Power Rankings: Mavs, Heat Continue Unexpected Runs

Record: 43-8
Pace: 103.0 (2) OffRtg: 113.8 (1) DefRtg: 101.4 (2) NetRtg: +12.3 (1)

Stephen Curry combined for 61 points and 12 threes on Saturday, but the Warriors still need that third scorer and didn’t get it in Sacramento, where Steve Kerr got ejected and where Kevin Durant (who shot 2-for-10) got into it with Draymond Green (again). The Warriors haven’t lost often, but when they have, it’s been more about their league-best offense (which has held under a point per possession in five of their eight losses) than their second-ranked defense. They’re 9-3 against the league’s top-10 defenses, with three games against the group this week.

This week: vs. CHI, @ MEM, @ OKC

Record: 39-11
Pace: 97.0 (25) OffRtg: 110.8 (4) DefRtg: 101.3 (1) NetRtg: +9.5 (2)

The Spurs (who were once 23-0 in games they led by double-digits) lost their previous two games after leading by 11 and 15 points and then blew an 18-point lead against the Thunder on Tuesday. But they recovered with a big fourth quarter, are on a three-game winning streak, and are back in the No. 1 spot in defensive efficiency, having held OKC, Philadelphia and Denver to less than 90 points per 100 possessions. After shooting 0-for-8 in previous two wins, Tony Parker was 8-for-8 in Saturday’s win over the Nuggets. Now, it’s rodeo time.

This week: @ MEM, @ PHI, @ DET, @ NYK

Record: 30-20
Pace: 99.1 (15) OffRtg: 107.5 (9) DefRtg: 104.9 (11) NetRtg: +2.6 (9)

The Wizards will take a seven-game winning streak (and a 17-game home winning streak) into Monday’s game against the Cavs. They’re playing their best defense of the season, having allowed just 95 points per 100 possessions over their last five games (though four of those five were against bottom-10 offenses), and defense has been the key as their bench minutes have been much better in 2017 than they were prior (a change that somewhat aligns with Marcus Thornton’s extraction from the rotation). The Cleveland game begins a stretch where eight of 10 games are against teams with winning records. They’re 7-11 against that group, but have won three straight.

This week: vs. CLE, @ BKN, vs. IND

Record: 37-17
Pace: 101.7 (4) OffRtg: 111.2 (3) DefRtg: 105.8 (18) NetRtg: +5.3 (4)

The Rockets blew a 20-point lead with 8:15 to go against Atlanta on Thursday, but they’re a league-best 12-1 in the second game of a back-to-back, because they came back from an eight-point deficit with less than three minutes to go against Chicago on Friday. They allowed 118 points in the paint in the two games and have allowed a league-high 53.6 per contest since the last time they won two straight. With the league’s easiest February schedule, there’s a good chance they can finally put some wins together.

This week: vs. ORL, @ CHA, vs. PHX

Record: 33-18
Pace: 98.7 (18) OffRtg: 109.3 (7) DefRtg: 106.1 (20) NetRtg: +3.2 (8)

The Celtics’ seven-game winning streak has put them in second place and is sending Brad Stevens and his staff to New Orleans next week. They have the league’s No. 3 offense over the course of the streak and Isaiah Thomas (averaging a league-best 34.4 points – 13.5 in the fourth quarter – since Dec. 29) has been ridiculous, but their defensive improvement, especially on the glass, may be more important. They still rank last in defensive rebounding percentage for the season, but are sixth over the course of the winning streak. They don’t face another top-10 offense until after the All-Star break, but five their six remaining pre-break games are on the road.

This week: @ SAC, @ POR, @ UTA

Record: 34-15
Pace: 99.1 (14) OffRtg: 109.7 (5) DefRtg: 105.6 (15) NetRtg: +4.1 (6)

The Cavs have won four of their last five games to keep some distance between them and the two teams – Boston and Washington – surging up the Eastern Conference standings. Tyronn Lue has had to get creative with either Kevin Love or Kyrie Irving missing the last 3 1/2 games. The most interesting configuration may have been a super-small (and somewhat old) lineup – Kay Felder, James Jones, Kyle Korver, Richard Jefferson and the New Sheriff in Town – that was a plus-8 in a little more than six minutes against Minnesota on Wednesday. The Cavs held a workout for some free agent guards, but even before Irving’s absence on Saturday, Felder was getting some more rotation time.

