NBA Power Rankings: Wolves are the sleeper to watch (again) as championship hierarchy comes into view
The Nuggets and Lakers are right there, and Detroit will have plenty to say when Cade Cunningham gets back
By
Brad Botkin
•
1 min read
NBA basketball in March really is a mess at the bottom. Almost a third of the league has no interest in winning. There are some good races going on, however, and from here on out that's the prism through which we will be looking at our Power Rankings.
To this point, we have tried to make this a balanced snapshot of both how the teams have fared recently and how they stack up in the bigger-picture hierarchy. Now we'll focus on the latter. Factoring in where they are, how they've gotten to this point, health, all of the above, this is how I see the championship power structure right now.
I can change between now and the end of the season, but far less so than it has throughout the year save for a major injury. We know what these teams are by now. The seed races still matter, and depending on certain matchups the hierarchy isn't in stone until we know who's playing who on what side of the brackets. Having said that, here's where I believe we stand entering play on Wednesday, March 25.
Biggest Movers
9
76ers
7
Magic
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | OKC has won 12 straight and 15 of 16. They're back to full health, with Jalen Williams the latest to return after a six-week absence. Their magic number to clinch the West's No. 1 seed is eight. I know the Spurs have beaten the Thunder four times and are on a crazy run of their own, but OKC has earned the benefit of the doubt as it pertains to postseason projection -- just not by much. | -- | 57-15 |
| 2 |  | The Spurs have won 23 of their last 25 games. They've beaten the Thunder four times. They have every right to own the No. 1 spot. If you think they should, I won't argue with you. They are an absolute top-shelf contender. | -- | 54-18 |
| 3 |  | Jayson Tatum continues to struggle to make shots consistently, but who cares? The rest of the regular season is all about getting his sea legs back in time for the playoffs, and the Celtics have still won four of five to maintain a one-game lead on New York for the No. 2 seed. The Celtics have a marquee matchup vs. OKC on Wednesday. Boston is the most balanced and proven team in the East with Tatum back. | 1 | 47-24 |
| 4 |  | With Peyton Watson back, the Nuggets are whole. The starting lineup is blistering opponents, and it seems like going small is going to be the preferred choice for David Adelman in the non-Nikola Jokić minutes, with Jonas Valanciunas recently being fazed out. Denver is currently No. 4 in the West, tied in the loss column with No. 5 Minnesota and No. 6 Houston with the tiebreaker secured over both. | 1 | 45-28 |
| 5 |  | The Lakers had their nine-game winning streak snapped by the Pistons, but this remains one of the hottest teams in the league. The last six games have qualified as clutch contests (within five points inside the final five minutes) and the Lakers, as they have done all season, thrived in these minutes to win five of those games, including two over the Rockets. | 2 | 46-26 |
| 6 |  | The Wolves have won three of four since Anthony Edwards went down. One of those was a huge win over the Suns, which stretched Minnesota's cushion for a playoff spot at present to five games. Everyone seems to forget the Wolves have been in the last two conference finals. Edwards has been the best clutch player in the league this season. Watch out for Minnesota, particularly if it can get lucky and draw Houston in the first round. | 3 | 44-28 |
| 7 |  | Cleveland has all but sealed a top-four seed with a four-game lead over the No. 5 Raptors with 10 to play. The Cavs have won four straight and eight of their last 11. They entered play on Tuesday outscoring opponents by 8.8 points per 100 possessions with James Harden on the floor, with what would rank as the league's best offense, per Cleaning the Glass. | 1 | 45-27 |
| 8 |  | Gutsy win over the Lakers to end their nine-game win streak, and the Pistons have now won four in a row without Cade Cunningham, who's out with a collapsed lung. Detroit would have to fall completely apart to lose the East's No. 1 seed at this point. The Pistons are up an effective six games on Boston with 11 to play. But that doesn't make them the best team in the East, in my opinion. I don't think they have enough shooting or offense in general outside of Cunningham to get through three series. | 1 | 52-19 |
| 9 |  | Make it seven straight wins for the Knicks, but keep in mind they have all come against sub-.500 teams -- with five of them being full-on tankers. The new news is that Deuce McBride has progressed to scrimmaging as his recovery from a sports hernia seems to be near complete. That is going to be a huge addition when they get him back. I would take Detroit over New York if I had to bet, but it would be a 50/50 series. | 3 | 48-25 |
| 10 |  | The Hornets have won 21 of their last 27 games. That they're still scrapping for the 9/10 seed despite all that winning is hard to believe. The Hornets just blasted the Heat and Magic, the two teams they're fighting with for a top-eight seed, by 49 combined points. | 6 | 38-34 |
| 11 |  | Houston has lost three of five and seven of its last 13. At this point in the season, they took a potentially disastrous loss to the Bulls on Monday. Despite having Kevin Durant, they are not a good half-court offense and have to stay afloat with offensive rebounds, which isn't quite the reliable get-out-of-jail-free card that it was earlier in the season before Steven Adams went down. | 4 | 43-28 |
