NBA Power Rankings with 1 Month Left in the 2014-15 Season
It's true: Time really does fly when you're having fun. The 2014-15 NBA season is evidence of as much.
The excitement and unpredictability of this campaign has been such a joy to follow that it's easy to overlook just how close to the end we are. Believe it or not, the playoffs will be underway just over a month from now.
Not that you'll hear me complaining about watching the postseason bloodbath unfold out West or seeing whether LeBron James can win the East for a fifth year running. But there's a distinct joy in observing light bulbs flicker on for the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Nerlens Noel, Rudy Gobert and Victor Oladipo—all of whom will be rendered mere spectators come mid-April.
Let's not get too weepy about the coming conclusion of another long regular season, though. There are still a few playoff spots to sort out, a slew of awards races coming down the stretch and several more power rankings to be cranked out.
Like, say, this week's attempt to lay out the league's hierarchy from worst to first, based on how teams have been playing recently and who they have available.
30. New York Knicks
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Yes, the New York Knicks are still the worst team in the NBA, even after beating another terrible team (i.e., the Los Angeles Lakers) Thursday night.
No, the Knicks' ownership of the league's lowest win total (13) doesn't mean they're looking to rebuild through the draft, at least according to team president Phil Jackson.
"We know what the first-round pick is going to mean for us, but we also know we're going to build our team with free agents," Jackson said Thursday morning, via ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne. "A hundred and ninety players or so are going to be free agents. Not half the league, but like a third of the league is going to be free agents. So that's where our priority stands."
What does that mean for New York's pick in this year's draft lottery? Could the Knicks return to their old ways and trade it for immediate help alongside Carmelo Anthony?
"I think you have to explore every option if you're an NBA team coming off a horrendous season," DraftExpress' Jonathan Givony told Bleacher Report's Howard Beck. "I think that it's borderline malpractice to just shut off your phone and not listen to offers."
Per ESPN New York's Ian Begley, the Knicks are open to that idea, even if it means choosing the short term over the long term, which has been New York's modus operandi for years.
29. Philadelphia 76ers
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Andrew Wiggins has all but wrapped up Rookie of the Year honors (more on that later), but if the race for second place means anything, then Nerlens Noel deserves his fair share of votes from the media. As Grantland's Ben Detrick detailed, the flat-topped forward out of Kentucky has been on an absolute tear of late, particularly on the defensive end:
"Since the All-Star break, Noel has averaged 11.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, and 2.8 steals a night. He rejected nine shots in a game against the Pacers last month. In the Sixers’ recent upset of the Hawks, he amassed 11 points, 17 rebounds, and five steals. (He has an absurd total of 19 acts of thievery in his last four games.) If you want to unspool a convincing narrative for why Noel should be rookie of the year, look no further than his defense.
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Detrick goes on to note that Noel's offensive game has improved considerably, as well. But ultimately, it's his defense—the Sixers are an elite point-squeezing, rim-protecting bunch when he's out there—that should land Noel on more than a few ballots this season and make him an important building block for Philly in the years to come.
Unless, of course, Sam Hinkie decides to flip him for a first-round pick.
28. Detroit Pistons
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It's been a while since the Detroit Pistons plumbed the depths of these power rankings.
Everything seemed peachy-keen in Motown when the Pistons unburdened themselves of Josh Smith and immediately ripped off seven straight. All seemed lost when Brandon Jennings, in the midst of a career-redefining stretch, tore his Achilles...until Stan Van Gundy swooped in to snag Reggie Jackson from OKC.
But Detroit's on-the-fly reshuffling hasn't gone so smoothly. They Pistons have dropped their last eight in a row, including losses to the lowly Knicks and Lakers, to fall six games off the playoff pace in the East.
Just don't expect any panic buttons to be mashed or heads to roll in the near future as a result.
"The thing is, Stan has a plan," team owner Tom Gores told the Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis. "The guys we lost at the All-Star break, it was hard to lose them. They were part of the culture. But we're trying to build for the future now, and we believe in everything that's going on."
27. Los Angeles Lakers
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Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott was understandably upset about his team's sloppy effort in a 101-94 loss to the similarly lowly Knicks on Thursday. "Our lack of focus was unbelievable," said Scott, via Lakers Nation's Serena Winters, though you'd think he'd believe the Lakers' futility by now after watching them scuffle all season.
