The Best Teams in the NBA Right Now, Vol. 4
Sixers. Cavs. Bucks. The Eastern Conference is surging right now but does it have four of the best five teams in the NBA right now? We ranked the best 5 teams.
Image via Getty/Jacob Kupferman
9.
We’re two weeks from the end of the NBA regular season, and things are dicey. While fans will pay attention to the top of the food chain between the Eastern and Western Conference, the real focus will be on the middle-of-the-pack and outside-looking-in teams jockeying for position. Only four games separate nine teams in the Western Conference from the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns down to the Utah Jazz in the twelfth. While in the East, the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat are playing hot potato with the sixth seed.
8.
But, more so than watching the ever-evolving standings, we saw significant returns that are sure to fire up the NBA talking head news cycle this week and affect said standings. One of those returns we’ll get into in a bit. Still, the return of the king took place in Tinseltown—where the legend of Austin Reaves continues to grow—as LeBron James shockingly returned from an injury many assumed would sideline him for the remainder of the season. Karl-Anthony Towns returned to the Minnesota Timberwolves and made an immediate impact, specifically with a game-winning three-pointer to take out the Golden State Warriors last night.
7.
We came down to the wire in choosing the teams for this week’s power rankings. Even though the Denver Nuggets convincingly beat the Milwaukee Bucks in a battle of conference leaders and are winners of four out of their last five, the stench of their four-game losing streak earlier in the month remains. They’re still .500 in their last ten. And as much as we love lighting the beam, the Sacramento Kings took an L this week. Not so much for wins and losses—they’ve won three of their last five and are the top offensive team—but for the surge of the teams that took their place this week. One of which, in the process, took their No. 2 conference seed.
6.
So, let’s get to it.
5.Philadelphia Sixers
Welp.
Losers of three of their last five, the Sixers find themselves back in the third seed in the Eastern Conference. And these L’s weren’t of the “skin of your teeth” variety. The Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns thoroughly enjoyed smoking that Philly pack, thrashing them 120-112 and 125-105, respectively. Joel Embiid is still dominating the league and the MVP conversation, putting up the most 30-point games of the season. But while we enjoy him rightfully talking his shit, the real concerning question in Philadelphia is—holy hell—what happened to James Harden? He played his worst game in a Sixers uniform in a double overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls last Monday, only scoring five points with a plus-minus of -11 in six quarters of basketball. And he’s been out of the lineup since with Achilles soreness.
Doc Rivers needs to get a hold of his locker room and get it together because, don’t look now, but the Cleveland Cavaliers are only two games behind in the East. Philly also has the unenviable status of having the strongest schedule with eight games remaining, so it is conceivable for the Sixers to have a free fall. They kick that tough stretch tonight against the Denver Nuggets and end the week with a primetime matchup in Milwaukee against the Bucks.
Welp.
4.Boston Celtics
Welcome back, Boston! Not only are they back in these power rankings, but they’re winners of five of their last six, on a three-game win streak, and are a game and a half from the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks with seven games to go in their season. With the rumors of his standing with the franchise percolating, Jaylen Brown has been going off, dropping 30-points a game over Boston’s six-game span, shooting 53% from the field and 43.5% from the three. That included last night’s 41-point, 13-rebound one-man show he displayed on Boston’s parquet floor, rag-dolling the San Antonio Spurs. That performance gave Brown his eighth career 40-point game, tied for fifth in team history.
Brown’s co-star, Jayson Tatum (remember him?), has been giving the Celtics that extra offensive punch averaging nearly 29 points over his last ten games. After what appeared to be a wonky stretch that saw them fall off their number one seeded perch in the Eastern Conference, the C’s are back to looking like themselves, still the third-best offense this season, on top of the league in Net Rating and an impressive 11-3 record in March. The NBA schedule makers definitely earned their paycheck with Thursday’s matchup against the Bucks in Brew City being the primetime game to tune in to.
3.Memphis Grizzlies
Winners of nine of their last 10 and on a six-game winning streak, Memphis is the hottest team in the league. Oh, and their superstar point guard, Ja Morant, has returned. With a little over 20 points Ja has averaged in his three-game comeback—including dropping 27 points on Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks’ head last night—it seems as if the NBA world has forgotten why he was away from the team in the first place. And after owning Texas teams on a decline (taking out the Dallas Mavericks and two straight games against the Houston Rockets), the Grizz are now the sole owners of the second seed in the Western Conference, distancing themselves a bit from the Sacramento Kings.
In Morant’s absence, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. have taken the scoring reigns of the team. In their recent 10-game stretch, Bane has tallied 21 points per game on nearly 40 percent from beyond the arc, while Jackson Jr. has racked up a solid stat line of 22 points per game on 53 percent from the field. With eight games left in their season, Memphis’ three-headed offensive monster must come to form as the playoffs near because they’re still without Brandon Clarke and Steven Adams. Two games against the Los Angeles Clippers will test their mettle this week.
2.Cleveland Cavaliers
For the first time in five years, the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched a playoff berth. Man, 2018 was that long ago, huh? As noted last week, all the Cavs have done is win seemingly under the radar. They’re winners of their last four games and eight of their last ten. Cleveland also rocks the number one defense in the NBA chain, with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley manning the frontcourt. As the season winds down, Donovan Mitchell seamlessly makes Cleveland’s front office look like geniuses in trading for him. “Spida” continues to shine as the team’s number one scoring option, racking up over 26 points a game in his last ten. During the same stretch, Darius Garland and Caris LeVert have added to their offensive punch, which ranks in the top ten in the league.
The Cavs have a puncher’s chance at catching up to the Philadelphia 76ers for the third seed in the Eastern Conference, only two games behind. But barring catastrophe in the City of Brotherly Love, Cleveland seems firmly placed in the fourth seed and awaits a first-round playoff matchup against the New York Knicks. We’ll get an early taste of that this Friday when Bing Bong nation invades “The Land.”
1.Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks have won three of their last five games and seven of their last ten. Yet, they’re still holding on to the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, with the Boston Celtics nipping at their heels. Losing badly Saturday to the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets, 129-106, didn’t help matters and was a tough pill to swallow. They were outrebounded, outhustled and outgunned, shooting a pathetic 25 percent from beyond the arc, despite Giannis Antetokounmpo dropping 31 points.
But, one bad game aside, this is the week Milwaukee can establish its dominance in the East. They have two easy games, on paper (both on the road against the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers), to get a tighter grip on their seeding before two massively important games versus the Celtics on Thursday and the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. Both of those primetime games being in Cream City gives the Bucks an advantage, with them holding the best home record in the conference at 30-7.