NBA Power Rankings – Week 19
Milwaukee moves into the top spot in this week’s rankings after a 3-1 week while the Warriors went just 2-2.
The Bucks look like the team to beat in the East now, especially with Boston completely freefalling into oblivion. The Celtics are just 3-7 over their past 10 games and don’t seem to like each other on the court. Kyrie Irving is visibly upset, especially with his short answers in post-game interviews.
Houston has been on a hot streak in the West, winning five straight games, moving them up two spots in the rankings. The Rockets dropped the Celtics on Sunday behind 42 points from James Harden. The beard’s 30-point game streak may have ended but he is still putting up monster scoring efforts to keep the Rockets in the hunt.
The craziest game of the week came in a 4OT win from the Bulls against the Hawks. Trae Young had 49 points and 16 assists for the Hawks while Zach Lavine dropped 49 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Young is the only rookie other than Michael Jordan to have 45+ points and 10+ assists in a game.
The biggest movers in the rankings were the Heat, Celtics, Jazz and Kings. The Heat had a solid week, beating Golden State and Brooklyn while multiple teams in front of them (Lakers, Kings, Timberwolves and Hornets to name a few) had bad weeks. The Celtics are in a freefall so it’s obvious why they dropped four spots. The Kings moved down four as well after going winless last week against Minnesota, Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Clippers. Utah moved up four spots after beating the Clippers, Nuggets and Bucks last week. Donovan Mitchell had 46 points to help the Jazz come back from 17 down in the fourth quarter to beat Milwaukee Saturday.
Next week’s biggest games are Houston at Toronto and Boston at Golden State on Tuesday, Oklahoma City at Portland on Thursday, Philadelphia at Houston and Denver at Golden State on Friday, and Boston at the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.
Power Rankings
- Milwaukee Bucks 48-15 UP 1
- Golden State Warriors 44-19 DOWN 1
- Toronto Raptors 46-18 SAME
- Houston Rockets 38-25 UP 2
- Denver Nuggets 42-20 DOWN 1
- Philadelphia 76ers 40-23 UP 1
- Utah Jazz 36-26 UP 4
- Oklahoma City Thunder 39-24 DOWN 3
- Portland Trail Blazers 39-24 UP 1
- Indiana Pacers 41-23 DOWN 2
- San Antonio Spurs 35-29 UP 1
- Los Angeles Clippers 36-29 UP 1
- Boston Celtics 38-26 DOWN 4
- Detroit Pistons 31-31 UP 2
- Orlando Magic 30-35 UP 4
- Brooklyn Nets 32-33 DOWN 2
- New Orleans Pelicans 29-36 UP 4
- Miami Heat 28-34 UP 6
- Sacramento Kings 31-31 DOWN 4
- Los Angeles Lakers 30-33 DOWN 3
- Minnesota Timberwolves 29-34 DOWN 3
- Charlotte Hornets 29-34 DOWN 2
- Dallas Mavericks 27-35 SAME
- Memphis Grizzlies 25-40 UP 4
- Washington Wizards 26-37 SAME
- Atlanta Hawks 22-42 DOWN 4
- Chicago Bulls 18-46 DOWN 1
- Cleveland Cavaliers 16-48 DOWN 1
- Phoenix Suns 13-51 SAME
- New York Knicks 13-50 SAME