On a brighter note, Scott has to be pleased to see that Steve Nash, who postponed his official retirement at the Lakers' request, is working with the team's youngsters, per Bleacher Report's Kevin Ding:
"What Nash has accomplished is working recently with fast-improving Lakers rookie guard Jordan Clarkson. The film work, on-court tutelage and timely text messages have been priceless, Clarkson said.
Nash also intends to link up with Julius Randle, now on the practice court after breaking his leg on opening night, to tutor the current cornerstone of the Lakers' rebuild also.
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Whatever good Nash can do to develop Clarkson and Randle into legitimate building blocks will be much appreciated if/when the Lakers put their recent futility behind them, with the help of their 2014 draftees.
26. Minnesota Timberwolves
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Kevin Garnett's return to Minneapolis hasn't magically transported the Minnesota Timberwolves back to 2003. They've lost seven of 10 since trading for The Big Ticket, though Garnett has played in just half of those contests, largely to rest his 38-year-old body.
"He’s still effective on the court," Wolves coach Flip Saunders told Bleacher Report and assembled media prior to Minnesota's loss to the Clippers on Monday, a game in which Garnett didn't play. "I’d like to play him 30 minutes. He’s still effective as far as when he’s on there."
As disappointing as Garnett's condition may be, the Wolves can still take heart in Andrew Wiggins' ongoing growth into a star. The so-called "Maple Jordan" has flashed his hype-worthy offensive game of late, using all manner of maneuvers (cuts, post ups, screens, putbacks, jumpers, transition attacks)—as broken down by ESPN's David Thorpe—to pile up points and run away with the Rookie of the Year award.
25. Orlando Magic
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Is it a matter of mere happenstance that the Orlando Magic won both of the games that Nikola Vucevic recently missed? Perhaps. After all, those two contests came against the Kings and Celtics, while the four losses that preceded that spurt and the two that followed it were all suffered at the hands of teams that were either in or on the fringes of the playoff picture.
(A category into which Boston, admittedly, fits.)
It also didn't hurt that Victor Oladipo (54 total points) and Tobias Harris (40 total points) went bonkers, Dewayne Dedmon held his own in the middle, Channing Frye turned in his finest game of his disappointing season, and the likes of Ben Gordon, Andrew Nicholson and Maurice Harkless came alive off the bench over that short stretch.
In the long term, Orlando probably isn't better off without Vooch, but his absence made one thing abundantly clear: This club isn't going to get back on the winning track unless/until some of its other misfit pieces find comfortable spots within the Magic's jumbled puzzle.
24. Brooklyn Nets
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Things aren't going so swimmingly for the Brooklyn Nets these days, to say the least. On Thursday, the team announced that second-year swingman Sergey Karasev will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his right knee to remedy a slew of injuries suffered against New Orleans on Tuesday.
To add insult to injury, the Nets have lost their last five games to fall three-and-a-half games back of the playoff pack in the East. Normally, trips to Philadelphia and Minnesota would seem to be golden opportunities for a quick turnaround. But with the way Brooklyn's been spiraling of late, there might not be such a thing as a cupcake on the schedule.
23. Sacramento Kings
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You know who appears to be taking to George Karl's coaching just fine? Ben McLemore.
In 11 games since Karl took control of the Sacramento Kings, McLemore has scored 20 points or more four times, including a season-high 27-point outburst in Charlotte on Wednesday. By comparison, the second-year shooting guard out of Kansas topped 20 points five times through his first 52 outings in 2014-15.
The more the Kings can get out of their wings, McLemore in particular, the less DeMarcus Cousins will have to do to carry the club and the more room he'll have to do it.
And, well, the fewer draft picks and cap space Sacramento will have to toss at the likes of Nik Stauskas to fill that need.
22. Denver Nuggets
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The Denver Nuggets have picked up the pace (and then some) since Brian Shaw's ouster. They've won four of six under interim coach Melvin Hunt, including an impressive pasting of the East-leading Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
As much as the switch from Shaw to Hunt may account for the semi-turnaround, there's no ignoring the impact that a healthier, more productive Danilo Gallinari has had on the Nuggets' results. In those six games under Hunt, Gallo—who's been sidelined by two surgeries on his left knee and one on his right over the past two years—has chipped in 16.5 points while knocking down 46.2 percent of his 6.5 three-point attempts per night.
"I don't think I'm all the way [back], like I was feeling before I got injured," Gallinari told Bleacher Report's Howard Beck. "But my confidence is there, the rhythm is there. My legs, I don't think are there yet. But they are improving."
