It's a Power Rankings Thursday
The regular season stretch run begins in earnest tonight and The Committee (of One) is here to set the table with our latest 1-to-30 ladder
There is no dribbling around it: This cannot be the unreservedly upbeat dispatch I expected to post coming out of All-Star Weekend.
Sudden news bulletins about San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama missing the rest of the season, soon after Milwaukee's Bobby Portis was hit with a 25-game suspension, certainly changed the tenor of a nine-game Thursday meant to signify the true launch of the regularr-season stretch run.
Yet we will forge ahead with what we hope becomes a tradition around here: A fresh batch of NBA Power Rankings from The Committee (of One) on the Thursday after the All-Star Game. It's a handy way to preview the final seven weeks (and change) before the playoffs begin: Taking the pulse of all 30 teams to make sure every fan, no matter who you follow, gets something they need.
As established during our maiden full season on this platform in 2021-22, our preferred rhythm here calls for publishing rankings on a (roughly) monthly basis. These are broader periodic looks at the league as opposed to our old weekly ESPN pulse-takes … which ESPN, incidentally, still assembles without us but now happens to employ an actual committee that legitimately strays into double-digits to do so.
#thisleague
My overall mission below, no matter the cadence, remains unchanged: Establish a 1-to-30 order (somewhat) independent of the standings that measures big-picture potential and expectations alongside short-term results. Injuries and other off-court developments, positive and negative, are factored in as well … with some sprinkles of Committee whim mixed in.
We don't always achieve our goal of publishing an updated 1-to-30 ladder around the same time each month during the regular season, because unforeseen stories/shifting project timelines have a habit of derailing such plans, but it's always enjoyable to turn back the clock and immerse myself in Power Rankings mode to make sure we never forget how to do this.
You are asked, as always, to register your questions, quibbles or any other pertinent thoughts in the comments section below so we can respond and expound upon our thinking. And remember: Rankings posts are incredibly long. Just click on the main headline to get the web or app version instantly if it proves too unwieldy to consume as an email.
The Stein Line is a reader-supported newsletter, with both Free and Paid subscriptions available, and those who opt for the Paid edition are taking an active role in the reporting by providing vital assistance to bolster my independent coverage of the league. Feel free to forward this post to family and friends interested in the NBA and please consider becoming a Paid subscriber to have full access to all of my posts.
1️⃣ Oklahoma City Thunder
The most dominant regular season team in NBA history — from a scoring margin perspective — is the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who assembled a 33-game winning streak and outscored the opposition by +12.3 points per game. This Thunder group is on a pace to break that record (at +12.9) and has rolled up an eight-game lead atop the West over second-seeded Memphis. The Celtics won last season's East by a ridiculous 14 games. How high can the Thunder, our very deserving No. 1, stack their cushion?
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 2
2️⃣ Cleveland Cavaliers
In the past two editions of our Power Rankings, we gushed about the Cavaliers — as predicted by pretty much no one coming into the season — establishing a 70-win pace. That has finally dipped to a more reasonable 66-16 pace, but you have to applaud Cleveland's aggressiveness amid all the winning to risk some chemistry by acquiring Atlanta's De'Andre Hunter for a defensive boost on the wing that required them to part with Caris LeVert and Georges Niang. Interesting sidebar from my statistics-minded pal
: The Cavaliers' starters are collectively averaging just 29.0 minutes per game ... third-lowest in the league.Last ranking (Jan. 14): 1
3️⃣ Boston Celtics
The Committee has said it before and we'll say it again: You can only drop the Celtics so far even after what was widely treated as a crisis when the champs went a combined 18-12 in December and January. They always tend to bring it when facing the league's best teams, appear to have shaken off their dead-of-winter shooting woes and quietly went 7-1 in their final eight games before the break. The Celts are also still the league's only team that you'll find ranked in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 3
4️⃣ Denver Nuggets
It sure looks as though those Nuggets Are Back t-shirts can safely start to be printed. Denver has looked like the second-best team in the West — at worst — since Christmas Day by going 20-8. And as Professor Uthayakumar notes, Jamal Murray is averaging 22.9 points per game in that span with shooting splits of 50.2% from the field, 39.7% from 3-point range and 91.9% from the free-throw line. Nikola Jokić, meanwhile, is my MVP favorite again with the Nuggets on a 54-win pace now and Jokić merely averaging (my goodness) 29.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 10.2 assists.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 5
