Official /r/nba Power Rankings #9 (2.16.2024)

[29/30 rankers reporting this week.](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17bF–yJIj8G5O32Ii3aQ5QYAsUf45P6q46mKE4JZbKg/edit?usp=sharing) /R/NBA’s Power Rankings are published every two weeks which is a bit different from most rankings. Other than that we rank the teams the same way as our competition. If write ups are left blank the team rep decided not to submit. We encourage any user to fill in the blanks in the comment section.

\# | Team | Δ | Record | Comment |
–: | :– | :– | :-: | :– |
1 | [](/BOS) Celtics | — | 45-12 | The Celtics are now a staggering 7.5 games up on 2nd place in the East and have one of, if not the easiest schedules remaining. Since the All-Star break the Celtics have gone 4-0 with wins over the Nets twice, Bulls, and Knicks. Over the next 2 weeks they have matchups against the 76ers, Mavericks, Warriors, Cavs, Nuggets, and Suns, which is by far their hardest stretch of games remaining. If the Celtics manage to split those 6 games and come out 3-3 or god forbid better, there’s a legitimate chance this team may flirt with 65 wins if they don’t pack it in the last week or two of the season and start resting due to their large lead in the east. That’ll require them to go 20-5 the rest of the way which is a daunting task, but the schedule lines up to where it’s not outside the realm of possibility if they manage to get through these next 2 weeks. |
2 | [](/OKC) Thunder | +4 | 40-17 | With some fresh legs, Chet Holmgren have come back from the break with urgency and have picked up right where they left off. With their win on Sunday over Houston – the Thunder have hit the Phil Jackson Contender metric of 40 wins before 20 losses. This unbelievably young team continues to blow its expectations out of the water! Also we got Gordon Hayward to bark in a post game interview lmao |
3 | [](/MIN) TWolves | +1 | 40-17 | Wolves were hot heading into the all star break, but slipped the first game out of it offensively. They are 7-3 over their last 10 and first in net rating over that game stretch. They were the first team in the West to hit the Phil Jackson 40 before 20 threshold. Wolves defense is still the best in the league and their offense is coming along to a better standard. Wolves were hot heading into the all star break, but slipped the first game out of it offensively. They are 7-3 over their last 10 and first in net rating over that game stretch. They were the first team in the West to hit the Phil Jackson 40 before 20 threshold. Wolves defense is still the best in the league and their offense is coming along to a better standard. |
4 | [](/DEN) Nuggets | +1 | 39-19 | Despite crash landing into the All-Star Break with a 3-game losing skid, the Nuggets came out of the break looking refreshed and have reeled off 3 straight wins. Nikola Jokic has been stuffing the stat sheet with absurd efficiency, accruing at least 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 14 assists in all 3 games since the break. Jokic has started to separate himself from the rest of the pack in the MVP race, and considering how competitive the West is this season, him and the team likely won’t be able to coast to the finish line this season, for better and for worse. |
5 | [](/CLE) Cavaliers | -2 | 37-19 | The Cavs went 2-3 since the last power rankings with Donovan Mitchell missing two losses, sputtering out after a 17-1 stretch. The Cavs have the best record and net rating in the NBA in 2024. Darius Garland put up 17.6/2/8.4 on 47/39/86 in those last five, but if you’d ask Cavs fans, you’d think he’s playing like prime Killian Hayes. Garland wasn’t able to do *anything* basketball related for a month due to his wired shut jaw, which cause him to lose 12 pounds and conditioning. You can see it in his handle, he’s not the jerky, unguardable one-on-one dribbler he was before, but as he’s working his way back to being that, going through the pains of letting him make mistakes is what Cavs fans will have to deal with if they want him to get back to the level we expect of a maxed PG. The Cavs will live or die in the playoffs on the backs of the four main cast members, and with 7 weeks left in the season, we can only hope he’s back to full form by then. |