This week: @ WAS, @ IND, @ OKC, vs. DEN

Record: 32-19
Pace: 93.4 (30) OffRtg: 106.7 (11) DefRtg: 101.5 (3) NetRtg: +5.2 (5)

Rodney Hood (bone bruise on his right knee) is hurt again, but Gordon Hayward is healthy and scored 60 points on 64 percent shooting as the Jazz took care of business against the struggling Bucks and Hornets last week. Joe Johnson also awoke from a slumber and the pair combined with George Hill for a 22-4, fourth-quarter run that turned a 10-point deficit into a seven-point win against Charlotte on Saturday. That victory featured some rare Dante Exum offense in the first half and gave the Jazz sole possession of fourth place in the West.

This week: @ ATL, @ NOP, @ DAL, vs. BOS

Record: 30-22
Pace: 100.5 (6) OffRtg: 104.0 (22) DefRtg: 104.6 (8) NetRtg: -0.5 (16)

The Thunder lost their first three games without Enes Kanter before picking up important wins over Memphis and Portland over the weekend, with Russell Westbrook totalling 80 points, 17 rebounds and 20 assists in the two games. They’ve been the league’s worst shooting team (effective field goal percentage of just 48.6 percent) in 2017 and have scored a paltry 77.3 points per 100 possessions with Westbrook off the floor in the five games since Kanter’s injury. Victor Oladipo has shot 5-for-22 from 3-point range (2-for-17 with Westbrook on the floor) in that stretch.

This week: @ IND, vs. CLE, vs. GSW

Record: 31-20
Pace: 98.8 (16) OffRtg: 109.4 (6) DefRtg: 105.3 (13) NetRtg: +4.0 (7)

Blake Griffin had the Fancy Pass of the Week and has averaged 23.0 points on 53 percent shooting since his return. The Clippers’ offense has been potent (121 points scored per 100 possessions) with Raymond Felton, J.J. Redick and Austin Rivers on the floor together over the last eight games, and Paul Pierce got a proper send-off in Boston on Sunday. But hold off on the DeAndre-Jordan-for-Defensive-Player-of-the-Year campaign, as the Clippers have ranked last defensively (118.3 points allowed per 100 possessions) since Chris Paul’s injury. The good news on that front is that the only top-10 offense that they face between now and the All-Star break is one (that of the Raptors) that has regressed quite a bit over the last few weeks.

This week: @ TOR, @ NYK, @ CHA

Record: 31-22
Pace: 95.2 (28) OffRtg: 104.2 (19) DefRtg: 103.1 (5) NetRtg: +1.2 (10)

The quality of opponents got easier last week and the Grizzlies have won four of their last five games, with Mike Conley (38 points in Phoenix on Monday) and JaMychal Green (29 points in Minnesota on Saturday) each recording career highs along the way. They have the league’s No. 1 offense over the last two weeks (with Zach Randolph increasing his production off the bench) and are returning home from a six-game trip, but have the league’s top two defenses coming to town this week. They haven’t played the Spurs yet, but won their first two meetings with the Warriors.

This week: vs. SAS, vs. PHX, vs. GSW

Record: 28-22
Pace: 99.7 (12) OffRtg: 105.1 (15) DefRtg: 104.8 (10) NetRtg: +0.3 (13)

A six-game winning streak has the Pacers within a game in the loss column out of a top-four seed. It’s been their best defensive stretch of the season, as they’ve held four of their last five opponents to 17 points or less in at least one quarter (and the Pistons to just 26 in the second half on Saturday). Over the streak, they’ve allowed just 92.3 points per 100 possessions with Myles Turner on the floor. But their schedule is about to get a lot tougher, with 10 of their next 12 games against teams with winning records (and one of the other two on the road against the red-hot Heat). They’ve played a league-low 13 games (and are 6-7) against that group thus far.

This week: vs. OKC, vs. CLE, @ WAS, vs. MIL

Record: 31-21
Pace: 97.9 (21) OffRtg: 111.2 (2) DefRtg: 105.7 (17) NetRtg: +5.5 (3)

The Raptors’ slide (they’re 3-8 over the last 2 1/2 weeks) has taken them from second to fourth in the Eastern Conference and has put them in danger of sliding all the way to sixth. In fact, that’s where they’d be if Kyle Lowry didn’t hit a ridiculously tough game-winner against New Orleans on Tuesday and fool a ref into giving Brook Lopez his third foul (which was followed by a 17-5 Toronto run) in the second quarter on Sunday. Maybe the most surprising thing that has happened is super-sub Cory Joseph (26 percent shooting, minus-51 in his last four games) losing his spot in the rotation (to rookie Fred VanVleet) at a time when the Raptors are missing DeMar DeRozan.

