The Athletic's NBA Power Rankings: Something bad, something good

The Athletic's NBA Power Rankings: Something bad, something good
By Zach Harper
Mar 25, 2019

Welcome​ to The​ Athletic’s​ NBA Power Rankings.​ Every week,​ we ask​ all of​ our​ NBA writers to​ rank​ the​ teams​ from​ 1-30.​ Here​​ are the collective results after the first 23 weeks of the 2018-19 season.

Occasionally, things in the Power Rankings can get either too negative or too positive depending on the team being discussed. Some teams have difficult seasons and it’s even hard to find a good thing to discuss time to time. Other teams are just soaring throughout the season, and finding something negative ends up feeling nit-picky in the process. Other teams just kind of float in NBA limbo, which is what most of us call the race for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

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This week in the Power Rankings, I’m going to try to be as fair as possible with each team in putting a good and a bad thing for each team. That bad thing for the bad teams will likely be something we’ve all mentioned at some point in the season. That good thing for the good teams will be something we’ve probably all focused on at some point for them. But the bad teams will also have something good said about them. Picking nits for the good teams will definitely happen, as well.

The Yin and Yang of each team will be focused on in the Power Rankings this week.

Just a reminder to the reader that weekly rankings get submitted by each writer by 3 p.m. ET on Saturdays. That means we occasionally get games on Saturday night and Sunday that make the rankings look a little off. The possible games that screwed it all up this week:

  • Hornets beating the Celtics 124-117 on Saturday
  • Hawks besting the Sixers 129-127 on Saturday
  • Mavericks stomping the Warriors 126-91 on Saturday
  • Pacers obliterate the Nuggets 124-88 on Sunday
  • Hornets eke by the Raptors 115-114 on Sunday
  • Spurs drub the Celtics 115-96 on Sunday

The latest power rankings start now.

  1. New York Knicks (Previously 30th), 14-60 (-8.8 net rating)

Something bad: I mean take your pick. They have the worst offense in the NBA currently, behind the Chicago Bulls by 0.2 points per 100 possessions. But it’s not because they’re a total mess on offense either. They’re in the top half of the league in taking care of the ball. They do a decent job on the offensive boards (18th) and they get to the free throw line with the 12th highest rate. The Knicks’ biggest issue on offense is they simply can’t make shots. They’re the only team in the NBA with an effective field goal percentage under 50 percent. The Knicks clock in at 48.9 percent. They’re not good from the 3-point line (26th), but this mostly stems from the Knicks being 30th in field goal percentage.

Something good: The story of Allonzo Trier’s start to his NBA career can’t be highlighted enough. It’s not just that Trier went undrafted and has stuck to an NBA roster. He’s legitimately productive as a player, even if you want to couch that it’s happening on probably the worst team in the league. He scores in isolation and he’s been a really good shooter, especially off the catch. Hopefully the Knicks can become a good team soon (hey, Kevin Durant?) so we can see him produce on a better squad.

GIF ON THE BEAT:


  1. Cleveland Cavaliers (previously 29th), 19-55 (-9.4 net rating)

Something bad: Kevin Love trying to make a shot inside the arc. Sure, we could mention once again that the Cavaliers are still on pace to have the worst defensive season in NBA history. But it would be overkill to mention once again that the Cavs have the worst defense in NBA history. Love has really struggled with his shot so far this season. The 3-point stroke for Love has been good enough. He’s hitting 37.0 percent of his 3-pointers, which is right in line with his 37.0 percent career accuracy. He’s made just 39.8 percent of his 2-pointers and he can’t hit a shot between 10 and 23 feet. Also, Love is typically a great post-up scorer and he’s basically lost 20 points per 100 possessions off his scoring rate from last season.

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Something good: The results of Collin Sexton’s jumper. Biggest question about the Cavs’ rookie coming into his NBA career was whether or not he’d be able to shoot the ball from outside. Sexton has good size for a point guard and he’s pretty athletic. He’s good at attacking off the dribble. But his shooting and shooting form didn’t exactly slather viewers in confidence. So far, his jumper has worked out. He’s made 41.2 percent of 247 attempts as a rookie thus far. He’s knocked down 45.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, and 39.2 percent of his pull-up jumpers. This doesn’t make him Ray Allen, by any means, but it’s a building block for Sexton to focus on.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Phoenix Suns (Previously 28th), 17-57 (-8.6 net rating)

Something bad: I’m blown away at how bad Devin Booker has been shooting 3-pointers this season. He’s hitting just 32.0 percent on the season, which is by far the worst 3-point accuracy of his career. It’s a far cry from the 38.3 percent he knocked down last season, and a lot of it has to do with how poorly he’s shooting from deep off the dribble. In his four seasons, the balance between volume of catch-and-shoot 3s versus volume of pull-up 3s for Booker has gone from a lot of catch to now a lot more pull-ups. That was acceptable last season when he knocked down 36.4 percent of his pull-up 3-pointers while taking roughly 52 percent of his attempts on pull-ups.

