Eastern Conference Power Rankings: Early-Feb. 2023 Edition
1. Boston Celtics (36-15) — prev. rank #1
The Celtics can thank the Philadelphia Eagles for playing a part in helping maintain their No. 1 spot in these power ranks.
The Sixers did have a better January, but the Celtics still have a superior offensive, defensive, and net rating for the season. And it’s still hard to forget the C’s beginning-of-the-season dominance despite their recent lull, a 3-game losing streak to the Magic, Heat, and Knicks.
Let’s also not forget they won 9 games in a row right before that.
An update on the Celtics’ offensive efficiency by month:
November: 123.3 (No. 1 in the NBA by a landslide.)
December: 110.9 (No. 27 in the NBA ahead of only the Hornets, Thunder, and Rockets.)
January: 114.7 (No. 19 in the NBA but ahead of the Mavs and Bucks for comparison.)
The defense has remained their strength. No. 8 in January at 112.1, enjoying the return of Time Lord. Marcus Smart is now out with an ankle but hopefully for just another week.
It feels like Tatum has fallen a step behind Jokic and Embiid in the MVP discussion. Here’s a fun fact: Not one Boston Celtic not named Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown has led the Celtics in scoring in a game this season. Tatum has led the C’s 31 times to Brown’s 20. (The Celtics are 21-7 when JT leads the team in scoring and 15-8 when it’s JB.)
The C’s pre-All-Star schedule has some cupcakes (Pistons twice and Hornets) and some heavy hitters (Sixers, Grizz, and Bucks.)
2. Philadelphia 76ers (21-14) — prev. rank #5
The Sixers were a piping hot 11-2 in January, coming off arguably their best win of the season last Saturday when they beat the Nuggets behind Embiid outplaying Jokic — and then they laid an egg at home to the Orlando Magic. That’s what partying too hard will do when celebrating the Eagles back in the Super Bowl.
Joel Embiid put a stamp on his annual case for MVP. It’s just now February, sure, but those head-to-head matchups on primetime have to matter.
Zach Lowe is beating the Harden-is-an-All-Star drum, and while we might not have the same drum in our drum kit, he absolutely has a case. Did you know that Harden is averaging the 6th-most minutes per game in the NBA at 36.7?
After Maxey missed essentially all of December (he played 18 total minutes), he led the Sixers in scoring in four games in January, three of which Embiid did not play. Having a guy who can provide extra scoring when needed is extremely handy in The Association.
Only the Kings had a better offense than the Sixers in January (121.3). However, after having the No. 1 defense in November and the No. 4 defense in December, the Sixers dropped to No. 24 in January. The Philly offense has been that good, but that’s something to monitor.
3. Milwaukee Bucks (34-17) — prev. rank #3
The Bucks were having a subpar January, starting the first month of 2023 with a 6-5 record as Giannis missed six games. But then Giannis and Middleton returned to the lineup and the Bucks have since rattled off five straight wins.
The winning streak has not been against the stiffest competition (Pistons, Pacers, reeling Pels, and Hornets), but the Bucks rang up 150, 141, and 135 points in three of those games. No more messing around.
Giannis, of course, was fueling the onslaught. A 41-point game against Indiana followed by a 50-burger against New Orleans. (He got to 50 by draining 3s with a crazy look in his eye.)
Jokic and Embiid might be atop the MVP leaderboard, but Giannis still feels like the most dominant two-way player in the game. Giannis has ten 40-point games this season after having 10 all of last season. And he’s averaging damn near the most free throw attempts per game in NBA history.
The latest Bucks’ injury is to key cog Bobby Portis, who suffered an MCL sprain and is expected to miss at least another week. The good news is that Middleton has played in five straight games, even if it has been on severely limited minutes.
Despite the recent scoring surge, Milwaukee’s offense was in the bottom 10 for a second straight month at 22nd again. Meanwhile, the defense was able to maintain a top-5 mark. The Bucks are very much another team fairing way better at home (21-5) than on the road (13-12).
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (31-22) — prev. rank #4
The Cavs have had an up-and-down start to 2023. Their longest winning streak in January was two games, the same as their longest losing streak. They’ve been on the win-a-game-lose-a-game system for weeks now. Don’t forget that the schedule has been brutal.
Being way better at The Rock (21-6) than on the road (10-16) has remained consistent.
Donovan Mitchell missed 6 games in January and the Cavs went 2-4 without him. D. Mitch is still averaging career-best shooting numbers across the board.
Garland gave Mitchell the keys to the team, but he’s still putting up the exact same numbers as last season when he burst onto the stage as an All-Star.
Ricky Rubio has been a welcomed addition to the Cavs’ bench. He is in the process of getting his sea legs back, but his playmaking is already a breath of fresh air for a reserve unit that really needed it.
The Cavs hovered right around No. 10 for both offense and defense last month. For the season, they remain in a neck-and-neck battle with Memphis for the No. 1 defense. Speaking of Memphis, a showdown with the Grizz awaits on Thursday night.
