NBA Power Rankings: Knicks back in top five after getting defensive, Nuggets sliding and Wolves lurking
The Knicks, No. 5 in this week's Power Rankings, have had the NBA's best defensive rating since mid-January
By
Brad Botkin
•
1 min read
If you haven't been paying attention, the narrative that the Knicks can't play defense has been taking quite the hit recently. New York owns the league's best defense, by an appreciable margin, over the last seven weeks.
Does that mean that kind of defense will carry into the playoffs? Not necessarily. Teams are much more intent on attacking weaknesses in the postseason and Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns are still that.
But the Knicks are doing well to keep Towns out of the middle of the floor, where he can look positively hopeless in drop-coverage space, and OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson plus all those wings and Jose Alvarado harassing the ball can cover a lot.
Also, this Hornets thing is for real, and Denver continues to own a top-10 spot despite the failings against good teams because we know what they are when they are healthy. Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson need to come back before we can officially declare them in danger.
- Note: As a general Power Rankings rule, we're going to try to strike a balance between what we've seen in the last week, the season as a whole so far, and what can reasonably be expected to play out over the rest of the season. This week there is a greater emphasis on that last factor after the trade deadline has passed and given us a clear picture of where every roster officially stands.
- We will not go so far as to rank these teams based on championship expectations, because in that case it would take a lot more to alter, at least in tiers, the generally accepted hierarchy. Winning matters, and it will get you on the move up this board form week to week. But if you're beating bad teams, just as an example, and probably playing a little above your head, it's not necessarily going to be reflected in a completely commensurate climb up the rankings. Or vice versa.
Biggest Movers
4
Knicks
4
Trail Blazers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | How do you bounce back from the end of an 11-game winning streak? You clobber the 76ers by 40 points to start a new one. | -- | 44-17 |
| 2 |  | Six wins in their last seven, including an overtime job over the Nuggets despite not having Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the extra frame as he'd hit his minutes limit. The lone loss in this stretch came against the Pistons. | 1 | 48-15 |
| 3 |  | Detroit really should've lost twice to the Cavs in the last week, but they pulled a rabbit out of the hat last Friday when Daniss Jenkins was fouled on a half-court heave with Cleveland up three in the final seconds. He made all three free throws and Detroit prevailed in OT, but Cleveland got revenge on Tuesday without Donovan Mitchell. | 1 | 45-15 |
| 4 |  | Jayson Tatum's return looks inevitable for a Boston team that has won 12 of its last 14 and would be the East's No. 2 seed if the postseason started today. | -- | 41-20 |
| 5 |  | The Knicks ended San Antonio's 11-game win streak with a 25-point blowout, have won 15 of their last 19, and have registered the league's best defense since the middle of January. | 4 | 40-22 |
| 6 |  | Impressive win over Detroit without Donovan Mitchell on Tuesday. James Harden didn't have a great shooting night but finished a big floater off the glass to essentially seal the game as he plays through a broken thumb. Cleveland is 8-1 with Harden in the lineup. | 1 | 39-24 |
| 7 |  | Minnesota has won seven of its last eight. Anthony Edwards is the league's third-leading scorer while shooting 40% from 3 on almost nine attempts per game and dominating the clutch. Everyone seems to forget the Wolves have been in the last two Western conference finals, but they are once again one of the league's best teams. | 1 | 39-23 |
| 8 |  | Get this: The Nuggets have just one win in the last seven weeks over a team that was above .500 when they played, and they're just 6-8 since Nikola Jokić returned from injury. | -- | 38-24 |
| 9 |  | Houston is 5-2 since the All-Star break but against a really soft schedule. The only upper-class team they've played in this stretch is the Knicks, who beat them. | 2 | 38-22 |
| 10 |  | Make it 15 wins in their last 18 games for the Hornets, who blasted the Mavericks by 27 on Tuesday. Charlotte has now won 11 games this season by at least 20 points. Only the Thunder, Knicks, Celtics and Rockets have matched or exceeded that number. | 3 | 31-31 |
| 11 |  | The Lakers looked like they were in trouble against New Orleans on Tuesday but went on a 24-7 closing run to secure their third straight win following three straight losses. L.A. is now 17-5 in clutch games, the best mark in the league. | 1 | 37-24 |
