NBA Power Rankings – Week 23
Milwaukee keeps the top spot again and looks like it will for the remainder of the season. The Bucks have clearly been the best team in the league this season and Giannis Antetokounmpo may win the MVP for the first time in his career. Here’s what happened in the association last week.
Devin Booker went on a scoring tear, dropping 59 on Utah, 50 on Washington and 48 on Memphis. With his 59 points against Utah, Booker became the only player in NBA history to score 50+ points without a teammate in double-figures. The only things stopping Booker from getting 60 in the gamer were the Jazz fouling other players so he couldn’t get the ball and Jimmer Fredette shooting it every time he touched it. Dangit, Jimmer.
LeBron James got shut down for the remainder of the season by the Lakers. The rest is to help his injured groin fully heal. It’s only six games, so it doesn’t mean much, but James will end the season still averaging an astounding 27-8-8.
Rudy Gobert broke the NBA’s dunks in a season record last week against Phoenix, breaking Dwight Howard’s previous record of 269. Gobert now has 287 dunks on the season. Antetokounmpo also broke Howard’s record and is right behind Gobert with 273 dunks on the year.
Jusuf Nurkic suffered a horrible injury, breaking his lower leg in half. If you haven’t heard about it, you should see it, unless you can’t handle an awful leg break video. The injury is a huge blow for Portland, who is already missing CJ McCollum with an injured knee. The Blazers may still get home court in the playoffs, but in a 4-5 matchup, they’ll have a tough time winning without Nurkic and possibly McCollum.
Last week’s biggest movers were the Nuggets, Clippers and Hornets. The Nuggets went down after dropping several games. The Hornets also dropped multiple games and have all but fallen out of the playoff race. The Clippers continue to win and beat good teams and are now all the way up to the six seed in the west.
Next week’s biggest games are Denver at Golden State (TNT) on Tuesday, Milwaukee at Philadelphia (TNT) on Thursday, Boston at Indiana (ESPN) and Portland at Denver (ESPN) on Friday and Denver at Portland on Sunday.
Power Rankings
- Milwaukee Bucks 57-20
- Golden State Warriors 52-24
- Houston Rockets 49-28
- Toronto Raptors 54-23
- Philadelphia 76ers 49-27
- Utah Jazz 46-30
- Denver Nuggets 51-25
- Portland Trail Blazers 48-28
- Los Angeles Clippers 47-31
- Oklahoma City Thunder 44-33
- San Antonio Spurs 44-33
- Boston celtics 45-35
- Indiana Pacers 45-32
- Miami heat 38-38
- Brooklyn Nets 39-38
- Sacramento Kings 38-39
- Detroit Pistons 39-37
- Orlando Magic 38-39
- Minnesota Timberwolves 34-42
- Charlotte Hornets 35-41
- Los Angeles Lakers 35-42
- New Orleans Pelicans 32-46
- Atlanta Hawks 28-49
- Memphis Grizzlies 31-46
- Washington Wizards 32-46
- Dallas Mavericks 30-46
- Cleveland Cavaliers 19-58
- Chicago Bulls 21-56
- Phoenix Suns 17-60
- New York Knicks 14-62