NBA Power Rankings Week 20: What history will Milwaukee Bucks make?

Last week: Lost at Denver 128-116, lost at Dallas 139-123, won at Miami 129-126, lost at Orlando 136-125

This week: Sunday vs. Dallas, Tuesday at New Orleans, Wednesday vs. Chicago, Friday vs. Orlando

The Minnesota Timberwolves salvaged a win on their four-game road trip by shocking the Heat at Miami on Wednesday but managed to run afoul of the NBA’s rest policy by sitting a reportedly healthy D’Angelo Russell in their loss Sunday at Denver on the front end of a back-to-back. The Wolves, who are effectively out of the playoff race, were fined $25,000 for the violation.

The win at Miami was just the second for Minnesota since Jan. 9; the Timberwolves are a ghastly 2-19 during that span, including going 1-10 at home, where they will play three out of their four contests this week while hosting the Mavericks, Bulls and Magic around a trip to New Orleans.

Malik Beasley cooled off a bit last week, but in four games still averaged 19.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 34.2 minutes a night, shooting 43.1 percent overall and 37.1 percent on 8.8 3-point attempts per game. He might be playing his way into the conversation as Minnesota’s answer at the 2 for both the present and future.

Last week: Lost at Portland 107-104, lost at Denver 115-98, won at Phoenix 113-111

This week: Sunday at Sacramento, Wednesday vs. Oklahoma City, Saturday vs. Utah

The Detroit Pistons will play one more game out West before returning home to host to Western Conference opponents, which could be good for them considering they are 8-12 against the West and just 12-29 against opponents from the Eastern Conference. That doesn’t track with the usual narrative that the East is the least and the West is best.

Detroit visits Sacramento on Sunday with a chance to finish 2-2 on their road trip before coming home to host the Thunder and Jazz. The Pistons are 12th in the East and if they’re not out of the playoff race entirely, they are definitely on life support, trailing the eighth-place Nets by seven games.

Christian Wood continues to make the most of his first real opportunity for regular NBA minutes, starting two games and coming off the bench in a third while averaging 21.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks in 33.2 minutes per game. Wood shot 51.2 percent overall and was 3-for-8 from 3-point range, with 26 points and nine boards Sunday at Portland.