5️⃣ Memphis Grizzlies
The Committee has always been big on records against .500-or-better teams, which makes it hard to ignore Memphis' 13-15 mark in that situation. The Committee, though, also puts a lot of weight on nightly average scoring margin ... and the Grizzlies are fourth in the league when it comes to that key indicator at +7.5. Only the top three teams on this ladder are ahead of Memphis in that category. So: Even with Ja Morant missing 22 of Memphis' 54 games so far, there has been lots to like from this very surprising team. Keerthika Special: The Grizz are somehow 0-6 in California this season against the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors and Kings with two more games in Cali to go.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 6
6️⃣ New York Knicks
At 36-18, New York has its winningest team at this juncture since 1972-73. Every Knicks fan can complete the rest of this sentence: That was famously the last season that the Knicks were crowned champions. Concern about how much Tom Thibodeau's starters play — especially compared to Cleveland's — is a topic that won't go away, but the more immediate issue for Thibs and Co. is an 0-5 record against Oklahoma City, Boston and Cleveland. The Knicks' first of three remaining regular-season chances to get a win against the Cavaliers comes Friday night in Cleveland … albeit on the back end of a back-to-back for both teams.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 8
7️⃣ Los Angeles Lakers
Which stat means more to you? The Lakers' very mediocre average point differential for the season of +0.8 after Wednesday's dreadful home loss to Charlotte? Or the Lakers' 14-12 record — one of of only winning records in the West's top 10 — against .500-or-better teams? Or maybe the question we should be asking is: How much should anyone even be sweating over the day-to-day minutiae of this season when the seemingly unfathomable acquisition of Luka Dončić suddenly gives the Lakers a post-LeBron James runway that they couldn’t have dreamed of three weeks ago. The Luka trade on its own, no matter the early bumpiness, is what rocketed them up here above the Rockets.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 16
8️⃣ Houston Rockets
The Rockets haven't had much fun in February. They're 2-7 this month and Alperen Şengün logged a whopping 4:19 of playing time in his maiden All-Star Game — less than Kevin Hart was on screen — thanks to the NBA's new four-team format on All-Star Sunday. While true that I didn't want to drop the Rockets too much when their 19-15 record against .500-or-better teams is No. 2 in the West behind only 20-9 Oklahoma City, it's impossible to deny the obvious: There's been some slippage lately.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 4
9️⃣ Minnesota Timberwolves
Irrespective of the lingering perception that the Timberwolves have taken a significant step back, seemingly nothing can dislodge them from our top 10. Not even when they lose to a Bucks team that didn't dress Giannis Antetokounmpo or Damian Lillard just before the All-Star break. The reason? OK, OK: It certainly didn't hurt that the Wolves immediately bounced back from that Milwaukee setback by throttling the Thunder despite injuries to Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and Rudy Gobert. Yet it's more about a defense that, for all of this season's ups and downs, ranks sixth in the league. Also: As NBA.com's John Schuhmann points out, Minnesota has the point differential (+3.4) of a team that's actually 35-21 rather than 31-25.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 9
🔟 Indiana Pacers
The Pacers returned to work this week as the East's No. 4 seed. That's the promising part. The worrisome part: Indiana, as noted by Uthayakumar in this tremendous post Friday, fell behind by at least 15 points in its final six games before the All-Star break. More was expected after last season's trip to the Eastern Conference finals than a 10th-ranked offense and a team just sits at No. 7 in pace.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 7
1️⃣1️⃣ Golden State Warriors
The Warriors were the first team in league history to get off to a 12-3 start and then fall below .500 (19-20). That, of course, happened Pre-Jimmy. You've heard a lot about Golden State regaining its swagger since making the bold decision to trade for Butler for a simple reason: It's true. I saw it with my own eyes in Dallas on Feb. 12 even though that's the only game that the Warriors have lost in the yes-it's-super-early Butler Era. Jimmy is already getting to the line and attacking the rim with vigor as a Warrior and his mere presence has clearly energized Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Steve Kerr, etc. (It obviously didn't hurt the Warriors, in terms of the monster promotion they scored from The Committee, that they recently made two-way forward Jackson Rowe just the 13th Cal State Fullerton alumnus in NBA history.)
