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

Last week: Beat Minnesota 137-126, lost at Brooklyn 101-91

This week: Friday vs. Phoenix

All good things do in fact come to an end, as the Toronto Raptors discovered Wednesday when Brooklyn snapped their franchise-record 15-game winning streak. The Raptors came into this season as the defending champions, but without Kawhi Leonard they were No. 11 in the preseason NBA Power Rankings.

Whoops. Toronto has instead weathered significant absences to four of their five starters as well as top reserve Norman Powell. The Raptors have 27 games on their schedule, a slate of games that ranks as the 11th-hardest remaining schedule in the league with a .514 cumulative winning percentage, per Tankathon.

Home (13): Feb. 21 Phoenix, Feb. 23 Indiana, Feb. 25 Milwaukee, Feb. 28 Charlotte, March 14 Detroit, March 16 Golden State, March 20 Boston, March 22 Denver, March 24 Lakers, March 30 Memphis, April 3 Milwaukee, April 10 Atlanta, April 12 New York
Away (14): March 1 at Denver, March 3 at Phoenix, March 5 at Golden State, March 8 at Sacramento, March 9 at Utah, March 18 at Philadelphia, March 25 at New York, March 28 at Memphis, April 1 at Milwaukee, April 5 at Houston, April 7 at Washington, April 8 at Charlotte, April 14 at Miami, April 15 at Orlando

Toronto is currently second in the Eastern Conference, 1½ games ahead of the Celtics, but 6½ behind the runaway train that is the Bucks. The Raptors are fairly comfortable in the top four spots — the 76ers are six games back and that is a lot of ground to make up past two other teams in less than 30 games.

Game of the first half: The improved Most Improved Player, Pascal Siakam, had a game to remember on Nov. 8 in a 122-104 win at New Orleans, matched his career-high with 44 points on 17-of-28 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and four assists. Siakam was 5-for-10 from deep in the victory.

Last week: Won at Cleveland 133-92, lost at Philadelphia 110-103, lost at Boston 141-133 (2OT)

This week: Saturday vs. Sacramento

The LA Clippers are one spot ahead of where they were to open the season, when they were No. 5 in the preseason NBA Power Rankings, and that’s despite a couple of significant injury absences from Paul George and the ongoing injury management regimen of Kawhi Leonard.

The Clippers currently rank No. 23 among remaining schedules — a figure that could change upward if their postponed Jan. 28 game against the Lakers is rescheduled — with a cumulative winning percentage of .477, according to Tankathon. As it stands, LA has 26 games remaining besides the postponed contest. which was a Lakers home game.

Home (14): Feb. 22 Sacramento, Feb. 24 Memphis, Feb. 28 Denver, March 1 Philadelphia, March 8 Lakers, March 13 Brooklyn, March 14 New Orleans, March 16 Dallas, March 20 Phoenix, March 30 Indiana, April 4 Oklahoma City, April 8 Chicago, April 11 Golden State, April 13 Minnesota
Away (12 or 13): Feb. 26 at Phoenix, March 3 at Oklahoma City, March 5 at Houston, March 10 at Golden State, March 18 at Denver, March 23 at New York, March 25 at Brooklyn, March 27 at Detroit, March 28 at Charlotte, April 2 at Sacramento, April 7 at Utah, April 15 at Portland, TBD at Lakers

The Clippers are third in the West, a half-game up on Utah and one game behind Denver, while they have 2½ games of separation from fifth-place Houston. They are five games behind the conference-leading Lakers.

Game of the first half: Decked out in Buffalo Braves throwbacks as part of the franchise’s 50th season celebration, Kawhi Leonard paced the Clippers to a 128-103 thumping of the visiting Cavaliers on Jan. 14 with 43 points on 14-of-22 shooting in 29 minutes. He was 6-for-10 from 3-point range, made 9-of-10 free throws and had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.