NBA Power Rankings Update: Are the Denver Nuggets Legitimate Contenders?
Teams Ranked 30th to 21st
Four bad teams shuffle at the bottom. Not much to see here.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 11-41 | 18.9 | 30 | 0 |
| 29 | Phoenix Suns | 11-42 | 20.7 | 28 | -1 |
| 28 | Chicago Bulls | 12-40 | 21.5 | 29 | 1 |
| 27 | Atlanta Hawks | 16-34 | 25.3 | 26 | -1 |
| 26 | New York Knicks | 10-40 | 25.6 | 27 | 1 |
| 25 | Orlando Magic | 21-31 | 38.2 | 25 | 0 |
| 24 | Detroit Pistons | 22-28 | 39.5 | 24 | 0 |
| 23 | Memphis Grizzlies | 20-32 | 41.6 | 23 | 0 |
| 22 | Washington Wizards | 22-29 | 44.5 | 22 | 0 |
| 21 | Sacramento Kings | 26-25 | 48.9 | 21 | 0 |
Risers
The Chicago Bulls had a 1-3 week, but the losses were all close, and the win was a fairly convincing one over the Miami Heat. They come out of that four-game stretch with a 0.5 net rating, but move up more for the horrible week the Phoenix Suns had than their own success.
The New York Knicks have lost 11 in a row, are 1-19 over their last 20, and currently hold the worst record in the entire Association (with some stiff competition) at 10-40. To make matters worse, they just traded away their best player, Kristaps Porzingis, in a blockbuster deal with the Dallas Mavericks. How, after all that, are they a "riser" in our power rankings, you ask? Every team down in this range is just that bad.
Fallers
The Phoenix Suns have lost nine in a row and have had a league-worst -16.3 net rating over that span. The battle between the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Suns to land in the Association's bottom-three -- and therefore, tankathon.com's top-three -- is getting pretty heated.
The Atlanta Hawks won a game this week, but got knocked on their butts in a blowout loss to the Sacramento Kings. The margin of error between being a "riser" and a "faller" down here in the basement is razor-thin.
