The Portland Trail Blazers enter the top tier, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors lose a step, and the Houston Rockets claim the top spot.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Portland Trail Blazers | 44-27 | 55.0 | 12 | 2 |
| 9 | Philadelphia 76ers | 40-30 | 57.2 | 9 | 0 |
| 8 | Utah Jazz | 40-31 | 57.9 | 8 | 0 |
| 7 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 41-31 | 58.0 | 6 | -1 |
| 6 | San Antonio Spurs | 42-30 | 59.3 | 7 | 1 |
| 5 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 43-30 | 60.0 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | Boston Celtics | 48-23 | 60.4 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | Toronto Raptors | 53-19 | 72.6 | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | Golden State Warriors | 53.18 | 73.0 | 1 | -1 |
| 1 | Houston Rockets | 57-14 | 73.8 | 2 | 1 |
Risers
The Trail Blazers make their first appearance in our top tier this season, having gone 15-2 over their last 17 contests. Earlier this season they looked like a team that would be a borderline playoff contender, but now they're in third place in the Western Conference with a fairly decent two-game cushion on fourth.
The Rockets are the new top team in our power rankings this week with a nERD of 73.8, barely edging out the Warriors (73.0) and Toronto Raptors (72.6). Expect these three teams to shuffle a bit over these last few weeks of the regular season, but the Rockets are deserving of top honors at any given time, since they have the NBA's best record at 57-14 and have won 30 of their last 33 games.
Fallers
The Timberwolves have lost five of their last eight contests and have sunk to seventh in the Western Conference with only a two-game lead on the ninth-place Nuggets. They looked like a real threat to finish third just a few short weeks ago, and now they could legitimately slip out of the playoffs entirely if they don't play their cards right. That said, we still give them a pretty commanding 97.3% chance of making the postseason, so if they can hold on just a little bit longer without Jimmy Butler, they should be fine.
The Warriors trotted out a starting lineup of Quinn Cook, Nick Young, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, and Zaza Pachulia on Monday night, and then went on to score only 75 points in a loss, which should tell you everything you need to know about just how banged up they are. All-Stars Stephen Curry (ankle), Kevin Durant (ribs), Klay Thompson (thumb), and Green (pelvis) are all nursing ailments, but they should be fine for the playoffs. Warriors fans shouldn't panic either way, because even with four loses in their last six contests, they are still considered the measuring stick for any title hopefuls.