NBA Power Rankings: Can Anyone Catch the Houston Rockets?
Believe it or not, this'll be the second-to-last regular-season edition of NBA power rankings.
Sad, right?
Except...not really. Because soon, we won't have to pay any attention to the quarter of the league that has been tanking for two months, and the constant jockeying for position will be over. Things simplify when the analysis shifts to postseason matchups, and better still, everyone will be giving full effort.
As always, these rankings are designed to organize all 30 teams into an order that reflects the league's current hierarchy. They're not a forecast, and they're certainly not meant to suggest which teams have the best shot at a title.
Recent play is important, but now that we're all but finished with the regular season, we have to take each team's full body of work into account. Injuries are major factors, though, because it doesn't much matter what the Golden State Warriors did with Stephen Curry when we're judging how good they are at the moment—when they don't have him.
Stats are accurate through games played Thursday, March 29.
30-26
1 of 14
Last week's ranking in parentheses.
30. Phoenix Suns (30)
If the Suns don't win a game for the rest of this season (which might be tougher than you think with the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks still on the schedule), they'll have 66 total victories over the last three years.
The Houston Rockets have to go just 5-2 over their final seven games to match that number.
When's the last time someone pushed the NBA to consider Premier League-style relegation? Just curious...
29. Chicago Bulls (28)
Like everyone else in these lower reaches, the Bulls just keep losing. They're on a seven-game slide, and when getting tank commander Zach LaVine back from left knee tendonitis counts as a glimmer of hope on the horizon, you get a sense of just how bad things have gotten.
LaVine is a deeply damaging defender who scores inefficiently while using a ton of possessions. If the Bulls throw big money at him in free agency, it'll be a mistake. Better to build around Lauri Markkanen, who, weeks ago, set the record for most threes made in a season by a rookie 6'10" or taller. In a league increasingly obsessed with floor-stretching size, Markkanen projects as immensely valuable.
...And that's how you do a glass-half-full take on the Bulls.
28. New York Knicks (26)
"It was kinda a statement game for him," Bradley Beal told reporters of Trey Burke's efforts against the Washington Wizards on Sunday. "He made it personal"
Burke, who washed out with the Wiz last season, scored 19 points and hit the go-ahead layup (plus a foul) in the New York Knicks' 101-97 victory.
Frank Ntilikina and Burke started that one together, signaling the organization's dissatisfaction with the brief Emmanuel Mudiay experiment. Burke's solid play of late goes to show that tanking teams can use the meaningless stretch run to do more than develop their own young prospects. They can also go out and find distressed assets worth saving—like Burke.
27. Memphis Grizzlies (29)
The Grizzlies lost by a zillion (OK, 61) on the final day of the last rankings session, offsetting a win from earlier in the week. But then they went out and won another game, a 101-93 victory in Minnesota on Monday, after which they stunned the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday to complete a 2-1 week.
Marshon Brooks, playing his first NBA game in over four years, hit seven of his 12 shots and took over the game in the fourth quarter, drilling four treys in the final 5:56.
This isn't how you're supposed to tank, but the absurd theater of the Brooks explosion was worth it.
26. Orlando Magic (27)
Aaron Gordon put up 29 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in Saturday's win over the Suns, giving him easily his best totals since returning from a concussion on March 20. In fact, it may have been the most complete statistical game of Gordon's career.
He'd never amassed those three-category totals before, and the 29 points tied for the ninth-highest scoring total of Gordon's career. The eight assists? A career high.
Orlando moves up—less because of the win (over Phoenix, so big whoop) and more because Gordon is closing the season on a high note.
25-21
2 of 14
25. Atlanta Hawks (22)
The Hawks have dropped 10 of their last 11 games and just concluded a road trip through the Western Conference that, aside from the forever inexplicable win over the Jazz on March 20, proceeded predictably.
Dennis Schroder and no fewer than five other guards are currently hurt, but Taurean Prince scored 28 points against the Houston Rockets on Sunday, continuing his late-season binge.
24. Sacramento Kings (25)
Buddy Hield continues to produce, having now posted double-figure scoring totals in eight straight games. Skal Labissiere scored 19 points and grabbed eight boards during Tuesday's loss to the Mavericks. So at least the Kings are seeing some signs from their young talent.
