30. Washington Wizards (6-31)
Previous Week Ranking: 30th
Not sure if anyone reads the Wizards’ Ranking, even if it is first almost every week here. Washington is on a six-game losing streak and has now upped its per-game point differential to a staggering -14.3. If you want to watch your favorite team play in Washington, I am sure you can get dirt cheap tickets even to matchups against the Lakers and Celtics.

29. Toronto Raptors (8-31)
Previous Week Ranking: 27th
Toronto is trying to be the worst team in the league and is close to doing it. They have lost 16 of their last 17 matchups. Akin to the other teams at the bottom, they do not look like an NBA team even with some NBA quality players in RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes.

28. Charlotte Hornets (8-28)
Previous Week Ranking: 28th
The Eastern Conference bottom-dwellers are much worse than those in the Western Conference. If you thought 16 of 17 was bad for Toronto, how about 19 of 21 losses for Charlotte? The Hornets are not just bad, they are uncompetitive. This raises an interesting question, does LaMelo have any case for an All-Star selection with how well he is playing, even though the team is embarrassing?

27. New Orleans Pelicans (8-32)
Previous Week Ranking: 29th
Watching the Pelicans beat the Philadelphia 76ers and lose by 1-point to the Boston Celtics, reminds you have much injury has affected this team. Over the last week, CJ McCollum, Zion Williamson, and Dejounte Murray have had games where they killed. Unfortunately, this year is a wash for New Orleans, but they should still draw some League Pass attention.

26. Brooklyn Nets (13-26)
Previous Week Ranking: 25th
Brooklyn’s 5-game losing streak has included double-digit losses to the Pacers and Pistons, neither team is a world-beater, and also a lowly Jazz team. It was mentioned last week, but go and take a look at any recent Nets’ box score, and if you can recognize the majority of players playing you must be related to them.

25. Utah Jazz (10-28)
Previous Week Ranking: 26th
Does the Utah Jazz own the state of Florida? They came down to the Sunshine State and put down a 36-point beating of the Heat and followed that up with a 13-point win over the Magic. Maybe the difference in elevation was the factor, but either way, Utah has won 30% of this season’s games over the last week or so of play.

24. Portland Trailblazers (13-25)
Previous Week Ranking: 24th
The Trailblazers have been the line of demarcation this season for where the horrible team’s list starts. Teams 24 and below in The Rankings should be battling for relegation based on their play so far in the 2024-25 season. Portland boasts the third-worst point differential in the league at -8.2 proving when they lose, they do it well.

23. Chicago Bulls (18-21)
Previous Week Ranking: 22nd
Chicago has Lonzo Ball on their team which makes this the perfect spot to talk about his brother LiAngelo ball aka Gelo. If you have not heard his rap song “Tweaker”, you have to live under a rock. In under a week, it has over 15 million streams on Spotify alone and seems to be the song of all professional sports teams right now. Swerve, bend that corner, WOAH!

22. Philadelphia 76ers (15-22)
Previous Week Ranking: 18th
Last week, The Rankings asked how high the Sixers could climb. Let’s pause on that as they are firmly in the 11th seed at the moment and Joel Embiid is sidelined again for games. What is even more infuriating is, is the fact that Jared McCain seems to be the first person ever to be ruled out for 6 months due to a meniscus injury. I’m not a doctor, but I did tear my meniscus and the recovery was about 16 weeks shorter than that. It appears Philly is back to the sit-your-rookie-for-a-year tradition. If you want to feel even worse, take a look at the Sixers’ next 10-15 opponents.

21. San Antonio Spurs (18-21)
Previous Week Ranking: 14th
A seven-spot drop for the Spurs may seem significant. However, much like the bottom of the league, the middle tier of the league is very packed. There are 3 to 4 elite teams, then about 5 or 6 really good teams, and then a substantial pack of teams that are average and clumped together. San Antonio is a surprise entrant here and continues to show growth. It really raises the question of if they should build with this core, or try to pair Wemby with a proven star next year.

20. Golden State Warriors (19-19)
Previous Week Ranking: 16th
Early in the season, Golden State was fun to watch. They started the season with a surprising 10-2 run, and since then are 9-17. An inflection point exists here. If you were in the Warriors’ front office, would you mortgage the future to give the old guard one or two more shots at a title?

19. Atlanta Hawks (19-19)
Previous Week Ranking: 15th
Atlanta has faced a truly tough schedule and lost 4 of their last 5 games. Playing playoff teams and taking definitive losses is showing the true identity of this Hawks’ team. They are another fun League Pass team, and have some impressive earlier season wins on their resume.

18. Phoenix Suns (19-19)
Previous Week Ranking: 23rd
The Valley took home all three wins this past week. It helps when every game is at home and your opponents are the Hawks, Jazz, and Hornets. Devin Booker and Kevin Durant have been playing elite offensive basketball which has never been the issue. Phoenix’s issues stem from health and depth, neither of which seem fixable.

17. Dallas Mavericks (22-17)
Previous Week Ranking: 11th
The Mavericks are just trying to steady the ship amidst injury absences for their two superstars. Dallas is 3-7 over the team’s last 10 games, but remarkably they still remain the fifth seed in an extremely competitive Western Conference. If that says anything, it is how good this team is when fully healthy. They put in work to start the season and if they were healthy all season, would definitely be competing for the top-seed.

16. Minnesota Timberwolves (20-18)
Previous Week Ranking: 17th
Anthony Edwards is still arguably the most must-watch player in the NBA and that extends beyond just his jaw-dropping talent. Edwards, like LaMelo Ball, needs a PR person in his ear as he was hit with yet another conduct fine. The most recent one is over $250K this time due to recidivism. If he wants his teammates to focus on chemistry and on-court play, he must listen to his own words.