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 20
1️⃣2️⃣ Milwaukee Bucks
The Committee is convinced, as emotionally draining as it was to ship out Khris Middleton, that Kyle Kuzma is going to help the Bucks. The Committee, though, is far more cautious than bullish (compared to where we usually are) when it comes to Milwaukee's ceiling given the Portis suspension news on top of the Bucks' woeful 0-8 record against Cleveland, Boston and New York. They did well at the deadline to overcome considerable salary cap constraints to land Kuzma, but Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard realistically need more help than Kuz alone can provide.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 11
1️⃣3️⃣ LA Clippers
A shiny new building, rather suddenly, is unlikely to wow the locals too much after the Lakers just traded for Luka Dončić. The Clippers, though, have quietly assembled the league's No. 2 defense and still managed to generate some curiosity of their own after signing Ben Simmons via the buyout market. Kawhi Leonard has played 15 games in his comeback from all those knee woes and the Clippers are 10-5 in those games. No James Harden team has ever missed the playoffs and it doesn't look like this one will, either.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 15
1️⃣4️⃣ Detroit Pistons
We haven't talked enough about the job J.B. Bickerstaff has done with the Pistons. The Cavaliers have undoubtedly hit new heights post-Bickerstaff, but who can forget that the Pistons were 8-46 at the All-Star break last season? They won four games in a row heading into this season's break, have already doubled their 2023-24 win total of 14, just sent Cade Cunningham to the All-Star Game and look like a real threat to give Detroiters a trip to the playoffs in the same season as the Lions for the first time since (whoa) 1999-2000. Such a good story.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 13
1️⃣5️⃣ Sacramento Kings
One of the keys to Doug Christie's success as Mike Brown's successor: The Kings are 11-5 when Keon Ellis plays at least 25 minutes and 8-3 when Ellis starts. Both have happened more frequently under Christie, who is 15-9 (compared to Brown's 13-18 mark) but now faces the new (and unexpected) challenge of integrating Zach LaVine into Sacramento's lineup on the fly after the abrupt end to the De'Aaron Fox Era.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 12
1️⃣6️⃣ Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks are 2-0 with 6-7 Kessler Edwards, who is on a two-way contract, listed as their starting center. They were also just a few regrettable seconds away from somehow toting a five-game winning streak into the All-Star break but couldn't close a very winnable game against Sacramento. They also can't expect even their most loyal fans to get too excited about any of this after agreeing to a trade that made Luka Dončić a Laker in the wee hours of Feb. 2. The Committee was in Los Angeles to see Luka's Laker debut on Feb. 10 and, even after writing and talking about little else for nearly three weeks, still can't believe that No. 77 is no longer a Maverick. The 77 Stages of Grief for heartbroken fans trying to move on without Dončić delivers its foremost challenge Tuesday when Dallas visits Lakerland to play against Luka for the first time ... and with the next updates on when Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II or Daniel Gafford might be available to suit up not forthcoming before March 6.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 14
1️⃣7️⃣ Orlando Magic
Such a funky season in Central Florida. The Magic are a troubling 4-7 with both Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner back from injury and in the lineup together. The Magic also still boast a top-three defense but have skidded to two games below .500. No easier to believe: Orlando hasn't won two games in a row since prior to Christmas and is 8-17 in its last 25 games.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 10
1️⃣8️⃣ Portland Trail Blazers
Did You Know? The Blazers recently went 10-1 over a span 11 games while the NBA world was immersed in a historic trade deadline frenzy. That surge is why The Committee has Portland ahead of teams like Phoenix and Miami that have higher ceilings and better records, but far more important than the surge is the fact that Scoot Henderson has been playing so much better while Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara continue to surprise and thrive in expanded roles. Some much-needed player development is a welcome sight.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 26
1️⃣9️⃣ Atlanta Hawks
The Committee is probably higher on the Hawks than their across-the-board statistics merit ... influenced by their best stretches of the season. This includes what was nearly a 4-0 run in the wake of the trade deadline before a 149-148 loss in overtime to the Knicks last week. Although it required the intervention of the league office, Trae Young did ultimately get summoned to the All-Star Game as an injury replacement for Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, after the league's assist leader (11.5 APG) had memorably made the case that getting snubbed for the midseason classic, at this point, should be referred to as getting "Trae'd."
