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

Last week: Won at Washington 106-99, beat Portland 111-104

This week: Thursday at Sacramento, Friday at Lakers

The Memphis Grizzlies share the honors as this season’s biggest overachievers at the All-Star break, currently eight places higher than their preseason spot at No. 27 in the NBA Power Rankings. Rookies Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke have been terrific, second-year man Jaren Jackson Jr. has grown a bit and Jonas Valanciunas has been dependable if streaky in the middle.

But it’s not going to get easier over the final 28 games for Memphis, which has the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA with a cumulative winning percentage of .554, according to Tankathon.

Home (12): Feb. 28 Sacramento, Feb. 29 Lakers, March 7 Atlanta, March 10 Orlando, March 17 Oklahoma City, March 21 New Orleans, March 25 Boston, March 28 Toronto, April 1 New York, April 3 Dallas, April 11 Oklahoma City, April 13 Philadelphia
Away (16): Feb. 20 at Sacramento, Feb. 21 at Lakers, Feb. 24 at Clippers, Feb. 26 at Houston, March 2 at Atlanta, March 4 at Brooklyn, March 6 at Dallas, March 12 at Portland, March 14 at Utah, March 16 at San Antonio, March 19 at Milwaukee, March 24 at New Orleans, March 30 at Toronto, April 5 at Portland, April 7 at Denver, April 15 at Houston

The Grizzlies are comfortably between seventh and ninth at this point, 4½ games in back of seventh-place Dallas and four games up on the ninth-place Trail Blazers in the hunt for what would be a shocking playoff berth.

Game of the first half: Ja Morant has had flash, but Jonas Valanciunas had the top game of the first half for Memphis in a 122-102 drubbing of the Warriors on Jan. 12. Valanciunas went for 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting, hitting 1-of-2 from deep for good measure, and added 19 rebounds — nine offensive — and two blocked shots in just 29 minutes.

Last week: Lost at Lakers 125-100, beat Golden State 112-106

This week: Friday at Toronto, Saturday at Chicago

The Phoenix Suns were No. 25 in the preseason NBA Power Rankings and have played well above that level, but their current spot — 12th in the Western Conference and 6½ games behind the eighth-place Grizzlies — feels somewhat disappointing after a strong 7-4 start.

With 27 games still to play, the Suns face the eighth most-difficult remaining schedule, with a winning percentage of .522, according to Tankathon.

Home (12): Feb. 26 Clippers, Feb. 28 Detroit, Feb. 29 Golden State, March 3 Toronto, March 6 Portland, March 8 Milwaukee, March 18 Minnesota, March 21 Dallas, April 3 Cleveland, April 5 Chicago, April 11 Utah, April 15 Lakers
Away (15): Feb. 21 at Toronto, Feb. 22 at Chicago, Feb. 24 at Utah, March 10 at Portland, March 14 at Dallas, March 20 at Clippers, March 23 at Indiana, March 25 at Washington, March 27 at Philadelphia, March 30 at Cleveland, April 1 at Oklahoma City, April 7 at Minnesota, April 9 at New Orleans, April 13 at Houston

Phoenix has been streaky and has three teams — Portland, San Antonio and New Orleans — it must also pass if it’s going to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Game of the first half: The Suns blew an eight-point lead late in regulation, but a big night by Devin Booker helped them escape with a 139-132 overtime win at New Orleans on Dec. 5. Booker poured in 44 points to go with nine assists, eight rebounds and two steals, hitting 13-of-23 overall, 5-of-11 from long range and a perfect 13-of-13 from the free-throw stripe.