Midseason NBA power rankings: Jazz nearing top five, Bucks falling
Paste BN Sports' NBA power rankings for Week 12 (Sunday, Jan. 15 through Saturday, Jan. 21) of the 2016-17 season.
► Midseason Rookie of the Year race: Embiid continues to shine
► Midseason MVP race: Kawhi Leonard back in top five
TEAM (RECORD) MOVEMENT
1. Golden State Warriors (37-6) -
The Warriors started off the week with a bang with a 35-point rout of the Cavaliers, which carried over to Wednesday's game against the Thunder, which they won by 21, and Friday's game in Houston, which they won by 17. Riding a six-game winning streak, the Warriors are on pace to become just the third team in NBA history to reach 70 wins, joining themselves and the 1995-96 Bulls.
2. San Antonio Spurs (34-9) -
After a thrilling 118-115 overtime win over the Cavaliers on Saturday night thanks to a career-high 41 points from franchise cornerstone Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs are on pace for their second consecutive 65-win season. Leonard, who's averaging a career-high 25.5 points and 3.2 assists, has scored 30-plus points in each of his last six games.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers (30-12) -
Saturday's loss to the Spurs was Cleveland's fourth in six games, but it's hardly time for the Eastern Conference leaders to hit the panic button, as they still sit 2 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Raptors and will look to get back on track with games against the Pelicans, Kings and Nets this week.
4. Houston Rockets (34-13) -
The Rockets bounced back from a 17-point home loss to Golden State with a 24-point rout of the Grizzlies — who boast one of the NBA's top defenses — by shooting 51.3% from the field. MVP frontrunner James Harden scored 29 points on 7-for-9 shooting (4-of-6 from three) to go along with 10 assists, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
5. Toronto Raptors (28-15) -
The Raptors have been the NBA's top offense in terms of points scored per 100 possessions for the majority of the season, but managed just 89 points in a loss to the 76ers on Wednesday and a season-low 78 points on Friday in a 35-point beatdown at the hands of the Hornets, a game in which they shot just 33.7% from the field.
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6. Utah Jazz (29-16) +1
In the midst of a six-game winning streak that began with a 100-92 win over Cleveland on Jan. 10, the Jazz — healthy as ever — are playing their best basketball of the season, tied with the injury-riddled Clippers for the fourth seed in the West. In the 21 games that point guard George Hill has played this season, the Jazz are 17-4.
7. Los Angeles Clippers (29-16) -1
The Clippers have dropped two straight since Chris Paul suffered a torn ligament in his thumb — an injury that will keep him sidelined for the next 6-8 weeks. The good news? Blake Griffin, who underwent a right knee procedure and has been out since Dec. 20, is close to 100%.
8. Boston Celtics (26-17) -
Despite Isaiah Thomas averaging 38.3 points, the Celtics dropped two of their three games this week — an 11-point shocker at home against the Knicks (Al Horford had just five points on 2-14 shooting) and a four-point overtime home loss to the Trail Blazers. Horford, Boston's prized offseason acquisition, is averaging 15.1 points, his lowest since 2011-12 (played just 11 games due to injury), and a career-low 6.9 rebounds.
9. Oklahoma City Thunder (25-19) +1
After losing to the Clippers and the Warriors this week by a total of 43 points, the end of January won't get much easier for the Thunder, who must face Utah, Cleveland and San Antonio — all on the road — in the next 10 days.
10. Atlanta Hawks (26-18) +2
The Hawks have only lost two games in January — by two points to Boston on Jan. 13 and by 23 to Detroit on Wednesday — and their 9-2 record in 2017 trails only the Warriors. They sit comfortably in fourth place in the East, just a 1/2 game behind the Celtics.
11. Memphis Grizzlies (26-20) -2
After statement wins over the Warriors and Jazz in early January, the Grizzlies have lost four of six and have the NBA's 19th-ranked defense (108.2 points allowed per 100 possessions) during that span.
12. Washington Wizards (23-20) +1
Other than Saturday night's loss to the Pistons, where Marcus Morris tipped in a buzzer-beating layup over brother Markieff, the Wizards have been on a roll, winning seven of nine en route to the Eastern Conference's fifth seed.
13. Charlotte Hornets (23-21) +1
The Hornets bounced back from a five-game skid with wins over the Trail Blazers, Raptors and Nets this week by a total of 64 points, and are now only a 1/2 game behind the Wizards for fifth place and a 1/2 game ahead of the seventh-place Pacers.
T-14. Chicago Bulls (22-23) +1
The Bulls are making just 6.4 three-pointers per game at 31.6% — both worsts in the league. From the field, they're shooting 43.3% (28th) and average 103.8 points per 100 possessions (20th).
T-14. Indiana Pacers (22-21) +2
After saying he wants to win MVP over the summer, Paul George is averaging less points (21.9), rebounds (6.0), assists (3.3) and steals (1.7) than last season. But Pacers president Larry Bird isn't all that concerned.
"Mentally, I think he’s a little worn down," Bird said in a Q&A with Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star. "Physically I don’t think he is. He’s got his bumps and bruises. I just think it’s been a tough go for him there in a short period of time. Now, do I think he’ll get better as the year goes on? Hell yeah he will. I think we’ll get to the All-Star break and he gets time to relax a little bit and reflect on the first half of the season, I think he’s going to have a monster end of the year. He’s just that good of a player.”