So, too, are the Nuggets' chances of a strong finish to what's been a disappointing campaign.
21. Charlotte Hornets
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Everybody! Clear out the Charlotte Hornets locker room! It's time to fumigate!
Just as the Hornets looked like they were in the clear, with Kemba Walker returning to game action on Wednesday, the injury bug bit two more crucial cogs: Al Jefferson and Cody Zeller.
There's never a good time for guys to go down, but this very moment is a particularly vulnerable one for Charlotte. Back-to-back losses to the Wizards and Kings dropped the Hornets a half-game out of a playoff spot in the East. With a home game against the Bulls on Friday and a five-game road trip awaiting them thereafter, the Hornets could see that gap grow if their starting frontcourt isn't fit to participate.
20. Phoenix Suns
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The Phoenix Suns had a devil of a time trying to make effective use of three point guards earlier this season. Now, they'll have to see if they can win the old-fashioned way: with just one floor general.
Brandon Knight, whom the Suns acquired from Milwaukee in a three-team deal at the trade deadline, sprained his left ankle during the first half of a blowout loss to the Warriors on Monday. Phoenix was able to beat lowly Minnesota without Knight on Wednesday, but it will be hard-pressed to hang around the Western Conference playoff race in his absence, with games against Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston and Dallas coming up on the schedule.
19. Boston Celtics
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Chances are, this season's Coach of the Year race will come down to some combination of Mike Budenholzer, Steve Kerr and Jason Kidd, with a slew of other sideline stalkers garnering consideration, fringe or otherwise.
Brad Stevens deserves to be included among those others, at the very least. His Boston Celtics have won four of their last five to pull within a game-and-a-half of a playoff spot in the East, despite the roster decimation wrought by trades—namely, those that jettisoned Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green—and injury (Jared Sullinger).
How has Stevens done it? To hear Grantland contributor Brett Koremenos describe it, Stevens is using more smoke and mirrors than Gob Bluth:
"He’s organized a competent defense — Boston is tied for 15th with the Clippers in defensive efficiency — despite a front line anchored by less-than-fearsome rim protectors like [Tyler] Zeller, Kelly Olynyk, and Brandon Bass. Stevens has also embraced his army of misfit toys, unleashing [Jae] Crowder while taking two salary-cap throw-ins who barely got off the Pistons bench — Jonas Jerebko (53.8 percent from 3 on 26 attempts as a Celtic) and Gigi Datome (13 points on 6-of-9 shooting in a win over the Heat on Monday) — and plugging them into his rotation.
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If Stevens can do all that with a roster replete with spare parts, imagine what he might do if/when general manager Danny Ainge brings more talent to Boston this summer.
18. Milwaukee Bucks
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Michael Carter-Williams has scored more than 20 points in two of his last three games, including 28 points (with eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and 15 free-throw attempts) against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. The Milwaukee Bucks have suffered losses in both of those contests.
Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. According to at least one of his former teammates, Carter-Williams' play wasn't conducive to effective offense in Philadelphia.
"There’s a lot more room now," Sixers rookie Nerlens Noel told Grantland's Ben Detrick. "It’s opening certain things up. The ball moves a lot more, and I think guys are able to play a lot more fluid and smooth."
The stats back that up, to some extent. Per NBA.com, the Bucks offense has been the league's second-least efficient since the All-Star break—a hair worse than Philly's.
17. Toronto Raptors
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There's no shortage of concern for the Toronto Raptors right now.
They've lost four in a row and nine of their last 10. Kyle Lowry is healthy enough to play but recently took a few games off to rest. Pretty much every position beyond Lowry's remains a crapshoot from night to night.
Not that anyone in Toronto should be panicking just yet. Of those nine recent losses, seven have come against teams currently in the playoff hunt. The schedule is set to soften considerably from here on out. The Raptors have just four games against teams with winning records remaining on their docket.
And even if Toronto continues to tumble, the team is practically guaranteed to crack the postseason as a top-four seed. Barring a complete collapse, the Raptors' 10-and-a-half-game lead on the Celtics and 12-and-a-half-game cushion on the Nets should allow them to secure a second consecutive Atlantic Division title with ease.
16. Utah Jazz
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Question of the day: Which team has the best record in the West since the All-Star Game?
Answer of the day: the Utah Jazz, who moved to 9-2 post-break with a 109-91 annihilation of the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
Bonus points to you if you pegged Rudy Gobert as the answer within the answer to why Utah has suddenly turned into a juggernaut. The Stifle Tower finished the night with 19 points, 22 rebounds and four blocks, after piling up 14 points, 18 boards and three swats in the first half.