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 21
2️⃣0️⃣ San Antonio Spurs
Acquiring De'Aaron Fox without having to surrender Stephon Castle was an undeniable victory for Victor Wembanyama Inc. Yet any sense of triumph in South Texas quickly evaporated Tuesday when the Spurs announced without warning that Wemby will miss the rest of the season after he was diagnosed with Deep Vein Thrombosis in his right shoulder. Undeniably scary stuff in a season that obviously hasn't stopped being scary for San Antonio after what happened to Gregg Popovich in early November. The Spurs had already slipped to a season-low six games under .500 after going 2-3 since the trade to acquire Fox and have no choice now but to put all of their focus on health matters.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 17
2️⃣1️⃣ Miami Heat
The Heat literally spent weeks trying to trade Jimmy Butler while maintaining a mindset the whole time that they had to have a team on the other side that could still make this season's playoffs. Miami, remember, loses its top pick in both 2026 (to Oklahoma City) and 2028 (to Charlotte) without any protections if it fails to reach this spring's playoffs. The Heat, however, are 0-4 since the trade, have slipped three games below .500 at 25-28 and sank into the lower third of these rankings because their situation looks so desperate. The only salvation: Miami is almost certainly not going to fall out of the Play-In Tournament zone in #thisEast and thus only need one or two wins at the right time to crash the eight-team playoff field.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 18
2️⃣2️⃣ Phoenix Suns
The most pertinent question in the desert no longer deals with the Suns' playoff ceiling or the viability of a roster that revolves around a Kevin Durant/Devin Booker/Bradley Beal triumvirate. The questions now are all about how the Suns are going to get out this mess after so many skeptics questioned new owner Mat Ishbia's rush to assemble such an ill-fitting trio in the first place. As adamant as Durant was before the Feb. 6 trade deadline that he wanted to stay put, #thiswholeleague will be on KD Trade Watch again this summer ... while wondering about Booker's availability, too. The Suns went 1-6 in their last seven games before the break and, as tallied up by Professor Uthayakumar, are 3-16 this season when either KD or Book does not play. Not sure Arizona native Mike Budenholzer signed up for all this.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 19
2️⃣3️⃣ Chicago Bulls
The regular season stretch run indeed resumes with the Bulls still in 10th place in the East. The Committee would nonetheless argue that Chicago's last four games before the break, which resulted in four losses by and average of nearly 25 points — lowlighted by a 101-52 deficit to Detroit at one point — tell you the direction this team is headed now that Zach LaVine has been traded at last. That deal, furthermore, did enable the Bulls to regain full control of their first-round pick in the June draft, removing this season's foremost source of suspense in the Windy City when the pick was previously only top-10 protected and potentially bound for San Antonio.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 22
2️⃣4️⃣ Philadelphia 76ers
It feels like a long, long time ago since so many of us crowned the 76ers as champions of the offseason. Remarkably, though. #thisEast won't let them crater even after five consecutive defeats dropped Philadelphia to a season-high 14 games under .500. The Committee fully expects them to beat out Chicago and Brooklyn for the East's No. 10 seed because — let's face it — Philly wants (and needs) it more than the Bulls and the Nets. The reward for winning two Play-In Tournament games, mind you, is likely a first-round series with Cleveland. Another Keerthika Special: Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey have all played together in just 13 of 54 games this season ... although three of those games did occur during the recent five-game skid.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 23
2️⃣5️⃣ Toronto Raptors
