NBA Team Rankings: Memphis Rocks

The race for Victor Wembanyama is on with four teams separating themselves amongst the worst in the league. Those teams are the Rockets, Hornets, Pistons, and Spurs. Meanwhile, the Celtics, Grizzlies, and Nuggets are sitting at the top of the league and all look like championship contenders.

Everything in between is what I am most intrigued by. In the East, injuries to two stars in Kevin Durant and Tyrese Haliburton create an opportunity for other teams to move up the standings as the Nets and Pacers figure out how to patch things together in their absence. In the West, the difference between the Kings who are currently 4th in the West and the Lakers who are 13th is only 5.5 games.

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. Boston Celtics (32-12) – last week: 1st

The Celtics went 4-0 this week and three of them were by double digits. In their latest win over the Hornets, Malcolm Brogdon had 30 points and hit 4 threes off the bench.

2. Memphis Grizzlies (29-13) – last week: 2nd

Memphis now has a nine game winning streak. Ja Morant had yet another jaw-dropping slam dunk in their win over the Pacers. He finished with 23 points and 10 assists.

3. Denver Nuggets (30-13) – last week: 3rd

The Nuggets are also now on a big winning streak that continued after a 119-116 victory over the Orlando Magic. Nikola Jokic hit the go-ahead step back three pointer to win it and had another triple double.

4. Milwaukee Bucks (27-16) – last week: 5th

Giannis has struggled recently by his standards and hasn’t played the last couple games. It’s hard to say how much of that bad play is due to minor injuries. It’s clear to me that they need Khris Middleton back very soon.

5. Cleveland Cavaliers (27-17) – last week: 6th

The Cavs went 1-2 this week with their latest loss coming against the Timberwolves. Donovan Mitchell struggled in that one, but pretty much every one has an off night. They have a tough stretch of games coming up starting with the Pelicans Monday night.

6. Philadelphia 76ers (27-16) – last week: 7th

The 76ers are coming off of back-to-back one point victories over the Jazz and Lakers. In their latest win over the Lakers, Joel Embiid had 35 points and 11 rebounds.

7. New Orleans Pelicans (26-17) – last week: 8th

Brandon Ingram’s return continues to get delayed for the Pelicans. They are still playing well despite being short-handed and beat the Wizards and Pistons this week.

8. New York Knicks (25-19) – last week: 10th

The Knicks won three of four this week. In their win over Detroit, Julius Randle had 42 points and 15 rebounds.

9. Sacramento Kings (24-18) – last week: 12th

The Kings cleaned up against an easy schedule this week. In their latest win over the Spurs, Harrison Barnes had 29 points.

10. Miami Heat (24-20) – last week: 13th

Miami beat the Thunder right at the end after a spectacular and-1 play by Jimmy Butler and then beat the short-handed Bucks twice. They seem to have found something, but still would like to see them add someone who can stretch the floor and play next to Bam in the front frontcourt.

11. Los Angeles Clippers (23-22) – last week: 14th

The Clippers had a really nice win against Dallas earlier this week in which Kawhi had 33 points and 9 rebounds. However, they followed that up by losing to the Jokic-less Nuggets the following game.

12. Golden State Warriors (21-22) – last week: 16th

Listen I had no idea where to slot the Warriors this week. Stephen Curry returned, but they went 1-2 on the week. In their latest game against the Bulls, they had 23 turnovers.

13. Dallas Mavericks (24-21) – last week: 9th

Dallas went 1-3 this week and just lost back-to-back games to the Trailblazers. Luka didn’t play in the most recent loss, but Dallas’ defense has really struggled as of late.

14. Brooklyn Nets (27-15) – last week: 4th

The Nets are set to be without Kevin Durant for about a month. Last year when they lost Durant they were 1st in the East and struggled big time without him. In his absence, Kyrie will need to be a more efficient scorer and Ben Simmons will need to be more aggressive going toward the basket.

15. Minnesota Timberwolves (22-22) – last week: 18th

Minnesota is coming off of a great win against Cleveland on Saturday. Anthony Edwards had 26 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds.

16. Portland Trailblazers (21-22) – last week: 15th

Portland has had a rough stretch of games recently, but was able to have two great offensive showings in wins over Dallas. In their latest victory, Damian Lillard had 40 points.

17. Atlanta Hawks (21-22) – last week: 21st

The Hawks got wins on back-to-back nights over the Pacers and Raptors. In the win over the Raptors, Trae Young and Dejounte Murray combined for 56 points.

18. Indiana Pacers (23-21) – last week: 11th

Indiana is now without Tyrese Haliburton for at least two weeks. Could that have any impact on how they choose to handle the upcoming trade deadline?

19. Phoenix Suns (21-23) – last week: 20th

The Suns went 1-2 on the week in the absence of Devin Booker and Chris Paul. In their latest loss to Minnesota, Damion Lee had 31 points off the bench.

20. Utah Jazz (22-24) – last week: 23rd

The Jazz lost a tough one to the 76ers after a game winning jumper by Joel Embiid. That shot prevented them from going 3-0 on the week after beating the Cavs and Magic.

21. Oklahoma City Thunder (21-23) – last week: 24th

Oklahoma City has won three in a row after their win over Brooklyn. Josh Giddey impressed in that one with 28 points, 9 assists, and 9 rebounds.

22. Chicago Bulls (20-24) – last week: 17th

After struggling against the Thunder, Chicago bounced back with a fourteen point win over the Warriors. Nikola Vucevic probably had his best game of the season with 43 points and 13 rebounds.

23. Los Angeles Lakers (19-24) – last week: 19th

The Lakers really had a great chance to beat the 76ers, but the ball never found LeBron James’ hands on the final possession down one. LeBron had 35 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds in the loss.

24. Toronto Raptors (19-24) – last week: 22nd

Toronto’s defense struggled to contain the Hawks in the loss on Saturday. Scottie Barnes finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds in that one.

25. Washington Wizards (18-25) – last week: 25th

The Wizards lost a close one to the Knicks 112-108. Kyle Kuzma had 40 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds in the game.

26. Orlando Magic (16-28) – last week: 26th

Orlando beat Portland earlier in the week and suffered two close losses to Utah and Denver. In their latest loss, Markell Fultz had 20 points.

27. San Antonio Spurs (13-31) – last week: 27th

The Spurs were winless this week and gave up over 130 points in their last three losses. In their latest loss, Jakob Poeltl had 23 points and 7 rebounds.

28. Detroit Pistons (12-35) – last week: 29th

Detroit went 1-3 on the week with their lone win coming against Minnesota. In that win, Saddiq Bey had 31 points.

29. Charlotte Hornets (11-33) – last week: 28th

This isn’t really related to the Hornets, but 4 years ago today I got to see LaMelo Ball play in person in a great high school gym environment. LaMelo had 31 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds in Charlotte’s loss to the Celtics on Saturday.

30. Houston Rockets (10-33) – last week: 30th

I just have to say it: the Rockets are miserable. They were beaten by at least 20 points in each of their last 3 games.