Thanks to the Suns, who've displaced them from both the worst offensive and defensive rating slots in the league, this year's Kings won't be regarded as one of the worst teams in league history. Small victories, people.
23. Dallas Mavericks (24)
There hasn't been much to get excited about during the Dallas Mavericks' slog toward the finish, but it's encouraging that they've maximized Doug McDermott's value. Since the deadline, he's hitting almost 60 percent of his threes, comfortably the best conversion rate in the league among players who've attempted at least 50 triples in that span.
No current Mav with at least 20 games played has a higher on-court net rating than the fourth-year forward.
22. Brooklyn Nets (23)
Since Feb. 2, the Nets have just one win over a non-tanker: a 125-111 victory at Charlotte on March 8.
That's not to say Brooklyn hasn't been competitive. The Nets' schedule is riddled with close losses, and Jarrett Allen takes that as a qualified positive, telling Anthony Puccio of Nets Daily: "I think it's a good thing. You can tell we're playing against some really good teams and we're competing with them throughout the whole game, it's just the ending where we've made mistakes. It feels promising though."
Brooklyn plays five of its final seven games on the road, so close losses may be all it has to hope for.
21. Los Angeles Lakers (19)
The Lakers announced Isaiah Thomas will undergo arthroscopic surgery on the hip that cost him several months to start the season and sapped him of the zip that put him in the MVP conversation last year. It's been a brutal year for him, and it's possible this latest development destroys Thomas' already cratering market value in free agency.
L.A.'s only success in the last two weeks came against outright tankers, and Julius Randle's productivity is taking on a "gotta get mine before free agency" tone that feels a little icky. His tunnel vision has tunnel vision.
20-16
3 of 14
20. Denver Nuggets (18)
We're done here.
Denver has lost five of its last eight and faces nothing but teams with better records (aside from Milwaukee, which has an identical record) for the remainder of the season. Undone by a bottom-five defense (that has been much worse than that lately) and a reluctance to run everything through Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets go down as one of the season's most disappointing teams.
19. Detroit Pistons (20)
Without hope of reaching the playoffs, the Detroit Pistons can at least take solace in the fact that Reggie Bullock and rookie Luke Kennard are using these last few games to solidify themselves as rotation-caliber wings.
Bullock, on track to start over 50 games, is shooting better from the field and from deep than he ever has. And Kennard broke a string of five straight double-figure scoring efforts when he managed just seven points against the Lakers on Monday.
Regardless of what happens in the rest of March, Detroit won't have a winning record for the month. In fact, it hasn't been better than .500 in any month since November.
18. Charlotte Hornets (21)
They couldn't keep it rolling against the Cavs on Wednesday, but the Hornets have still won four of their last five. Don't expect that run to appease Kemba Walker, who told Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer: "At this point, I want to win. I want to be in the playoffs. I'm tired of not being in the playoffs. ... I hate watching them on TV."
Charlotte's four most recent wins came against the Nets, Grizzlies, Mavs and Knicks—all eliminated from playoff contention. The Hornets will return essentially the same roster next year (barring trades), the last of Walker's bargain contract.
If he wants to see the playoffs someplace besides TV, Walker probably needs to get out of Charlotte.
17. Milwaukee Bucks (17)
Consider this your periodic reminder that Giannis Antetokounmpo is the Milwaukee Bucks. They're about a dozen points per 100 possessions better when he's on the floor, vaulting from a net rating that would rank 28th in the league when he sits to one that would be fourth-best when he plays.
All but certain to occupy either the seventh or eighth spot in the East, Milwaukee profiles as a solid upset pick for the playoffs. With shorter rotations and Antetokounmpo likely to see 40 minutes per game, the Bucks will put a scare into whomever they face.
16. Minnesota Timberwolves (14)
Lose to Memphis, which the Wolves did at home on Monday, and you're going to slip in the rankings. It doesn't matter if you're playing without Jimmy Butler. It doesn't matter if Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins are feeling fatigue at the end of a season that'll see them finish in the top six in minutes played.