| 12 |  | Phoenix has pretty much fallen out of the race for a top-six seed with six losses in its last seven games. They have all been competitive games. The Victor Wembanyama game-winner was a heartbreaker. The Suns are looking pretty locked in to the No. 7 seed. | 5 | 40-33 |
| 13 |  | The Sixers are about to get Paul George back after a 25-game suspension. They went 13-12 without him, surviving on a lot of tankers. It'll still be tough sledding without Tyrese Maxey, but hopefully Joel Embiid is back soon as the Sixers take aim at a top-six seed. | 9 | 39-33 |
| 14 |  | The Raptors have won four of six and were tied with the Nuggets inside the final minute last Friday. The top-four seed ship has likely sailed. The goal is to hang onto a top-six seed with a two-game lead over the No. 7 Sixers (Philly has the tiebreaker via division record). | 3 | 40-31 |
| 15 |  | Darius Garland has been superb since the Clippers traded for him, but Kawhi Leonard is the key, and two L.A.'s four straight losses came without him. The Clippers have since won two straight against tanking Dallas and Milwaukee. They have a one-game lead over the Blazers with two head-to-head matchups remaining. | 2 | 36-36 |
| 16 |  | Atlanta has turned an extremely soft stretch of schedule into 13 wins in 14 games. For a while, it didn't budge the team's standing, but the Hawks are now up to No. 6 in the East with an effective two-game lead on the No. 7 Sixers (Atlanta owns the tiebreaker). | 4 | 40-32 |
| 17 |  | This just isn't Orlando's season. It looked like they were trying to fight their way back into some positive momentum with a seven-game winning streak, only to follow that with a six-game losing skid that included an inexcusable loss to the Pacers. Playing without Franz Wagner is too much to overcome. It feels like Jamahl Mosley's job is in serious peril. | 7 | 38-34 |
| 18 |  | Miami has gone from seven straight wins to five straight losses. That's landed them in a tie with Charlotte for the 9/10 seed. | 4 | 38-34 |
| 19 |  | Four wins in their last five and three tankers up next on the schedule. Donovan Clingan is playing BIG. Portland is one back of the Clippers for the No. 8 seed with two head-to-heads remaining. | -- | 36-37 |
| 20 |  | New Orleans has won five of its last eight, and the three losses were to the Rockets, Cavs (whom they led by 15) and Knicks by a combined 12 points. Dejounte Murray had a rough go against New York, but he's been a bright spot since his return. | 2 | 25-48 |
| 21 |  | The hits just keep on coming for the Warriors, who have now lost Moses Moody for the remainder of the season (and likely much of next) to a torn left patellar tendon. Golden State is going to make the play-in by default, but it has lost 8 of its last 10 and should have no intentions whatsoever of qualifying for the playoffs and losing out on a lottery pick. | -- | 34-38 |
| 22 |  | The Bulls beat the Rockets on Monday, but that says more about the state of the Rockets than it does Chicago, which is headed back to the friendly confines of the lottery with coach Billy Donovan's name popping up in return-to-college (North Carolina) rumors. | 2 | 29-42 |
| 23 |  | Dallas has lost 22 of its last 26 games. March NBA basketball really is something. A third of the league has nothing to play for except lottery balls. Even if they change the tanking rules, why would teams that have no chance at the playoffs risk injury to main players? Shorten the season. The Mavericks have a decent 9% chance of getting the No. 1 pick. | 1 | 23-49 |
| 24 |  | The Bucks have blown their chance to tank in a meaningful way, and they've wound up stuck in the middle of bad but not bad enough. The Hawks get their pick if it's better than New Orleans'. The Giannis situation is a disaster. He has done the organization so wrong while ironically trying to play the loyalty card. And now he wants to play, and the Bucks don't want to play him, which has led the NBPA to start throwing stones. This all started with the desperate waive and stretch of Damian Lillard and subsequent signing of Myles Turner. There was never a chance this was going to be anything other than a mediocre team under even the best of circumstances. | 1 | 29-42 |
| 25 |  | Losses in 14 of their last 17. Two of the wins were against fellow tankers Indiana and Dallas. Then there was a random win over Denver that we won't acknowledge. The most likely draft spot the Grizzlies end up in as of Wednesday is No. 8. | 1 | 24-47 |
| 26 |  | Ace Bailey is on fire, and the Jazz are in a good lottery spot with a ton of promise heading into to next season. For now, they have a combined 42% chance of landing a top-four pick. | 1 | 21-51 |
| 27 |  | Sacramento took a 44-point beating at the hands of the Hornets on Tuesday to further its bottom-three interests. But three wins in their last six, including one over Brooklyn, set the Kings back. Right now they have a 12.5% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick. | 2 | 19-54 |
| 28 |  | Losses in 18 of their last 20. The Nets are tied with the Wizards in the loss column for the league's second-worst record. | -- | 17-55 |
| 29 |  | Tied with the Nets for the second-worst record. In line for a guaranteed top-six pick and the max 14% shot at the top pick. | -- | 16-55 |
| 30 |  | Worst record in the league entering play on Wednesday, but still only two games "up" on Sacramento to secure the maximum 14% chance of the No. 1 pick. | -- | 16-56 |
