30. Utah Jazz (16-56)
Previous Week Ranking: 30th
Unfortunately for Utah, they lost the tiebreaker with Washington this past week. This could be notable considering the drop-off from Cooper Flagg to Dylan Harper or whoever else you rank second in this year’s draft class is significant. It is a one-player tier at the top.

29. Washington Wizards (15-56)
Previous Week Ranking: 26th
The battle of the two worst teams in the league ended with the Wizards losing to the Jazz. That may have you asking how they are Ranked above Utah. The reason is because the Wizards are actually a better team them the Jazz lately. They are probably better than the Hornets and Sixers, but they are overtly tanking by sitting their best players. Adam Silver cannot be pleased.

28. Charlotte Hornets (18-53)
Previous Week Ranking: 29th
Charlotte does not just lose, they get blown out. They are almost never competitive and all their games feel lost by halftime. For a franchise that struggles to get fans, this is not the way to gain support. Within the last month, they lost three consecutive games by a total of 131 points which broke the previous record of three straight losses of 114.

27. Philadelphia 76ers (23-49)
Previous Week Ranking: 27th
Phillies baseball starts Thursday for all those physically ill from watching the Philadelphia 76ers! Philly has lost five straight games, the most recent against the Pelicans who are not trying to win games either. Tomorrow night they take back to the court for a much-anticipated home matchup against the Wizards. Can they continue their losing streak and out-lose the NBA’s worst team?

26. New Orleans Pelicans (20-53)
Previous Week Ranking: 28th
Zion sat out a game last week, which raises the question, of why he has not been completely shut down for the season yet. With all the injuries he has sustained, and only 9 games left, there is no benefit in putting him on the floor for a team that relies too heavily on him already.

25. Brooklyn Nets (23-49)
Previous Week Ranking: 25th
Brooklyn took to the road for four games this week, all against postseason-caliber teams. They played hard and lost by 6 or less in three of the matchups. As has been said before, franchise’s tank, but players give it their all on the court.

24. Miami Heat (30-41)
Previous Week Ranking: 24th
Miami’s freefall is remarkable. Pat Riley made it very clear that Jimmy Butler was the problem, however, the team he was traded to can’t lose and this Heat team can’t win. With 11 games left and a 5.5-game lead on the 11th seed, they seem all but guaranteed to be in the Play-In. Never say never though.

23. Toronto Raptors (25-47)
Previous Week Ranking: 23rd
The Rankings has pitched the idea of relegation in the past and wants to reintroduce the idea. There are seasons where this Raptors team could be the worst in the NBA. It just so happens that the league’s worst, specifically in the Eastern Conference, are embarrassing. This is likely one factor in the decreasing ratings for the league.

22. San Antonio Spurs (31-39)
Previous Week Ranking: 22nd
This season did not go the way the Spurs organization expected. They lost their long-time head coach for most of the season; Wemby was sidelined for the end of the season with a concerning diagnosis; and their new asset of Fox was the one bright spot until he too was shut down. San Antonio has a mindset fully focused on the long term.

21. Dallas Mavericks (35-37)
Previous Week Ranking: 19th
Anthony Davis returned to the court for the Dallas Mavericks in just the nick of time. Literally on the verge of forfeiting games, Dallas just needed healthy bodies. Some may question why AD with his injury history was eager to get back on the floor. The answer undoubtedly revolves around the fallout from the Luka trade.

20. Orlando Magic (34-38)
Previous Week Ranking: 21st
Orlando has one of the easier remaining schedules, which they really need. Even with a healthy Paolo and Franz, this is not the Magic’s year. Building some confidence with some easy wins heading into the Play-In may help them gain some much-needed playoff series experience.

19. Portland Trailblazers (32-40)
Previous Week Ranking: 17th
Many teams need to reassess their roster and front offices this offseason. Portland, however, should be one team that does not blow everything up. Granted, they are not immediately close to competing, but Chauncey has this young team building chemistry and letting it grow for another year or two while adding a veteran or two should be the play here.

18. Chicago Bulls (32-40)
Previous Week Ranking: 20th
The Eastern Conference in the NBA is such a confusing Conference. All year the conversation has been about the Cavaliers and Celtics, and rightfully so. Now, that the season is ending, some of these bottom-dwelling teams are winning shocking games. The Bulls, a team 8 games under .500 knocked off the Kings, Lakers, and Nuggets, all on the road in succession.

17. Sacramento Kings (35-36)
Previous Week Ranking: 15th
Sacramento does not look like a team that wants their season to continue past the beginning of April. With the offensive-minded players on their roster, they are surprisingly struggling to score lately. When the Kings let teams run it up on one end, they need to be able to hit shots to compete.

16. Phoenix Suns (35-37)
Previous Week Ranking: 18th
Here come the Phoenix Suns! As of this writing, Phoenix has passed Dallas for the last Play-In spot. The Suns have won four in a row, with two of those wins coming over the Cavaliers and Bucks. When this team is clicking, they have the talent to cause some problems for some Western Conference playoff teams. Beware!

