NBA Power Rankings Update: The Meteoric Rise of the Brooklyn Nets
Teams Ranked 30th to 21st
The Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards are on the rise, the Memphis Grizzlies continue their total collapse, and the Cleveland Cavaliers reclaim the bottom spot of our rankings after a brief hiatus.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 9-40 | 17.1 | 29 | -1 |
| 29 | Chicago Bulls | 11-37 | 19.4 | 30 | 1 |
| 28 | Phoenix Suns | 11-39 | 21.8 | 28 | 0 |
| 27 | New York Knicks | 10-36 | 25.4 | 26 | -1 |
| 26 | Atlanta Hawks | 15-32 | 25.6 | 27 | 1 |
| 25 | Orlando Magic | 20-28 | 38.1 | 25 | 0 |
| 24 | Detroit Pistons | 21-26 | 39.6 | 24 | 0 |
| 23 | Memphis Grizzlies | 19-29 | 40.4 | 22 | -1 |
| 22 | Washington Wizards | 20-27 | 43.4 | 23 | 1 |
| 21 | Sacramento Kings | 24-24 | 48.2 | 17 | -4 |
Risers
The Atlanta Hawks are 3-3 over their last six, with impressive wins over the Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder. They remain seven and a half games out of a playoff spot, however, and we give them literally a zero percent chance of making it. Nothing more to see here.
The Washington Wizards are 7-4 over their last 11 and are suddenly back in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. At 20-27, they now only sit two and a half games back of the eighth-place Miami Heat, and we give them a 27.0% chance of making it. That's not exactly a large percentage or anything, but they looked lottery bound before John Wall went down, and now they're 9-6 without him on the season. The "Ewing Theory" might need a new name.
Fallers
The Cleveland Cavaliers have won one game since December 19th. One. They're 1-17 with a league-worst -17.7 net rating over that span.
The Memphis Grizzlies are having an epic collapse for the ages. They started the season 12-5, weathered a light storm to remain a respectable 16-11, and then flat out imploded, going 3-18 over their next 21. They now sit at 19-29 and have officially become the worst team in the Western Conference, non-Phoenix Suns edition. We give them a 0.4% chance of making the postseason at this point, which means it might be time for the team to come to grips with the idea of parting with veterans Marc Gasol and Mike Conley in order to start anew.