There's no excuse. No mitigation.
Not even Towns' career-high and franchise-record 56 points on Wednesday changes that.
15-11
4 of 14
15. New Orleans Pelicans (11)
Jrue Holiday's 21-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist effort during New Orleans' loss to Portland on Tuesday made him the fourth Pelican to record a triple-double this year, making this the first time a team had four guys pull that off since the 1973-74 Lakers, according to NBA.com.
That's an appropriate distinction for a team that has survived mainly on the strength of sheer individual brilliance. DeMarcus Cousins was monstrous before getting hurt, Anthony Davis went supernova almost immediately after Boogie went down, and Holiday has been quietly excellent in what's easily been his best season.
Rajon Rondo...remains a terrific stat-padder.
New Orleans lost two straight to close out the week.
14. Washington Wizards (13)
John Wall was upgraded to questionable but didn't quite make it back to action on Thursday. His imminent return will hopefully put an end to the Wizards' erratic swings.
Though we shouldn't expect a speed-based player like Wall to be a full go immediately, his stewardship of the offense should level the Wizards out a bit. There's no reason to lose to the Nuggets and Knicks, which Washington did this week, when you can beat the Spurs.
13. Los Angeles Clippers (16)
Maybe the Clips will close with a flourish and vault into that final playoff spot out West, and maybe they won't. But at least we'll always have Milos Teodosic throwing the ball backward over his head to DeAndre Jordan for a dunk.
Victorious in four of its last five games, L.A. feels like a lock to finish with a win total in the mid-40s...which will probably fall just short of eighth-best in the conference.
12. Miami Heat (15)
Hassan Whiteside made it back after three weeks off because of a hip injury, and he returns to a Heat team poised to finish strong.
The Heat went 2-2 this week with a strong defensive effort against the Cavs on Tuesday, holding a red-hot offense to just 79 points.
Though Miami will have to face Toronto and OKC in its final two games of the year, everything before that will be cake.
11. Golden State Warriors (8)
An MRI revealed a Grade 2 sprain of the MCL in Stephen Curry's left knee. The injury, suffered against the Hawks last Friday, will keep the two-time MVP sidelined for at least three weeks, at which point he'll be re-evaluated.
Even with Kevin Durant returning Thursday, the Warriors simply don't warrant a top-10 spot as long as Curry's out. On the year, they have a negative net rating when Curry and Klay Thompson are off the floor, and the figure actually gets worse when you filter the minutes to specify Durant is on.
With an elite backcourt sidelined, it's actually generous to slot the Warriors anywhere near the top 10. Call it a legacy ranking.
10. San Antonio Spurs
5 of 14
Last Week: 9
The Spurs held off Donovan Mitchell and some incredible late-game shot-making to beat the Jazz on Friday, largely because LaMarcus Aldridge simply couldn't be stopped.
He scored a career-high 45 points against a defense that has been better than any other for several months. As Aldridge drove his shoulder into Rudy Gobert and drilled several high-arcing turnarounds over that 9'7" standing reach, you got a sense of why the Spurs have so anachronistically leaned on an old-school post-up game.
When he has it going, Aldridge is basically immune to one-on-one defense.
Unfortunately for the Spurs' positioning here, Aldridge tweaked a knee against the Wizards on Tuesday (though an MRI revealed no structural damage), and they also fell to Milwaukee and Washington.
9. Indiana Pacers
6 of 14
Last Week: 12
You might not be impressed by the Indiana Pacers' defense-fueled comeback from a 15-point deficit against the short-handed Warriors on Tuesday. But when viewed as part of a larger second-half turnaround, what Indy did in that game helps explain why it belongs back in the top 10.
Since the All-Star break, the Pacers sit in the top five in defensive efficiency. That's a huge achievement for a group that went into the break ranked 17th.
Champions of an abandoned offensive style (Indiana makes more mid-range jumpers than any other team) and suddenly defensively stout, the Pacers are a tough group to get a handle on. It's been that way all year.
Nobody had a clue how good they'd be when the season started, and figuring out how they continue to surprise remains a tricky task.
