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

Last week: Lost at Denver 127-120, won at Oklahoma City 114-106

This week: Friday at Utah

If the streak is going to continue, the San Antonio Spurs will have to get some work done after the All-Star break. The Spurs entered this season tied with the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers franchise for the longest run of consecutive playoff appearances in NBA history at 22 straight seasons.

Their last 28 games aren’t overly daunting — San Antonio faces opponents with a combined winning percentage of .488, which is just the 20th most-difficult remaining schedule per Tankathon.

Home (15): Feb. 26 Dallas, Feb. 29 Orlando, March 2 Indiana, March 10 Dallas, March 13 Denver, March 14 Minnesota, March 16 Memphis, March 20 Chicago, March 22 Utah, April 3 Golden State, April 5 New Orleans, April 7 Sacramento, April 10 Philadelphia, April 12 Houston, April 15 New Orleans
Away (13): Feb. 21 at Utah, Feb. 23 at Oklahoma City, March 3 at Charlotte, March 6 at Brooklyn, March 8 at Cleveland, March 18 at New Orleans, March 24 at Utah, March 26 at Minnesota, March 27 at Denver, March 29 at Golden State, March 31 at Sacramento, April 8 at Houston, April 13 at Indiana

The Spurs are right where we thought they’d be — they were 17th in the preseason NBA Power Rankings — and are five games behind eighth-place Memphis in the Western Conference playoff chance with one head-to-head meeting remaining (March 16 in San Antonio).

Game of the first half: In the only one of the three games in which the Spurs have beaten the Grizzlies this season, LaMarcus Aldridge went off for 40 points on 17-of-25 shooting, canning 3-of-5 from 3-point range in a 145-115 blowout win at Memphis on Dec. 23. Aldridge also had nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks in his 32 minutes of action.

Last week: Beat Portland 138-117, lost to Oklahoma City 123-118

Next week: Friday at Portland

We had the New Orleans Pelicans at No. 19 in our preseason NBA Power Rankings and after a dreadful start, the Pelicans are a bit of an overachiever at this point with a No. 16 rating. New Orleans is 17-10 since Dec. 17, when they lost a franchise-record 13th straight game.

The Pelicans have 27 games remaining and could be in position to make a run. With a combined winning percentage of .449, no team has an easier remaining schedule than New Orleans, according to Tankathon.

Home (13): Feb. 28 Cleveland, March 1 Lakers, March 3 Minnesota, March 6 Miami, March 16 Atlanta, March 18 San Antonio, March 22 Sacramento, March 24 Memphis, March 27 New York, April 7 Charlotte, April 9 Phoenix, April 11 Philadelphia, April 13 Washington
Away (15): Feb. 21 at Portland, Feb. 23 at Golden State, Feb. 25 at Lakers, March 4 at Dallas, March 8 at Minnesota, March 11 at Sacramento, March 13 at Utah, March 14 at Clippers, March 21 at Memphis, March 29 at Orlando, March 31 at Atlanta, April 1 at Washington, April 5 at San Antonio, April 15 at San Antonio

The Pelicans trail eighth-place Memphis by 5½ games and have Portland and San Antonio in the way, but New Orleans’ No. 30-ranked remaining schedule matches up well to the No. 1-ranked schedule of the Grizzlies and they have two head-to-head games remaining while already holding a 2-0 edge in the season series.

Game of the first half: Brandon Ingram helped New Orleans to an overtime win over the visiting Jazz on Jan. 16, scoring a career-high 49 points in 41 minutes of the 138-132 victory. Ingram was 15-for-25 on the night, hitting 3-of-8 from 3-point land and going 16-for-20 at the line. He also had eight rebounds and six assists in the win.