6 | [](/LAC) Clippers | -4 | 37-19 | After a strong 2 months, the Clippers have begun to show some cracks. We got absolutely rocked by playoff competition (again), and even our wins against Memphis and GSW looked absolutely undeserved. Both our lack of height as well as our abundance of age have never been more obvious in these past couple of games. Teams have been running us off the course in this stretch, as the Clips allowed a pathetic 118.6 points a game in the past two weeks, with the 2nd worst DRTG in the league. Zubac and the human traffic pole that is Mason Plumlee are not enough to cover the paint for a full 48, and we generally are lost following 3-point shooters. Offense-wise, we have been hit with a Paul George slump and Russell Westbrook forgetting how to hip layups (9.8 points on 30% shooting in this stretch lol), and our our offensive flow has reverted to how it looked during the first 10 games with Harden. Overall, this has not been a good 2 weeks for us, but at least we’re getting new jerseys soon apparently. So yay. |
7 | [](/MIL) Bucks | +1 | 37-21 | Doc totally fixed our defense in less than 10 games, and we’re also 19-0 when Dame shoots 50+%. Get your jokes in while you still can. |
8 | [](/PHX) Suns | +1 | 34-24 | The Suns now have a more reliable rotation thanks to the addition of Royce O’Neale and the emergence of Bol Bol. They are also taking better care of the ball. In the IST quarterfinal matchup, the Lakers took 27 more shots than the Suns thanks to 21 offensive rebounds and the Suns committing 11 more turnovers. Yesterday, the Suns held the Lakers to 3 offensive rebounds and had just 2 more turnovers than the Lakers. The Suns will be fighting to stay out of the Play-In. They have the most difficult schedule remaining in the league. Beal, Nurkic, and Gordon have all missed at least one game since the All-Star break. |
9 | [](/NYK) Knicks | -2 | 34-23 | Plz basketball gods, give us back our injured boys. I don’t want to watch Alec Burks anymore. |
10 | [](/SAC) Kings | +2 | 33-23 | To say Fox and Domas took the Allstar slight personal would be an understatement. Kings have come out the break swinging.. This team decided to run it back with the same squad despite having glaring issues and in a more competitive west. We shall see if they Kings can continue lighting the beam against a very tough stretch of opponents. |
11 | [](/DAL) Mavericks | — | 33-24 | Dallas continues to play well since the trade, going 4-1 since PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford made their Mavs debuts. Since Kyrie Irving returned in early February, the Mavs are 7-1 with him having some of his best 8 game splits of his career: 27 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1 SPG with only 1.5 TOPG on 56/46/82 splits. The Mavs offense is looking the best it has ever looked under Jason Kidd with almost no signs of slowing down. |
12 | [](/NOP) Pelicans | -2 | 34-24 | The Pelicans are struggling with turnovers and closing games. CJ McCollum’s ankle injury hopefully will not linger. Naji Marshall has now completed his one game suspension but Jose Alvarado has two games to go for their roles in the fight against the Heat. Herb Jones remains on a campaign for the All-Defensive Team with an impressive seven steal performance against the Rockets. The Pelicans are 7th in the league in net rating on the season. They rank 3rd, 2nd, 18th and 25th respectively by quarter however. They must find a way to be more than a first half team if they want to be more than a play-in team. |
13 | [](/IND) Pacers | — | 33-25 | It would appear the Pacers’ offense is nice and recharged after the All-Star break. Indiana has won 3 straight and 6 out of 8, including a 22-point win over the red-hot Mavericks. Really now, Indiana has to focus on 2 things. 1: Staying healthy, and 2: Taking advantage of their relatively easier upcoming schedule. With other Eastern conference teams dealing with injuries at the moment, the Pacers could find themselves sneaking up into the top half of the playoff picture if they can string some winning streaks together. |