As Brett Koremenos wrote for Sports on Earth, Gobert's emergence could be one of the keys to unlocking the true potential of this young Jazz squad, particularly once this rebuilding season is done:
"Though it's too late for a playoff run this season, the emergence of Gobert after the trade of [Enes] Kanter, along with the growth and potential of players like Dante Exum, Alec Burks (who is not even contributing to this run due to season-ending surgery), [Derrick] Favors and [Gordon] Hayward, has accelerated the team's rebuilding process. The future -- and defense -- has arrived in Utah.
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15. Dallas Mavericks
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Amar'e Stoudemire had some harsh words for his Dallas Mavericks teammates following a 33-point loss to the Cavaliers on Thursday.
"We can't cheat the game," Stoudemire opined, via ESPN Dallas' Tim McMahon. "We can't screw around in shootarounds and practices and joke around all the time and figure we're going to win games. This is the pros. It's the highest level of basketball. We've got to act that way."
To whom Stoudemire was referring isn't so clear. What is clear, though, is that the Mavs, losers in five of their last seven outings, are scuffling. Whether it's injuries, poor play from Rajon Rondo, substandard defense or some combination therein, something is amiss in Dallas.
Not that STAT is panicking just yet. "We've got the right personnel," Stoudemire went on. "We've got enough veteran leadership on this team to compete. We've just got to have that mindset to want to step up and truly compete."
Which is what the Mavs will have to do if they're to be anything more than first-round road kill in this year's playoffs.
14. Miami Heat
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The race for the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference is heating up. The Miami Heat, at 29-35, are hanging onto the eighth seed by a thread, with Charlotte, Boston and Brooklyn right behind and Indiana forging ahead.
The chances of Miami doing anything of note in the postseason, with Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts sidelined for the remainder, seem slim, but there's at least one prominent member of the Heat organization who has faith in this team's prospects.
"That's why it would be so great for this team, we're in this race here, if somehow we could get into the playoffs and make something of it," Pat Riley told Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick, referring to Miami's ability to build toward a brighter future while Bosh recovers from blood clots in his lungs. "But I do think we have enough, in that in any series with anybody in the East, with what's going on in the East, that you never know. And I love that."
13. Washington Wizards
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To paraphrase the late, great Dinah Washington, what a difference Paul Pierce makes.
The Washington Wizards have won four of six since the 17-year veteran returned to the lineup. Pierce came up particularly big on Thursday, scoring 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting in Washington's whitewashing of a short-handed Memphis squad.
Meanwhile, Otto Porter, Pierce's stand-in during his absence, shot just 2-of-10 from the field. What a difference, indeed.
12. Indiana Pacers
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The Indiana Pacers needed overtime to top the Bucks without Roy Hibbert, who was sidelined by a sore elbow on Thursday. Fortunately for the Pacers, their guards and wings came through in the clutch, with George Hill, C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey combining for nine of Indy's 13 points in the extra period.
That trio has been on fire of late—one of the many reasons behind the Pacers' seven-game win streak. The schedule has had plenty to do with Indiana's resurgence as well; four of the 10 wins the Pacers have accrued in their last 12 games have come against terrible teams, and they were fortunate to face the Warriors and Cavaliers when those two title contenders were sitting stars.
Still, the Pacers have done well to beat the teams in front of them. More importantly, they've gone about their business by getting back to basics on defense.
"At times we were trying to maybe change sort of our defensive schemes that have worked for us over the last two to three years. Ultimately, we said, 'Nah, we're just going to stick with what we do,'" David West told USA Today's Candace Buckner. "We got better at that and our defense started to pick up which has helped us win games. The message is always the same: Just stay steady, believe in one another and remain confident and see what happens."
So far, that's propelled the Pacers from 15-30 to seventh place in the East, in line for a juicy first-round matchup with their old nemesis, LeBron James.
11. Chicago Bulls
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Jake Johnson isn't an NBA analyst, nor does he play one on TV; his character on New Girl, Nick Miller, is a bartender.
But Johnson's ode to Tom Thibodeau for Grantland expressed many of the worries that have been on the minds of Chicago Bulls diehards and unaffiliated observers alike for some time regarding the coach's tendency to grind his best guys into a fine pulp by season's end.
"I think Tom Thibodeau is the best coach in the league. I’d like him to coach the Bulls for the rest of his coaching career. But he has to make a change. He has to become part of the new NBA—the new world."
