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NBA Power Rankings Week 20: Philadelphia 76ers streak in the penultimate week

By Corey Rausch

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 02: Ben Simmons #25 and Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers react in front of Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz at the Wells Fargo Center on December 2, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 02: Ben Simmons #25 and Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers react in front of Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz at the Wells Fargo Center on December 2, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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NBA, 76ers (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
NBA, 76ers (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images) /

3. Utah Jazz

Last Week: Beat San Antonio Spurs 110-99, Beat San Antonio Spurs 126-94, Beat Denver Nuggets 127-120, Beat Houston Rockets 124-116

This Week: 5/10 at Golden State Warriors, 5/12 vs. Portland Trail Blazers, 5/14 at Oklahoma City Thunder, 5/16 at Sacramento Kings

The Utah Jazz remain dominant, despite missing Donovan Mitchell for an extended period of time. Winners of five in a row, the Jazz are the first team to 50 wins this season and hope to lock up the top seed early in the week so they can get the slightest bit of rest before the postseason begins.

In the absence of two All-Stars, Bojan Bogdanovic has stepped up in an explosive fashion. Over the course of the winning streak, Bogdanovic has averaged 30.2 points on shooting splits of .604/.541/.913. Having him as somewhere between the fourth and sixth-best player on the roster when the team is fully healthy perfectly encapsulates just how talented the Jazz are. When Bogdanovic is on he is one of the best scorers in the league and is able to feast on the looks generated by the gravitational pull of Rudy Gobert.

The story for the Jazz remains the same as it has been all season, needing to prove it in the playoffs for the general public to accept them as contenders. They have the best team in the league for much of the season and are likely to finish with the best record overall as well as top three in both offensive (116.7) and defensive rating (107.6). They are three points better than the second-best team in net rating (9.2 to the LA Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks 6.2), which is a greater difference than that between second and eighth place. The Jazz are truly elite.