NBA Power Rankings Update: The Meteoric Rise of the Brooklyn Nets
Teams Ranked 20th to 11th
The Brooklyn Nets and Portland Trail Blazers are two of the hottest teams in the league, while both the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks have lost some of their early-season magic.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Dallas Mavericks | 21-26 | 49.5 | 19 | -1 |
| 19 | Miami Heat | 22-24 | 49.6 | 17 | -2 |
| 17 | Brooklyn Nets | 26-23 | 50.2 | 21 | 4 |
| 17 | Los Angeles Clippers | 26-22 | 50.2 | 15 | -2 |
| 16 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 24-24 | 51.0 | 20 | 4 |
| 15 | Charlotte Hornets | 23-24 | 51.3 | 16 | 1 |
| 14 | Houston Rockets | 27-20 | 52.2 | 13 | -1 |
| 13 | Los Angeles Lakers | 25-24 | 52.7 | 11 | -2 |
| 12 | New Orleans Pelicans | 22-27 | 53.3 | 11 | -1 |
| 11 | Portland Trail Blazers | 30-20 | 53.9 | 14 | 3 |
Risers
The Brooklyn Nets have had the NBA's best record since December 7th at 18-5. Go ahead and read that sentence again if you don't believe it, it's true. They deservedly jump up into our middle tier this week, and likely aren't done moving up just yet. They now sit sixth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 26-23, and we give them a pretty commanding 92.1% chance of making the postseason as of now.
The Portland Trail Blazers have posted a record of 17-9 since December 6th, and would have homecourt advantage in the first round if the playoffs started today. Most recently, they've won four of their last five, and are making a serious bid to climb into the top-10.
Fallers
The Los Angeles Clippers still have a tenuous grip on the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference at 26-22, but they're slipping. They're 2-6 over their last eight and now a lackluster 11-16 since December 2nd. They were one of the best stories back when the season was young, but their whole lack of a true star thing might be catching up to them as the year wears on.
The Dallas Mavericks have been rejuvenated by rookie Luka Doncic this season, but their hopes of making it back to the playoffs after a two-year drought might be dying. They had a promising 15-11 start to the season, but they've gone 6-15 since December 13th, and now sit in 13th in the Western Conference with an overall record of 21-26. They're only four and a half games out of eighth, but they'd have to leapfrog five different teams to get there, and we only give them a 6.8% chance of doing that at this point.
