30. Washington Wizards (9-51)
Previous week ranking: 30th
If there was any question of who is the worst team in the NBA, that question should be over. The Wizards have now tied the Pistons for the worst overall record and the current 14-game losing streak has no end in sight for Washington.

29. Detroit Pistons (9-51)
Previous week ranking: 29th
The Pistons tied a record-long losing streak of 28 consecutive games earlier this season. The irony of that is if the Wizards losing streak continues another couple of weeks, the Pistons will then have the chance to hand Washington its’ 28th straight loss. What a world we live in at the bottom of the NBA where two teams could share a historic losing streak in the same season.

28. Charlotte Hornets (15-46)
Previous week ranking: 26th
In any other slightly better year, the Hornets would be the worst NBA team. Any team who plays without their best player for the majority of the season is obviously going to struggle, but even with LaMelo in the lineup, Charlotte is not a competitive NBA team.

27. Memphis Grizzlies (20-41)
Previous week ranking: 24th
Would you be surprised to know that the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Jaren Jackson Jr. is averaging 5.5 rebounds per game? Jackson is one of the core Grizzlies players who is still playing this season and with a primary game on both ends of the floor in the paint, he is not very efficient. The Grizzlies have been scrapping this season.

26. Portland Trailblazers (17-42)
Previous week ranking: 28th
Portland was running a 5-game double-digit losing streak before they encountered the even-worse Grizzlies. Now they are on a two-game heater after beating Memphis in back-to-back games by a total of 37 points combined.

25. San Antonio Spurs (13-48)
Previous week ranking: 27th
With each passing week, the NBA world is coming to terms with the expected progression of Victor Wembanyama’s game. That realization should be if you want to win an NBA Championship, your team’s window may be two to three years, if that, before Wemby’s inevitableness comes to pass. Would you say he is a top-20 player in the league already?

24. Utah Jazz (27-34)
Previous week ranking: 21st
The midseason surge by the Jazz has come and gone and they will likely end the season just shy of a Play-In Tournament spot. Before the season this was an obvious end result, but the Jazz gave their fans a few weeks of unexpected fun this year.

23. Houston Rockets (26-34)
Previous week ranking: 22nd
It seems that the Rockets have been one of the most up and down teams throughout the year. They have struggled immensely as of late, going 3-7 over their last 10 games. A highly anticipated matchup versus the Spurs comes this week between two bottom-dwelling teams that do not like each other.

22. Toronto Raptors (23-38)
Previous week ranking: 25th
Immanuel Quickley is starting to play inspired basketball and watching the Raptors play, it is easy to notice the parts seem to be greater than the whole. Maybe an active offseason can change the fortunes for a disappointing Toronto team that has fallen off a cliff since winning the NBA Finals.

21. Brooklyn Nets (24-36)
Previous week ranking: 23rd
Since naming Kevin Ollie as interim head coach, the Nets are 3-3 and have won three of their last four games. Ollie is a steadying coach and most notably led the University of Connecticut Huskies to an NCAA Championship in 2014. Will the Nets give Ollie a permanent chance to translate his college coaching success to the NBA as a head coach?

20. Atlanta Hawks (26-34)
Previous week ranking: 20th
Trae Young trade speculation is a hot topic for the Hawks this upcoming offseason, but Atlanta is hoping the conversation is delayed due to a postseason appearance. Can the Hawks hold off the Nets and Raptors for the final Play-In spot in the Eastern Conference?

19. Chicago Bulls (28-32)
Previous week ranking: 19th
Chicago is closing in on Mount .500 and likely has the Most Improved Player of the Year emerging in the Windy City. Coby White looks to have overtaken Tyrese Maxey in this race and has flourished in the absence of Zach LaVine. With more ball-handling opportunities, White is more in his natural flow of the game.

18. Indiana Pacers (34-28)
Previous week ranking: 16th
Last week, the Indiana Pacers did something that has to be a first in a long-standing game. They went an entire quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans without recording a defensive rebound. It truly is hard to grasp how that is even possible. The Pacers do not play any defense, but that is next level.

17. Los Angeles Lakers (33-29)
Previous week ranking: 12th
LeBron James continues to marvel on a basketball court and even knowing that Father Time always arrives, I have not seen any falloff in LeBron’s game this year. He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter against the LA Clippers to help the Lakers overcome a 21-point deficit and win the game. I know the Lakers are holding on to the 10-seed in the Western Conference, but how can you bet against The King when he does things like that?

16. Golden State Warriors (32-28)
Previous week ranking: 13th
Golden State dropped a few spots in The Rankings, especially since a 50+ point beatdown by the Boston Celtics is fresh on the mind. Before that loss, the Warriors had won 8 straight road games which is a minor miracle for a team that only won 11 total road games all of the previous season.

15. Dallas Mavericks (34-27)
Previous week ranking: 8th
After storming into the top-ten Rankings, the Mavericks have lost four of five games, all to strong Eastern Conference opponents. The most recent loss came to an Embiid-less Sixers team at home and might be a sign of more concerning issues for a team that has two players scoring more than half the team’s total points.