GALLERY: MIDSEASON POWER RANKINGS
16. Detroit Pistons (21-24) +2
Despite Reggie Jackson trade rumors surfacing, Stan Van Gundy insists the Pistons have no plans to shop their starting point guard.
"I would love to do something — take all the rumors that come up over the course of the year and really chart them and see what percentage of those ever happen. I would love to have that. It's gotta be less than one percent," Van Gundy said.
17. Milwaukee Bucks (20-23) -6
The Bucks have lost their last five — including games against the 76ers, Magic and Heat — and have subsequently dropped out of the Eastern Conference playoff standings.
"One of the things we've struggled with is looking at the team's record and not coming out with that same intent (as we would) if we're playing Cleveland or playing Golden State," coach Jason Kidd said after Saturday's loss to Miami. "That's something we've got to get better at.
18. Denver Nuggets (18-24) +5
Winners of four of their last five, the Nuggets have taken control of the eighth seed in the Western Conference thanks to some stellar play from center Nikola Jokic, who's averaging 27 points, 11.6 rebounds and four assists over the last five games.
19. Portland Trail Blazers (19-27) -2
Just as we thought the Blazers were going to turn things around, they were trounced by the Wizards on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, suffered a 22-point loss to the Hornets two days later and a one-point loss on a Robert Covington game-winner to the 76ers two days after that. They may only be one game out of eighth place, but they're running out of time to make up ground for anything more, as they sit seven games out of seventh place.
20. New York Knicks (19-26) -
Not only have the Knicks lost four of their last five games, but three of those losses were by a combined six points, as they continue to struggle to put teams away in the fourth quarter. The most recent loss came to the Suns on Saturday, as Carmelo Anthony's potential game-winning three rimmed out as time expired.
21. New Orleans Pelicans (17-27) +1
The Pelicans just let up 143 points. To the Nets. At home. Need we say more? The Pelicans' one-spot improvement is more a product of other teams shifting in the rankings than a testament to their production.
22. Minnesota Timberwolves (15-28) -1
After a bit of a slow start by his standards, Karl-Anthony Towns is averaging 23.8 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 blocks in 10 games in January, four of which have been wins. His 37-point (on 17-24 shooting), 12-rebound, five-assist outing on Thursday night was one of his best performances of the season, as his go-ahead jumper in the final minute pushed the T'Wolves past the Clippers.
T-23. Orlando Magic (18-27) +1
After the Magic dropped their eighth game in 10 tries on Wednesday night in New Orleans, forward Jeff Green ripped his team's effort.
"We're just not playing hard enough, plain and simple. ... We all want to win, but we're not all giving it an effort to win. And that's the result right there. We're losing, losing by 20. It's embarrassing."
T-23. Sacramento Kings (16-27) -4
The Kings fell to the Bulls by three points on Saturday night after a questionable foul call on DeMarcus Cousins in the final seconds. The loss was Sacramento's fifth straight, putting them 2 1/2 games out of eighth place.
25. Philadelphia 76ers (15-27) +2
The 76ers, who entered the season with a 47-199 record since Brett Brown took over as head coach, have won 70% of their games in 2017, a mark that trails only the Warriors, Hawks, Clippers and Jazz. With the emergence of Joel Embiid and the debut of Ben Simmons inching closer, 76ers fans are as hopeful as they've been in years.
26. Dallas Mavericks (14-29) +2
Future first-ballot Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki, who missed the first portion of the season with a nagging achilles injury, is averaging 13 points (lowest since rookie season) on 38.4% shooting (career low) and playing just 25.2 minutes (lowest since rookie season). During Friday's loss to the Jazz, Nowitzki had just three points on 1-of-13 shooting.
T-27. Miami Heat (14-30) +2
The Heat, who sit in 14th place in the East, are riding a three-game winning streak for the first time all season. The only problem? They host the Warriors on Monday night.
T-27. Phoenix Suns (14-29) -1
The Suns may be at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, but Devin Booker gives them good reason to look forward to the future. Alongside Eric Bledsoe, who's in the midst of a career year of his own, the 20-year-old Booker is leading the Suns in scoring (20.5 points per game), three-pointers made (1.8 per game) and minutes (34.2).
29. Los Angeles Lakers (16-31) -4
The Lakers snapped a five-game skid with a 108-96 win over the Pacers on Friday. It was just their sixth win since Dec. 1. Only the Nets have won fewer.
30. Brooklyn Nets (9-34) -
Jeremy Lin signed a three-year, $36 million contract with the Nets over the summer, but the veteran point guard has only played 12 games thanks to a nagging hamstring injury, and there's still no timetable for his return.
List of voters: Paste BN Sports' Jeff Zillgitt, Sam Amick, Kevin Spain, AJ Neuharth-Keusch and Michael Singer; The Arizona Republic's Doug Haller; The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal's Ronald Tillery; Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis; Indianapolis Star's Nate Taylor; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Charles Gardner; The (Bergen) Record's Steve Popper; HoopsHype.com's Jorge Sierra and Raul Barrigon; Paste BN Sports Weekly's Howard Megdal.