NBA Power Rankings: Rudy Gobert leads Utah Jazz up the charts

Last week: Beat Atlanta 108-86, lost to Utah 118-107, lost at Philadelphia 117-106, lost to Milwaukee 117-97

This week: Monday vs. Philadelphia, Thursday vs. Lakers, Saturday at Detroit

The Brooklyn Nets limped to the halfway point of the season with three consecutive losses and nine defeats over their last 11 games after a 1-3 week that did feature the return of Kyrie Irving, who missed 26 points with a right shoulder impingement.

But Irving didn’t take long to stir the pot, telling ESPN’s Tim Bontemps the team has “glaring” needs after the Nets were beaten at Philadelphia on Wednesday. Irving said Friday he had talked to teammates about his comments.

"“I reached out to make sure nothing was taken out of context — making sure that the guys knew exactly what I meant. And that is the only thing that matters. Everyone can say, ‘If I was in this position, I would’ve said this, I would’ve done this.’ They have no idea because they’ve never been at this level, so how could you even comment on it? “I’m going to continue to push. I’m going to continue to demand greatness out of myself and demand greatness out of my teammates and we go from there. If it’s harsh as a leader or too much for anybody, if you’re not in our locker room, stay the f— out. It’s as simple as that.”"

In his first four games back from the injury, Irving averaged 21.0 points, 6.0 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 29.9 minutes per game, shooting 51.5 percent overall and hitting 7-of-14 from 3-point range. He had 32 points with 11 assists in the loss to the Jazz on Tuesday and was 10-for-11 from the floor in last Sunday’s victory over the Hawks.

Last week: Won at Toronto 105-104, lost at Miami 106-100, lost to Atlanta 121-120

This week: Sunday vs. Miami, Monday at Phoenix, Wednesday at New Orleans, Friday vs. Phoenix

The week started off very well for the San Antonio Spurs, with a big win on the road at Toronto, but it went downhill from there, beginning with a tough loss at Miami and then a really bad loss at home to the Hawks. Their 1-2 week dropped the Spurs out of eighth place in the Western Conference and they now trail Memphis by two games.

But DeMar DeRozan continued his recent renaissance, averaging 26.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.0 steals in 35.0 minutes per game while shooting 63.6 percent from the floor and making 85.7 percent on 9.3 free throw attempts per game. He missed his lone 3-point attempt of the week. DeRozan has scored at least 21 points in every game since Dec. 21, a 13-game streak.