Chuddy’s NBA Power RankingS
December 18
Welcome to the fourth installment of King Chuddy’s weekly NBA power rankings. These rankings will fluctuate based on the team's performance during the previous week and any changes in personnel, health, schematics, or overall quality of play. These rankings are NOT predicting for the future, or used to determine odds of ultimately winning the title, they are just based on what the team has done recently and what is their immediate outlook. For example, the Nuggets have the best future outlook to win the title and at full strength in a playoff setting they are the “best” team in the league. But they have not been playing their best basketball in recent weeks, so they are not #1 in the rankings. Think of these rankings as something more like the top 25 rankings in college basketball/football and they should make more sense. Feel free to leave your comments/opinions and tell me why I’m wrong, or why I am a genius. Without further ado…
Boston Celtics (20-5, Last week: 2) - Just an absolutely dominating week from the C’s; going 4-0 against the Cavs and Magic. This team is firing on all cylinders heading into their big west coast swing.
Minnesota Timberwolves (19-5, Last week: 1) - The Wolves didn’t do much to lose the top spot, it was more a matter of the Celtics taking it. They’ve won back to back games since Ant returned to the lineup, including an impressive win over the Mavs while Ant struggled, shooting just 3/19 from the field. He looked all the way back last game putting up 37 on 7/10 from 3.
Oklahoma City Thunder (16-8, Last week: 3) - They continue to look the part. They followed up a hard fought road loss to the Kings (no shame in that) with a last second win on the road in Denver. NINE blocks for Chet in that one.
Philadelphia 76ers (18-7, Last week: 5) - They can’t control their easy schedule, but they can take care of business against lesser opponents and boy have they. Philly has just been destroying teams lately, going 4-0 this week with wins by 45, 18, 32, and 53. Granted, those games were against the Wiz, Pistons (2x), and Hornets, but still… that’s a solid week.
Milwaukee Bucks (19-7, Last week: 7) - The Bucks have also benefited from a fairly easy schedule so far, and haven’t looked as impressive in doing it. But they continue to trend in the right direction and the offense is rapidly approaching elite status.
Los Angeles Clippers (15-10, Last week: 13) - You read that right. The hottest team in the league, the Clips have ripped off 7 straight and they seem to have found their form. Kawhi has played in every game and is starting to look like his old self. Harden has actually fit in really well too. But the main reason for the turnaround, they are now 12-3 since adding Daniel Theis.
Denver Nuggets (17-10, Last week: 10) - A solid bounce back week for the Nugs that would’ve been 4-0 if not for SGA’s last second heroics on Saturday night. Everybody knows this team is the team to beat at full strength.
Dallas Mavericks (16-9, Last week: 9) - Another ho hum 3-1 week for the Mavs, only falling to the Wolves on the road. This team has just kept on winning, even with injuries to almost everyone but Luka. I said it last week, I’m done disrespecting them.
Orlando Magic (16-9, Last week: 4) - This may seem harsh, as there’s no shame in dropping games to the #1 team in their own building. But those two games had to be a bit humbling for the Magic, and perhaps a wake up call that they are still further away from contention than they may have thought.
Sacramento Kings (15-9, Last week: 11) - The Kings continue to impress and what a week. They held on to top the Thunder as De’Aaron Fox outdueled SGA, then with Fox out they pumped the Jazz with Keegan Murray putting up career highs of 47 points and 12 made 3s.
New Orleans Pelicans (16-11, Last week: 15) - Other than that little IST blip in Vegas these guys have been rolling lately. They responded really well to the Lakers loss with 4 straight wins and some nice bounceback performances from Zion that have quieted the critics (for now).
Los Angeles Lakers (15-11, Last week: 6) - The IST bump is only good for one week in this column apparently. The Lakers look up and down at best and it seems less likely by the day that they can reach their peak with any sustained consistency at all. A 14 point loss to the Spurs being the latest example (albeit without AD…but that’s kind of part of the point).
Miami Heat (15-11, Last week: 17) - They’ve just about been playing .500 ball for a few weeks, and had a pathetic loss to the Bulls, but it’s been enough to slowly creep up the standings (5th in the East now) and every so often they remind us who they are (Jimmy Butler game winner at the horn on Saturday night for some revenge against the Bulls).
