On February 15, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced the latest team strength ranking. The Suns are still at the top of the list, the Warriors are overtaken by the Grizzlies, Philadelphia and the Bucks are down in the rankings, the Nets have fallen to 17th after 11 consecutive losses, and the Lakers have dropped one place to 20th. Here's a detailed story.
Here's how teams are ranked this week (parentheses are last week's rankings):
1st-10th place: 1. Suns (1), 2. Grizzlies (3), 3. Warriors (2), 4. Heat (6), 5. Philadelphia (4), 6. Cavaliers (5), 7. Celtics (9), 8 Bucks (7), 9. Nuggets (11), 10. Raptors (8);
11th-20th place: 11. Jazz (14), 12. Lone Ranger (10), 13. Bulls (12), 14. Timberwolves (13), 15. Clippers (18), 16. Eagles (17), 17. Nets (15), 18 Hornets (16), 19. Spurs (23), 20. Lakers (19);
21st-30th: 21. Knicks (20), 22. Wizards (21), 23. Pelicans (22), 24. Trail Blazers (25), 25 Kings (26), 26 Pacers (24), 27 Thunder (27), 28 Magic (28), 29 Rockets (29), 30. Pistons (30)
The Suns have won the game over the past week against three eastern rivals, the Bulls, Philadelphia and bucks, and continue to secure their position at the top of the league. The combination of Paul and Booker remained indestructible, and they were always able to step up at key moments and win the game for the team. After the team's 11-game winning streak was ended, the Suns are now back-to-back to five consecutive wins. As the team welcomed back Clegg at the trade market deadline, the team took it to the next level.
After two consecutive losses, the Warriors have dedicated one of the best games of the season to fans in the home game against the Lakers. Clay played the best performance of the season, he scored 16 points in the final quarter, and hit three consecutive three-point shots at key moments, completely extinguishing the Lakers' hopes of ending the losing streak. Although the Warriors are still in uncertain shape, Green's continued absence from the game has always brought great hidden dangers to the team. But once they can ensure the health of all the staff, the Warriors are always the seeded players in the championship.
After Harden moved to Philadelphia, Philadelphia's strength undoubtedly increased greatly. But according to the latest news reports, Harden continues to be absent due to a hamstring injury, his debut needs to be postponed again, and will miss the All-Star Game. With Harden still unable to play, Embiid needs to continue to play at the MVP level to ensure that the team stands out from the fierce competition in the top 6 in the East.
The Nets have been uncertain recently, and Harden's departure to Philadelphia has had a great impact on the team, and the team has suffered 11 consecutive losses and continued to decline in the ranking. Durant's return date is uncertain, and Irving's inability to play at home has become the main reason for the team's loss. As the team ends their road trip, they face another situation without Durant and Irving. The good news is that Simmons is about to make his season debut, but after not playing in a season, whether he can stop the loss for the Nets is still unknown.
James successfully reached a personal milestone in the game against the Warriors. His overall personal scoring (regular season + playoffs) successfully surpassed Abdul-Jabbar to rank first in history. However, in such an important moment of his life, the Lakers have never been able to win the game. The team is currently in a 3-game losing streak and is getting farther and farther away from the top 6 in the West. If they want to get a playoff spot, it's inevitable to get into the playoffs.
In addition, the official release of a number of important data from the previous week.
The Jazz's Clarkson has a highest plus-minus of +61 last week, while the Nets' Bruce Brown has the lowest plus-minus of -69 in the league. The Suns had a league best record of 4-0 last week, and the Pistons were the league's worst record in a 3-game loss. This week, the top three teams with a more difficult schedule are the Pacers, Magic and Trail Blazers, while the Bucks, Bulls and Philadelphia have a simpler schedule.
The teams that rose the most in the strength list were the Spurs with +4 and the Clippers and Jazz with +3, while the biggest drops were the -2 Nets, Hornets, Lone Rangers, Pacers and Raptors.
(Text/Yuwen Basketball)