NBA Power Rankings set up for epic Milwaukee Bucks-Los Angeles Lakers clash

Last week: Lost at Miami 110-105 (OT), lost to Toronto 93-92, beat Atlanta 136-102, lost to Charlotte 83-73, beat Clippers 109-106

This week: Monday at Oklahoma City, Wednesday at Washington, Saturday at Detroit

In a busy week that included five games and a pair of back-to-backs, the Chicago Bulls managed to come out of it 2-3, including a surprising win at home Saturday night over the Clippers, who rested Kawhi Leonard on the back end of their own back-to-back and played without injured Lou Williams.

Zach LaVine put up numbers during the week, averaging 23.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals over the five games, shooting 40.9 percent overall and making 40.0 percent on 8.0 3-point tries a game. In their blowout of the Hawks on Wednesday, LaVine scored 35 points and he posted 20 points and 11 rebounds in the one-point loss to the Raptors on Monday.

Last week: Lost to Cleveland 117-109, beat Phoenix at Mexico City 121-119 (OT)

This week: Monday at Houston, Thursday vs. Brooklyn, Saturday vs. Clippers

The San Antonio Spurs had five full off days to start the week before returning to the court Thursday against a Cavaliers team that had lost eight straight before getting a win in San Antonio before picking up a wild 121-119 overtime win over the Suns in Mexico City, a game that featured each team leading by double digits, 10 lead changes and 10 ties.

Patty Mills won it for San Antonio with a pull-up jumper from 19 feet with 1.7 seconds left in OT. DeMar DeRozan kept doing his thing, scoring from mid-range, scoring 39 points with 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 73 minutes over the two games. DeRozan was 15-for-32 (46.9 percent) overall and missed his only triple try, while going 9-for-15 at the line — less than great.

Last week: Lost to Oklahoma City 108-96, beat New York 115-87, lost at Denver 114-99

This week: Monday at Phoenix, Wednesday vs. Golden State, Friday vs. Orlando, Saturday vs. Minnesota

The Portland Trail Blazers sandwiched a blowout of the Knicks between double-digit losses to the Thunder and at Denver as the club moved on without starting wing Rodney Hood, out for the rest of the season (and perhaps beyond) with a ruptured Achilles. The Blazers are still in the mix for a lower-tier playoff berth in the West, but can’t afford to lose anyone else along the way.

Damian Lillard had one outstanding game, a high-volume game and a rough outing last week, averaging 23.3 points, 8.0 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 35.0 minutes per game, while shooting 40.0 percent overall and hitting 36.4 percent on 11.0 3-point attempts per game. That included 31 points on 9-of-15 shooting (8-of-12 from deep) in the win over the Knicks.

Last week: Lost at Lakers 142-125, lost at Phoenix 125-109, lost to Utah 127-116, lost to Clippers 124-117

This week: Wednesday vs. New Orleans, Friday at Denver, Saturday at Portland

The downturn continued for the Minnesota Timberwolves last week as their losing streak reached seven games. Minnesota’s 3-0 start feels like a distant memory, particularly during a stretch in which the Timberwolves are just 3-11 since Nov. 15.

Karl-Anthony Towns is doing what he can to keep the offense flowing, but his 3-point stroke was hit-or-miss much of last week. He averaged 28.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 35.5 minutes per game, shooting 52.1 percent overall, but making just 33.3 percent on 7.5 3-point attempts per game.