Western Conference Power Rankings: All-Star Break Edition
1. Jazz (27-9) — prev. rank #4
For the first time this season (these are monthly Power Rankings), we have the Jazz #1 atop the West. Would we bet on the Jazz to make The Finals? No, we would not — but we can’t discount the fact that they have been the best team in the NBA over the first half of the season. The point differential and net rating are real. So is the pristine ball movement, barrage of threes and overall joy that this team plays with on a nightly basis. Continuity reigns supreme in today’s game, and the Jazz have a plethora of it. They have also been the bearer of good fortune, both in relation to injuries and the protocols. (Not to mention having fans at home games.) For us, it’s completely understandable for so many to not believe in Utah come playoff time. The Bucks and even the Clippers of last season being exhibit A. Also, how many times has LeBron waltzed to The Finals? Answer: NINE out of the last ten years! Until proven otherwise, it’s ultimately The King’s conference, wherever he may reside. That said, hats off to Utah for putting together this epic stretch. Two things to watch in the second half: 1. The Jazz are now the hunted. 2. The Jazz now have an extreme chip on their shoulder after the controversial OT loss in Philly and now All-Star draft slander. How they handle these two situations will speak volumes over the course of the rest of the season.
2. Lakers (24-13) — prev. rank #1
AD’s injury is unsettling, as is LeBron’s heavy workload in Year 18. Yet if AD comes back ready to go and LeBron continues producing at the same level he has for the last 18 seasons, the Lakers should be fine, ready to flip the switch in the postseason when it matters most. The Lakers still have the number one defense in the league! That bodes very well for championship aspirations. You might have heard that defense wins championships. Well, so does having LeBron James on your team. Schroder proved how important he is to the Lake Show when he missed four consecutive games and the Lakers lost every one. Then Dennis the Menace returned to the lineup and they immediately won two in a row. The offense, which is currently 17th, is very likely to improve once the Lakers three-point shooting comes around, a lowly 24th in the NBA right now.
3. Suns (24-11) — prev. rank #5
The Suns have won 15 of their last 17 games! Chris Paul has done it again. He’s made all of the players around him better, ascending a team in the Suns that hasn’t made the playoffs in a billion years (ten) up to 2nd place in the Western Conference standings, looking like a legit playoff contender. We were actually a little skeptical about the Paul and Booker pairing (and salty that our 2019-2020 Suns were no more), but CP3 and Book have shown it can work, it can work just fine. It makes sense when you remember the caliber of talent between them. And it helps when you have some of the best 3D+ wings in the league in Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder. Grandpa Ayton has impressed us so much lately that we might have to stop calling him that. How about Papa Ayton? (Love it.) Dario Saric has been a revelation as the… backup center!? Abdel Nader is somebody to keep an eye on, dude plays with some pop in his step.
4. Clippers (24-14) — prev. rank #2
The Clippers have lost three games in a row, fresh off of late late scratches from Kawhi and PG in consecutive games, losses to the Celtics and Wizards. It’s not worth reading too much into that, however, the Clippers have also lost six out of their last nine games which included a PTSD late game meltdown against the Bucks. Even so, when Kawhi and PG both play, the Clippers are damn good. We like to see Luke Kennard being more aggressive lately, he is going to be very important for the Clips. Terrence Mann sure seems to be a player who is all about making the right plays when given the opportunity. Nic Batum is still kicking it, playing 30 minutes per game and playing well, shooting 43 percent from 3!? (We have said it before and we’ll say it again: Batum owes the Charlotte Hornets 100 million dollars!) Reggie Jackson has been surging, too. Yet we still find it hard to believe in trusting these guys when it’s go time in the playoffs. Like, we are talking about Nicolas Batum and Reggie Jackson here!