| 12 |  | The Raptors have now lost to the Knicks 11 straight times. That's the league's longest active losing streak against a single opponent, and they continue to struggle to beat the good teams while making hay against the bad ones. | 1 | 35-26 |
| 13 |  | Phoenix is 3-2 since losing Dillon Brooks (counting the game he got hurt in), and continues to reside within striking distance of a top-six seed. | 2 | 35-26 |
| 14 |  | The Magic took Houston to the tape but Reed Sheppard and Kevin Durant buried them late. They've gotten their defense into the top 10 since the start of February, but the offense is bottom 10 over the same stretch. The Magic just can't put it together for any real length of time. They need to get Franz Wagner back from this nagging ankle injury if they want to secure a top-six spot. | -- | 32-28 |
| 15 |  | Six losses in their last nine. Two of the three wins in that stretch were with Joel Embiid. The Sixers won just two games in the month of February without Embiid, and are now the first team in NBA history to lose three home games in a single season by at least 40 points. | 3 | 33-28 |
| 16 |  | Bam Adebayo believes he deserves DPOY consideration and it's hard to argue against him. The Heat have a top-five defense. Miami has quietly won five of seven with a win over Houston this past weekend. | 1 | 33-29 |
| 17 |  | The Hawks are loving what they've seen through Jonathan Kuminga's first three games, and quietly they have a top-10 net rating since the start of February as they remain tied in the loss column with the scorching Hornets for the East's 9/10 seeds. | 3 | 31-31 |
| 18 |  | The Warriors are taking their sweet time bringing Stephen Curry back because ... what's the difference? They're six games back of a top-six seed and six games above the lottery line, meaning they're pretty much locked in the play-in tournament. Might as well get Curry as much rest as possible before the postseason. | -- | 31-30 |
| 19 |  | The Clippers beat the Warriors and got 12 points from Darius Garland in his team debut. They're safe in the play-in and one loss back of Golden State for the No. 8 seed, which would mean only having to win one play-in game to make the bracket. | -- | 29-31 |
| 20 |  | Two straight blowout losses to the Hornets and Hawks. The Blazers have Scoot Henderson back, who's been up and down. They're going to make the play-in, probably as the No. 10 seed. | 4 | 29-33 |
| 21 |  | The Bucks are three back of Charlotte and Atlanta for the East's final play-in spot. Somebody please explain why Giannis is coming back to fight for that when it can only hurt their lottery position. This makes zero sense. | 1 | 26-34 |
| 22 |  | New Orleans got swept in L.A. after a stretch of six wins in eight games. The Pels finish out the West Coast trip with a back-to-back against Sacramento and Phoenix. | 2 | 19-44 |
| 23 |  | Memphis is beating the worst of the tanking teams (Kings, Jazz, Mavs, Pacers) but nobody else of late. At present, they have a 6.7% chance of securing the No. 1 pick. | 2 | 23-37 |
| 24 |  | The Bulls ended their 11-game losing streak with a win over the Bucks, but got right back on tanking track (whether intentional or not) with a loss to OKC on Tuesday. | 3 | 25-37 |
| 25 |  | Dallas might mess around and score the top pick again. They've lost 14 of their last 16 and would have a 7.5% chance at No. 1 overall if the season ended today. That's a lot better than the 1.8% chance they had last year when they fell into Cooper Flagg. | 2 | 21-40 |
| 26 |  | Utah has lost six straight and 14 of its last 17. If the season ended today the Jazz would have the league's fifth-worst record and a 10.5% chance at the No. 1 pick. | -- | 18-43 |
| 27 |  | The Wizards are reportedly going to play Trae Young on Thursday night, a curious decision considering they "trail" the Nets and Pacers by one loss for a bottom-three record and the maximum 14% chance at the No. 1 overall pick. Right now, they would have a 12.5% chance. | -- | 16-45 |
| 28 |  | Tied with Indiana for the second-worst record in the league, but Brooklyn, per Tankathon, has the ninth "easiest" remaining schedule, which does't necessarily work in their favor -- although they can and do regularly lose to anyone. | -- | 15-46 |
| 29 |  | Tied with Brooklyn for the second-worst record in the league, and with the sixth-toughest remaining schedule, continued losing without the headache of showing it is more of a lock. | -- | 15-46 |
| 30 |  | The Kings did themselves a couple recent disservices by beating the Grizzlies and Mavericks, but they still own the league's worst record and the maximum 14% chance of getting the top overall pick. | -- | 14-49 |
