The Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers are set to tussle for a playoff berth and start to nuzzle up in our rankings this week as well, while the Dallas Mavericks go up a notch, and the New Orleans Pelicans start their inevitable decent into the post-Anthony Davis era.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 25-29 | 48.6 | 18 | -2 |
| 19 | Miami Heat | 25-27 | 48.8 | 19 | 0 |
| 18 | Sacramento Kings | 28-26 | 49.4 | 21 | 3 |
| 17 | Los Angeles Lakers | 28-27 | 49.5 | 13 | -4 |
| 16 | Los Angeles Clippers | 30-26 | 49.8 | 15 | -1 |
| 15 | Charlotte Hornets | 26-28 | 50.1 | 19 | 4 |
| 14 | Dallas Mavericks | 25-28 | 51.4 | 16 | 2 |
| 13 | New Orleans Pelicans | 24-31 | 52.1 | 12 | -1 |
| 12 | Houston Rockets | 32-22 | 54.0 | 13 | 1 |
| 11 | San Antonio Spurs | 32-25 | 54.7 | 9 | -2 |
Risers
The logjam at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff bracket got broken up a bit at the trade deadline on Thursday, as teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, and Memphis Grizzlies all made it clear that they were out on this season. One team that went the other way, however, is the Sacramento Kings, who loaded up by acquiring Harrison Barnes. They now sit a game and a half back of the eighth and final playoff spot after a 4-2 stretch, and we currently give them a better chance than the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers of making it (25.4% versus 19.4%).
The Dallas Mavericks trading for Kristaps Porzingis as he continues to recover from ACL surgery signalled that they were perhaps ready to pack it in and look beyond this year, but they've also won five of their last seven. They move up in our rankings this week because of this little hot patch, but they probably won't stay in the top-half of our rankings that much longer.
Fallers
The Los Angeles Lakers won a thriller over the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, but are still an underwhelming 3-6 over their last nine and 13-18 since December 7th. They never managed to land Anthony Davis at the deadline (despite offering basically their entire team outside of LeBron for him) and are now in danger of missing the postseason entirely. They currently sit a game and a half out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, but we only give them a 19.4% chance of pulling it off.
Anthony Davis might still be on the New Orleans Pelicans for now, but the Nikola Mirotic trade to the Milwaukee Bucks confirmed that NOLA is packing it in for this season. That's probably the right move, since they're now six whole games out of a playoff spot, and we only give them a 4.8% chance of making it at this point.