NBA
NBA Power Rankings Update: The Toronto Raptors Claw Their Way to the Top
The Toronto Raptors take over the number one spot in our power rankings. Are they now the league's best team?

Teams Ranked 30th to 21st

The Detroit Pistons slide into the bottom-10, while the rest of the league's worst teams shuffle ever so slightly.

RankingTeamRecordnERDLast RankingPlus/Minus
30Phoenix Suns5-2411.2300
29Chicago Bulls6-2316.228-1
28Atlanta Hawks6-2119.8291
27Cleveland Cavaliers7-2127.3270
26New York Knicks8-2128.6260
25Orlando Magic13-1537.922-3
24Washington Wizards11-1740.9240
23Brooklyn Nets11-1843.7230
22Detroit Pistons13-1344.918-4
21Miami Heat11-1645.7210


Risers

The Atlanta Hawks are the only team to move upward in the bottom tier this week (other than the San Antonio Spurs, who leapt out entirely), but they're not on a particularly good run or anything. They've dropped four of their last five contests by an average margin of 13.25 points per game, although their one win did come against the Western Conference's top team in the Denver Nuggets. Let's be honest, though: their rise is more about making room for the backsliding Chicago Bulls than it is about their success.

Fallers

The Chicago Bulls have somehow gone from bad to worse. They were losing plenty of games under head coach Fred Hoiberg (5-19) before he got axed last week, but under Jim Boylen (1-3), they're taking L's both on and off the court. Bulls players reportedly contacted the National Basketball Players Association this week regarding Boylen's extreme tactics with regards to practice, and nearly boycotted a session on Sunday following a 56-point shellacking by the Boston Celtics. They're giving the Phoenix Suns -- our every-week lock for last place -- some competition for the title of worst team in the league.

The Detroit Pistons have had a rollercoaster of a season. They started it off by winning four in a row, then dropped five straight, then went 9-2 over an 11-game stretch, and are now in the midst of a six-game losing streak. They plummet down into the depths of the bottom tier this week, but at the rate they're going, don't be surprised if they yo-yo back up into the middle seven days from now.

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