According to Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher, Chicago's front office may well share those concerns—enough so to give Thibs the boot once this campaign is through.
10. Oklahoma City Thunder
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ESPN's Tom Penn, a former front office executive, thinks the Oklahoma City Thunder may look to trade Kevin Durant before his contract expires in 2016:
"I think this burst from [Russell] Westbrook makes it much more likely that Durant ultimately gets traded next year. ... Sam Presti has proven that he does not ever want to lose anybody for nothing. So he traded James Harden a year early to avoid a potential luxury tax problem a year later.
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Sam Presti, the actual general manager of the Thunder, fired back with his best Ron Burgundy impression, via The Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry:
"It's ludicrous to assert that we would trade Kevin. There's no way to measure what he means to our organization on and off the floor. He has helped build this organization from the ground up and personifies the Thunder: past, present and future. When he's done playing there will be streets named after him throughout the state and younger generations of Oklahomans will learn about the role Kevin has played in elevating this community in ways beyond basketball.
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Presti could just as easily make his point in pure basketball terms. As great as Westbrook has been, OKC has beaten just one winning team (Toronto) in five tries since Durant went down again shortly after the All-Star break. The Thunder can't compete for the crown without Durant by Westbrook's side, and they would be foolish to forfeit the chance to re-sign him—and, in turn, continue to challenge for championships—by putting him on the market.
9. New Orleans Pelicans
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Kudos to the New Orleans Pelicans for holding the fort while Anthony Davis was nursing a shoulder injury.
And major kudos to The Brow for returning with a vengeance. All he's done is average 29.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 4.2 blocks while leading the Pelicans to four wins in five tries and a (tenuous) spot in the Western Conference playoffs.
It's crazy to think that Davis, as good as he is, might still only be scratching the surface. Then again, he just turned 22, and those from his past know that he has a ways to go before he's completely plumbed the depths of his prodigious potential.
"You have to push him," Warren Mack, Davis' AAU coach, told Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher. "The more you push him, the more you get out of him. That's when I learned he was the real deal. That's why I think he can be greater than he is."
8. Houston Rockets
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The Houston Rockets have done remarkably well to hold things together since Dwight Howard's knee started bothering him again in late January. But a recent stretch of four losses in six games points to a team that will be hard-pressed to hang with the best in the West sans its center, even while James Harden continues his MVP march.
Case in point: Thursday's 18-point loss in Salt Lake City. The Rockets simply had no answer for Rudy Gobert, who dominated the interior for Utah to the tune of 19 points, 22 boards and four blocks.
Fortunately for Houston, Howard is doing one-on-one work again and could be back in action for real in two weeks, per ESPN.com.
Just in time to warm up for the brutal Western Conference playoffs.
7. Portland Trail Blazers
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The Portland Trail Blazers' championship prospects will depend less on Arron Afflalo's performance in Wes Matthews' stead and more on how the rest of the roster bands together in the absence of one of its leaders.
Which is to say, defense will be the difference for the Blazers.
Case in point: Portland's first two games without Matthews. The Blazers lost to the lowly Timberwolves, to whom they forfeited 54.1 percent shooting. Four nights later, Portland hounded Houston into 41.8 percent shooting, including 7-of-19 from James Harden, to beat the Rockets, 105-100.
The Blazers will need to lean heavily on their defense, third-best in the league, if they're to survive an upcoming stretch of six games in nine days, including five straight away from Rip City.
6. Memphis Grizzlies
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The Memphis Grizzlies' 107-87 loss in Washington on Thursday was as ugly as it was predictable. Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Tony Allen and Mike Conley all spent the evening watching their comrades compete from the sideline—the former three for routine rest, the latter after rolling his ankle in Boston on Wednesday.
In truth, the Grizzlies have been a so-so squad for the past month or so. They're a mere 8-8 since Feb. 6, with the league's third-worst offense over that span, per NBA.com.
Why the slippage? Allow Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal (Memphis) to explain:
"Lately, coaches and teammates have to beg Marc Gasol to be assertive and take shots. Gasol didn’t have a field goal attempt Wednesday in the fourth quarter of the Grizzlies’ loss at Boston. The 7-footer didn’t grab a rebound, either.
Zach Randolph and Courtney Lee’s productivity has waned. Over the last five games, Lee is shooting 24 percent overall and 23 percent from 3-point range.