Yet here they are, winners of four straight with a mathematically locked-in playoff spot.
8. Philadelphia 76ers
7 of 14
Last Week: 5
Owners of the best net rating in the Eastern Conference since the All-Star break, the Sixers whipped Minnesota and Denver this week as Joel Embiid soundly outplayed both Karl-Anthony Towns and Nikola Jokic. Whatever questions remained about the identity of the league's top young big man are now gone.
Embiid is on pace to become the first player in league history to average 23 points and 11 rebounds in under 31 minutes per game. And if voters can't get past all the games Gobert has missed this season, Embiid might also win DPOY.
His orbital fracture, which will require surgery (and a recovery of 2-4 weeks, per ESPN.com's Zach Lowe), necessarily weakens Philly.
Still, Ben Simmons posted his 10th triple-double of the season Saturday against Minnesota, Markelle Fultz returned and looked bouncy against the Nuggets, and Philadelphia continues to carve out its niche as the playoff opponent nobody wants to face.
Not to pile on the pressure, but the Sixers are starting to take on the "why not us?" ahead-of-schedule vibe we saw from the 2011-12 Thunder, who made the Finals.
The only reason for the drop is Embiid's absence.
7. Cleveland Cavaliers
8 of 14
Last Week: 10
LeBron James refuses to quit.
"Of players currently in the Hall of Fame, only 20 percent of them even reached a 15th season," ESPN's Micah Adams tweeted. "In his 15th season, LeBron is RAISING his career averages in scoring, assists, rebounds, blocks and PER. Dude's legit getting better at a point where most legends are already finished."
Kevin Love, recently concussed, had been a boost to the offense, which went supernova in the four full games he played between injuries, posting a 123.9 offensive rating. An offensive collapse after Love had to leave the loss against Miami on Tuesday illustrated the injury-hit big man's value.
When Larry Nance Jr. has been on the floor, the defense has been fine, which hints at the ceiling for Cleveland if the right lineups see enough time in the postseason.
The Cavs hit us with a glimpse of their potential this week. Assuming Love isn't out too long as he works through the concussion protocol, they've done enough to move up.
6. Oklahoma City Thunder
9 of 14
Last Week: 7
Russell Westbrook scored 17 fourth-quarter points to help beat the Heat by a final of 105-99 on Friday, which gives us the opportunity to clarify what's going on with the Thunder this year. For all the lamenting about Carmelo Anthony's disappointing season (seriously, though, what did you expect from a 33-year-old?), the void at shooting guard and the clunky offense, the real difference between this season and last is simple.
OKC hasn't been as good in the clutch. And we should have seen that coming.
In 2016-17, the Thunder owned a plus-19.9 clutch net rating (truly anomalous for a team whose overall net rating was minus-0.2) and a 26-16 record in games that reached close-and-late status. Westbrook used an incomprehensible 62.3 percent of the team's possessions, almost literally scoring or assisting on every late-game bucket, and the defense clamped down to the tune of a 96.8 defensive rating.
This season, OKC is a plus-1.2 in the clutch, and Westbrook is using fewer possessions while also scoring less efficiently.
Oklahoma City's win-loss totals are now lining up more appropriately with its point differential, which was bound to happen.
As for this week's ranking, the Thunder have done enough to stick in the top 10 because they haven't lost to a non-playoff team since Feb. 8 and still own a 5-2 mark against Houston, Toronto and Golden State.
5. Utah Jazz
10 of 14
Last Week: 4
We've reached the point now where the Jazz's phenomenal run since late January constitutes a large enough percentage of their season to make this ranking feel less like an acknowledgement of a hot stretch and more like a rightful spot based on full-year numbers.
This recent rough patch—which started with an uncharacteristic slip against the Hawks last week, continued with a hard-fought loss in San Antonio, and concluded with a last-possession loss to Boston on Wednesday— has the Jazz looking mortal. But they weren't going to win 21 out of every 23 games forever.
As long as Rudy Gobert is around, Utah will continue lapping the field defensively.
"His presence on the floor gives us a chance," Jazz head coach Quin Snyder told ESPN.com's Tim MacMahon. "He's our most important player as far as how he anchors our team. He's the foundation."