This season, Booker has fallen to 27.3 percent on pull-up 3s and the volume of those attempts has risen to roughly 57 percent. Booker is an exceptional offensive talent, but he badly needs someone else to help set him up every once in a while. Phoenix must make this a priority this summer.

Something good: The Suns recently won five out of seven games over a two-week stretch. When you are dealing with an atrocious team like the Suns, you can’t expect them to just turn things around and be good in the second half of the season. But what you can hope they’ll do is relish in playing spoiler to their opponents’ playoff hopes. They sort of did that, or at least attempted to do that, in that stretch. They beat the Miami Heat, who are battling it out with the Orlando Magic for the eighth seed. They beat the Milwaukee Bucks, who are trying to secure the No. 1 seed over Toronto. Phoenix beat the Golden State Warriors, who are trying to win the No. 1 seed away from Denver. Phoenix has responded since by losing five of six, and they only have three playoff opponents left on their schedule. But at least they made a mini ripple in the playoff waters.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Chicago Bulls (Previously 27th), 21-53 (-7.8 net rating)

Something bad: Whether it’s HoiBall or BoylenBall, the Bulls are really awful at trying to score. They rank 29th in the NBA in offensive rating, mostly thanks to the Knicks being just a notch below them right now. Chicago has the 18th best field goal percentage and the 12th best 3-point percentage in the NBA this season. And yet, their lack of 3-point volume (27th) pushes their effective field goal percentage all the way down to 28th. Their approach to offense is a complete mess. Assuming Boylen sticks around for the future as it seems he will, the Bulls need an upgrade in strategy on offense to go with an upgrade in talent on the court.

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Something good: Over his last 23 games, Zach LaVine has been pretty impressive as a lead guy. Sure, we can get out of the way that the Bulls are just 9-14 in those games — although that is a lot better than what the Bulls normally do in the record department. During this stretch of games, LaVine has averaged 25.2 points, 4.8 assists, and 5.3 rebounds while posting 49.8/41.7/78.4 shooting splits. LaVine has had some ups and downs all season long, but he’s managed to become a flamethrower with his shotmaking as of late. The Bulls likely won’t settle into LaVine being their star player of the future, but he’s showing that his volume scoring can come with great efficiency and some solid success in the win column (considering the lack of help).

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Atlanta Hawks (Previously 26th), 26-48 (-5.4 net rating)

Something bad: Something bad happened to Kent Bazemore the other day when trying to defend James Harden. The reigning MVP was doing that thing again where he makes some of the best athletes in the world look foolish at their place of business.  Some expert footwork by Harden left Bazemore spinning, and the Atlanta Hawks wing became a meme for a night.

The problem is it didn’t end there. A joke or two that lasted for a couple of hours received CPR on the internet when Bazemore, himself, took to social media to explain what happened. He broke down why he ended up spinning away from Harden, and why Bazemore’s actions were actually not terrible decisions on the court. Not only did he state that, but he did it in the worst apology avenue in social media — the Notes app.

If you ever find yourself writing something on a Notes app to post to social media, just take a lap and find a hobby to keep yourself busy. Here is Bazemore’s note:

Folks, don’t ever put out a Notes post on social media to explain why you got crossed up, especially when you call yourself PadLockBaze at the end. Just keep it moving.

Something good: We’ve seen 50 games from the Hawks in which their young trio of Trae Young, John Collins, and Kevin Huerter play together. In those 50 games, the Hawks have a record of 19-31. You won’t forget the 1986 Boston Celtics over a record like that, but a 31-win pace for a rebuilding team with a young core like that certainly starts the journey with a step in the right direction. The real positive is that trio is almost a wash on the court. They have been outscored by 0.8 points per 100 possessions this season. Less than a point here for a trio with a combined age of 61 is very good and promising. Since the Hawks’ turnaround on December 18th, those three players are plus-0.5 points per 100 possessions together.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Dallas Mavericks (Previously 24th), 29-44 (-1.7 net rating)

Something bad: Ever since the Mavericks turned the keys over to Luka Doncic and threw away any spare for anybody else to have, the team has fallen off a cliff. Right before the deadline, the Mavs were pretty competitive at 25-28. If you played them at home, they would likely beat you. They were also getting obliterated on the road. But positive signs were there with this team lead by Doncic. Since then, the team is just 4-16. Three of those wins came against Portland, Indiana, and most recently a drubbing of Golden State. But the Mavs have been getting killed in this new turn of the season. Dallas is getting outscored by 12.1 points per 100 possessions in these 20 games with Doncic on the floor. They’re minus-2.1 without him.

