Official /r/nba Power Rankings #12 (4.8.2024) – End Game

[26/30 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 | — | 62-16 | Listen, Wrestlemania and John Calipari leaving Kentucky for Arkansas are way bigger stories than whatever BS you want written about the Celtics since they’re coasting and fucking around with lineups, obviously not caring if they win many of these games. We’re throwing lineups out there that in any other scenario would probably get a coach fired because they’d have gone insane. And yet, the Celtics keep on winning. Losing back to back against the Hawks sucked and sent the fanbase into a spiral and NBA social media into hot take city, but the Celtics got back to their ways by beating the Pelicans, Hornets, Thunder, Kings, and Trailblazers. Four games left in the season. Bucks, Knicks, Hornets, Wizards. Win 3 of them, and you’re at 65 wins. Or just rest, somehow beat the Bucks and Knicks and then lose to the Wizards and Hornets at home. |
2 | [](/DEN) Nuggets | — | 54-24 | With only 4 games left on the schedule, unlike last year, the Nuggets are still in a three-way dogfight for first place in the West. The return of Jamal Murray after a 7-game absence should help to right the ship, and despite 3 of the last 4 games being on the road, all 3 road games are against teams with less than 30 wins. Wednesday’s game at home vs Minnesota could end up deciding the 1st seed, and the matchup of the West’s best home team vs. the West’s best road team should be interesting given both teams are also playing the night before. |
3 | [](/MIN) TWolves | +1 | 54-24 | Wolves back on top of the West. Fueled by NazReidMania, Wolves have overtaken the top spot in the West. Naz, Ant, and Rudy have lead the Wolves to key wins down the stretch and leads have been expanded due to the bench play. Wolves look strong to finish out the last week of the season and could attain home court in the conference with a strong finish. |
4 | [](/OKC) Thunder | -1 | 53-25 | Injuries to Jdub and Shai have shown that the world-beater Thunder need their superstar tandem to carry to lead this offense throughout games. Luckily, the injuries don’t seem serious and they can hopefully get a couple games in before we head into the playoffs. |
5 | [](/DAL) Mavericks | +6 | 48-30 | The Mavs are cruising right now, setting themselves for playoff success by already having made the necessary changes to be in playoff mode for the final few weeks leading up to the postseason. They are locked in on defense (2nd in DRTG the last 2 weeks), and the chemistry between their stars and role players look as sharp as ever. There is almost no answer in stopping the Mavs’ offense in the fourth quarter with Luka and Kyrie learning to play off each other better, as well as extremely efficient scoring. In the last two weeks, the Mavs have the best 4th quarter net rating in the league at +25.4. This team is dangerous for the playoffs. |
6 | [](/LAC) Clippers | +2 | 50-28 | Well I’ll be damned, the Clippers have come back to their senses for the time being. Despite some pretty embarrassing losses to potential play-in teams in Indy and Sacramento, they were able to string out a solid 6-2 record during this stretch. Our defense has improved from terrible to below average (from 27th to 20th this period!!!), and Kawhi and PG are back to manning the offense at an all-star level. As the season comes to a close, the Clippers have seemingly escaped the warzone of the 5-10 seeds, and head into the playoffs with a 50 win season for the first time in the 213 era. However, because the Clips can literally never have anything, we must now wait on the fate of Kawhi’s knees (again) to see how far we can really go in the playoffs this year. |
7 | [](/NYK) Knicks | — | 46-32 | All we ask from Randle is that he’s healthy for next season. In other news, OG is back, and the team instantly kicks it up a notch on defense. |
8 | [](/PHX) Suns | +1 | 46-32 | In the 10-game gauntlet against only playoff-level opponents to close the season, the Suns have started 4-2. Their three wins against NOLA, Cleveland, and Minnesota this past week were probably the best Phoenix’s defense has looked all season. Unfortunately, that loosened up in their most recent game against the Pelicans, where a win would’ve helped massively for the team’s goal of avoiding the Play-In. |
9 | [](/ORL) Magic | +1 | 46-32 | Playoff spot secured, and with two games against the reeling Bucks coming up, a very real shot at jumping up to the 2nd seed in the final days of the season. That three game losing streak really dampens what could’ve been an even stronger finish but after initial expectations had the Magic as a team competing for a play-in spot, potentially having home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs is a successful season through and through. And we can’t forget about the growth seen by Paolo and Suggs across the board, an All-Star nod for one and potential All-Defense for the other. |
