NBA Power Rankings: Top 10 teams ft. Minnesota Timberwolves and LA Clippers (Week 20)
The intensity in the NBA is about to be felt at an earlier time as the United States moves to Daylight Saving Time beginning this week. However, the shift of time also means the postseason is drawing nearer, and for some teams, it’s time to go all in if they want to seal their places in the next round.
The Boston Celtics still have the best NBA record, and barring some surprise struggles, they will likely keep that spot and assure themselves homecourt advantage for the entire playoffs.
On the other hand, the race for the top seed in the Western Conference continues to become wilder by the day. But the LA Clippers getting swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the same week and Karl-Anthony Towns’ injury could impact the race more in the coming weeks.
Here are the current power rankings:
NBA Power Rankings (Week 20)
10) Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns had a great start to the week by stunning the defending champions Denver Nuggets in overtime on Tuesday night. The Suns then began a two-game homestand with a victory against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night, but two evenings later, they fell to the Celtics.
The Suns have a chance to avenge their loss to the Celtics as they travel to Boston next Thursday as part of a four-game road trip for the entire Week 21.
9) New York Knicks
The New York Knicks had a relatively rough Week 20 at home. The Knicks began their homestand with a blowout loss to the Atlanta Hawks that created some more separation in the race for the last play-in spot.
The Knicks somehow turned to their defense the next two games, holding the Orlando Magic to 74 points in a blowout win and 79 against the Philadelphia 76ers. The problem, though, was that the Sixers still won the lowest-scoring game of the season as they held the Knicks to just 73.
8) New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans played the entire Week 20 on the road, but they handled their games with grace. The Pelicans crushed the Raptors, 139-98 before going down the border to beat the Sixers and the Hawks also by relative routs.
Now on a four-game winning streak overall, the Pelicans could somehow sneak their way to the Top 4 in the West, which makes their Friday night game against the Clippers somehow very important.
7) Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers have one of the busiest NBA Week 20’s as they played four games. However, they began the week by stunning the Celtics, crawling back from 22 points down.
The Cavs also downed the Minnesota Timberwolves this past week. Despite the huge wins, they fell prey in winnable games on paper, bowing to the Hawks and the Brooklyn Nets.
6) Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks also had four games this past week which began against the Clippers and ended against the same Clippers squad.
The Bucks downed the Clippers at home as a huge momentum boost ahead of their trip to California, but they were crushed by the Golden State Warriors by 35 points in San Francisco and dropped a tough one against the LA Lakers on a game-saving block by Spencer Dinwiddie on Damian Lillard.
They capped the week, though, by beating the Clippers again, sweeping their season series and dealing them a huge dent in their hopes to get the West top seed.
5) LA Clippers
Interestingly enough, the Bucks’ season series sweep are the only two losses by the Clippers this past week. The Clippers beat the Houston Rockets and the Chicago Bulls, but those are games the Clippers were expected to win.
While they have a nationally televised game against the Timberwolves coming up, the Clippers’ game against the Pelicans, as aforementioned above, could be of utmost importance as it could serve as a preview of their first-round series.
4) Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves dearly felt the absence of Towns in their last two games, dropping road games against the Cavs and the Lakers. It could have been three if Anthony Edwards had not caught fire in the end for the Wolves to beat the Pacers.
The Wolves have a lighter workload this week with only the Clippers and the Utah Jazz to face, but with no Towns for probably the rest of the NBA regular season, it’s not going to be as light as they think.
3) Denver Nuggets
Bubbling under the wild top-seed race between the Clippers, Timberwolves, and OKC Thunder for the past weeks, the Denver Nuggets have gradually pulled themselves into the race with a solid post-NBA All-Star break push.
Although they began the week losing to the Suns, the Nuggets stunned the Celtics and gave the Jazz a 21-point beating. The Nuggets are currently 3-1 this month, and they have a “light” schedule this week, that is, winnable on paper. However, with two games on national TV, expect that the Nuggets still need to grind it out.
2) Oklahoma City Thunder
The OKC Thunder are currently number one in the NBA Western Conference, and that is partly due to a solid March so far, in which they are 4-1. The loss, though, came against the Lakers to open NBA Week 20, but the Thunder responded with three straight wins against the Portland Trail Blazers, Heat, and Memphis Grizzlies.
This week features a national TV game against the Dallas Mavericks, which based on the current team standings could be a preview of a first-round series barring some surprises in the play-in race.
1) Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics remain the number-one team in the NBA, but if there is one lesson they could get from their NBA Week 20 experience, it’s that even the mightiest could fall. After blowing out the Warriors by 52 points to end Week 19, the Celtics blew a 22-point lead and lost to the Cavs to open Week 20.
The Celtics would then lose to the Nuggets, showing why the latter remain the barometer for excellence this season. They snapped the slump by beating the Suns. The Boston-based side have a winnable Week 21 schedule, including a rematch against the Suns on national TV, but the margin of error should be at a minimum from hereon.