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Something good: The good news with this fall off a cliff comes with the Mavericks trying to keep the pick they owe to Atlanta. That pick is top 5 protected in the upcoming draft. Dallas is currently tied with Memphis for the sixth worst record in the NBA. Right now, it wouldn’t take a ton of lottery luck in order for the Mavs to move into the top 3, which would help them keep their pick. There’s also a marginal chance in the final couple weeks of the season that Atlanta moves past Dallas in the standings. Bright side here is the Mavs have sucked recently, but maybe it will help them keep their lottery pick.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Memphis Grizzlies (Previously 25th), 29-44 (-2.3 net rating)

Something bad: The Grizzlies have a lot of bad going for them this season, but one of the weird things is just how atrocious they’ve been coming out of timeouts. Synergy Sports tracks the efficiency of teams on both ends of the floor coming out of timeouts. Defensively, the Grizzlies more than hold their own. They rank 11th in the league in defensive efficiency after timeouts. But offensively, they’ve been brutal. They score just 83.4 points per 100 possessions coming out of timeouts. That ranks 30th in the NBA. For those of you who don’t remember, there are only 30 teams in the league. Their 44.7 percent eFG is also last in the NBA. Even as bad as this Grizzlies team has been, they have guys like Mike Conley and Marc Gasol (prior to the trade, of course). They should be better than this.

Something good: Even though they shipped out the better center in the trade, the acquisition of Jonas Valanciunas looks pretty good for the Grizzlies. There is a chance JV becomes a free agent this summer if he declines his $17.6 million player option, but I’m not sure how confident he and his agent are about finding a better financial situation right away. So if he stays around at least another year in Memphis, the Grizzlies have a guy who has put up 19.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in 27.2 minutes per game. That’s the best scoring rate of his career and it’s the best shot blocking rate of his career. This may be a sneaky good acquisition for Memphis, despite giving up their second best player.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Washington Wizards (Previously 23rd), 30-44 (-2.5 net rating)

I can’t even imagine how tough it must be to craft a magic act for one of those television show auditions like “America’s Got Talent.” It’s hard enough being a magician because you don’t have any friends around to tell you if a trick works. It has to be even harder to know if that trick works in a way that will dazzle judges, instead of the random passerby on the street. For John Olshavsky in 2008, he claimed the audience wasn’t going to believe all of the tricks they were going to see in a minute and a half of stage.

There are a few amazing things that went wrong here:

  • When he said he was going to perform magic for them, his voice changed in a way that made me think a robot’s software was buffering.
  • He couldn’t seem to get his hands into his pockets to get out what he needed.
  • He fumbled the ball when trying to bounce it, and that was enough for Piers Morgan.
  • Johnny trying to catch the ball in his mouth looked like this dog trying to catch a frisbee.
  • He lasted 29 seconds before getting three Xs.

The lesson here? Don’t become a magician if Piers Morgan and David Hasselhoff are the people standing in between you and your dreams.

GIF ON THE BEAT: Also, Jerry Springer saying “It didn’t work” killed me here.

  1. New Orleans Pelicans (Previously 22nd), 31-44 (-0.8 net rating)

Something bad: Anthony Davis will be traded from the Pelicans this summer, and he’ll likely end up in a better place than he previously has been. Even if that ended up being on the Los Angeles Lakers for some reason, Davis would absolutely be in a better place. But one thing I continue to wonder about Davis is whether or not he’s actually an impact defender. Sure, he’s shared the court at times with guys like Nikola Mirotic, who don’t really defend at all. But he’s also spent time on the court with Jrue Holiday a lot, and the Pelicans are still bad defensively. Even the defensive rating with Davis on the floor would rank them no higher than 18th. They’re currently 23rd. Davis is an exceptional player, but I remain dubious in believing that he’s one of the best defenders in the league.

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Something good: I know the Pelicans have played mostly meaningless games since the Anthony Davis charade began around the trade deadline. But with that said, Elfrid Payton just went on a run that was pretty impressive, even in meaningless games. Payton put up five straight games with a triple-double and three of those weren’t just him skimming double digits in a couple of categories. Payton averaged 15.6 points, 12.8 assists, and 11.8 rebounds in those five games. New Orleans has badly missed the presence of Rajon Rondo this year when comparing the team to last season. Payton hasn’t been able to fill that void completely, but he continues to resurrect his career in New Orleans.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Los Angeles Lakers (Previously 21st), 32-41 (-1.9 net rating)

Something bad: The 2018-19 season for the Lakers. I’m not sure how much more detail I need to go into here. Actually, I’ll go into a little bit more detail here. Nothing embodies the Lakers’ season quite like their performance at the free throw line. The Lakers have the 12th best free throw volume in the NBA. They often get to the place that is supposed to provide the easiest points. Free throws are uncontested, and therefore should be easy money. The Lakers are 29th in the league in free throw percentage, making just 69.5 percent of their attempts. In the 19 games they’ve lost by single digits, the Lakers have averaged 7.6 missed free throws. They shoot themselves in the feet constantly, basically invoking Cheddar Bob at the charity stripe.