If Kawhi Leonard could win it two seasons ago despite 18 missed games, Gobert, who'll miss 26 if he plays out the string, deserves serious consideration for Defensive Player of the Year.
4. Boston Celtics
11 of 14
Last Week: 6
The Celtics announced on March 24 that Kyrie Irving would be sidelined for 3-6 weeks following the removal of a tension wire in his left knee. That should have sealed Boston's fate outside the top five here.
But Terry Rozier scored a career-high 33 points in Sunday's win over the Kings, and his reliable scoring as a starter suggests the Celtics might be fine without Irving for now.
Boston has won five straight, and Wednesday's last-second triumph over Utah, courtesy of Jaylen Brown's late three on a slick Brad Stevens play design, stands out as the best victory of the bunch. Until everyone gets healthy, which we now know won't happen during the regular season, the Celtics will have to gut out most of their games.
Based on what we've seen lately, that won't be a problem.
3. Portland Trail Blazers
12 of 14
Last Week: 3
Two road wins over playoff hopefuls and continued heroism from Damian Lillard have the Blazers holding strong in the top five for another week.
Per Joe Freeman of the Oregonian:
For those who thought the Blazers' captivating 13-game win streak was merely a late-season hot streak rather than a prelude to postseason success, Sunday night suggested otherwise. After enduring gut-wrenching losses to the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics, the Blazers were equal parts tough and clutch as they smacked the Thunder on their own court, winning a game that very much had a playoff feel.
After securing that 108-105 win on the road Sunday, Lillard hung 20 fourth-quarter points in a feisty Pelicans team in New Orleans on Tuesday, adding more evidence to the notion that the Blazers aren't part of the messy fight for position in the lower half of the West's playoff race. They're in their own mini-tier of one, secure in their third seed.
Maurice Harkless is set for arthroscopic knee surgery, the team announced, and he may miss 2-3 weeks. Evan Turner's three-ball better start falling.
Oh, and even though we established a loss to Memphis, regardless of excuses, means you have to slip, we're breaking that rule here. Lillard missed Wednesday's 108-103 loss to Memphis because he was attending the birth of his child. That earns Portland a break.
2. Toronto Raptors
13 of 14
Last Week: 2
Two weeks ago, we crowned the Raptors with their first No. 1 ranking of the season. Coincidentally (but also possibly because these rankings have undiscovered jinxing capabilities), Toronto subsequently stumbled to a 4-3 record.
Hardly top-spot material.
The Raptors are in no danger of losing their grip on the East, but for a squad beset by questions about its readiness for serious contention in the playoffs, this recent defensive skid—Toronto surrendered 132, 132 and 117 points in losses to the Thunder, Cavs and Clips since snagging that first position in our rankings—probably have skeptics readying their smuggest nods.
As John Schuhmann (not a skeptic, just a guy who always has good stats) of NBA.com noted, only the Cavs have been worse defensively against the league's elite offenses.
The overall body of work remains impressive, and the bench, which put on a 13-2 run to retake control of a game against Denver that was slipping out of control, is still fantastic. But if the Raptors don't finish strong, we could see someone else jump ahead of them for this spot next week.
1. Houston Rockets
14 of 14
Last Week: 1
With the Warriors down several key players, the Raptors relaxing and everyone else generally looking mortal, the Rockets are a team apart. Winners of 10 straight and 27 of their last 28 games, they cruised through a 3-0 week, blasting the Pels, Hawks and Bulls by an average of 24.7 points.
The Rockets have spent plenty of time in the top spot this season, but things feel different this week. And for the first time since the Warriors looked truly, unassailably superior to the rest of the league last year, we've got a club occupying that same rarefied and exclusive echelon.
Harden is the runaway MVP, and Houston is going to coast to a win total in the mid-to-high 60s and shatter three-point shooting records on the way.
Maybe Golden State gets right eventually, and perhaps James and the Cavs can flip the switch when the games really count. But from where we stand now, Houston is miles ahead of the pack.
Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference, Cleaning the Glass or NBA.com unless otherwise specified. Accurate through games played Thursday, March 29.