15. Atlanta Hawks (35-36)
Previous Week Ranking: 16th
It is Trae Young’s favorite time of year. It seems this Hawks team always ends up in the Play-In. Young is on the verge of securing the assists leader title, and his unselfish play has led this team to three straight games with the offense averaging 130 in those contests.

14. Milwaukee Bucks (40-31)
Previous Week Ranking: 10th
One superstar-led team that other teams do not seem to fear is the Bucks. Dame and Giannis are approaching two years of playing together and when you watch this team, Dame still seems out of his comfort zone. He plays best with other creating guards, not a big like Giannis. For the length of time they have played together, it seems like this is confirmation they may need to go their separate ways this offseason.

13. Memphis Grizzlies (43-28)
Previous Week Ranking: 12th
The Grizzlies are continuing to go in the wrong direction. For most of the early season, they were solidly in the 2nd spot in the West, yet now they find themselves with the possibility of falling all the way into the Play-In tournament. Memphis has lost four of five and not to the best opponents either.

12. Indiana Pacers (42-29)
Previous Week Ranking: 14th
Indiana has a firm hold on the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference and is looking to climb higher with the recent Knicks slide. The Pacers’ fast-paced play caught some playoff teams unaware last year and their prolific offense is showing itself again.

11. Detroit Pistons (40-32)
Previous Week Ranking: 11th
In order to not overreact, the Pistons remained in the same spot as last week. Detroit has taken some questionable L’s to the Wizards and Mavericks lately, which may raise some alarm bells. Maybe the hesitation with this team is warranted.

10. LA Clippers (40-31)
Previous Week Ranking: 13th
Over the last two weeks, the Clippers have gone 5-1 and their only loss was a two point thriller to the league-leading Thunder. LA is a team to keep an eye on. Playoff Kawhi is a different beast and with the defense holding teams to under 110 points in 5 of the last 6 games, this team is dangerous.

9. New York Knicks (44-26)
Previous Week Ranking: 8th
Without Jalen Brunson, the Knicks have looked about as expected. New York feels like a team that is more reliant on a fully healthy lineup than many others in this league. At full strength, they are a threat in the East. Yet with the minutes played by this roster, with one player out, they can be a quick first-round exit too.

8. Los Angeles Lakers (43-28)
Previous Week Ranking: 5th
The good news for the Lakers is that LeBron is back from his injury. The bad news, the Lakers have lost seven of their last ten games. Naturally, with LeBron out and integrating a new player like Luka Doncic, things will not be perfect. However, they have looked concerningly lost in recent games.

7. Minnesota Timberwolves (41-32)
Previous Week Ranking: 7th
Sometimes we need to look beyond just the basketball played on the court for The Rankings. For the Timberwolves, a true feel-good story happened this past week. Joe Ingles, a role player on this Timberwolves team, was given the opportunity to start in a game in Orlando for a unique reason. Chris Finch made this non-basketball decision as Ingles’ autistic son was coming to see his Dad play in the NBA for the first time ever.

6. Golden State Warriors (41-30)
Previous Week Ranking: 6th
Matchups make fights, and the Warriors are a bad matchup for a number of teams at the top of the Western Conference. Regardless of regular season record or age, when Steph, Draymond, and Jimmy line up in the playoffs, I would take Golden State over almost any team they could play in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

5. Houston Rockets (46-26)
Previous Week Ranking: 9th
Around the All-Star break, the Rockets seemed to be in freefall. As a young team, there were a lot of questions about the youth of this team. Now, Ime Udoka has his team peaking at the exact right time. Until their most recent close loss to the Nuggets, Houston had won 9 straight games.

4. Denver Nuggets (45-28)
Previous Week Ranking: 4th
The Nuggets have seen inconsistency in their lineup due to injuries and rest which is all their recent record should be indicative of. Having doubts about a title contender of Denver’s quality with the greatest player in the world is not necessary. When it matters most, the Nuggets will be in the conversation.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers (57-14)
Previous Week Ranking: 1st
There may actually be a Ranking curse on this Cleveland team. After they went on a third double-digit winning streak this season, they have now lost 4 of their last 10 games. That is a significant slump for a team with only 14 losses throughout the regular season. They have a week or two to get back to stride before the playoffs.

2. Boston Celtics (53-19)
Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
Boston has now moved within 4.5 games of the Cavaliers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. With only 10 games left, the runway is probably too short to take over. Nevertheless, Boston is still the favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference whether Boston or Cleveland have home court.

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (59-12)
Previous Week Ranking: 2nd
After a two-week break, Oklahoma City has reclaimed the top spot in The Rankings. The Thunder have continued to prove that they are the league’s best and now have taken over the best record in the NBA. With just over two weeks left, OKC can make sure the entirety of the playoffs runs through their home city.