14. Philadelphia 76ers (35-25)
Previous week ranking: 17th
Finally some upward movement for the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers are on a small win streak (2 games) and Nick Nurse appears to have found a new three-guard lineup that is causing issues for opposing teams. This all comes on the heels of Joel Embiid’s first media session since his surgery where he stated his strong desire to return prior to the end of the regular season. Is there a small light at the end of the tunnel for Sixers fans?

13. New York Knicks (36-25)
Previous week ranking: 10th
The exciting new-look Knicks have been bitten by the injury bug with Julius Randle and OG Anunoby out recently. Jalen Brunson even suffered a knee contusion the other night. New York needs to focus on getting healthy as opposed to fighting for playoff seeding as they are a threat to many teams that will make the postseason.

12. Phoenix Suns (35-26)
Previous week ranking: 6th
Here we go again with injuries to the Phoenix Suns. Devin Booker is out at least a week with an ankle injury and the Suns have lost four of their last six games. A constant with all Kevin Durant teams (outside of his time with the Warriors) seems to be “What if?”

11. Cleveland Cavaliers (39-21)
Previous week ranking: 2nd
Cleveland had one of the most precipitous falls in The Rankings this week. The Cavaliers has had some questionable losses in the last week to the Bulls and an injury-plagued Knicks. This is likely why people are struggling to take the Cavs seriously.

10. Sacramento Kings (34-25)
Previous week ranking: 9th
The Kings have been the biggest beneficiary of the Suns and Mavericks recent struggles. Sacramento now holds the final playoff spot in the Western Conference sitting in 6th. Can they hold on to this position with 23 games remaining?

9. Miami Heat (34-26)
Previous week ranking: 18th
The NBA regular season is coming to an end and the Miami Heat are looking like one of the best teams in the league. Stop me if you have heard that before. The Lakers and Heat are the teams who seem to sleepwalk through the regular season the most and both proved last season they can turn it on when the playoffs arrive.

8. Orlando Magic (35-26)
Previous week ranking: 14th
Outside of the Boston Celtics, the Magic have the best record over the last couple of weeks. Orlando has climbed to the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference standings and is taking advantage of a recent easy schedule.

7. New Orleans Pelicans (36-25)
Previous week ranking: 7th
The Pelicans were the team that kept the Indiana Pacers from securing a defensive rebound for an entire quarter. The main contributing factor was a shooting percentage of over 90%. Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum can get hot, but it has to be said the Pacers are among the worst-defensive teams in the NBA. Whether the Pelicans can have consistent success against the West’s best will not be answered until late April and May.

6. Minnesota Timberwolves (42-19)
Previous week ranking: 3rd
Minnesota has played three top teams over the last couple of weeks in the Bucks, Kings, and Clippers and lost all three. If concern should be on the mind of Timberwolves fans is up for debate, but one thing not debatable is the Clippers game that ended with an 88-89 loss was a throwback to a former NBA and was fun to watch.

5. LA Clippers (39-20)
Previous week ranking: 4th
The biggest news that came out for the Clippers since the last Rankings drop was the new logo. What are your thoughts on the Clippers rebrand? It is not something seen often in the NBA and honestly the logo seems to have nothing to do with the name. Although, what the hell is a Clipper anyway. Keep trying to chase the Lakers, it is fun to watch from afar.

4. Milwaukee Bucks (40-21)
Previous week ranking: 15th
Milwaukee had the largest jump in The Rankings this week as they are riding a five-game winning streak and have gotten back to the 2nd-seed in the Eastern Conference. Was Doc Rivers right in saying this team needed more time to get comfortable with a different coaching style? Or is this run the result of the weakness of schedule?

3. Denver Nuggets (42-19)
Previous week ranking: 11th
Do not look now, but the Denver Nuggets are making their move! Denver has won six straight games and sits a half game out of the 1-seed in the Western Conference. This should scare West contenders as we all know about the altitude-led home court advantage that the Nuggets have. If they end the season first in the West, it would appear they should be the betting favorite to make the NBA Finals.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (42-18)
Previous week ranking: 5th
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played 59 games this season and has surpassed 30 points in 45 of those games. He leads the league in this category and needs only three more games with this scoring production to set the Oklahoma City Thunder single season record, a franchise where Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were prolific scorers. Reminder: SGA is 25 years old.

1. Boston Celtics (48-12)
Previous week ranking: 1st
This cannot come as a surprise to anyone. In fact, when visiting The Rankings this week, the one definite everyone should have known is that the Boston Celtics would sit 1st. Do you know Boston’s average margin of victory in their last 11 games? It is 22.1 points per game! That is not a typo, the Celtics have beaten their last 11 opponents by an average of more than 20 points. That is the best point differential in a more than 10 game span in NBA history. Another historical feat Boston accomplished, winning three games by 50+ points in one season. Can anyone stop this train?