NBA Power Rankings Update: The Toronto Raptors Continue Their Climb
Teams Ranked 20th to 11th
The Utah Jazz are in a free fall, the Philadelphia 76ers are headed in the opposite direction, and the Cleveland Cavaliers fall out of the top-10.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Utah Jazz | 17-24 | 44.5 | 13 | -7 |
| 19 | New York Knicks | 19-22 | 45.2 | 15 | -4 |
| 18 | Portland Trail Blazers | 22-19 | 49.0 | 14 | -4 |
| 17 | Detroit Pistons | 22-18 | 49.2 | 17 | Even |
| 16 | Los Angeles Clippers | 19-21 | 49.5 | 20 | +4 |
| 15 | New Orleans Pelicans | 20-20 | 50.2 | 18 | +3 |
| 14 | Milwaukee Bucks | 22-18 | 50.7 | 11 | -3 |
| 13 | Philadelphia 76ers | 19-19 | 50.9 | 19 | +6 |
| 12 | Denver Nuggets | 21-20 | 50.9 | 16 | +4 |
| 11 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 26-14 | 52.1 | 6 | -5 |
Risers
There's a lot of movement in the middle of the rankings this week, with the biggest leap of all 30 teams coming from our 13th-ranked squad, the Philadelphia 76ers. They've gone 5-2 since our last instalment, including four wins over their last five contests. They still sit outside the playoff picture at ninth in the Eastern Conference, but they're the sixth-ranked team from the East in our NBA Team Power Rankings and we give them a 58.8% chance of making the postseason for the first time in six years.
The Los Angeles Clippers edged into this middle tier in the last edition of this column, and now move up four spots to 16th this time around after going 8-3 over their last 11. They have been ravaged by injuries, but are still somehow sniffing around .500 and currently sit a mere game out of a playoff spot in ninth. It'll be interesting to see what they can do if they ever get to something resembling full strength.
Fallers
The Utah Jazz are this week's biggest faller, dropping seven spots from 13th to 20th. They've gone 4-12 over their last 16 and now sit 3.5 games out of a playoff spot at 10th in the Western Conference. Their playoff chances have dipped to 21.8% and are fading fast. Rudy Gobert (sprained PCL) is getting close to the end of his timetable and his return could not come soon enough.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have lost five of their last seven and fall outside the top-10 for the first time this season. Conventional wisdom would suggest we don't count them and LeBron James out as championship contenders just yet, but they only have the seventh-best title odds in the NBA at a mere 2.9%, according to our algorithm, sitting well behind the Toronto Raptors (15.7%) and Boston Celtics (13.2%) in their own conference in that respect.