Record: 25-26
Pace: 97.4 (23) OffRtg: 104.5 (18) DefRtg: 104.4 (7) NetRtg: +0.1 (15)

With all their dysfunction, the Bulls are still in playoff position, gave Oklahoma City its worst home loss of the season on Wednesday, and were one possession away from winning in Houston without Jimmy Butler (heel contusion) on Friday. They have a top-10 defense, though the Houston loss began a stretch where 10 of 16 games are against teams that currently rank in the top eight offensively. Butler’s availability (he’s considered day-to-day) for the rest of their six-game trip is obviously critical, because, even with the close call on Friday, they’ve been 9.9 points per 100 possessions better with Butler on the floor (plus-2.9) than they’ve been with him off the floor (minus-7.0).

This week: @ SAC, @ GSW, @ PHX, @ MIN

Record: 21-30
Pace: 97.6 (22) OffRtg: 102.5 (26) DefRtg: 103.7 (6) NetRtg: -1.2 (17)

After averaging just 11.6 points and 10.7 rebounds over the first eight games of the Heat’s winning streak, Hassan Whiteside joined the party with 48 and 38 in wins over the Hawks and Sixers last week. The winning streak has been more about the Heat’s defense, which has been at its best in the fourth quarter, when they’ve allowed just 88.4 points per 100 possessions (70.9 with Whiteside on the floor) over the 10 games. The Heat have the No. 1 fourth-quarter defense in the league (by a pretty wide margin), but after playing eight of the 10 games at home, they’re on the road for five of their six games going into the All-Star break.

This week: @ MIN, @ MIL, @ BKN, @ PHI

Record: 30-21
Pace: 99.8 (11) OffRtg: 102.9 (25) DefRtg: 102.8 (4) NetRtg: +0.1 (14)

The Hawks are 8-3 in the second game of back-to-backs after erasing a 20-point deficit in less than six minutes in the fourth quarter in Houston on Thursday. Tim Hardaway’s 23 fourth-quarter points were a mix of threes and drives to the basket and it’s been paint points that have determined the Hawks’ success over the last eight days. The winner of their last four games has outscored the loser by an average of 21.5 points in the paint. For the season, the Hawks are the only team that ranks in the top five in both percentage of their shots that have come from the restricted area (34.6 percent – fifth highest) and preventing those same shots on the other end of the floor (28.5 percent – second lowest).

This week: vs. UTA, vs. DEN, @ SAC

Record: 22-28
Pace: 100.8 (5) OffRtg: 108.1 (8) DefRtg: 110.6 (30) NetRtg: -2.4 (22)

Nikola Jokic returned from a three-game absence to record his first career triple-double against Milwaukee on Friday. But Jokic had more turnovers (5) than rebounds (1) and assists (2) combined a night later and the Nuggets fell to 2-9 on the second night of a back-to-back when they got thumped by the Spurs. The remain the league’s worst defensive team and have allowed almost 119 points per 100 possessions as they’ve lost three of their last four. They have another back-to-back (at New York and Cleveland) this week, and will first have to deal with the Yogi Ferrell Show on Monday.

This week: vs. DAL, @ ATL, @ NYK, @ CLE

Record: 23-28
Pace: 96.7 (26) OffRtg: 103.7 (23) DefRtg: 105.5 (14) NetRtg: -1.8 (19)

The Pistons got career highs from three different guys – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (38), Jon Leuer (24) and Marcus Morris (36) – in wins over New Orleans and Minnesota on Wednesday and Friday that moved them back into playoff position. The Leuer-Morris combination continues to have better numbers (plus-4.6 points per 100 possessions) than either with Tobias Harris (minus-1.4, minus-2.9), but the Pistons’ Leuer-Morris starting lineup hasn’t been good (minus-8.8 since the lineup change), because the defense has been bad and because Reggie Jackson has averaged just 8.8 points on 30 percent shooting over the last four games.

This week: vs. PHI, vs. LAL, vs. SAS, @ TOR

Record: 20-30
Pace: 93.5 (29) OffRtg: 104.1 (20) DefRtg: 106.0 (19) NetRtg: -1.9 (20)

The Mavs are 4-0 with Yogi Ferrell starting at point guard and its been their best offensive stretch (115 points scored per 100 possessions) of the season. Ferrell had his breakout game in Portland on Friday, scoring 32 points and hitting nine threes (more than he had in 10 games with Brooklyn earlier in the season). The Mavs are are just two games behind the Nuggets for eighth place and have one of the West’s easier February schedules (only two of their 11 games are against teams over .500), with two huge games on Monday and Tuesday.

