Official /r/nba Power Rankings #11 (3.21.2022)

25/30 rankers reporting this week. /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	Suns	--	58-14	Casuals in the comment section telling me, always in the game threads. "Suns ain't shit, Suns ain't shit without CP3". Shut the fuck up, y'all ain't know shit. All y'all casuals talkin' about. "Book ain't no superstar, Cam Payne ain't even good, Mikal Bridges isn't the DPOY." Shut the fuck up!!!!
2	Grizzlies	+1	49-23	Are the Grizzlies better without Ja Morant?
3	Heat	-1	47-24	Tyler Herro is just wonderful. The last two month's he has played some of his best basketball in his young career and patience has paid off for everyone who waited. Meanwhile, Oladipo has returned and he's still getting back into the swing of things. He recently picked up some back spasms and is out again, and its not ideal. Markieff Morris also returned and looks like he hasn't missed a step. This will be immense considering our front court depth is a fraction of what our back court depth is. The playoffs should be interesting this year, since we should be able to match up with most teams. Teams like the Cavaliers will be difficult to match up defensively against, but Spoelstra is likely already considering every possible match up. All that remains is to keep our form and finish out the season strong.
4	Bucks	+1	44-27	It's been a good two weeks for the Bucks. Brook Lopez has returned from back surgery and looks like his old self, Jrue Holiday continues to shoot lights-out from deep and Jevon Carter has been outplaying anyone's wildest expectations. Saturdays' loss to the Timberwolves would have been the first time all season where we had everyone healthy if Giannis had not sat out to rest, but he did and funnily enough, the loss probably helped his MVP narrative more than him playing and a win would have.
5	Celtics	+3	44-28	Boston is the hottest team in the NBA, and has been for almost 2 months now. Since the start of February, they're an astonishing 17-3, a total night and day difference compared to the team we saw in December and into January. They've pushed themselves from the play-in to now only a game or two back from the 2nd and 3rd seeds in the East. Go ahead and circle your calendars for April 7th, as that very well could decide between the Bucks and Celtics who gets the higher seed between the two. The Celtics are rolling and have cemented themselves as legit contenders, and hopefully they can continue that through the rest of the season. We'll probably go lose to OKC now next game just out of spite.
6	Jazz	+1	45-26	Rudy Gobert is a generational defensive talent and utterly dominant on that end of the floor. His month of March has been utterly absurd defensively as opponents have shot just 69/192 (35.9%) from the field when defended by him. His DFG% differential of -12.7% is also far and away the best amongst 114 players who defended 100 shots or more so far in March with the differential between 1st (Rudy) and 2nd larger than the gap between 2nd and 10th. In March the Jazz have a 98.8 DRTG with Rudy on the court and just 118.5 with him off it. A 19.7 point difference defensively from one player alone. The Jazz are at the put up or shut up stage now and with an utterly dominant Rudy now's the time to make a deep playoff push. The Jazz are just 2.0 games back of the 3 seed Warriors.
7	76ers	-3	43-27
8	Warriors	-2	47-24	Just when we see Dray, Klay and Steph play a full game together for the first time in 1,005 days, Steph gets injured. In an interview last night Steph said he is targeting a return by Game 1 of the playoffs. Without Steph the Warriors still look good on paper but playmaking will be lacking. Luckily Poole has been playing at all star levels this month (last 10 games) putting up 24/3/4 on an absurd 71.2 TS%
9	Mavericks	--	43-28	Despite the usual struggle vs the Knicks, the Mavs have had a decent last 2 weeks, going 3-2 on a long road trip and beating the Jazz at home. Tired legs caught up to them on their back to back vs Philadelphia & Charlotte, but the outlook remains strong for Dallas, especially with their defense clicking. Spencer Dinwiddie continues to be a massive addition, and suddenly the early season guard depth concerns have been almost completely eliminated. If Bertans can make more shots, the Mavs offense will be difficult to stop.
10	TWolves	+2	42-30	Wolves are hot since the All Star break 11-2 record over that stretch. Karl-Anthony Towns showing out that he is the best shooting big man in NBA history put up 60 and has averaged 26-10 since the break on 55-42-84 shooting splits. Wolves are fighting to get out of the play in games a make a splash in the playoffs.
11	Nuggets	-1	42-30	Outside of a couple of strong wins in Philly and DC, the Nuggets have struggled to put it together recently, losing 4 of their last 6 games. Nikola "Hercules" Jokic continues to dazzle post-ASB, averaging 30/13/8 per game thus far in March, and somehow carrying this lottery team to 42 wins through 72 games. The idea of getting Jamal Murray and/or MPJ back before the end of the season has Nuggets fans salivating, especially given the play of Jokic's supporting cast. Talking about the awful play of the rest of the Nuggets is becoming a tired topic, so with the championship hopes fading further and further, it's time to sit back and appreciate the performances the MVP is giving all of us nightly.
12	Nets	+6	37-34
13	Raptors	+2	40-31	The raptors have been dominant on the road as of late, going 6-1 since the last power rankings, with all our wins coming on the road. Scottie Barnes has been absolutely phenomenal, and Pascal Siakam has continued his all-nba campaign. Another massive contributor who needs to be mentioned is Precious Achiuwa, who has somehow turned into an elite 3 point shooter following the ASB. Our recent stretch was topped off by a beautiful defensive win against the Philadelphia 76FTs, holding both Harden and Embiid to below average nights. The key to our team is our defence, which has struggled all year, and any hope of making it out of round 1 of the playoffs lies there.
