody will know the extent of the damage, the best course of action to fix it or the likely recovery time until the doctors get inside Rose's knee for a closer look.
As Grantland's Bill Simmons suggested in his semiannual trade value column, there could be a silver lining to the black cloud of Rose's latest setback for Chicago:
"DO NOT COUNT OUT THE 2015 BULLS. They couldn’t reach their offensive potential with Rose jacking up jump shots; now they can pound the ball down low and space the floor better. Some major Ewing Theory potential here.
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In the long run, though, the Bulls will probably have to rethink how they go about constructing a title contender, with Rose's days among the league's elite likely behind him, writes Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick:
"It's much more reasonable to expect that, at best, his career will be categorized along with those of Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady and Penny Hardaway, players who persevered enough to keep playing but were robbed of many of their powers along the way.
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12. Dallas Mavericks
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Whatever friction had been bubbling beneath the surface between Rick Carlisle and Rajon Rondo finally boiled over during and after the Dallas Mavericks' 99-92 win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. Carlisle downplayed the tiff at first, only to suspend Rondo for the next night's game, a 104-87 loss in Atlanta.
The conflict between head coach and point guard, reportedly over play-calling duties, has sparked some concern about whether or not these two can coexist long-term. Rondo will be a free agent at season's end, and the Mavs traded for him with the intention of retaining him.
Not everyone in Big D is worried, though.
"If anything, it should make the team stronger," Tyson Chandler told ESPN's Tim McMahon. "For one, it should make those two have better communication. They're not familiar with each other, so I think for the first couple of whatever all parties are tip-toeing.
"Not against each other, but two guys who are competitors, who want to win, sometimes it's better that you have a little blowout. It lets you know that you're on the same page, that you want to win."
It's possible, then, that this explosion will turn out to be little more than the typical tension in Dallas' season-long dialectic.
11. Milwaukee Bucks
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Kudos to Larry Sanders for choosing his own health and happiness over playing in the NBA for beaucoup bucks.
Granted, Sanders won't walk away empty-handed; according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Charles F. Gardner, he'll snag between $13 and 15 million of the money remaining on his $44 million extension in a buyout with Milwaukee.
As for the Bucks, they should be just fine without him. Milwaukee has won 14 of 21 games sans Sanders, sports the NBA's second-stingiest defense and now has former Suns starting center Miles Plumlee after a deal at the trade deadline.
All's well that ends well, I suppose.
10. Toronto Raptors
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Poor health may guarantee equally poor performance in the NBA, but good health doesn't ensure the opposite.
Just ask the Toronto Raptors, who've dropped their last three despite an empty injury list.
The Raptors' schedule may have something to do with that. Toronto's latest losses came in Dallas, New Orleans and Houston, albeit after hammering the Hawks in Atlanta.
Perhaps a return to Canada will get the Raptors back on the right track—that is, if they can handle the road-weary Warriors on Friday.
9. San Antonio Spurs
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It's not an exaggeration to say the San Antonio Spurs are scuffling right now. They've dropped four in a row, thereby securing the franchise's first-ever losing record on the annual rodeo road trip.
The biggest culprit? Tony Parker, who's racked up more fouls (10) than points (nine) over his last three games. Needless to say, that's not a good look for Parker, who's still the engine that powers the Spurs' pass-happy offense.
In his defense, Parker has been battling discomfort in his hamstring for much of this season, though he's not about to hide behind it. "Everybody’s got nagging stuff," he told The San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald. "It’s been a tough year for me since I got back from the nagging injury. I have not been the same since my injury. But I’m not going to use that as an excuse. Everybody knows me better than that. I just have to find a solution, even if I’m not feeling great."
As SB Nation's Jason Patt illustrated, Parker's hamstring problems have hampered his signature ability to make things happen in the paint and, in turn, San Antonio's entire attack:
"It's clear that Parker's inability to get in the lane at will and create is hurting the Spurs' offense. He needs to find that part of his game again if San Antonio is going to make another deep playoff run.
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Parker's not the only Spur who's struggled of late, but his issues are the most disconcerting, at least as far as San Antonio's long-term prospects are concerned. The Spurs can only hope that their 32-year-old point guard hasn't lost his mojo just yet.
8. Los Angeles Clippers
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There's no shame in the back-to-back losses the Los Angeles Clippers have suffered. They came close to upending the Memphis Grizzlies at home and the Houston Rockets on the road, both absent Blake Griffin's services.
This, after ripping off four straight wins without Griffin. According to ESPN's Arash Markazi, Griffin is working out again after having a staph infection removed from his elbow, and will be re-evaluated when the Clippers return from their current road trip.
It's no wonder, then, that Griffin's teammates aren't worried. Jamal Crawford told Basketball Insiders' Alex Kennedy:
"Blake has been dealing with that elbow for a while now, so being able to get him back at 100 percent – and not having to think about that – I think that’s a blessing for him. That’s great for Blake. And then for us, I think not only will Blake will [sic] be better, but we will all be better when he returns. We’ve had to step up and lean on each other. I think we can put that to use when Blake comes back and then we should take off.
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7. Portland Trail Blazers
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If his latest outing is any indication, Wesley Matthews isn't the least bit fazed by the Portland Trail Blazers' addition of Arron Afflalo at the trade deadline. Matthews followed up a paltry four-point outing against Memphis by torching the Spurs for 31 points in a 111-95 Blazers win.