This week: @ DEN, vs. POR, vs. UTA, vs. ORL

Record: 22-30
Pace: 99.9 (10) OffRtg: 106.6 (12) DefRtg: 108.5 (25) NetRtg: -1.9 (21)

The Blazers’ new starting lineup has had mixed results over its eight games together, but either way, seven of the eight games have been within five points in the last five minutes, and Terry Stotts has had Al Farouq-Aminu instead of Noah Vonleh on the floor down the stretch. That didn’t help the late-game defense over the weekend, when the Mavs and Thunder combined to shoot 7-for-11 (4-for-8 from 3-point range) on clutch shots and keep the Blazers out of playoff position. Though the offense has been at its best with him on the floor, Aminu himself has shot just 35 percent in the eight games off the bench and has had the worst shooting season of his career, with an effective field goal percentage of just 41.7 percent (down from 50.3 percent last season).

This week: @ DAL, vs. BOS

Record: 20-31
Pace: 96.6 (27) OffRtg: 105.0 (16) DefRtg: 109.0 (26) NetRtg: -4.0 (25)

Losing to the Suns and beating the Warriors (which the Kings did on Friday and Saturday) may be the most Jekyll-and-Hyde-ish back-to-back any team has had this season. DeMarcus Cousins was one assist away from recording triple-doubles in both games, but the key to Saturday’s upset was the minutes of Willie Cauley-Stein (14 points) backing up Cousins. For the season, the Kings have been outscored by 10.5 points per 100 possessions with Cauley-Stein on the floor and that has been, by far, the team’s worst on-court NetRtg. Cousins and Cauley-Stein have played just 113 minutes together this season after playing 596 minutes together last season.

This week: vs. CHI, vs. BOS, vs. ATL, vs. NOP

Record: 23-28
Pace: 98.8 (17) OffRtg: 105.7 (14) DefRtg: 105.0 (12) NetRtg: +0.6 (12)

The Hornets added a lot of money to their future payrolls by trading two bad centers (Spencer Hawes and Roy Hibbert) for one (Miles Plumlee), and maybe they should have used the open roster spot to re-sign Dell Curry, because the Currys are all on fire these days. The Hornets are not, having lost seven straight games with the 28th-ranked defense over the course of the losing streak. As one of two teams without a road win in 2017 (the Lakers are the other), they’re feeling some desperation as they begin a four-game homestand (that’s followed by seven straight road games) on Tuesday.

This week: vs. BKN, vs. HOU, vs. LAC

Record: 18-32
Pace: 100.2 (8) OffRtg: 99.3 (30) DefRtg: 105.6 (16) NetRtg: -6.4 (28)

The Sixers are getting offensive contributions from almost everyone in their rotation and almost cracked the point-per-possession mark after Monday’s win over Sacramento. But after leading the league in defensive efficiency over the first 20 days of January, they rank 25th on that end as Joel Embiid has missed eight of their last nine games. Robert Covington, the league-leader with 4.2 deflections per game, has missed the last three and for the season, the Sixers have allowed 111.6 points per 100 possessions with neither Covington nor Embiid on the floor.

This week: @ DET, vs. SAS, @ ORL, vs. MIA

Record: 19-32
Pace: 97.0 (24) OffRtg: 106.5 (13) DefRtg: 108.0 (24) NetRtg: -1.5 (18)

The Wolves’ 8-3 stretch came to an end when they got blasted in the second half in Cleveland on Wednesday. And then their playoff hopes may have come to an end when Zach LaVine tore his ACL two nights later. LaVine had the worst on-court NetRtg in the Wolves’ rotation, in part because he was the starter that played the most minutes with the Wolves’ sketchy bench. So now Tom Thibodeau not only has to figure out who’s starting at the two (Brandon Rush was the man in Saturday’s loss to Memphis), but also who’s getting the ball with the second unit. More importantly, it will be a long road back for a player that had shown a ton of improvement over the last year.

This week: vs. MIA, vs. TOR, vs. NOP, vs. CHI

Record: 22-28
Pace: 97.9 (20) OffRtg: 107.1 (10) DefRtg: 106.4 (21) NetRtg: +0.7 (11)

Khris Middleton will make his season debut against the Heat on Wednesday and the Bucks could certainly use his help. He’ll need some time to get back in basketball shape, but the Bucks were much better on both sides of the ball with Middleton on the floor last season. They stopped the bleeding (a 1-10 stretch) with an easy win in Phoenix on Saturday and play 11 of their next 15 games at home, but have to find a way to get stops consistently. It does help that five of their remaining six pre-break games (starting with the win in Phoenix) are against bottom-10 offenses.

