The Utah Jazz climb into the top-10, the Boston Celtics are finally starting to look like the contender that we expected, and the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder both lose a bit of momentum.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Utah Jazz | 21-21 | 56.2 | 11 | 1 |
| 9 | Philadelphia 76ers | 27-15 | 58.8 | 9 | 0 |
| 8 | San Antonio Spurs | 25-18 | 60.4 | 8 | 0 |
| 7 | Denver Nuggets | 28-12 | 61.0 | 7 | 0 |
| 6 | Golden State Warriors | 27-14 | 63.3 | 6 | 0 |
| 5 | Indiana Pacers | 27-14 | 63.9 | 3 | -2 |
| 4 | Toronto Raptors | 31-12 | 65.3 | 5 | 1 |
| 3 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 25-16 | 66.6 | 2 | -1 |
| 2 | Boston Celtics | 25-16 | 68.2 | 4 | 2 |
| 1 | Milwaukee Bucks | 29-11 | 73.4 | 1 | 0 |
Risers
The Utah Jazz have failed to live up to expectations most of this season (they made an appearance in the bottom tier of our rankings a little over a month ago), but they finally seem to be putting things together. They're 7-4 over their last 11, and have the league's third-ranked net rating over that span at 8.6. A big reason for their early-season struggles was a drop-off on the defensive end following a second-ranked campaign in 2017-18, but they've really tightened things up in that department lately, posting the Association's top-ranked defensive rating (102.2) in the Association since December 1.
The Boston Celtics got off to a slow start this year (they went 10-10 over their first 20), but they are absolutely rolling right now. They've gone 15-6 since November 26th, while posting the league's best offensive rating (116.8) and net rating (10.7) in the process. They still only sit fifth in the Eastern Conference, but they're now two games behind the third-place Philadelphia 76ers, and are gaining ground daily. They are ultimately better than their record suggests anyway, as they now rank second in the Association in both net rating (6.3) and average point differential (6.56) on the year as a whole.
Fallers
The Indiana Pacers are having a fantastic season, but a 2-2 week with blowout losses to the Raptors and Celtics knocks them back a few spots.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have dropped three in a row, including a loss to the Spurs in last night's game-of-the-year candidate. They are still having a great season overall, but a 1-3 week puts them below the red-hot Celtics this time around.