NBA Power Rankings midseason reset: Milwaukee Bucks who we thought they’d be

Last week: Beat San Antonio 127-120. lost to Lakers 120-116 (OT)

This week: Friday at Oklahoma City

The Denver Nuggets have the second-best record in the Western Conference and the fifth-best mark in the NBA, but some issues on the periphery leave us concerned about a team we had at No. 4 in the preseason NBA Power Rankings.

The Nuggets shoot better than their opponents … slightly. They take better care of the ball. They’re better on the offensive glass. But there are two nagging spots. The first is their opponents get to the free-throwf line more often, never a really good thing, and their numbers look more like a 34-win team (think Philadelphia) than a 38-win club.

Their final 27 games could be a slog, too. With a winning percentage of .517, Denver’s remaining schedule stacks up as the NBA’s ninth most-difficult, according to Tankathon.

Home (13): Feb. 23 Minnesota, Feb. 25 Detroit, March 1 Toronto, March 3 Golden State, March 9 Milwaukee, March 18 Clippers, March 27 San Antonio, March 30 Oklahoma City, April 3 Chicago, April 5 Utah, April 7 Memphis, April 11 Sacramento, April 13 Dallas
Away (14): Feb. 21 at Oklahoma City, Feb. 28 at Clippers, March 5 at Charlotte, March 7 at Cleveland, March 11 at Dallas, March 13 at San Antonio, March 15 at Lakers, March 20 at Oklahoma City, March 22 at Toronto, March 23 at Chicago, March 25 at Miami, March 31 at Golden State, April 9 at Portland, April 14 at Utah

The Nuggets are four games behind the first-place Lakers in the West and are one game clear of the third-place Clippers. Looking at the top four spots in the conference, Denver leads Houston by 3½ games in a tightly bunched group between second and fifth.

Game of the first half: Nikola Jokic exploded for a career-high 47 points on 16-of-25 shooting on Jan. 6 to lead the Nuggets to a 123-115 win at Atlanta. Jokic hit 4-of-8 from deep and was 11-for-16 at the foul line while getting eight rebounds, five assists and two steals in the victory.

Last week: Won at Houston 114-113, won at Dallas 123-119, beat Miami 116-101

This week: Friday vs. San Antonio, Saturday vs. Houston

The Utah Jazz opened the season at No. 6 in the NBA Power Rankings and are just a bit off that pace after some ups and downs that have included a stretch of 19 wins in 21 games that was followed by a five-game losing streak. The Jazz have turned it back around with four straight wins since.

With 28 games to go, the Jazz are in the middle of the pack with the strength of their remaining schedule — a .502 winning percentage ranks 15th in the NBA, according to Tankathon.

Home (16): Feb. 21 San Antonio. Feb. 22 Houston. Feb. 24 Phoenix, Feb. 26 Boston, Feb. 28 Washington, March 9 Toronto, March 13 New Orleans, March 14 Memphis, March 16 Lakers, March 20 Minnesota, March 24 San Antonio, March 28 Atlanta, March 30 Chicago, April 1 Cleveland, April 7 Clippers, April 14 Denver
Away (12): March 2 at Cleveland, March 4 at New York, March 6 at Boston, March 7 at Detroit, March 11 at Oklahoma City, March 18 at Lakers, March 22 at San Antonio, March 26 at Dallas, April 2 at Portland, April 5 at Denver, April 11 at Phoenix, April 13 at Oklahoma City

Utah is currently fourth in the West, two games ahead of fifth-place Houston and a half-game behind the Clippers, who are in third. The Jazz are just 1½ in back of the second-place Nuggets, as well.

Game of the first half: In one of the rare top performances that occurred in a loss, Donovan Mitchell went off for a career-high 46 points on Jan. 16 in a 138-132 overtime loss at New Orleans. Mitchell was 16-for-34 overall and 7-for-15 from deep to go with six rebounds and two steals. He made all seven of his free-throw attempts.