Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers reached the 50-win mark for the first time in franchise history last week, clinched the first division title in the history of the club and completed a season sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers. But more importantly, the Clips moved up a spot to No. 5 in this week’s NBA Power Rankings at HoopsHabit. Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
With a week and a half left in the season, some teams are in rest-for-the-playoffs mode. Others are in get-ready-for-the-playoffs mode. Still others are in sprint-to-try-and-make-the-playoffs mode.
And then there are those who have shifted to full-fledged we’re-in-the-lottery-again-so-why bother mode.
With that, here are this week’s NBA Power Rankings. These are a mathematical computation that factors in winning percentage, scoring differential, offensive and defensive efficiency, rebounding differential and turnover differential.
As with all rankings, your mileage may vary:
1. Oklahoma City (56-21): The Thunder were 2-1 last week, with a high-flying 125-120 loss at home to the New York Knicks on Sunday that knocked OKC back out of the top spot in the Western Conference.
2. Miami (60-16): The Heat were 2-1 last week while giving stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh some opportunities to rest for the playoffs. No, I am not including Mario Chalmers as one of the stars resting a nagging injury.
3. San Antonio (57-20): The Spurs bounced along at 2-2 last week, but moved back into the Western Conference lead on Sunday when Oklahoma City went down to the Knicks.
4. Denver (53-24): The Nuggets kept on keeping on, holding onto the third seed on West with a 3-0 week. Tough loss for Denver, however, when Danilo Gallinari—the team’s second-leading scorer—went down with a knee injury. But in the same game, the Nuggets got a big finish from Andre Iguodala:
5. Los Angeles Clippers (51-26): Some big-time franchise firsts for the Clippers this week. First 50-win season ever? Check. First division title? Check. The Clips were 2-1 last week and clinched a season-sweep over the Los Angeles Lakers (the team’s first as the Clippers, dating back to the franchise’s move from Buffalo in 1978) on Sunday.
6. Indiana (48-29): The Pacers lost two of three games last week and fell out of the top five. More importantly, Indiana fell 2.5 games behind the Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the East.
7. Memphis (52-25): The Grizzlies were 3-1 last week and stayed right on the heels of the Nuggets for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. Hey, given the difference between opening the playoffs with Golden State or Houston or opening against the Clippers, I’d go for the No. 3 seed, too.
8. New York (50-26): The Knicks are on fire, winning all four games last week to push their winning streak to eight games. Carmelo Anthony is likewise a walking torch, averaging a ridiculous 41.8 points per game, including a 50-point explosion at Miami on Tuesday. He also took over the NBA scoring lead from Kevin Durant in Durant’s house on Sunday:
9. Houston (43-34): The Rockets took three of four last week, save for a beatdown at Denver on Saturday. Houston still trails Golden State by one game for the No. 6 seed in the West.
10. Brooklyn (44-32): The Nets won two of three and are still fending off the Chicago Bulls for home-court advantage in the first-round. Brooklyn leads the Bulls by two games.
11. Golden State (44-33): Tough week, Warriors—Golden State took two of three and fell two places in the rankings. Let the cries of “No love for the Dubs” commence.
12. Los Angeles Lakers (40-37): The Lakers’ lone loss of the week—Sunday against the Clippers—dropped L.A. back to ninth place in the West. It looks like a sprint to the finish with the Utah Jazz for the final playoff spot. Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Lakers honored a former star:
13. Chicago (42-34): The Bulls got an important win over Brooklyn on Thursday … then gave it back with a shocking 14-point loss at Detroit on Sunday. April is not the time for playoff teams to blow games against lottery teams.
14. Utah (41-37): The Jazz were 3-1 last week and reclaimed eighth-place in the West with a win at Golden State on Sunday. In that game, there was even a Mo Williams sighting—the embattled point guard scored a game-high 25 points.
15. Atlanta (42-36): The Hawks stumbled to three losses in four games. It’s looking more likely that no Joe Johnson will equal the same old short playoff stay in the ATL.
16. Boston (40-37): The Celtics split four games and clinched their sixth straight playoff appearance, albeit much later than they have become accustomed to doing so. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce returned to the lineup on Sunday for Boston, a piece of good news for the final stretch.
17. Dallas (38-39): Barring some sort of miracle—or a tragic confluence of events that would wipe out the cities of Salt Lake City and Los Angeles simultaneously—it appears the Mavericks are going to miss the playoffs for the first time this millennium. Yeah, I know it’s only 13 years, but it sounds so impressive.
18. Milwaukee (37-39): How bad is the Eastern Conference? Exhibit A: The Bucks clinched a playoff spot with more than a week to go in the season despite being two games below .500. However, their week wasn’t as bad as … .
19. Portland (33-44): The Trail Blazers are absolutely staggering toward the finish line as the minutes load placed on the starters appears to be taking its toll. Portland lost all four games last week and have lost eight in a row overall to disappear from playoff contention.
20. Washington (29-48): The Wizards were a 2-2 team last week and have continued to play reasonably well since John Wall’s return. It’s worth mentioning Washington is 25-20 since Jan. 7.
21. Minnesota (29-47): The Timberwolves were the big movers in the rankings this week, up three spots after a 3-1 week. Among the highlights in Minnesota was coach Rick Adelman joining the 1,000-victory club:
22. Philadelphia (31-45): The 76ers didn’t have the horses to run down the Bucks for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Now they’ll face an offseason wondering if they should make a run to retain free agent Andrew Bynum since, you know, he contributed so very much to the cause this season.
23. Toronto (29-48): The Raptors split four games but still have a chance to pass the 76ers and avoid finishing in the Atlantic Division’s basement. And in case you forgot, this is part of the reason why Terrence Ross is the reigning slam-dunk champion:
24. New Orleans (27-50): The Hornets won one out of three and lost 50 games for the second straight season. Bring on the era of the Pelicans.
25. Detroit (26-52): The Pistons handed the Bulls a shocking loss on Sunday to remain a game ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the race to avoid last place in the Central.
26. Sacramento (27-50): The Kings reached the 50-loss mark for the fourth straight full season (Sacramento was 22-44 during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 campaign) by losing all three of their games last week. Whether in Seattle or Sacramento, there needs to be a culture change for this franchise.
27. Cleveland (24-52): The Cavaliers split four games after Kyrie Irving returned from injury last week. Passing the Phoenix Suns may cost Cleveland a ping-pong ball or two in May.
28. Phoenix (23-54): The Suns set long ago and the banged-up squad lost all three games last week. But hey … they still have the Morris twins!
29. Orlando (19-59): The Magic lost four straight last week, have lost five in a row overall and suddenly find themselves in a death struggle with the Charlotte Bobcats for the worst record in the NBA. So, yeah, the whole Year 1 A.D. (After Dwight) thing hasn’t gone so well in Orlando.
30. Charlotte (18-59): The Bobcats lost three of four, but they’re competitive lately—a huge change from their 10-game losing streak in February and March during which they lost nine of them by double digits. Charlotte has a chance to not finish with the worst record in the league. It may not get Mike Dunlap any Coach of the Year votes, but that’s still a decent improvement.