5. Nuggets (21-15) — prev. rank #3
The good news is that Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. have been more consistent of late. The even better news is that Murray has shown that Bubble Playoff Jamal Murray still lingers within, deep down, he is still capable of lighting the world on fire. The best news is that Jokic is one of the most consistent players in the league, wowing us night in and night out, slingin’ Big Honey dimes all around and taking his scoring up a serious level to boot! The bad news (people usually like to start off with the bad news first, but we did the opposite of that here) is that Will Barton hasn’t been the same, his numbers are down, and this team misses Jerami Grant, and they’ve been without Paul Millsap the last three weeks, which probably isn’t mentioned enough. You can say, “Okay, but it’s Paul Millsap?” And we would remind you that this team is founded upon continuity and togetherness. We recommend to not count out the Nuggets and to remember what happened last year when you did.
6. Blazers (21-14) — prev. rank #9
The Blazers keep on keeping on. No matter what they face, no matter how difficult the obstacle is, no matter how high the mountain is to climb, Dame D.O.L.L.A. and the Blazers find a way. Do you have the time? Why yes, as a matter of fact, we do. It is DAME TIME all the time, but especially when you need Logo Lillard to do what he does best, and especially when the Blazers need him most. He’s calm. He’s collected. He’s been without C.J., Nurk and Zach Collins. Mel00 has stepped up, ole reliable, and he can still even take over sometimes, too. Gary Trent Jr. has been rock solid. Speaking of rocks, RoCo can hold it down, and DJJ has had some moments. When the Blazers get healthy, not only will they have more firepower, but they will have a much higher ceiling altogether. The defense should surely improve from a current lowly 28th in the league. Surely.
7. Mavs (18-16) — prev. rank #11
Last month in the Power Rankings, the Mavs were in the midst of a six game losing streak, however, they have since rebounded to win 10 of their last 13 games, finally healthy after being plagued by both injuries and the protocols. Luka in some cases lately — like his week of three 40+ point outings and his LukaMagic game-winner on the Celtics — has never been better. When his step-back 3 is flying through and true, it’s a wrap. It also helps when KP’s sniping 3’s from atop the tower. Jalen Brunson is a key cog off the bench. Even though the Josh Richardson trade hasn’t worked out as a whole (he’s shooting 28 percent from 3 while Seth Curry is shooting 45 percent), every time that J-Rich plays really well, the Mavs roll. THJ and DFS will surprise you, but we haven’t seen too much of Bubble Trey Burke at all, or the rookie Tyrell Terry for that matter.
8. Warriors (19-18) — prev. rank #6
The Warriors still feel and look like the most up-and-down team in the league with a high high ceiling and a low low floor, not a whole lot of room for error, but at their best, a force to be reckoned with. They play a lot of close games. They’ve won some of those, but they’ve lost quite a few as well. Golden State having the 6th ranked defense is one of the more hard to believe stats of the season. Steph’s had some brilliant stretches, but he’s definitely had some off nights, too. His numbers are still nutso, and it feels like we might be in store for a crazy 2nd half Steph run. Even so, it’s hard to see the Warriors avoiding the play-in unless Wiggins, Oubre or Wiseman makes a consistent jump. Draymond is out here averaging a career-high in assists at 8.6 per game!
9. Grizzlies (16-16) — prev. rank #7
Aggressive Ja was on a mission in the last two games before the break, two 35-point games with 10+ free throws in each. The Grizz feed off his energy, they embrace his fearlessness. Grayson Allen has been one of the more surprising players of the first half. Man’s is shooting! 40 percent from 3 on five attempts per game. Zach Kleiman has been slaying the draft. Desmond Bane and Xavier Tillman, ready made contributors from the jump. It’s nice to see Justise Winslow playing ball and being plugged in right away. What’s the word on JJJ? Apparently he’s been practicing on a limited basis. Did he not have the same meniscus surgery that Porzingis had after both suffered tears in the bubble?