5. Brooklyn Nets (31-19) — prev. rank #2
After KD went down, the Nets quickly lost four in a row and 6 out of 8, but back-to-back wins against the Knicks and Lakers have put some wind back in their sails.
Kyrie has stepped up in Durant’s absence, averaging 31.4 points per game since Jan. 12, No. 6 in the NBA over that span. Even more impressive is the fact that he’s stayed on his best behavior for this long. (As always, what could be around the next bend?)
Ben Simmons is still averaging 7 points per game… That really might just be who he is now. On the other hand, Nic Claxton has been even more tremendous than before. Claxton scored over 20 points in five straight games when the Nets needed him most.
With Seth Curry in the lineup, the Nets are 25-12. (They are 6-7 without him.) Curry is shooting his expected 42 percent from 3. The Nets’ other sniper, Joe Harris remains on the hit-or-miss front.
It’s another week until KD is set to be reassessed, so there is a possibility we could see him before All-Star. (Would not bet on it, though.) Jacque Vaughn deserves a ton of credit for the sustained turnaround of the Nets’ defense which is still maintaining a top-10 number for the season. (Last season they were 20th.)
6. Miami Heat (29-23) — prev. rank #7
What is dead may never die. Just like that, the Heat have won 7 out of 10 again and 4 of the last 5, including a takedown of the Cavs in Cleveland on Tuesday night.
Somehow, someway, the Heat’s zone-heavy defense was No. 1 in the NBA in January. One of the things we are shouting from the mountaintops these days: Erik Spoelstra is the best coach in the NBA!
The biggest difference in the Heat’s consistency over the last month has been Jimmy Butler in the lineup. Butler only missed one game, a Heat win over the Celtics but of course.
Bam is an All-Star and is required to be in any Defensive Player of the Year convo. He’s played 47 games this season as Miami’s most reliable player. Did you know that Bam leads in the NBA in points scored in the paint this season? (Well, he’s actually currently tied dead-even with Giannis.)
With a bottom-5 offense and a top-5 defense for the season, the Heat have a net rating of 0.1 … classic!
7. New York Knicks (27-25) — prev. rank #8
The Knicks continue to Knick. Winning 7 of 8 games was followed by losing four straight. But then two huge wins over the Cavs and the Celtics in Boston in OT. And then they lose to the Nets and Lakers.
The lefty trio of Randle, Brunson, and Barrett are still all over 20 points per game. But if the Knicks were to have an All-Star, who would it be? It’s probably Randle given the numbers, but Brunson is still the more important piece.
Losing Mitchell Robinson for several weeks is tough, but Jericho Sims has put together some solid games since Mitch Rob went down.
Always a boon to the offense, when Quentin Grimes scores 11+ points this season, the Knicks are 12-3.
Still rocking a top-10 offense for the season at 9th, the Knicks’ defense has remained lackluster as well, bottom 5 in the NBA over the last two weeks according to CleaningtheGlass.
8. Washington Wizards (24-26) — prev. rank #10
What the hell? The fightin’ Wiz have won six in a row! And since Dec. 23, only the Nuggets have a better net rating than the Washington Wizards, posting a top-10 offense and top-5 defense since Festivus. These are the same Wizards who previously lost 10 in a row and 13 of 14 this season.
The “three-headed monster” of Beal (22.0), Porzingis (22.0), and Kuzma (21.8) is a well-balanced attack.
They traded Rui to the Lakers, but Kendrick Nunn already looks way more like Miami Heat rookie Kendrick Nunn than he ever did on the Lakers.
Last year’s iron man Deni Avdija is not shooting it well from 3 this season (and he’s already missed two games), but he is fresh off a career-high 25 points against the Spurs, the first time the Wizards beat the Spurs in San Antonio in… 23 years.
When you dig a little deeper, the Wizards’ schedule recently has been quite soft. They have an absolute gauntlet waiting for them after the All-Star break.
9. Atlanta Hawks (25-26) — prev. rank #9
The Hawks have currently lost 4 of the last 5, but there was a promising 5-game winning streak just before that. And the offense in January has definitely been trending in the right direction, a top-10 mark in the month for the first time this season.
Still waiting for Trae to turn a corner with his 3-point shot. He’s stayed at 31 percent from 3 on the season, but he’s slightly ticking upward. The dude probably won’t make the All-Star game and he’s averaging 27 and 10. That tells you a lot about the league today.
It’s remarkable that Dejounte Murray is averaging nearly identical numbers to last season in San Antonio. The only difference is fewer assists and he’s been better from 3.
Is this the year that the Hawks trade John Collins at the deadline? Seems unlikely. So it will probably happen.
The Hawks are in the midst of a five-game road trip out West: at Phoenix, at Utah, at Denver, and at New Orleans will be tough to stop their recent slide.
10. Chicago Bulls (23-27) — prev. rank #11
This Bulls’ season has been a roller coaster. Since Thanksgiving, the Bulls have had two 3-game losing streaks and a 4-game losing streak to go along with three 3-game win streaks. Streaky streaky.