14 | [](/MIA) Heat | +2 | 31-25 | The Heat have found a bit of form post ASB. Terry Rozier is still out with a knee injury but hopefully he will be back before playoffs to get back into the groove of things. Aside from Terry though the Heat are the healthiest they’ve been all season. This might be their opportunity to charge up the standings if everything remains the way it is. Especially considering how close seeds #2 to #8 are to each other. However, that’s if everything continues on the course we’ve found ourselves on and we don’t run into more difficulties that derail our white hot hopes. Still over a month until we begin playoffs however and you’ve got to get there first. |
15 | [](/ORL) Magic | — | 32-26 | Paolo just returned from a somewhat quiet All-Star Weekend with an illness but was still able to hit the game-winning shot against the Pistons, though there’s been some question of whether he traveled before the shot. Final stretch of the season and the Magic have the easiest schedule remaining while only being a few games back from the 4th seed. This is the time for these guys to show they mean business, take care of the teams they need to take care of and make some noise in the playoffs. Injuries might be back to ruin that chance, with Fultz and Harris dealing with nagging injuries and Isaac just going down with a knee strain against the Hawks. |
16 | [](/PHI) 76ers | -2 | 33-24 | While I love the additions of the Sixers since the trade deadline, I am admittedly having a hard time really finding any vibe with this team with Embiid out. Maxey shows up every night and I know I’ll always get effort out of players like Buddy Hield and Paul Reed, but they just can’t carry the team like Embiid. The current performance of the team shows how valuable of a player Embiid is outside of just being a first option that can drop 35+ at the drop of a hat. Hopefully, the Sixers can tread water in hopes that he comes back, but they may be staring down the barrel of a first round/play-in loss as currently constructed. |
17 | [](/GSW) Warriors | — | 29-27 | Warriors have actually been winning the games they are supposed to be winning for the first time in months. Nevertheless they seem to be perpetually stuck in the last play in spot since the West is so tough this year but they will continue to have a light schedule into mid march. Bench Klay is the best version of himself since 2022 and has earned himself some close out minutes. |
18 | [](/LAL) Lakers | — | 31-28 | The momentum off the All-Star break where they had won 6 of 7 did not carrry over, with losses to the Warriors and Suns that could have major implications in the standings. Not having some of our wings in Vando, Wood, Reddish is definitely a factor but watching the games it’s evident that the guys are not being maximized, Christie and Rui deserve more minutes, the three-guard lineup is back to haunt the fans, overall there is a big fat Ham in the room that the ownership isn’t going to address. We are probably a second-round exit team at best but currently our play has not been even at that level. With just 23 games left, the team is probably headed towards yet another play-in scenario and at this point it would be a relief if they could at least secure a spot in the 7-8 matchup. Lakers play 11 of their next 12 in Los Angeles and having been a good team at home, and hopefully with some sense of urgency they can attempt one final push to shoot up at the rankings. |
19 | [](/CHI) Bulls | +2 | 27-30 | I’m shocked the Bulls are still close to .500 after all of the injuries we have suffered. Patrick Williams, Zach Lavine, and Lonzo Ball are out for the season, while Torey Craig is out for 4 weeks. Ayo stepping up has been a big reason why we remain competitive in games, and Caruso and Derozan are still providing veteran leadership on defense and offense respectively. |
20 | [](/UTA) Jazz | -1 | 27-31 | It appears that as quickly as the Jazz turned their season around, they turned it right back around. A 5-11 record in their last 16 games a result of generationally bad defense. Allowing 127 points per 100 possessions in their last 10 games while Walker Kessler plays just 22 minutes a night has been rough for fans, with many concerned that the John Collins experiment isn’t quite the way forward. This is despite Collins himself averaging an impressive 16/11 on 57% shooting in the same span. Something needs to give and Utah’s attempt to delicately balance their front court rotation has been overall unsuccessful. |