Raptors fans with visions of lottery glory in May might be fretting that the acquisition of Brandon Ingram will make losses harder to come by over the final 27 games. I wouldn't worry about that too much. Toronto figures to be very cautious working Ingram into the program after all the time he's missed with an ankle injury this season and, as our twice-a-week contributor Jake Fischer expertly explained in his recent breakdown of the Ingram trade (see below), this was really a play for the long-term for the Raptors. They're in the league's bottom five in both offensive and defensive efficiency this season — only Washington can say the same — and should lose plenty from here with respect to those lottery ambitions. The one potential wrench in those plans, via NBA.com's Schuhmann, is much more schedule-related than Ingram-related: Toronto's remaining opponents had a league-low cumulative winning percentage of .398 entering Wednesday's play.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 25
2️⃣6️⃣ Brooklyn Nets
Maybe we spoke too soon when we suggested after the December trades to ship out Dennis Schroeder and Dorian Finney-Smith that the Nets had cleverly weakened themselves sufficiently to automatically sink into the league's bottom five comfortably. Who saw a 6-1 surge heading into the All-Star break? The schedule certainly helped a bit with two games against Charlotte and another again Washington ... but The Committee most definitely did not see that looming.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 28
2️⃣7️⃣ Utah Jazz
Signing Lauri Markkanen to a contract extension on Aug. 7, as opposed to when he became eligible Aug. 6, made Markkanen ineligible to be traded this season. The Jazz then spent the next six months swatting away all trade interest in Walker Kessler, indicating that they see Markkanen and Kessler as cornerstones of the team they hope to have after this season's tank job. You do have to wonder, though, what the wait for some happier days is like for Markkanen and Kessler and Jazz coach Will Hardy. Utah has half as many wins as it had it this juncture in each of the past two seasons, when the Jazz started 26-26 twice in a row, suggesting that the two big men still need lots of help they aren't getting.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 27
2️⃣8️⃣ New Orleans Pelicans
Remember when the Pelicans went 6-0 against Sacramento last season — something no team in the NBA had pulled off since 1994-95 — after including New Orleans' Play-In Tournament victory over the Kings? Sacramento actually won this season's first three meetings between the teams, but the Pels finally got one in their shared finale before the break last week to halt a 10-game losing skid. Finally finding a trade partner to take on Brandon Ingram is pretty much the only thing that has gone right for a 13-42 outfit that has been injury-ravaged and, yes, mentally drained.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 24
2️⃣9️⃣ Charlotte Hornets
No Revenge Game for Mark Williams in Tinseltown, but a road victory over the Lakers coming out of the All-Star break was a much-needed morale booster in a season filled with disappointments in Charlotte. LaMelo Ball's All-Star snub, Brandon Miller's season-ending wrist injury, trading Williams to the Lakers and then having to take him back when L.A. rescinded the trade two days later … heaping some more pressure on Hollywood's team obviously can't offset all of the above.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 29
3️⃣0️⃣ Washington Wizards
While the Wizards did find trades for Kyle Kuzma and Jonas Valančiūnas in the end, this reconstruction continues to proceed at a painfully slow pace. You have to go back to 1978-79, remember, for the last 50-win season that this franchise has enjoyed. The Wiz have won five total playoff rounds — just five — in the 46 years since that '78-79 campaign. The most positive thing we can say at the minute is that Washington has gained some distance from the worst single-season average point differential in league history. These Wizards are being outscored by an average of 13.4 points per game, which would rank as the third-lowest we've ever seen if the season ended today. The unwanted record is -15.2 as established by the 11-71 Dallas Mavericks of 1992-93.
Last ranking (Jan. 14): 30