DeRozan has continued to be one of the best clutch players in the NBA. Only De’Aaron Fox has scored more points in the clutch this season, per NBA.com.
LaVine has been scoring the ball a lot lately. Over the last 12 games, LaVine has five 30-point outings and the Bulls went 4-1 in those games.
Guess who still hasn’t missed a game this season? That would be both Vooch and Pat Williams. Big props there.
A top-10 defense in January for the Bulls? It’s true. They were No. 6 at 111.9 while the offense was bottom 10 at No. 21 at 114.1 — that’s a positive net rating, the first time the Bulls have had that in a month this season.
11. Toronto Raptors (23-29) — prev. rank #12
Every time the Raptors show signs of true life like their late-season surge last year, they look so bleak shortly after. It sure seems like everyone is getting mighty impatient surrounding this team.
Siakam is putting up 25-8-6, the best numbers of his career so far. The six assists per game has to be the most encouraging. VanVleet has been a lot better lately, up to 36 percent from 3 in January after a lowly 30 percent in December — heading in the right direction.
Precious Achiuwa’s return to the lineup this month has helped Toronto’s rebounding a lot, leading the team in boards in five of the last six games.
Averaging 20 points per game doesn’t mean what it used to, but since Christmas, Gary Trent Jr. is up to 21.5 points per game for the Raptors. He’s also shooting 40 percent from 3 in that span on high volume of 8.1 attempts per game.
What will happen to this team at the trade deadline? It could go a number of ways, but the Raptors do have some softies on the sched before All-Star break: at Houston and home vs. the Spurs and Pistons. Perhaps a good run will cause Masai to let it all play out once again.
12. Orlando Magic (20-31) — prev. rank #13
The Magic — finally fully healthy and realized (minus Chuma Okeke) — played .500 ball in January with the No. 16 offense and No. 17 defense, big steps in the right direction for such a young up-and-coming team.
Here’s a good one for you, and shoutout David Steele’s always fantastic “Is this anything?” segment: Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are the youngest duo to both average 20 points per game in NBA history. That is everything.
After 904 days since his last game in the bubble, Johnathan Isaac has returned to the floor. He has yet to play more than 10 minutes in a game, but he’s been playing NBA basketball.
We have long thought that Cole Anthony was more suited to be a gunner off-the-bench type of player in the league, and he’s been thriving in that role. When he scores 15+ points, the Magic are 6-4 this season.
Can the Magic make a push for the final play-in spot? They are currently just 3.5 games back from the 10-seed Pacers.
13. Indiana Pacers (24-28) — prev. rank #6
Welp. We knew the wheels were going to fall out without Haliburton here to run the show. The Pacers are 1-9 since Hali went down.
But a big congrats is in order for Myles Turner! Freshly inked to a 2-year extension, Turner has earned every bit of that this season.
The Bennedict Mathurin buzz has quieted down, but the dude is getting to the line at a crazy rate for a rookie, leading the team with 6.4 freebies a game.
Honestly, it was shocking to see that Buddy Hield has not shot over 40 percent from 3 since 2018-19 when he shot 42 percent from beyond the arc, the same number he’s shooting this season.
The Pacers could still very well make the play-in, and they are actually still the No. 10 seed. It all depends on when Haliburton returns, which could be tomorrow night!?
14. Charlotte Hornets (15-37) — prev. rank #14
Steve Clifford’s big purple dogs have actually won 4 out of the last 7 games, including wins over the Hawks, Bucks, and Heat. At this point, it’s fair to wonder if they shouldn’t be doing that, but there is something to be said for having some sort of momentum within a franchise.
Since the 4-3 stretch started, it’s been Terry Rozier who has let the Hornets in scoring in 6 of the last 7 games. January was Rozier’s best month of the season by far after struggling mightily in November and December.
If the Hornets are winning, that usually means that Gordon Hayward is playing, and that’s been the case for the most part over the last two weeks.
In a contract year, P.J. Washington has been playing the best ball of his career. When P.J. Scores 20+ points, the Hornets are 7-7. In all other games, the Hornets are 8-30.
The Hornets have “climbed” into a tie with the Rockets for the worst offensive rating in the league at 109.0. Hey, it’s better than being dead last by themselves. The Hornets’ defense is also bottom 5 at No. 27, one spot ahead of the Rockets.
15. Detroit Pistons (13-39) — prev. rank #15
The cellar-dwelling Pistons won three games in January. They beat the Warriors at the Chase Center, and they took down the T-Wolves and Nets. They also got to go to Paris!
Bogdanovic is having a career year as the Pistons’ No. 1 scoring option. But will he remain in Detroit past the trade deadline?
If Bogdanovic does find a new home at the deadline, then Saddiq Bey should see a large usage spike. Bey led the Pistons in scoring in their two most recent wins over the Wolves and Nets.
Jalen Duren missed a little bit of time, but now he’s back to his double-double ways.
For the season, the Pistons’ offense is No. 26 and the defense is No. 29. That’s Wembenyama’s music.
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Western Conference Power Rankings dropping soon.
New Power Rankings dropping every month.
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