Houston Rockets (13-10, Last week: 18) - They picked up another road win and continue to look fairly dominant at home (11-1). They showed some great fight on the road in Milwaukee Sunday as well, with nothing going their way and eventually seeing Dillon Brooks, then Ime Udoka promptly ejected seconds before the final buzzer.
New York Knicks (14-11, Last week: 16) - They took care of business at home against Toronto, then had an ugly loss at Utah, followed by a very impressive road win against the Suns that saw Jalen Brunson drop his first career 50 burger, shooting 9/9 from three point range. The Knicks predictably lost the next night in LA to the Clippers.
Phoenix Suns (14-12, Last week: 14) - They’ve looked very unimpressive lately, dealing with one or multiple guys out of the lineup. There is just no real rhythm to this team on a nightly basis. Now they’ll be without Bradley Beal for at least a few more weeks. They are really going to have to click down the stretch to be considered any type of contender.
Indiana Pacers (13-11, Last week: 8) - Wow talk about an IST hangover. We already saw that the Lakers dropped but the biggest fallers are the Pacers, who have lost three straight since falling short in the IST finals. The 6ers have also pulled into a deadlock for the highest offensive rating in the league.
Brooklyn Nets (13-12, Last week: 19) - They lost 2 straight, but they’ve still won 7 of 10 and have largely held their own on this brutal road trip. They continue to hang around in the standings while everyone around them seems to be falling.
Golden State Warriors (12-14, Last week: 22) - Despite the fires burning around them, they’ve won 2 straight and seem to have actually embraced playing the young guys. Podziemski looks good and Moody and Kuminga are finally showing signs. Still a fascinating team to watch as the deadline approaches.
Cleveland Cavaliers (14-12, Last week: 12) - It’s possible nobody had a tougher week than the Cavs. They learned that they’ll be without both Evan Mobley and Darius Garland for at least a month - and in Mobley’s case closer to two. Just brutal news for a team that was trending upwards. This will likely only intensify Donovan Mitchell trade rumors.
Chicago Bulls (10-17, Last week: 20) - If they can keep up their recent .500 pace that may be good enough to make the play-in in the East. They’ve undeniably looked much better without Zach Lavine in the lineup, so maybe if they can trade him for some useful assets (I remain skeptical), they could actually be cooking with gas.
Utah Jazz (9-17, Last week: 25) - They pull out some impressive wins (huge comeback to beat the Knicks), and generally look competitive in a lot of games. If they were in the (much weaker) Eastern conference I think they could be a legitimate playoff team, but alas.
Toronto Raptors (10-15, Last week: 23) - Mostly just a sorry state of affairs for this team that has no identity. Scottie has taken a big leap and they are still bad. We figured the offense would probably struggle, but having a bottom half defense is pretty alarming.
Atlanta Hawks (10-15, Last week: 21) - I appear to have vastly overrated this team, and perhaps the coach as well. I thought they’d be miles better but they are basically free-falling, losing 5 in a row before beating the almost as lowly Raptors. But they started a fresh streak, losing to the shorthanded Cavs on Saturday.
Memphis Grizzlies (6-18, Last week: 24) - Only one more game until Ja is back! The west is loaded and the Griz are already 7.5 games out of the play-in but it would be fun to see them make a run.
Charlotte Hornets (7-17, Last week: 27) - They’ve been getting rocked, but honestly the East looks so bad that if LaMelo comes back fairly soon they could still push for a play-in spot.
Portland Trailblazers (6-19, Last week: 26) - It seemed like they were kind of finding their feet, but they’ve now lost 7 straight. Still, their young guys have shown some promise and when Malcolm Brogdon plays they are actually pretty competitive.
Washington Wizards (4-21, Last week: 28) - They got a huge win against the Pacers! And almost followed it up with another win against the Suns! Wow!
San Antonio Spurs (4-21, Last week: 29) - They got a huge win against the Lakers to snap the streak! They genuinely do look better since making a few key lineup changes. And more importantly Wemby is 1-0 vs. LeBron.
Detroit Pistons (2-24, Last week: 30) - Just a truly remarkable level of losing going on in Detroit. I have no choice but to respect it.