Something good: I know there are a lot of jokes to be made about the Lakers and the season they’re having, but the good news about Brandon Ingram’s surgery was much needed. Messing with blood clots is no joke in the NBA. Recently, we’ve seen Chris Bosh’s career end abruptly because of it. And, of course, the life-threatening nature of blood clots becomes the biggest concern. Ingram is expected to make a full recovery after surgery on his shoulder and be ready for next season. That’s incredible news.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Minnesota Timberwolves (Previously 19th), 33-40 (-1.1 net rating)

Something bad: While almost everything for the Timberwolves went wrong this season, they’re left with a sense of uncertainty going into the offseason. They didn’t get to see much of what this team looks like after the trade and the coaching change because Robert Covington hasn’t played in 2019. Jeff Teague and Derrick Rose were hit by quite a few injuries, as well. Outside of the health department, this was by far the worst production year of Andrew Wiggins’ career. Glen Taylor has big decisions on the direction of the front office, which will then influence the sidelines and the roster. The Wolves in the past at least had an idea of their direction. Right now, there isn’t any clarity.

Something good: The tear we’ve seen from Karl-Anthony Towns since his car accident is pretty unreal. Whether it’s just random that he’s been this great since the accident or he feels like he’s playing with a new lease on life, Towns has been a monster on the floor. In 13 games since returning from the concussion, Towns is putting up 31.4 points, 14.7 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. He’s also shooting 56.4 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from deep, and 79.1 percent from the free throw line. Towns isn’t putting up a soft 50 percent from deep either. He’s taking nearly six attempts per game. It leaves Wolves fans hoping that this is the Towns everybody sees moving forward.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Charlotte Hornets (Previously 20th), 34-39 (-1.1 net rating)

Something bad: The thing that has alarmed me the most about the Hornets all season long is how worried I am for them when Cody Zeller isn’t on the floor. The numbers don’t totally bear this out either. Charlotte is certainly better with Zeller on the floor. They’re plus-1.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor and they’re minus-2.6 with him off the floor. That also isn’t a catastrophic drop-off when he hits the bench. But their big man options just leave so much to be desired, and Kemba Walker has so little help most nights to actually win games, that I find myself terrified for the Hornets when Zeller is out.

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Something good: That Jeremy Lamb game-winner was so ridiculous. This is how the Hornets took down Toronto and probably ended the Raptors’ chances of dreaming of the No. 1 seed in the East. They inbounded the ball to Lamb, and it looked like it was his job within those three seconds to get Kemba the ball for a quality shot. However, Pascal Siakam poked the ball back to half court. That put Lamb right in his perfect range, apparently.

The Hornets are barely in the playoff race for the eighth seed, but they’re still in it. They trail Orlando by one game and Miami by two games. They only have nine games left. But that’s still an extremely fun finish to a game, and something that left Hornets fans feeling pretty decent.

GIF ON THE BEAT: Lambs!

  1. Orlando Magic (Previously 18th), 35-38 (-0.2 net rating)

Something bad: This offense is still so bad. They just don’t really have table-setters in any form, and it shows when someone like Terrence Ross doesn’t have a good game. Too much relying on Evan Fournier and DJ Augustin can doom them when the defense isn’t lockdown enough. Even in this good stretch since the turn of the calendar year, the best the Magic can muster on that end of the floor is 19th in offensive rating. They have an All-Star center in Nikola Vucevic and there isn’t nearly enough offense to guarantee them competence most nights on the other side of the ball.

Something good: With all that said about the offense, Steve Clifford’s defense is so legitimate. We saw what he did in Charlotte with big men like Al Jefferson anchoring top 10 defenses. During this 19-18 stretch since the start of 2019 that has them in the playoff hunt despite being under .500, the Magic rank third in defensive rating. Only Milwaukee and Utah have been better defenses in 2019 than Orlando. That’s a testament to the talent they have on the roster for defense and the way Clifford coaches them up. It’s helped give them a better net rating in this stretch than what we’ve seen out of Boston. If Orlando can make the playoffs, it’ll be because of that end of the floor. Also the East being terrible in the bottom half.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Sacramento Kings (Previously 16th), 36-37 (-0.7 net rating)

Something bad: The end of the season for the Kings will go down as disappointing and bad, and for the most part it is. If you look at the end of the season in comparison to last year’s team, they’re in a really good spot. But expectations change when you change them with improved play on the court. Once most people bought into the Kings being a good team by the midway point of the season, they were no longer the lovable losers. They became the lovable up-and-comers. Because of that, their 6-11 record over the last 17 games when they were hoping to make a playoff push becomes pretty disappointing. Seeing where this team will try to go next season when they have expectations for the whole season becomes exciting.