10 | [](/MIL) Bucks | -5 | 47-31 | The regular season was too long and unimportant even before the play-in-tournament was added. |
11 | [](/NOP) Pelicans | -5 | 46-32 | Hello darkness my old… hol up. Zion put up 29/10/7 last night with a career-high five blocks returning from one missed game for a finger injury to defeat the Phoenix Suns on the road. The Pelicans are tied with those same Suns at 46-32 and currently sit in the 7th seed. The goal of avoiding the play-in is now slipping through their fingers going 4-6 in their last 10 games. Brandon Ingram is hopefully back this week as Pelicans fans are hoping for at least a full playoff series before they resort to their annual bleach chugging contest. |
12 | [](/LAL) Lakers | +3 | 45-34 | |
13 | [](/IND) Pacers | +1 | 45-34 | We’re at the home stretch of the regular season, and the Pacers have….mostly accomplished what they need in order to avoid the play-in. A massive win Sunday over Miami gave Indiana the tiebreaker over both them and Philadelphia, meaning they effectively have 2-game leads over both for the all-important 6th seed. One massive factor in Indiana’s performance as of late has been the outstanding play off the bench from TJ McConnell. Whenever the Pacers need a spark, Rick Carlisle brings him off the bench in a hurry, and he is putting up an impressive stat line of 13/3/5 since the start of March. With just three games to go, Indiana needs to stay the course and avoid a serious letdown against the Raptors and Hawks so that their playoff destinies are safe. |
14 | [](/CLE) Cavaliers | -2 | 46-33 | Last power rankings, I wrote that we hit rock bottom. After blowing a 26 point lead against the clippers, dropping us from 3rd to 5th, and being only 1 game ahead of the Pacers, who we play later this week and do not have the tiebreak, all with Donovan Mitchell still rehabbing an ailing knee and not looking anything like himself when he does play, it’s feeling even worse. The tiniest of silver linings is that we went from the 24th pick to the 19th pick in a matter of 24 hours by dropping those spots. JB must be on the hot seat at this point, and however the playoffs go may seal his fate. Anyways, Isaac Okoro is a great basketball player, and we cannot afford to let him leave this offseason. With a $12m QO coming with his restricted free agency, he’ll be needing a strong yearly offer beyond that to re-sign long term. |
15 | [](/SAC) Kings | -2 | 45-33 | Kings holding on for dear life with 2 of their final opponents slightly above them in the standings.. no team has been more of a roller coaster than the Kings.. with the loss of Malik and Kev the team has played even better defense as of late.. |
16 | [](/PHI) 76ers | +2 | 44-35 | Embiid is back and he’s been every bit as advertised. I know it sounds silly, but it truly is impressive just how much he changes the game for the Sixers on both ends of the floor. Even though he still isn’t at 100% (and had to sit out a back-to-back), his influence on the offensive and especially defensive end is impossible to ignore. Add that along with Maxey finally having the space of being a second option again, and these Sixers might just be scary enough to make something happen in the playoffs. Let’s get silly with it. |
17 | [](/GSW) Warriors | +2 | 43-35 | With the schedule continuously in the Warriors favor they still figure out to drop a game to the Mavs without Luka essentially making it an extra long shot to even get out of the 10th seed at this point. 4 games remaining including a couple play in previews vs the Lakers on Tuesday and another against the Pelicans Friday. Should be a fun final week of basketball. |
18 | [](/MIA) Heat | -2 | 43-35 | The Heat are in the midst of making one final push towards a position in the top 6. However, a close loss to the Pacers might knee cap that dream. With only 3 games left to go the Pacers and Philadelphia are in control of their destiny. On the brightside, everyone is healthy and ready to go for playoffs. Hopefully, they can continue the push to snag the 6th seed but we might just have to accept we’re playing the Play-In. |
19 | [](/HOU) Rockets | -2 | 38-40 | Winning led to more winning, and losing is leading to more losing. Two weeks ago, not insignificant number of people thought Jalen Green was headed towards a max extension , but the shouts have turned into whispers. The playoff dreams are now over, but in the grand scheme of things, this season has not been a disappointment. |