21 | [](/HOU) Rockets | +1 | 25-32 | As Sengun hits a slump in his season, the team is having a hard time figuring out who the #1 option is on offense. Some nights it’s Jalen Green, some nights it’s FVV, some nights it’s Jabari, and we’ve even seen Thompson and Whitmore have their turns, but it’s not converting to victories like when Sengun was firing on all cylinders earlier in the season. |
22 | [](/ATL) Hawks | -2 | 25-32 | The cherry on top of this season from hell arrived Sunday with news that Trae will be out for at least 4 weeks with a finger injury. The offseason cannot come soon enough. At least there’s no way that Snyder can prevent Kobe Bufkin from actually playing, so at least we’ll get to see what he’s made of in NBA play. |
23 | [](/TOR) Raptors | +1 | 21-36 | Shorter week but it was great seeing Scottie at the All-Star game. We’re one win away from the pizza party. Instead of dissecting the past 2 weeks, let’s look into the future. Indiana, Golden State, and Dallas will be tough. All we can hope for is a competitive game, the way they played Indiana in Siakam’s return that was a 1 point loss. |
24 | [](/BKN) Nets | -1 | 21-35 | What shapes a man is the struggles he goes through. And the Nets are making sure to shape us up real good because goddamn this team is tough to watch. Mikal and Cam both are not playing up to their standards and the team lacks any scoring punch outside of them. Houston will likely be looking at a top 10 pick coming up here if there isn’t a serious shift in how this team comes out every night |
25 | [](/MEM) Grizzlies | +1 | 20-37 | We signed a guy with the last name Hurt. Also GG Jackson is good. |
26 | [](/CHA) Hornets | +1 | 15-42 | 5-1 since the trades. Best defense in the NBA in 6 games. Tre Mann and Grant Williams looking like legit pieces and Brandon Miller (despite having very little handle or finishing) still looking like a star, the future has never been brighter this season. And we’re actually winning games now! Shooting luck massively in our favor but what a turnaround. This is everything I wanted this season. |
27 | [](/POR) Trail Blazers | -2 | 15-41 | Portland continues to sputter amidst a slew of injuries. They have currently lost eight straight, including losses to Charlotte and Detroit. The one recent bright spot remains Ayton, who has averaged 18.6p/11.2r/2.2a/1s/1b on 65.1 TS% over his past 12 games. |
28 | [](/SAS) Spurs | — | 11-47 | It is a privilege to watch Victor Wembanyama play every night. I know there’s a lot of grumbling in the Spurs fandom over wanting the team to get better sooner than they are, and I agree that it gets real frustrating. I’m not above it by any means; I would love for us to find a way to trade for Trae Young or another difference maker to help Wembanyama reach his full potential faster. But I also recognize that a lot of us have entered this rebuilding period with no real understanding for how long a true rebuild takes. The Spurs haven’t undergone a rebuild like this since George Gervin left the team in 1985 (yes, it’s been basically 40 years since our last big rebuild), and until this current stretch, the team had *never* missed the playoffs in two consecutive seasons. Point blank: we’ve all been spoiled, even the fans who have been watching since the Robinson days. I’m resolved to enjoy every step in this process, even the tough parts, because we’re *insanely* lucky to have gotten our next shot at a generational player so quickly after Duncan retired, and the unfamiliar terrain is fun, even in all its frustration. The Spurs close out the Rodeo Road Trip @MIN tomorrow and then have OKC, IND, @HOU, @SAC, @GSW over the next two weeks. |
29 | [](/DET) Pistons | — | 8-48 | Same shit, different role players. Fire Monty. |
30 | [](/WAS) Wizards | — | 9-48 | There really isn’t much to talk about post-All Star Game week. In three games in four days, we learned that the Washington Wizards still suck. The move of Jordan Poole to the bench should not be discounted as a move to start Bilal Coulibaly — who continues to struggle to find his form in a new role under Brian Keefe. There isn’t much to add — don’t watch Wizards basketball if you don’t have to and don’t let yourself get gaslight into a “this is the time Deni Avdija spreads his wings in flies, this is much different from the 50 other times where he has a very hot stretch only for teams to make an adjustment and stop him” take. |

by powerrankingsnba