NBA Team Rankings: Warriors Rise, Pacers Free Fall

This week the NBA went to France, Shannon Sharpe got into it with half of the Memphis Grizzlies team, and Boston won a thriller over Golden State in overtime. Speaking of Golden State: they are one of the biggest risers this week along with the Hawks and Lakers. The teams that dropped the most are the Pacers, Pelicans, Knicks, and Trailblazers.

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 (35-12) – last week: 1st

The Celtics continued their winning streak and got a huge win over the Warriors on Thursday. Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 19 rebounds in that win.

2. Denver Nuggets (33-14) – last week: 3rd

Nikola Jokic had one of his best games of the season in the Nuggets’ win over Portland this week. He finished with 36 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists on 13-14 from the field. Can’t get much closer to a perfect offensive game than that.

3. Memphis Grizzlies (31-15) – last week: 2nd

Memphis has dropped two in a row since their long winning streak. In their 112-110 loss to the Suns, Ja Morant had 27 points and 8 assists.

4. Milwaukee Bucks (29-17) – last week: 4th

Without Giannis in the lineup this week, the Bucks went 2-1. Jrue Holiday had a huge performance in their win over the Raptors and posted a season-high 37 points.

5. Philadelphia 76ers (30-16) – last week: 6th

The 76ers have been slowly climbing my rankings, and are as high as they have been since I started making them. They finished their west coast road trip 5-0 and beat the Kings with Tyrese Maxey leading the way.

6. Cleveland Cavaliers (29-19) – last week: 5th

Cavs fans have reason to feel let down after losing to the short-handed Warriors, but they also nearly beat Memphis without Donovan Mitchell. In that loss, Darius Garland had 14 assists and only 2 turnovers.

7. Golden State Warriors (23-24) – last week: 12th

Klay Thompson looked like the Klay Thompson from 2019 on Thursday against Boston. He had 24 points in the overtime loss.

8. Sacramento Kings (26-19) – last week: 9th

The Kings went 2-1 on the week. In their latest loss to the 76ers, De’Aaron Fox had 31 points and 9 assists.

9. Miami Heat (26-22) – last week: 10th

Miami beat New Orleans in both of their matchups this week. In Sunday’s win, they came from down 16 and Tyler Herro had 26 points and 8 rebounds.

10. Los Angeles Clippers (25-24) – last week: 11th

In their last outing, the Clippers beat the Mavericks 112-98. Kawhi Leonard had 30 points and 9 rebounds in the victory.

11. New Orleans Pelicans (26-21) – last week: 7th

New Orleans has lost four in a row and really need Brandon Ingram to return soon. On Friday they lost to Orlando and CJ McCollum had 23 points.

12. New York Knicks (25-23) – last week: 8th

The Knicks have lost four in a row and continue to be a hard team to figure out. In the loss, RJ Barrett had 30 points and 7 rebounds.

13. Dallas Mavericks (25-23) – last week: 13th

The Mavericks went 1-2 on the week with the lone win coming over Miami. In that win, Luka Doncic had 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists.

14. Brooklyn Nets (29-17) – last week: 14th

Brooklyn dropped a game to San Antonio and beat Golden State in the same week. In their win over the Warriors, Kyrie Irving had 38 points and 9 assists.

15. Atlanta Hawks (24-23) – last week: 17th

Atlanta has really turned it around recently. This is a team that I had 21st two weeks ago and had won five in a row before the letdown against Charlotte on Saturday.

16. Minnesota Timberwolves (24-24) – last week: 15th

Minnesota has won their last two games against Toronto and Houston, respectively. In the victory over Houston, Anthony Edwards had 44 points.

17. Phoenix Suns (24-24) – last week: 19th

The Suns won a tight won over Memphis in their last outing. Chris Paul had 22 points and 11 assists.

18. Utah Jazz (24-25) – last week: 20th

Utah went 2-1 this week. They beat the Clippers on Wednesday and Lauri Markkanen had 34 points and 12 rebounds.

19. Los Angeles Lakers (22-25) – last week: 23rd

LeBron continues to defy the concept of ‘Father Time’. In the Lakers’ latest win over Portland, LeBron had 37 points and 11 rebounds.

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

The Thunder continue to get big wins with the latest coming against the Denver Nuggets. In the win, Gilgeous-Alexander had 34 points.

21. Portland Trailblazers (21-25) – last week: 16th

Portland lost all three of their games this week. Anfernee Simons had 31 points in their latest loss to the Lakers.

22. Chicago Bulls (21-24) – last week: 22nd

Chicago only played one game this week in France and it was a victory over the Pistons. Zach LaVine had 30 points in the win.

23. Toronto Raptors (21-27) – last week: 24th

Toronto beat the Knicks 125-116 in their last outing. Fred VanVleet had 28 points in the victory.

24. Washington Wizards (20-26) – last week: 25th

The Wizards went to Madison Square Garden and beat the Knicks this week. Kyle Kuzma had an awesome night with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists.

25. Indiana Pacers (23-25) – last week: 18th

The Pacers are plummeting without Tyrese Haliburton and have lost seven straight. If anything, this proves Tyrese should be a lock to make the All-Star team.

26. Orlando Magic (17-29) – last week: 26th

The Magic got nice win on Friday against New Orleans in which Franz Wagner had 30 points and 9 assists. The following night, they really struggled and gave up 138 points in a loss to the Wizards.

27. San Antonio Spurs (14-32) – last week: 27th

San Antonio pulled off a win over Brooklyn and came close to beating the Clippers. In their victory over the Nets, Keldon Johnson had 36 points and 11 rebounds.

28. Charlotte Hornets (13-34) – last week: 29th

Charlotte has won two games in a row and just pulled the upset in Atlanta on Saturday. Terry Rozier had 34 points in that win.

29. Detroit Pistons (12-36) – last week: 28th

Killian Hayes struggled in his homecoming to France as the Pistons lost 126-108. Their next game is a tough one at home against Milwaukee.

30. Houston Rockets (10-36) – last week: 30th

The Rockets’ losing streak is now up to thirteen. In their latest loss to Minnesota, Alperen Sengun had 19 points and 16 rebounds.