The NBA playoffs are almost here, and the standings are as close as ever in both conferences. Out East, there are a ton of teams fighting for homecourt advantage, while in the West, there are a ton of teams scrapping it out for the play-in.
The Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, and Cleveland Cavaliers are battling it out for the second, third, and fourth seeds in the East, and they’re all within three games of one another.
NBA Power Rankings Week 21: Bucks surge, Lakers plummet
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, and San Antonio Spurs separated by only 3.5 games, as they are competing for the final two play-in spots in the West.
That’s all without even mentioning the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors battling for the two-seed, the Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets, and Dallas Mavericks fighting for seeding, and the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, and Atlanta Hawks fighting for play-in positioning in the East.
The point is, everywhere you look in the standings right now, things are close. And in the past week alone, there have been some serious shifts in the power rankings.
Some teams are hot, some teams are cold, and some teams are the Trail Blazers. Sorry, Portland fans, but the Blazers have gotten blown out by an average of 31.4 points over their last five games. It’s been rough.
But regardless, where does every team in the league stand in the power rankings this week? Who’s taken the biggest jump, and who’s suffered the biggest fall?
*All stats as of noon on March 11, 2022*