20 | [](/ATL) Hawks | +1 | 36-42 | Rip to the 0.500 Hox, as with our most recent loss to Denver we’ve clinched a sub-500 record. We’re locked into a matchup with Chicago in the 9/10 play-in game, with us most likely being the 10 seed due to being a game behind and not having the tiebreaker. Atlanta is looking to go into the offseason with some major questions to ask itself, mainly what to do with the Trae/Dejounte pairing. Things should hopefully look a little different the next time you see the Hawks, so we have that to be grateful for. |
21 | [](/CHI) Bulls | -1 | 37-41 | We are stuck in either the 9 or 10 seed, lokcing us in to the play-in. This season is probably seen as a success by Jerry, but unless we can actually make the playoffs, this season has been a wash. |
22 | [](/BKN) Nets | +2 | 31-48 | Brutal season for the Nets. They underperformed most expectations and will be handling a lottery pick to the Rockets all while getting some confirmation that Mikal Bridges may just not be that guy. This will be an interesting offseason for the team and as a fan, it’s been evident that the level of fan interest in this team is very very low. |
23 | [](/MEM) Grizzlies | — | 27-51 | |
24 | [](/UTA) Jazz | -2 | 29-49 | Jazz is a type of music which was invented in the United States. Jazz music combines African American music with European music. Jazz first became popular in the 1910s. It is still a popular music to play and hear because of the different styles. Some common jazz instruments include the sax, trumpet, piano, double bass and drums. It is difficult to give an exact definition for “”jazz””. A singer Nina Simone said, “”Jazz is not just music, it is a way of life, it is a way of being, a way of thinking””. But when we talk about jazz as music, one important part of jazz is improvisation, which means the person playing is making music up as they go along. |
25 | [](/SAS) Spurs | +2 | 19-59 | Getting back on my soapbox for more Wemby DPOY discourse. To preface, I do think Gobert is the correct choice; he’s played more games, he’s played more minutes, and if you think his impact is anywhere close to Wembanyama’s (spoiler: he is, I have eyes), the fact that Gobert’s exerted his influence on the floor for a greater amount of time is a very valid tiebreaker. But check out these metrics from before games were played yesterday: [DWS:](https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2024_leaders.html) Gobert 1st (5.6), Wemby 7th (4.1); [DBPM:](https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2024_leaders.html) Gobert 16th (1.7), Wemby 3rd (3.2); [DEPM:](https://dunksandthrees.com/epm) Gobert 26th (2.3), Wemby 3rd (3.7); [D-DARKO:](https://apanalytics.shinyapps.io/DARKO//) Gobert 1st (3.8), Wemby 7th (2.6); [D-RAPTOR (estimated):](https://neilpaine.substack.com/p/nba-estimated-raptor-player-ratings) Gobert 4th (3.0), Wemby 2nd (3.5); [D-LEBRON:](https://www.bball-index.com/lebron-application/) Gobert 2nd (2.86), Wemby 1st (2.97). In my opinion, you cannot make a case for Gobert using advanced defensive metrics without cherry picking your stats. While I agree that voting for a player on a bad team defense feels weird (and will almost certainly be the biggest reason why Wemby doesn’t win), it almost feels like holding a pitcher’s W/L record against him in the Cy Young; Wemby can’t control how bad Zach Collins is on defense from the bench any more than Felix Hernandez couldn’t control how bad his offense was from the dugout. Gobert is very deserving of the award, I’m just tired of Gobert truthers acting so defensive and dismissive whenever Wemby is mentioned when the case exists and it isn’t unreasonable. |
26 | [](/TOR) Raptors | — | 25-53 | The losing streak ended! Honestly, that’s obvious but in the weeks the raptors were trotting out g-leaguers after g-leaguer. Malik Williams? WHO? It was so disheartening because they weren’t even playing hard. Multiple 40 point losses aren’t acceptable. I know everyone says we should give a pass because they had all these injuries and players our. But Jalen and Bruce Brown do not give a single shit. I’m looking forward to the draft lottery. |
27 | [](/POR) Trail Blazers | -2 | 21-57 | Portland picked the worst possible tiem to start winning a few games, with “clutch” victories against the Wizards and Hornets. They’re all but locked in to the 5th worst record now. On the plus side, Scoot has played marvelously recently. Over his past 12 games, he’s averaged 17.3p/3.4r/6.5a on 42/38/81 shooting splits. |
28 | [](/CHA) Hornets | — | 19-59 | |
29 | [](/WAS) Wizards | — | 15-64 | Still not sure what is more unwatchable with the naked eye: the eclipse or Wizards’ basketball this season. |
30 | [](/DET) Pistons | — | 13-65 | Malachi Flynn scored 50 points which briefly brought distraction away from the fact that this is the worst Pistons team of all time. Hopefully heads roll this off season because this was a miserable ride. |

by powerrankingsnba