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

Last week: Lost at Portland 115-109, won at Golden State 113-101, lost at Utah 116-101

This week: Thursday at Atlanta, Saturday vs. Cleveland

The Miami Heat fall into the overachiever category, landing seven spots about their preseason spot of No. 14 in the preseason NBA Power Rankings. The Heat have shown some cracks of late, however, losing six of their last 10 before the All-Star break.

With 28 games to play, Miami’s remaining schedule ranks near the easiest in the NBA. According to Tankaton, the Heat’s slate has a cumulative winning percentage of .466, just the 26th-ranked schedule in the league.

Home (16): Feb. 22 Cleveland, Feb. 26 Minnesota, Feb. 28 Dallas, Feb. 29 Brooklyn, March 2 Milwaukee, March 4 Orlando, March 11 Charlotte, March 13 New York, March 14 Chicago, March 23 Oklahoma City, March 25 Denver, March 28 Phoenix, April 7 Indiana, April 9 Detroit, April 11 Boston, April 14 Toronto
Away (12): Feb. 20 at Atlanta, Feb. 24 at Cleveland, March 6 at New Orleans, March 8 at Washington, March 16 at Milwaukee, March 18 at Chicago, March 20 at Indiana, March 30 at Charlotte, April 1 at Boston, April 3 at Detroit, April 5 at New York, April 13 at Charlotte

The Heat are 1½ games clear of Philadelphia and in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, three games behind the third-place Celtics.

Game of the first half: Jimmy Butler punished his former teammates on Feb. 3, finishing with 38 points on 14-of-20 shooting, hitting both of his 3-point attempts and all eight of his free throws as the Heat pummeled the visiting 76ers 137-106. Butler also finished with seven rebounds and three steals in just 29 minutes of action.

Last week: Lost to Utah 123-119, beat Sacramento 130-111

This week: Friday at Orlando, Saturday at Atlanta

Yes, I know … I know … seventh in the Western Conference and sixth in the NBA Power Rankings obviously means I am unclear about how any of this works or I just have a bias against each of your favorite teams. Or it could be the Dallas Mavericks‘ record is a bit deceptive, what from playing without Luka Doncic for 11 games, during which they were 5-6.

But the Mavericks have the profile of a 37-win team rather than one that is 33-22 and trailing the Thunder in a tiebreaker for sixth place in the West and it’s my experience that sort of thing matters more and more the deeper into the season we get.

Dallas has 27 games to go and has the 18th-toughest remaining schedule at .495 according to Tankathon. For the record, we had them at No. 13 in the preseason rankings.

Home (12): Feb. 24 Minnesota, March 4 New Orleans, March 6 Memphis, March 8 Indiana, March 11 Denver, March 14 Phoenix, March 23 Houston, March 26 Utah, March 29 Milwaukee, April 7 Houston, April 11 Detroit, April 15 Oklahoma City
Road (15): Feb. 21 at Orlando, Feb. 22 at Atlanta, Feb. 26 at San Antonio, Feb. 28 at Miami, March 1 at Minnesota, March 2 at Chicago, March 10 at San Antonio, March 16 at Clippers, March 17 at Sacramento, March 19 at Portland, March 21 at Phoenix, April 1 at Minnesota, April 3 at Memphis, April 5 at Brooklyn, April 13 at Denver

The Mavericks are up on eighth-place Memphis by 4½ games, and trail fourth-place Utah by just 3½ games.

Game of the first half: In a 120-113 win at Phoenix on Nov. 29, Luka Doncic narrowly missed a triple-double and matched his career-high of 42 points — set 11 days earlier — on 12-of-24 shooting. It wasn’t a stellar night from long range, as Doncic as only 3-for-11, but he made 15-of-18 at the foul like to go with 11 assists and nine rebounds.