14	Cavaliers	-1	41-30	Evan Mobley has taken the reigns at center and led the Cavs to a 4-3 stretch since JA’s injury and the last power ranking, and has put up 20.0/9.7/2.6/1.6/1.6 since then, while being incredibly clutch in some must win games. He put in the game winner against the Nuggets in OT on Friday night, and less than 24 hours later, sealed the game on both ends of the floor against the Pistons. Impact basketball on both ends from Mobley has been abundant all season long, and although the other elite rookies are trying to make a final push to close the gap, Mobley’s odds at ROTY have increased to a -900 line. Speaking of awards, Darius Garland’s MIP campaign is improving with his 26/11 average since returning from his back injuries, and he’s been an assist double-double machine with 7 in his last 9 games. All the individual awards may not come if the Cavaliers fall apart in the coming 11 games, as they greet LeBron in his return to Cleveland tonight, before what is likely a season defining game against the hot on our trail Raptors on Wednesday. Jarrett Allen’s expected back in 3 weeks, which would be just in time for a potential play-in.
15	Bulls	-4	41-29
16	Hornets	+1	36-35
17	Hawks	-1	35-36	Please god just let it end. I can't watch this team play defense anymore. I can't watch this team throw up all over themselves every time the game is close in the 4th quarter. I never expected the Hawks to live up to the expectations people were setting for them this season but god damn I did not expect them to be this bad. Cancel the play-in tournament and let this team die.
18	Clippers	-4	36-37	With looming rumors of the Clips' stars return, the playoffs is truly a mystery. Seemingly locked into the 8th seed, the Clips are guaranteed 2 chances to make the playoffs, and then the real games begin against Phoenix or Memphis.
19	Pelicans	--	30-41	Started 1-12. Now the 9th seed above the Lakers. Don't lie, no one expected this look at the start of the season, including me. Now we pray to Fats Domino that the Spurs can overtake the Lakers, Zion comes back healthy and dominant next year, and the Wizards and Knicks can stay just mediocre enough to land us that top 10 pick from the Old Guard. With two games left against the Lakers we can help control that. Also, SIGN JOSE "I CAN SHOOT" ALVARADO TO A LIFETIME CONTRACT BABY, the boys are rolling even without BI for the short-term, in Willie Gang we trust, let's get it.
20	Spurs	+2	28-44	"NO! Of course I don't want the Spurs to lose games!". The Spurs have the @POR, @NOP, @HOU, MEM, POR, POR over the next 2 weeks, with the three games in Portland having heavy tanking implications for both teams involved.
21	Lakers	-1	30-41	This is all you really need to know.
22	Knicks	+3	30-41	(・へ・)
23	Wizards	-2	30-40	The Wizards had a .420 winning percentage through 69 games. There really isn't much to say in the Wizards camp. After the trade deadline, it became abundantly clear that the team did not intend to win games (unless it was to beat the Lakers) and make the eastern conference playoffs. It is always tough to watch your favorite team play for the lottery rather than put its best foot forward. And given how well the Mavericks are playing with Spencer Dinwiddie (because Luka Doncic is playing some of the best basketball in the NBA right now), fans are forced to hear the "Mavs won the trade" narrative for the rest of the season. But Porzingis has been amazing, the young talent has been good -- with Deni Avidja having an excellent game against the Nuggets. It is just going to be a slow end of the season given the lack of a young, breakout guard to watch. While great to see old faces back in the line-up, Ish Smith and Tomáš Satoranský don't move the needle. The team is playing for next year, its going to be a long end to this one.
24	Pacers	+2	25-47	The Pacers continue to go through the motions as they wait for the offseason. Young players like Oshae Brissett, Goga Bitadze and recently-signed Justin Anderson are getting plenty of opportunities as Indiana continues to deal with..erm..."injuries" to their key players.
25	Kings	-1	25-48
26	Trail Blazers	-3	26-44	It's a slow and painful march to the finish line for the Blazers. The team is so committed to tanking at this point that they're not even playing Simons or Nurkic anymore. So, the only reason for fans to pay attention to Rip City at this point is to see what their lottery odds looks like.
27	Pistons	--	19-52	2-5 since the last rankings, but we were without Cade for a couple of those. Bey put up 51 against Orlando which was followed up by 40 from Grant against the Cavs. I'm afraid we might get out tanked these last few weeks unless we start benching our vets
28	Magic	+1	19-53	Markelle really has breathed life into the flow of the offense. Too bad we're trying to tank so he's still on a minutes restriction. WCJ has also been playing great since the ASB, averaging 20/12 on 60% shooting. JI was officially ruled out for the season and Suggs might also be shut down after dealing with minor injuries basically all season. Maybe Franz can show out these last few weeks and take home ROY honors like he deserves. If not, we riot.
29	Thunder	-1	20-51	Wow, a fully 0-fer ranking cycle! Surely this will rocket us into the top 3 lottery odds, right? checks in on Houston, Detroit, and Orlando Sigh. At least we Okies have two solid college basketball teams that were both clearly good enough to make the tournament this year! checks bracket Oh, come on!
30	Rockets	--	17-54	A priority as this team builds up towards contention (and there doesn't seem to be a rush with that) will be interior defense. It seems like on every given night, the opposing center will be due for a feast. Ideally, Sengun can develop the necessary skillset before the Rockets have to look elsewhere.