15. Detroit Pistons (20-19)
Previous Week Ranking: 20th
If you want to make the argument for LaMelo Ball to be an All-Star, The Rankings would immediately counter with Cade Cunningham. Cade has been playing great basketball and is averaging 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game for a Detroit team that has won 9 of their last 11 games. This one year turnaround is impressive for the Pistons.

14. Miami Heat (20-17)
Previous Week Ranking: 13th
Starting off the Jimmy Butler suspension, Miami is on a 3-game winning streak. This feels like there was definitely some locker room vibes that were off, although a weak schedule also helped contribute to the team’s wins. The real deciding factor for the Heat will be the players they receive back in the Butler trade.

13. LA Clippers (20-17)
Previous Week Ranking: 10th
Unfortunately for the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard is missing games again for the team, but this time it is completely understandable as he is spending time with his family amid the horrible wildfires in Los Angeles. Thoughts and prayers to all those affected by this unimaginable tragedy. There are many things bigger than sports and right now this is obviously one.

12. Indiana Pacers (22-18)
Previous Week Ranking: 19th
Is this Pacers team the same one that made the deep run to last year’s Eastern Conference Finals? Over the last two weeks, the Pacers have been playing inspiring basketball. They have won six straight games, capped off with a 15-point victory to snap the Cleveland Cavaliers 12-game winning streak. Indiana basketball looks back.

11. Sacramento Kings (20-19)
Previous Week Ranking: 21st
Speaking of who is back, let me introduce you to the real Sacramento Kings. Sacramento made the largest jump in this week’s Rankings, and it is more than deserved. Since Doug Christie took over as head coach for the Kings, they have not lost and currently hold the league’s longest winning streak with 7 straight games. Sacramento is fun to watch again and maybe the team was fine all along and this truly was a pure coaching issue that the players were not responding to.

10. Milwaukee Bucks (20-17)
Previous Week Ranking: 12th
Milwaukee got a nice wake up call at Madison Square Garden the other day losing by 34 points to a rolling Knicks team. More noteworthy for the Bucks’ is the recent move of Khris Middleton to the bench. Middleton is still an All-Star player and although no pushback has been noted publicly, I would be surprised if he has no issue with the move.

9. Orlando Magic (23-18)
Previous Week Ranking: 9th
Paolo Banchero is back and he is making sure everyone knows. In his first game against Milwaukee, PB put up 34 points and 7 rebounds and gave the Bucks all they could handle. If he did not miss so many games, Banchero should have been an easy All-NBA vote.

8. Los Angeles Lakers (20-16)
Previous Week Ranking: 8th
Similar to the Clippers, the Lakers’ schedule has featured a lot of postponed games due to the wildfires. Last week though, The Rankings talked about LeBron’s longevity in the NBA. This week, he turned back the clock many years and threw down arguably a top-15 dunk of his entire career. For someone who throws the ball down as much as LeBron that is truly saying something. Load up the clip on Youtube if you have not yet seen it and just appreciate his greatness.

7. Memphis Grizzlies (25-14)
Previous Week Ranking: 6th
Memphis is still playing good basketball but has stalled a bit. One reason, naturally, has been the absence of Ja Morant with a shoulder injury. This week, the Grizzlies saw Morant return to the lineup and even knowing how good he is, it is still shocking to see the offensive tempo difference when he is in and out of the lineup.

6. Denver Nuggets (23-15)
Previous Week Ranking: 7th
Before the season, if someone said Russell Westbrook would be the second-best player on the Denver Nuggets, you would have laughed at them. The 36-year-old guard is getting the last laugh now though. Mike Malone answered a big question this week by keeping Westbrook in the starting lineup once Aaron Gordon was back healthy. And honestly, that was completely the right decision with how Russ is playing right now.

5. Houston Rockets (25-12)
Previous Week Ranking: 5th
Another week passes, and another week goes without Houston being able to crack the top four tier. This past week, Houston knocked off the Wizards and Grizzlies, and continued to play complimentary basketball where any one of their wings can take the lead. The Rockets are a great story this year, however the season will be defined by how the young roster plays in the postseason.

4. New York Knicks (26-14)
Previous Week Ranking: 4th
Remember when there was a dominant ESPN story debating if Joe Flacco was an elite quarterback for way too long? The basketball version of that feels like if Jalen Brunson is a superstar or not. Since he was drafted into the NBA, the undersized guard has been disrespected and all he does is continue to win. He put together a remarkable game against Milwaukee this weekend where he scored 44 points.

3. Boston Celtics (28-11)
Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
It was implied last week, but to state it clearly, The Rankings still has the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship. Yes, Cleveland and Oklahoma City Thunder are continuing to roll and widen the gap in terms of regular season records. Keep the Jayson Tatum disrespect coming at your own risk. This team runs on it.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (32-6)
Previous Week Ranking: 1st
The NBA game of the year occurred on Wednesday night and if you missed it, I feel sorry for you. OKC brought a 17-game winning streak into Cleveland who was holding a 10-game winning streak of their own. An unstoppable force met an immovable object and Cleveland came out victorious. The Thunder were without Chet Holmgren and that is taken into consideration. Still, Cleveland wanted to get its’ respect nationally and they are receiving it here. OKC will be fighting for the top spot all year long, I am sure of it.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers (33-5)
Previous Week Ranking: 2nd
How many All-Stars do the Cleveland Cavaliers deserve? Because after their highly anticipated matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder, both Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen look deserving. On a night when Donovan Mitchell struggled, the bigs for Cleveland made their presence known and are the primary reason the Cavs won the matchup between the Conference leaders. Kenny Atkinson has all but locked up Coach of the Year at this point. Enjoy #1 this week!