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Something good: There’s a lot to choose from so let’s just quickly go over the young core. Buddy Hield’s experience still makes him relatively young by NBA veteran standards, and he broke through as one of the most improved players in the league this year. Marvin Bagley III has been able to shine in a season in which rookies like Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Jaren Jackson Jr, and Deandre Ayton exist. De’Aaron Fox had an incredible leap from his first year to his sophomore season. There’s a lot more to go with regarding this team, but those three players build the foundation of a Kings team looking to be taken seriously moving forward.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Miami Heat (Previously 17th), 36-37 (-0.2 net rating)

Something bad: The Heat are very similar in situation as what we have with Orlando. Neither of these teams can score. Both of these teams can really defend. The Heat are tiptoeing with the .500 line and they’re also trying hold off the Magic in this bad race for the No. 8 seed. The offense of the Heat just continues to disappoint. They actually have more weapons than the Magic have, mostly because they have guys in the backcourt who can attack the basket and set everybody else up. The problem is there isn’t a lot of consistent outside shooting and the injuries to Goran Dragic have stunted the flow of the offense. They struggle to score consistently inside the arc too.

Something good: That Bam Adebayo move to the starting lineup probably saved the Heat’s season. Or at least it’s kept them ahead of Orlando and Charlotte for the No. 8 seed race up until this point. The Heat are 10-4 since the change to Adebayo as the starting center. They have wins over the Warriors, Nets, Thunder, Spurs, and Hornets twice. Adebayo is averaging 11.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists during this stretch. Erik Spoelstra allows him to bring the ball up the court quite a bit, and they can run a lot of dribble hand-off decisions with him. No matter what happens with Hassan Whiteside this summer, it’s safe to assume the Heat have their starting center for the future.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Brooklyn Nets (Previously 15th), 38-36 (-0.2 net rating)

Something bad: Everything with a playoff berth becomes icing on the cake for the Nets, but I’m a little worried about their sloppiness dooming them from making a playoff series competitive. This flaw of theirs isn’t entirely damning, but the Nets need to get the turnover aspect under control in the postseason. The Nets are ranked 23rd in the NBA in turnover rate. They’re also 23rd in opponents’ turnover rate. They’ve turned the ball over 104 times more often than their opponents this season. That’s just too many possessions to kick away, and while their aggressiveness on offense is a strength, good teams can use that against them in a seven-game series.

Something good: I still can’t get over that comeback by D’Angelo Russell against the Kings this past week. The Nets aren’t in danger of falling out of the Eastern Conference playoffs, but they’re certainly trying to outlast the Detroit Pistons in that quest for the No. 6 seed. The higher the Nets finish, the better their pitch to prospective free agents becomes. Maybe they strike gold with Kevin Durant, or maybe they “settle” for someone like Tobias Harris. Either way, the Nets use little moments like that huge comeback by Russell to springboard their culture even further. Russell dropped 27 points in that quarter and he did it in a way in which NBA Twitter was entirely captivated. They’re having more and more of these special moments and it’s a lot of fun.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Detroit Pistons (Previously 14th), 37-36 (-0.4 net rating)

Something bad: The Pistons still waste too many possessions by trying to run things through the post. They possess the fourth highest volume of post-up possessions in the NBA and they rank 24th in scoring efficiency in the post. Blake Griffin doesn’t do a great job scoring in the post, but he does an excellent job finding teammates out of the post. The big problem is how many possessions they still waste on Andre Drummond on the low block. He’s still not good at scoring efficiently there, and it’s the one bad mark I have for him on the excellent season he’s been having. I’d like to see the Pistons run less of this.

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Something good: One very important aspect of the game is something the Pistons absolutely excel at doing. They can really rebound, and most of that comes from Drummond owning the boards. There is real value in being able to keep possessions alive on your end of the offensive floor, and then turning around and ending possessions with defensive rebounds. The Pistons rank seventh in offensive rebounding rate and fifth in defensive rebounding rate. That should translate to the postseason and give their opponents some fits.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Utah Jazz (Previously 11th), 43-30 (+4.3 net rating)

Something bad: The Jazz should have absolutely won 50 games this season, and based on how they haven’t taken full advantage of their weak second half schedule, I’m not sure they will. They need to go 7-2 over their final nine games in order to do that. Their next seven games come against non-playoff opponents with five of them happening at home. Had they not dropped games to New Orleans and Atlanta and Memphis over the last few weeks, they would have been a lock to finish with 50 or more. Instead, their inability to rock this final section of their schedule will probably hurt them when it comes to seeding.