10. Spurs (18-14) — prev. rank #10
Why in the hell do we have the Spurs so low? They are higher in the standings at 7th (!!), and these Spurs in particular are feeling very Spursy. Very White Walkery. Where there is a Pop, there is a way. DeRozan is still a midrange god and reliable as fuck. Aldridge? Not so much… The youngin’s here we are quite fond of. We STAN Keldon Johnson, his passion and demeanor. We’ve always loved Lonnie Walker (even though we still dearly miss his hair), and Dejounte Murray, too (but not the part about the hair). Something we did not anticipate: San Antonio is 20th in offense and NINTH in defense!? One way to survive the Rodeo Road Trip is to get four of the games postponed.
11. Pelicans (15-21) — prev. rank #13
Originally not too fond of the SVG hiring, all is forgiven with the unleashing of Point Zion. Stop us if you heard this one before (except you can’t): Zion is unstoppable! He’s unfuckinguardable in the paint. The sudden behemoth. And now, when he’s got the ball at the top of the key, and he gets a full head of steam going downhill at you, it’s like a rhinoceros with the horsepower of a thousand F350’s. His body control is superior. His passing is wildly underrated. There will be some turnovers and missed free throws here or there, but his uber scoring efficiency is stout and robust. Dude is 20 years old! A no doubt All-Star, we still wish that the Pellies would force feed Zion the ball more sometimes. The Pelicans have actually won some close games recently, against the Celtics and Jazz, which is nice to see on the resume. The offense has been #1 in the league over the last month. The defense, currently 29th in the NBA, is what New Orleans needs to work on if they are going to make the play-in.
12. Kings (14-22) — prev. rank #12
To start the month of February, the Kings had a tremendous four-game winning streak with wins over the Pelicans, Celtics, Nuggets and Clippers, and then they proceeded to lose nine games in a row and 11 of their last 13. The biggest problem is that Sacramento still has the worst defense in the league by a country mile. It feels like Luke Walton being the next coach to get canned is inevitable. Last month, we clamored that Halliburton was our Rookie of the Year, but LaMelo has since surged ahead. Even so, Fox and Halliburton could be the backcourt of the future. Two stats that we find hard to believe: 1. Buddy Hield is the fastest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 three-pointers in his first 350 games, breaking Steph’s previous record of 369. 2. Cory Joseph is currently the NBA’s resident Iron Man, playing in 301 consecutive games.
13. Thunder (15-21) — prev. rank #14
SGA is having a seriously underrated first half of the season. We feel as though he should have been in more talks about being a fringe All-Star. The Dreadi, Kenrich Williams, is also having an under-appreciated year, playing solid defense every night and shooting 42 percent from 3. Lu Dort’s three-point shooting numbers have unsurprisingly dropped, 38.1 percent a month ago down to 32.5 percent now. Although Dort did have that game-winner at the buzzer! All in all, this might be the worst tank job that we have ever seen.
14. T-Wolves (7-29) — prev. rank #15
The KAT and D-Lo aspect of this is just sad. We wanted to see best friends play ball together. But the fact that Ant-Man is already one of if not the most consistent power dunker in the league, and that he had the #1 power dunk in the first half of the season, has made tuning into T-Wolves games worth it. We are still pretty shocked that Minnesota doesn’t have the worst defense in the league. (They are currently 25th, up from 26th a month ago.) Chris Finch really has his work cut out for him, but the only way to go us up. The T-Wolves currently have the worst record in the NBA at 7-29, but hey, at least they haven’t lost 13 in a row like the…
15. Rockets (11-23) — prev. rank #8
A lot can change in a month. A lot can change when you lose your best player. The last time we posted Power Rankings on February 1st, the Rockets were 10-9 and had won six games in a row. We talked about how Christian Wood was playing like a bonafide All-Star. Welp, later that week C-Wood injured his ankle and hasn’t played since. The Rockets crumbled right away without him and have been reeling in the worst way, losers of 13 straight games. Even worse, five of those losses have been by 20+ points. We feel bad for Stephen Silas, he hasn’t been able to catch a break since finally earning his first head coaching gig. P.J. Tucker should be on the move at the deadline to a contender. You would think that Dipo would be headed elsewhere, too. It seems pretty farfetched to think that he will re-sign with Houston. One reason for optimism is that KPJ has been called up from the G League!
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