NBA Power Rankings Week 21: Milwaukee Bucks won’t match Warriors

Last week: Beat Houston 125-123, lost to Utah 112-104, lost to Oklahoma City 126-103

This week: Sunday vs. Detroit, Tuesday at Washington, Wednesday at Atlanta, Friday at Miami

The New York Knicks have a chance Sunday to finish out a 3-2 homestand if they can get a victory over the Pistons. A win on Monday over the Rockets put the Knicks at 2-0 during the home stretch, but they couldn’t keep the momentum against the Jazz and Thunder.

Leon Rose has officially taken over as the club’s new president and his arrival was decidedly without fanfare, which might be best considering the recent much-ballyhooed tenures of Isiah Thomas and Phil Jackson as the man behind the curtain at Madison Square Garden not yielding ideal results.

Of course, owner James Dolan couldn’t help himself, sabotaging the low-key Rose hiring with a very public spat with superfan Spike Lee.

On the court, veteran point guard Elfrid Payton had a solid week after a poor game against the Rockets, averaging 14.0 points, 7.7 assists and 7.3 rebounds in 26.0 minutes per game. He shot 53.1 percent overall while going 0-for-4 from deep and had 20 points, nine dimes and seven boards– four offensive — in the loss to the Jazz on Wednesday.

Last week: Beat Dallas 109-107, lost at Minnesota 115-108, lost to Indiana 108-102

This week: Sunday at Brooklyn, Tuesday vs. Cleveland, Thursday at Orlando, Saturday at Miami

The Chicago Bulls opened last week with an upset of the Mavericks, just their second victory in 12 games, and they followed it up with more drama in a loss at woeful Minnesota and at home to the Pacers. Coach Jim Boylen has been at the center of much scrutiny for his methodologies, such as late-game timeouts when the outcome is no longer in doubt and some Ouija-board-like rotations.

But executive vice president John Paxson still supports Boylen, publicly at least, so that’s something … maybe. Then again, who knows? The Bulls open this week Sunday at Brooklyn, where coach Kenny Atkinson was fired after a 19-point win Friday over the Spurs. Job security among coaches, it seems, is still a very tenuous thing at the best of times.

On the court, rookie Coby White continued to produce off the bench, averaging 23.7 points, 5.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 34.8 minutes per game. White shot 46.0 percent overall while hitting 30.8 percent on 8.7 3-point tries a game. He had 26 points and six assists in Wednesday’s loss at Minnesota.