Something good: Donovan Mitchell is on fire. Over his last 14 games, the sophomore Jazzman has been lighting up his opponents to the tune of 27.1 points on 47.1/44.0/77.0 shooting splits to go with 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. Utah is 10-4 in these 14 games, and actually should have had a better record than that. Mitchell has been very upfront and honest about his struggles in the early parts of his second season. He doesn’t just talk about missing shots he’d normally make. He acknowledges the bad decisions he made on the court and has worked to correct them. This is what they’ll need from him in the postseason.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. San Antonio Spurs (Previously 12th), 43-31 (+1.5 net rating)

Something bad: I’m refraining from saying anything here in the “Something bad” section for the San Antonio Spurs and I’ll explain why in the “Something good” section.

Something good: Every season, there will always be some team you have a blind spot for. It isn’t a malicious thing. It isn’t a thing rooted in bias clouding your judgment. You can watch their games over and over, and yet you still fail to get a good grasp on how you should feel about them. That team for me is the San Antonio Spurs this season. I had high hopes for them before preseason, and quickly dashed those hopes when Dejounte Murray went down. Ever since then, I’ve been wrong about this team. I wrote in this space they should blow it all up when they were 11-14; they turned around their defense and their season. When I made some bold predictions in this space a month or so ago, I predicted they’d miss the playoffs. They’ve gone 10-2 since then. I just don’t get the Spurs and that’s a very good thing for them because they keep surging when I think they’ll fall apart.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Los Angeles Clippers (Previously 13th), 44-30 (+1.4 net rating)

Something bad: Doc Rivers just doesn’t get the Clippers to shoot enough 3-pointers. It’s something they excel at doing. The Clippers rank second in the NBA in 3-point accuracy. Danilo Gallinari, Patrick Beverley, and Landry Shamet light up the 3-point arc on most nights. But the Clippers still have the second lowest 3-point rate in the NBA. They just simply don’t take enough of them, and it’s something they’ll likely need to do when we get to the postseason. It won’t necessarily be their demise but they rely too much on free throws and too little on game-swinging 3-pointers.

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Something good: This team really shines when it comes to pick-and-roll execution. The obvious tandem of Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell makes up a huge portion of how effective they are in the PnR. But they also have Patrick Beverley running it and Gallo’s ability to work both roles in the PnR with relative ease. Lawrence Frank has stocked this roster with guys who can roll and guys who can pop. It leaves so much open for the initiators who get to choose which road to go down. If they can start turning some of these plays into kicks to the corner or wing for 3, then the Clippers can start thinking upset in the first-round.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Indiana Pacers (Previously 9th), 45-29 (+3.9 net rating)

Something bad: As positive as this season has been for the Pacers, I’m pretty worried about what their offense will look like during the postseason. This is a team that doesn’t get to the free throw line much. They also don’t shoot a lot of 3-pointers, despite being top 5 in accuracy from deep. They’re not good at taking care of the ball and they definitely don’t do much offensive rebounding. Everything for them is based around their defense. That’s fine until you find yourself troubleshooting how to score in the postseason. It was already going to be a concern with a healthy Victor Oladipo. It’s going to be a concern without him too.

Something good: As concerned as I am about their offense, I still try to remember how well this team can shoot the ball from the outside. They’re one of the most efficient teams in the NBA in spotting up. They’re fifth in 3-point accuracy because Wes Matthews, Bojan Bogdanovic, Darren Collison, Myles Turner, and Doug McDermott can all really shoot the ball. Nate McMillan can absolutely find ways to create open 3-point looks by running a lot of pick action for their guards. They just have to let it fly a lot more than they do because the team has plenty of shooters in the rotation.

GIF ON THE BEAT:

  1. Oklahoma City Thunder (Previously 7th), 43-30 (+3.4 net rating)

Something bad: Valentine’s Day went real bad for the Thunder. I’m not sure if anybody got dumped that night or if their date night plans fell through after the game, but this team has fallen into a ravine since that day. Prior to February 14th, they were 39-17. Since then, the Thunder have gone 6-11. During that time, they’re posting the 28th ranked offense in the NBA. The defense fell off a little bit, but the offense just can’t get going at all. They’re the worst shooting team in terms of eFG and true shooting in the NBA over those 17 games. This is not the way to trend as you approach the postseason.

Something good: While the offense has sputtered during this stretch, Russell Westbrook has exploded with his scoring efficiency. In these past 17 games, Westbrook puts up 28.8 points on 46.7/35.3/66.0 shooting splits to go with 10.9 rebounds and 8.1 assists. He had four triple-doubles in that stretch. I know we’re supposed to no longer be impressed by triple-doubles, but this man has been averaging one for three seasons now. The fact that he’s still producing big numbers while also increasing his shooting efficiency over the last month-plus is an encouraging sign. The Thunder just need to get Paul George back on track and everybody else can fall in line.

