NBA Team Rankings: Empire State Of Mind

Another week of rankings and we have some shakeups today. Some of those shakeups will be due to unfortunate injuries, and others will simply be due to teams either figuring things out or involuntarily falling on their faces. And yes….I had to throw in a JAY-Z reference with the title.

As always, the way I create these rankings is by answering the question: if the playoffs started today, who’s going to win the championship? I answer that question and then continue the rankings by comparing teams until I get to the last one.

1. Milwaukee Bucks (21-8) – last week: 2nd

The Bucks were on the end of two blowout wins against the Warriors and Jazz and a blowout loss to the Grizzlies. Bad losses happen…even to the best of them.

2. Boston Celtics (22-9) – last week: 1st The Celtics went 1-3 this week with their only win coming in overtime against the Lakers. I don’t think we should overreact to this string of bad results. The all-time great shooting they had been displaying had to come back down to Earth to some extent. Now with Robert Williams back, I expect their defense to rise near the top of the league.

3. Memphis Grizzlies (19-10) – last week: 4th Memphis had their most impressive win of the season against the Bucks on Thursday. They had quite a few bigs they were able to use to have success in slowing down Giannis. Most notably…Steven Adams.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers (20-11) – last week: 6th The Cavs have won three straight after the one point loss to the Spurs on Monday. The Cavs have played five overtime games this season and they have won all five.

5. Brooklyn Nets (19-12) – last week: 9th With a new coach and KD and Kyrie playing some of their best basketball together since they joined forces, the Nets look brand new. Brooklyn has won six straight and the dynamic duo combined for 81 points in their latest win against Detroit. 6. New Orleans Pelicans (18-11) – last week: 3rd

The Pelicans have lost three in a row after their seven game winning streak. They are still without Brandon Ingram who has now been sidelined due to a toe injury for seven games. For some reason, the Utah Jazz have had their number and beat them twice this week. 7. Denver Nuggets (18-11) – last week: 7th The Nuggets bounced back from their loss to the Lakers by taking care of business against Charlotte on Sunday. Let me just throw a wild stat line at you…..40 points, 10 assists, and 27 REBOUNDS. Nikola Jokic is special.

8. Phoenix Suns (18-12) – last week: 8th Devin Booker had 58 points on Saturday in the win over the Pelicans! It was a much needed win for the Suns and he pretty much needed all 58.

9. Philadelphia 76ers (16-12) – last week: 10th The 76ers went 2-0 on the week with solid wins over the Kings and Warriors. Joel Embiid had 34 points and 13 rebounds in the win over the Warriors.

10. Sacramento Kings (16-12) – last week: 11th Sacramento was able to pull out a tight one on the road in Toronto on Wednesday. In that win they got 21 points, 20 rebounds, and 7 assists from Domantas Sabonis.

11. Los Angeles Clippers (18-14) – last week: 14th We saw some good signs from Kawhi Leonard for the first time this week. In a huge win over the Celtics, he had 25 points and 9 rebounds. On Saturday, he had 31 in a win over the Wizards.

12. Dallas Mavericks (15-15) – last week: 12th I think Luka may have had the best dunk of his career so far against Portland this week. He did whatever he wanted in that win, but Dallas was unable to beat Cleveland in either of their matchups this week.

13. Portland Trailblazers (17-13) – last week: 13th Portland went 3-1 this week. In their win over Houston, Anfernee Simons had 32 points and Damian Lillard added 25 points and 10 assists.

14. New York Knicks (17-13) – last week: 18th Welcome to the bright lights, Knicks. Seven wins in a row. I’m surprised I haven’t seen any viral videos of Knicks fans tearing down any lamp posts or street signs.

15. Miami Heat (16-15) – last week: 16th Miami was able to sneak by against mediocre competition this week, but I’m still worried about the offense. It just seems more stagnant this year and Miami has been less of a threat from deep this season.

16. Utah Jazz (17-15) – last week: 21st Before losing to the Bucks on Saturday, Utah beat the Pelicans twice. In Thursday’s win, Jordan Clarkson had 39 points and 8 rebounds.

17. Golden State Warriors (15-16) – last week: 5th The Warriors have already been without Andrew Wiggins and have now have to figure things out without Stephen Curry for at least a few weeks. That completely changes their team and means they have to rely a lot on Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole to produce on offense.

18. Indiana Pacers (15-16) – last week: 17th The Pacers went 1-3 on the week and are coming off of a close loss to the Knicks. Buddy Hield and Aaron Nesmith each had 23 points in this one.

19. Minnesota Timberwolves (15-15) – last week: 20th Minnesota just scored a whopping 150 points on the reeling Bulls. Anthony Edwards put up 37 points, 11 assists, and 7 rebounds.

20. Atlanta Hawks (15-15) – last week: 19th Atlanta is coming off a dominant win in Charlotte on Friday. Bogdan Bogdanovic caught fire in that one with 28 points and 7 threes.

21. Los Angeles Lakers (13-16) – last week: 23rd Just as the Lakers may have been turning the corner, Anthony Davis suffered a right foot injury in Friday’s game against the Nuggets. The Lakers did come out with a nice win, but Davis being sidelined for at least a month will surely make it more difficult for this team to string together wins.

22. Orlando Magic (11-20) – last week: 27th Shockingly, Orlando has won six in a row. They beat the Celtics twice this week which is very impressive even if Tatum did not play Sunday. Paolo Banchero had 31 points in that win.

23. Toronto Raptors (13-17) – last week: 15th Toronto is really going through it right now. In their latest loss to the Warriors, they gave up 18 threes and Jordan Poole got wherever he wanted to go on the court.

24. Chicago Bulls (11-18) – last week: 22nd At this point it’s clear the Bulls need to make some sort of move before the deadline. Whether that means minor changes or a complete rebuild…..it’s time for the front office to hit the phones.

25. Oklahoma City Thunder (12-18) – last week: 24th The Thunder got a big win over Memphis on Saturday. In that victory, Luguentz Dort had 24 points and 7 rebounds.

26. Washinton Wizards (11-20) – last week: 25th The Wizards just lost their tenth straight game to the Lakers in chaotic fashion. They have completely thrown their hat in the ring in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.

27. Houston Rockets (9-20) – last week: 26th Houston went 1-2 this week with the lone win coming against the Suns. In that win, Jalen Green had 26 points and 7 rebounds.

28. San Antonio Spurs (9-20) – last week: 28th The Spurs picked up a solid win over Cleveland before losing to Portland and Miami. Josh Richardson was a key contributor off the bench against the Cavs with 24 points.

29. Detroit Pistons (8-24) – last week: 30th The news of Cade Cunningham being out for the season is terrible for fans on many levels. The one thing it is good for is odds to get the top pick.

30. Charlotte Hornets (7-23) – last week: 29th Charlotte lost all three of their games this week. In their loss to Denver, LaMelo Ball had 31 points.