NBA Power Rankings Update: Are the Houston Rockets Officially Back?
Teams Ranked 30th to 21st
The bottom-four shuffles up a little bit, while the Sacramento Kings backslide into the bottom tier.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Phoenix Suns | 9-30 | 20.8 | 29 | -1 |
| 29 | Chicago Bulls | 10-28 | 21.7 | 30 | 1 |
| 28 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 8-30 | 23.1 | 27 | -1 |
| 27 | Atlanta Hawks | 11-26 | 23.6 | 28 | 1 |
| 26 | New York Knicks | 9-29 | 25.0 | 26 | 0 |
| 25 | Orlando Magic | 17-20 | 38.0 | 25 | 0 |
| 24 | Washington Wizards | 15-23 | 40.3 | 24 | 0 |
| 23 | Detroit Pistons | 17-19 | 41.2 | 23 | 0 |
| 22 | Brooklyn Nets | 18-21 | 46.9 | 21 | -1 |
| 21 | Sacramento Kings | 19-19 | 48.3 | 18 | -3 |
Risers
The Chicago Bulls have gone 3-3 over their last six, and that's good enough to drag them out of the basement of both the Eastern Conference and our rankings. Try not to focus on the fact that those three wins came against other bottom-10 teams like the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Washington Wizards. Down in the depths of our bottom tier, wins are wins.
The Atlanta Hawks have won five of their last eight and are suddenly...still the Hawks. At 11-26, and with a 27th-ranked average point differential of -8.68, they're not about to make a run at the playoffs or anything (we give them a whopping 0.1% chance of making the postseason at this point). Still, they're winning more than losing lately, and that makes them a riser in our bottom-10.
Fallers
The Phoenix Suns went through a recent stretch where they won five of seven, but they were 4-24 before that, and have lost four in a row since. All in all, they still stink, and they reclaim the bottom spot of our rankings after two weeks of the Bulls keeping it warm for them.
The fact that the Sacramento Kings are still playing .500 ball at the near-halfway point of the season is a better result for them than anyone could have reasonably expected. There are some cracks starting to show in the foundation, however, as their 22nd-ranked average point differential of -1.74 gives them a Pythagorean win-loss record (expected wins and losses based on points scored and allowed) of 17-21. They are still only two games out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference with an actual record of 19-19, but our algorithms only give them a 12.8% chance of getting in.