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Perhaps, then, the night off will be just what the doctor ordered for Memphis' core. With the way Courtney Lee has been scuffling, the Grizzlies might do well to give their starting shooting guard a night off, too.
5. Los Angeles Clippers
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Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan have gotten the lion's share of love for the Los Angeles Clippers' success sans Blake Griffin, and rightfully so. Paul has been nailing mid-range jumpers and setting up his teammates on one end and shutting down opposing point guards on the other. Jordan is in the midst of a contract year to end all contract years.
But let's save some ink for the Clippers' other hero: J.J. Redick. The nine-year veteran is playing his best basketball since his days as college basketball's biggest villain at Duke. He's scored 25 points or more in three of his last four games and has averaged 18.5 points on 46.1 percent shooting (41 percent from three) since returning to action the day after Griffin's elbow problems first came to light.
Without Redick, you wouldn't find the Clippers sitting atop the league in offensive efficiency. His ability to run around the floor and keep defenders on his tail greases the skids for Paul, Jordan and company to do the damage that's earned them so much praise.
4. Cleveland Cavaliers
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Playing with LeBron James has its perks. There's the winning, and the more winning and the winning that comes after that. Oh, did I mention the winning?
On the other hand, it's all too easy to be overshadowed by James, even if you're as precocious a basketball player as Kyrie Irving.
Unless, of course, you do what Irving did to the Spurs Thursday night. The Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard torched San Antonio for a career- and franchise-high 57 points—his second 50-point game of the season—to lead his team to victory in overtime against the defending champs. Irving hit a three at the buzzer to tie the score at 110 before piling up 11 more points in the extra period.
Even Irving, though, would admit, as he did after the game, that his spectacular individual efforts are partly due to teammates like James, who command defensive attention and make it that much easier for him to shake free for buckets.
Still...what a talent.
3. Atlanta Hawks
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Even the best teams suffer from hiccups over the course of a long season. For instance, the Atlanta Hawks were tripped up twice on the road by league bottom feeders (i.e., the Sixers and Nuggets) in the last week.
The Philly game was a unique case, in that Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll were given the night off. In both contests, though, the Hawks were hampered, in part, by poor performances from Jeff Teague. Between those two defeats, Teague combined for just seven assists against nine turnovers, with a 13-assist outburst against Sacramento separating those substandard showings.
In truth, Teague—in particular, his growth from an iso-heavy scoring guard to a wealth-spreading floor general—is the engine that makes Atlanta's Bud Ball (in reference to head coach Mike Budenholzer) work so well.
"Jeff mentally remade himself," Korver told Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins. "Everything we do starts with him—coming off the screen, sucking in two defenders, reading the pick-and-roll, reading the weak-side coverage and making the right decision. He dictates it."
Just as Teague's success (or failure) tends to coincide with that of the Hawks as a whole.
2. San Antonio Spurs
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If not for an otherworldly performance from Kyrie Irving, the San Antonio Spurs would be riding a seven-game winning streak, tied with the Pacers for the longest one going in the NBA.
But Irving did go Uncle Drew on the defending champs on Thursday. As a result, the Spurs suffered their first March loss since 2013.
On the whole, though, San Antonio can feel good about this game, as well as its overall situation. Kawhi Leonard turned in his sixth straight 20-point performance. Tony Parker topped 20 points for the fourth consecutive game, with 31 and six assists to his credit. Tim Duncan (18 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists) fell just shy of a triple-double, helping the Spurs come oh-so-close to taking down a fellow title contender despite squeezing just 10 minutes out of a queasy Manu Ginobili.
And, yes, San Antonio is a title contender. The Spurs haven't always looked like one this season, but they're getting healthy and rounding into form right now.
Just in time to fight for their turf atop the league.
1. Golden State Warriors
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Apparently, not everybody loves Draymond.
And no, I'm not talking about the Clippers, though they, too, seem to take exception to the Golden State Warriors forward.
Rather, I'm referring to what one scout told Bleacher Repot's Howard Beck about Draymond Green and his impending foray into restricted free agency: "He's one of those guys who's a product of the system. I'd be very uncomfortable paying him zillions of dollars. He is situationally [valuable]."
That may be true, but Green deserves plenty of credit for making the most of the plum situation in which he's found himself. Over his last five games, the Michigan State product has averaged 17.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks.
Whether or not other teams come calling for Green this summer, the Dubs shouldn't have any reservations about shelling out some serious cash to keep him in their system.
All statistics current heading into March 13 games.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