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  1. Boston Celtics (Previously 10th), 43-31 (+4.3 net rating)

Something bad: Remember the cross-country flight that saved the Celtics? They had a great time together, bonded like teammates are supposed to, and then destroyed Golden State in Oakland. Kyrie Irving and others attributed the newfound camaraderie to the time on the flight. They won five of six games and looked like they were back. Well, they’ve now lost four straight games and they only have a flight to Cleveland next to fix things moving forward. After Cleveland, they have five straight games against playoff teams, assuming the Heat hang on for the No. 8 seed. I’m not sure this gets fixed quickly, if at all.

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Something good: The Celtics still score in the pick-and-roll with the best of them. Irving obviously leads the charge with that. He’s one of the best in the NBA. But they also have Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum doing well as the pick-and-roll scorer by initiating the action. Even Gordon Hayward hasn’t been bad at it. It’s a big reason the Celtics rank third in the NBA in pick-and-roll efficiency. The Celtics will run a lot of this at the end of tight games in the playoffs. They’ll trust Kyrie to set the table for others or treat the clutch like an all you can eat buffet. That kind of efficiency for the Celtics can have them ready to take off in the postseason.

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  1. Portland Trail Blazers (Previously 8th), 45-27 (+3.6 net rating)

Something bad: The CJ McCollum injury sucks and it comes at a terrible time. The Trail Blazers are battling for home-court advantage in the first round. Not having McCollum to help them score definitely hinders what Portland loves to do. Luckily, the injury wasn’t as serious as it was originally feared to be, but he still needs to get back on the court, get comfortable, and get back up to speed with what he does. The Blazers need to get past the first-round and doing that might require home-court advantage. Also, it will require them clicking on all cylinders. That’s where CJ as a secondary weapon just means so much.

Something good: Their offense is something great. The Blazers are up to fourth in the NBA in offensive rating, sitting behind only Golden State, Houston, and Milwaukee on the season. Portland is one of the few teams in the NBA that likes to crash the offensive boards. Jusuf Nurkic has been great at it, and the Blazers are really good at scrambling to open spots for second chance points opportunities. This feels like the best offense we’ve seen from the Blazers in the Damian Lillard era. They just need it to translate to the postseason.

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  1. Philadelphia 76ers (Previously 6th), 47-26 (+3.2 net rating)

Something bad: The 76ers still make some pretty bad decisions with the basketball. Over the course of the past few seasons, the Sixers have had the mask of “they’re still young and figuring it out” when it comes to turnovers. They get treated like the sixth-year community college student who still doesn’t have enough credits to get anything other than some priority registration for the next semester. The Sixers rank 26th in turnover rate and 28th in opponents’ turnover rate. Philadelphia has turned the ball over 163 more times than their opponents. This simply can’t keep up during the playoffs if they want to be contenders.

Something good: The 76ers finally broke through against the Celtics and I’m not exactly sure if it means anything. I think it means something? Joel Embiid seemed to realize that his physicality is far more impactful than him trying to pick his spots against Boston’s frontcourt. The Sixers needed a regular season win against the Celtics in order to just remember what it feels to win against them. Getting rid of that psychological doubt can mean a lot when it gets to tight playoff games. Mostly though, it gets back to Embiid realizing he’s the biggest, baddest guy on the court. He needs to play like that in the playoffs.

GIF ON THE BEAT: Jimmy Butler is still one of the best for giving us GIF reactions to use.

  1. Houston Rockets (Previously 4th), 47-27 (+3.4 net rating)

Something bad: I know Clint Capela missed a bunch of time this season, but this team’s biggest weakness might still be ending possessions with a defensive rebound. The Rockets rank 28th in the NBA in defensive rebounding rate. They give up so many second-chance point opportunities, and luckily it hasn’t completely killed them this season. The Rockets have been so good on offense that they can overcome this lack of rebounding on the defensive end of the floor. But get to the playoffs and that can kill you as much as missing 27 straight 3-pointers in a closeout game at home.

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Something good: I hope everybody ends up appreciating the run that James Harden is on. This guy scored 118 points in two games. Averaging 36.4 points per game just doesn’t make any sense. I know people don’t like the foul hunting or the step-back footwork or the way Harden is officiated. But he’s scoring over 36 points per game and he’s doing it efficiently! All those discussions about the best scoring guards in NBA history have to include him every time. He’s that good on offense. He’s a better scorer than Kobe Bryant. He’s a better scorer than Dwyane Wade. Michael Jordan might be the only guy between the Beard and that random, possibly arbitrary moniker.