This week: vs. MIA, vs. LAL, @ IND

Record: 19-32
Pace: 100.0 (9) OffRtg: 102.0 (27) DefRtg: 104.7 (9) NetRtg: -2.7 (23)

Jrue Holiday has averaged 23.0 points and 8.9 assists, shooting 55 percent (16-for-35 from 3-point range), over the last seven games. But the Pelicans haven’t gotten any offense beyond Holiday and Anthony Davis as they’ve lost four straight (scoring just 98 points per 100 possessions) and Holiday got shut down by John Wall and the Wizards on Saturday. Solomon Hill has scored in double-figures in just 10 of his 49 games, Buddy Hield has shot 30 percent over the last seven, and Alvin Gentry hasn’t found an answer at power forward either.

This week: vs. PHX, vs. UTA, @ MIN, @ SAC

Record: 22-30
Pace: 99.4 (13) OffRtg: 104.8 (17) DefRtg: 107.9 (23) NetRtg: -3.1 (24)

Amid all the Melo-drama, the Knicks’ young bench has been a bright spot, and Willy Hernangomez forced Jeff Hornacek to keep him on the floor late in games last week. Hernangomez averaged 15.7 points and 11.7 rebounds in the three games, grabbing some huge offensive boards in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s win in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony watching the final 15 minutes (which the Knicks won 42-28) from the bench. The Knicks have outscored their opponents by 7.7 points per 100 possessions in 247 minutes with Hernangomez and Mindaugas Kuzminskas (a.k.a. “Kuuuuuzzzz!!!”) on the floor together.

This week: vs. LAL, vs. LAC, vs. DEN, vs. SAS

Record: 20-33
Pace: 98.1 (19) OffRtg: 100.8 (29) DefRtg: 107.0 (22) NetRtg: -6.2 (27)

The Magic got a win over the struggling Raptors on Friday, but aren’t going anywhere in the standings and have to be thinking more about where they want to be a year from now. If they’re shopping Serge Ibaka, he’s helped them with increased production over the last couple of weeks (though he shot 2-for-9 in Saturday’s loss in Atlanta), but he hasn’t made any real impact defensively and ranks as one of the league’s worst rim protectors. The Magic have been a bottom-five team on both ends of the floor and have been outscored by a league-worst 10.6 points per 100 possessions as they’ve gone 3-9 over the last three-plus weeks.

This week: @ HOU, vs. PHI, @ DAL

Record: 17-36
Pace: 100.3 (7) OffRtg: 103.5 (24) DefRtg: 110.3 (29) NetRtg: -6.8 (29)

The Lakers brought Magic Johnson back to the organization last week and D’Angelo Russell has averaged a Magic-esque 19.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 9.0 assists in three games back from a 3.9-game absence. In his first game back, the Lakers got their first win in a close game (within five points in the last five minutes) since November, beating the Jokic-less Nuggets after a wild fourth quarter on Tuesday. But their defense remains awful and they’ve lost 12 straight road games after allowing 110 points per 100 possessions in Washington and Boston last week.

This week: @ NYK, @ DET, @ MIL

Record: 16-35
Pace: 101.7 (3) OffRtg: 104.1 (21) DefRtg: 109.3 (28) NetRtg: -5.3 (26)

When one of your players (Devin Booker) scores 27 points in less than 7 1/2 minutes against Milwaukee on Saturday and you still lose the game by 25 points, your defense may not be very good. The Suns have allowed at least 30 points in 13 different quarters as they’ve lost six of their last seven games, with the only win coming on Booker’s game-winner in Sacramento on Friday. Of the Suns’ 16 wins, 14 have been in games within five points in the last five minutes. Only the 9-42 Nets have as few “non-clutch” victories.

This week: @ NOP, @ MEM, vs. CHI, @ HOU

Record: 9-42
Pace: 103.9 (1) OffRtg: 100.9 (28) DefRtg: 109.2 (27) NetRtg: -8.3 (30)

After blowing double-digit leads to the Heat and Knicks earlier in the week and falling to 6-9 (they’re the only team under .500) in games they led by at least 10 points, the Nets came back from 19 points down to take the lead against Indiana on Friday and from 17 points down to put a scare in the Raptors on Sunday. After all that, they’ve still lost nine straight games, but Kenny Atkinson’s group certainly hasn’t let go of the rope and last week was one of their best defensive stretches (100.2 points allowed per 100 possessions) of the season.

This week: @ CHA, vs. WAS, vs. MIA