NBA Power Rankings: Milwaukee Bucks riding Giannis Antetokounmpo’s balky back

Last week: Lost at Miami 122-111, won at Toronto 101-99, lost at Minnesota 116-102, lost to Milwaukee 122-101

This week: Monday vs. Charlotte, Wednesday at Houston, Friday at Dallas, Saturday at Oklahoma City

The Portland Trail Blazers salvaged something last week with a win at Toronto, but a 1-3 performance leaves the Blazers with just two wins in their last 10 games. They’ve fallen to 10th place in the West, 1½ games behind eighth-place Memphis, after being in eighth themselves when they got to 14-16 back on Dec. 21. At that point, Portland was three games up on the Grizzlies.

Damian Lillard led the attack for the Blazers last week, averaging 25.0 points, 8.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 35.8 minutes per game, shooting 45.1 percent overall and 43.2 percent on 9.3 3-point tries a night. In their Saturday loss to Milwaukee, Portland was forced to use Anthony Tolliver at center for 28 minutes with Hassan Whiteside out with an upper respiratory illness.

Last week: Lost to Utah 128-126, beat Chicago 123-108, won at New York 123-111, lost at Boston 140-105

This week: Monday at Detroit, Thursday vs. Utah, Saturday vs. Clippers

For the New Orleans Pelicans, what was a pretty good week ended on a very off-key note with a blowout loss at Boston as they played without Jrue Holiday, Derrick Favors and J.J. Redick due to injuries. Still, the Pelicans have won seven of their last 10 games after a 7-23 start to the season, so they are turning things around as they continue to wait for No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson.

Brandon Ingram had a rough night in Boston, but still had a solid week. He averaged 27.0 points, 7.5 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 36.6 minutes per game while shooting 43.6 percent overall and hitting 44.1 percent on 8.5 3-point attempts a night. That was despite going just 4-for-15 with 16 points in the loss to the Celtics.