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  1. Denver Nuggets (Previously 5th), 49-23 (+4.7 net rating)

Something bad: I worry about teams that rely too heavily on free throw shooting when it comes to the playoffs. For years, we saw this very thing plague the Toronto Raptors postseason after postseason. But I also worry about the teams who don’t get to the free throw line much at all. The Nuggets have one of the lowest free throw rates in the NBA. Only two teams have a lower free throw rate than Denver does. Now, it can be argued that Denver doesn’t really need this because their offense is so good anyway. I can agree with that on some level. However, drawing fouls is also a skill and I’m not sure if anybody outside of Nikola Jokic can do that.

Something good: The Nuggets are the best offensive rebounding team in the NBA this year. They keep possessions alive, and when Jokic manages to snare an offensive board, it usually ends in chaos for the scrambling defense trying to figure out what’s happening. Jokic can either score it himself or whip it to a teammate for an easy score. I think the Nuggets can utilize this a lot in the postseason. Maybe it will even lead to more free throw attempts in the process. But Denver keeping possessions on life support manages to give their already great offense another little jolt.

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  1. Toronto Raptors (Previously 3rd), 51-23 (+5.0 net rating)

Something bad: I don’t want to keep with the tired narrative of the Raptors and the postseason stuff, but that’s still the cloud hanging over this franchise’s heads. Even with the Kawhi Leonard acquisition. Even with the rejuvenation of Danny Green. Even with trading for Marc Gasol at the deadline. We’ve switched out so many faces in Toronto and yet people still seem hesitant to see where this goes with them in the postseason. It’s the something bad plaguing them until they prove it’s not longer something to hold over their heads. Unfortunately for them, the demons must be exorcised on national television before we believe the house is clear.

Something good: Green will probably be their biggest X-factor in the postseason. Leonard is spectacular and their obvious leader on the court. Pascal Siakam feels like a wildcard ready to be played. Gasol and Kyle Lowry can certainly be big time playmakers in the postseason. But someone like Green just makes so many smart, big plays that he’s the guy to keep an eye on. He’s an assassin with his jumper and he’s beyond disruptive with his defense. Kawhi was the clear win for that trade, but getting Green revitalized in Toronto has been one of the biggest moves of the past year.

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  1. Milwaukee Bucks (Previously 1st), 55-19 (+9.1 net rating)

Something bad: Guys and girls, I’m not a superstitious person. I don’t really believe in karma. I think it’s insane to have a “lucky shirt” or not move from a certain spot on the couch during the game. The idea of the “Curse of the Billy Goat” or the “Curse of the Bambino” have never made sense to me. I find it to be overly dramatic to believe in these superstitions and I think it just feeds into the idea of fans feeling too high and too low depending on the results. In my opinion, this mentality feeds into the mindset that fans can adopt an unhealthy relationship with sports and not remember the pure entertainment value these games are supposed to have for us.

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With all that said… did… I mean… do you think… now hear me out on this because it sounds crazy but… did Ja Rule actually curse the Bucks? The Bucks still have the No. 1 seed right now and they’re still very much on track to have home court throughout the playoffs — however long that lasts. But Nikola Mirotic fractured his thumb, Malcolm Brogdon tore his plantar fascia, Pau Gasol is already hurt, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is dealing with an ankle injury. I’m not saying Ja Rule actually cursed them, but I’m not NOT saying it either.

Something good: Ja Rule loses at just about everything lately. Sure, he made a bunch of money in his career, but he also turned down “2 Fast 2 Furious” back in the day because he said he was too big for the role. So the franchise brought Ludacris into the mix. Over the last four Fast and Furious movies that Ludacris has acted in, those movies have made roughly $4.2 billion worldwide. Basically, what I’m saying is Giannis is Dominic Torretto and he can’t be stopped.

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  1. Golden State Warriors (Previously 2nd), 50-23 (+5.5 net rating)

Something bad: This team still can’t really play defense together. The Warriors rank 15th in defensive rating, and we usually don’t see teams outside of the top 10 win championships. The Lakers did it with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant back in 2001. They were awful defensively all season long, ranking 21st out of 29 teams. Then the playoffs happened and the Lakers went 15-1 on their way to a second straight title. That only loss came to Allen Iverson in the NBA Finals. The Warriors are hoping that switch can be flipped on defense.

Something good: I mean… it’s still the damn Warriors. They still have Steph Curry. They still have Kevin Durant. Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala still exist in the postseason. Things should be fine, but they continue to play with fire when it comes to defense. They also continue to shoot fire when it comes to the offensive end of the court.

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Zach Harper

Zach Harper is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the NBA. Zach joined The Athletic after covering the NBA for ESPN.com, CBS Sports and FRS Sports since 2009. He also hosts radio for SiriusXM NBA and SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. Follow Zach on Twitter @talkhoops