Not that Matthews should've ever been concerned about Afflalo's arrival. By the looks of it, the UCLA product was brought in not to push Matthews, but rather to provide support for the floundering Nicolas Batum and strengthen one of the league's weakest benches.
Either way, Matthews, a free agent this summer, doesn't seem the sort to worry. "I've always had a chip on my shoulder with doubters and haters and all that," Matthews recently told Sports Illustrated's Rob Mahoney. "But where I think I've grown is that you're never going to be able to prove a doubter or a hater wrong. Most of my drive now is trying to prove everybody that believed in me right."
6. Houston Rockets
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To hear him tell it to Bleacher Report's Howard Beck, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey isn't at odds with Charles Barkley when it comes to the philosophy of team building in the NBA:
"Charles is right, it is all about getting high-end talents. It's about recognizing them, which not any idiot can recognize....The Harden trade was about 60-40 in favor of our side at the time. Even we had doubts. You need to prepare yourself to be ready for those opportunities when they come. It's not like anyone's giving away these good players. You have to maneuver your way into them....The notion that people in analytics don't think talent wins is ludicrous.
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Even Morey's more recent moves suggested as much. You don't need any fancy, proprietary analytics to figure out that the Rockets are better off now that they have Josh Smith, Corey Brewer, Pablo Prigioni and rookie K.J. McDaniels—all acquired during the season—coming off their bench.
5. Memphis Grizzlies
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The Memphis Grizzlies' run of road luck ran dry in Sacramento, with a 102-90 loss to the Kings on Wednesday. Prior to that, Memphis had eked out wins in Portland and L.A. (against the Clippers) on consecutive nights.
Perhaps a brief respite from the road will do the Grizzlies some good. Then again, Memphis' home game on Friday might as well count as another road date, with a trip to Minnesota scheduled for Saturday to complete one of the Grizzlies' league-high nine remaining back-to-back sets.
What's more, the Grizzlies' brief stop back in Tennessee will pit them against the rival Clippers. Surely L.A. will hit Memphis with its best shot, after suffering a late-game shortfall against the Grizzlies earlier this week.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
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Did Russell Westbrook pile up 39 points on 38 shots? Yes. Did he nearly carry the red-hot Oklahoma City Thunder to a road win over the resurgent Suns on Thursday, with Kevin Durant still sidelined? Yes.
Were some of those shots not the most advisable? Yes. Were his teammates still involved (11 assists for Westbrook, double-digit scoring nights for four other OKC players)? Yes.
Would the Thunder have won had Westbrook redistributed some of those errant shots? Maybe. Maybe not.
Is he nearly going to average triple-double in February, a month that featured a seven-game winning streak and a return to the West's top eight for OKC? Why yes, yes he is.
#LetWestbrookBeWestbrook #LetWestbrookWearTheDress
3. Atlanta Hawks
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There are plenty of NBA teams that would be fine going 5-4 over a nine-game stretch, as the Atlanta Hawks have in February. But such a so-so mark isn't particularly encouraging for a Hawks squad coming off a franchise-record 19-game winning streak.
That stretch has seen some serious slippage in Atlanta's defense, which has surrendered 103 points per 100 possessions this month.
It may be more than mere coincidence that the Hawks' defensive struggles have bubbled up since Thabo Sefolosha strained his right calf.
"Thabo is a great defender," Kyle Korver told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Chris Vivlamore. "He’s been a great defender for a lot of years. That’s why he was brought in here. He can do things on offense too. He has a really good feel for the game. We definitely miss him defensively."
They may miss him for another few weeks, unless Kent Bazemore plays better in Sefolosha's stead.
2. Golden State Warriors
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Before Thursday's marquee matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher posed the question of whether or not Stephen Curry is on his way to overtaking LeBron James as the face of the NBA.
"Yeah, I'd pump the brakes on that," one Eastern Conference executive told Bucher. "I'm not a big LeBron guy as a person. From the human side, you're clearly going to cheer for Curry. Great person, great family, great story.
"But the other guy has two rings and is a force of nature. If you're picking teams, I'll let you take Steph and you know who I'm taking next. That's still part of the equation."
That turned out to be the case in practice and in theory. James torched the Dubs for a season-high 42 points in an 11-point Cavs win. Curry, on the other hand, mustered a relatively meager 18 points on 5-of-17 shooting while logging six assists against four turnovers in what turned out to be Golden State's second loss in its last three outings.
Truth be told, one game does not a debate settle. We can only hope Curry will get another four-to-seven shots at King James' throne come May and June.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
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Once again, the sports gods seem to be conspiring to put LeBron James back in the NBA Finals.
Derrick Rose's latest injury all but eliminates the Bulls from Eastern Conference title contention. The Wizards and Raptors have been struggling. The Hawks have fallen off a bit from their previously torrid pace.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Cavaliers have won 18 of their last 20 games to pull into sole possession of the Central Division crown, just a game behind Toronto in the race for the East's No. 2 seed.
But even though a higher power parted the seas during the Exodus story, the Israelites still needed Moses to show them the way. The same goes for the Cavs with James, who exploded for a season-high 42 points to lead Cleveland to a 110-99 win over the Warriors on Thursday, just two days after becoming the most prolific passing forward in NBA history.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
