NBA Power Rankings Week 15: Concerns for Milwaukee Bucks, other contenders

Last week: Lost at Portland 129-124 (OT), lost to Utah 129-96, lost to Indiana 129-118

This week: Tuesday at Philadelphia, Thursday at Boston, Saturday at Cleveland

Doesn’t it feel like it was 20 years ago that every game between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers was special? While we’re less than two seasons removed from those franchises meeting in four consecutive NBA Finals, the way the franchises have fallen off the map is startling. The Warriors have lost 13 of 14 after an 0-3 week and head East for five games.

D’Angelo Russell was a standout amid the rubble in San Francisco, averaging 30.0 points, 5.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 34.5 minutes per game in the three losses, shooting 46.4 percent overall and 44.4 percent on 12.0 3-point attempts per game. In Friday’s loss to the Pacers, Russell had 37 points, draining 9-of-13 from deep to match his career high for made 3s in a game.

Last week: Lost to Orlando 106-83, lost to Milwaukee at Paris 116-103

This week: Tuesday vs. New York, Thursday at Washington, Saturday at San Antonio

The Charlotte Hornets have now lost eight consecutive games on two different continents, going 0-2 last week. They were blown out of their own arena by the Magic on Monday and then got handled by the Bucks in the NBA’s first-ever game in France. The Hornets haven’t won since Jan. 4 at Dallas; they’ve also lost seven in a row at home (OK, really six but Paris was a “home” game).

With just two games, it was the week of small sample sizes for Charlotte, but that didn’t mean Malik Monk didn’t play extremely well. He had 51 points with seven assists, six rebounds and two blocks, hitting 18-of-30 (60 percent) overall and going 3-for-10 from deep. His 31 points in the loss to Milwaukee was a new career-high and marked his first 30-point game in the NBA.