NBA Power Rankings: Milwaukee Bucks reclaim top spot after Week 5

Last week: Beat Phoenix 120-116, lost at Brooklyn 116-97, won at Washington 113-106

This week: Monday at Boston, Wednesday at Philadelphia, Saturday vs. Denver

The Sacramento Kings have won seven of 10 since getting off to an 0-5 start, but this week could be a rough one with visits to Boston and Philadelphia to wrap up a four-game Eastern road trip before returning home to battle the Nuggets.

The Kings picked up wins over the Suns and Wizards last week, wrapped around a poor performance in a loss at Brooklyn in which they were just 4-for-26 from the 3-point line and got outrebounded 48-33.

Richaun Holmes continues to carry the load for Sacramento in the middle, starting the last 11 games and playing very well last week with a pair of double-doubles, including posting 20 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks against Phoenix, a team with which Holmes played last season.

For the week, Holmes put up 16.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals in 32.3 minutes per game, shooting a ridiculous 76.9 percent overall, mostly by staying in his sweet spot around the rim, while going 8-for-9 at the foul line.

Last week: Lost to Milwaukee 115-101, beat Detroit 109-89, lost to Miami 116-108, won at Charlotte 116-115

This week: Monday vs. Portland, Wednesday at Golden State, Friday at Portland

The Chicago Bulls had an up-and-down week, going 1-2 at home with a blowout of Detroit sandwiched between losses to the Bucks and Heat before pulling out a miraculous finish to win at Charlotte on Saturday night.

The Bulls had some off-the-court drama last week as well, as coach Jim Boylen benched Zach LaVine inside the first four minutes of the game and then calling out LaVine and Lauri Markkanen publicly to criticize their defensive efforts against Miami.

LaVine fired back before the two met Saturday afternoon before the Charlotte game to sort it out. LaVine responded with a franchise-record 13 3-pointers and 49 points in all, including the game-winning 3 with less than a second remaining.

But the measure of the week was second-year center Wendell Carter Jr., who had double-doubles in each of Chicago’s wins last week and disappeared a bit in both losses. He had 17 points and 11 boards in the win at Charlotte and for the week averaged 10.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 30.2 minutes per game on 57.7 percent shooting.