USA TODAY International Edition
Power rankings: Top 10 teams stand pat
er USA rankings TODAY for Sports’Week NBA15 ( Feb. pow- 6 throughings and Saturday; statistics record, reflectedstandthrough Saturday). 1. (—) Golden State Warriors ( 46- 8):
have 17 wins Thein Warriors,their last who 20 games, dominated the Thunder yet again Saturday, this time in Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant dropped a team- high 34 points en route to a 130- 114 victory. In three games against the Thunder this season, the Warriors have won by 63 combined points. 2. (—) San Antonio Spurs
( 41- 12): As should come as no surprise, the Spurs — on pace for the second- most wins in franchise history ( behind last season’s 67) — rank fifth in the NBA in offensive rating ( 110.2 points scored per 100 possessions), first in defensive rating ( 101.1 points allowed per 100 possessions) and second in net rating (+ 9.1). 3. (—) Houston Rockets ( 40
17): The Rockets, who won all three of their games ( Orlando, Charlotte and Phoenix) by a combined 68 points, have one game left ( Miami on Wednesday) before the All- Star break. 4. (—) Cleveland Cavaliers
( 37- 16): The Cavaliers started off the week with a bang with a thrilling overtime win against the Wizards in Washington, highlighted by LeBron James’ tying three- pointer, which sent the game to overtime. The Cavs followed up with a 132- 117 rout of the red- hot Pacers on Wednesday and handled the Nuggets 125- 109 Saturday. Their lone loss came Thursday to the Thunder. 5. (—) Boston Celtics ( 35
19): The Celtics, who have won nine of their last 10, sit 21⁄ games 2 behind the Cavaliers for first place in the Eastern Conference. With Avery Bradley, who has evolved into one of the top twoway shooting guards in the league, expected to return from a nagging Achilles injury before or right after the All- Star break, this team is right where it wants to be. 6. (—) Utah Jazz ( 34- 21): The Jazz, who had lost two in a row ( 112- 105 to Dallas on Thursday, 112- 104 to Boston on Saturday), host the Clippers on Monday to try and hold on to the fourth seed in the Western Conference. 7. (—) Washington Wizards
( 32- 21): Though the loss to the Cavaliers was a heartbreaker, the Wizards proved to be fully capable of competing with the defending champs and left the NBA world craving an Eastern Conference finals showdown between the two teams. With a 16- 5 record in 2017 — a mark that trails only the Warriors — the Wizards have
been surprise, the by NBA’sfar, since most the pleasantturn of the new year. 8. (—) Los Angeles Clippers ( 33- 21):
4- 7 since The losing Clippers Chris have Paul goneto a hand place in injurythe West,but stilla half- sit gamein fifthbehindof the the Grizzlies.Jazz and Thougha game Paul ahead isn’t expected back until March, the All- NBA point guard is making progress in his recovery. 9. (—) Memphis Grizzlies
( 33- 23): The Grizzlies, who fell to the Warriors on Friday ( 122107) for the first time in three meetings, have an opportunity to head into the All- Star break with momentum, with games against Brooklyn ( Monday) and New Orleans ( Wednesday) on tap. 10. (—) Toronto Raptors
( 32- 22): The All- Star break couldn’t come at a better time for the Raptors, who have gone 4- 6 over their last 10 and have fallen 51⁄ games behind the Cavaliers. 2 The face the Bulls ( Tuesday) and Hornets ( Wednesday) before the break. 11. (+ 1) Oklahoma City
Thunder ( 31- 24): The Thunder fell to the Warriors for the third time this season Saturday despite Russell Westbrook’s 47 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, though he also had 11 turnovers, pushing his season total to 305 ( which trails only James Harden). The Thunder have gone 3- 5 since losing sixth man Enes Kanter to a forearm injury. 12. (- 1) Atlanta Hawks ( 31
23): The Hawks squandered a 22- point lead to fall to the Kings by one point Friday, four days after being run out of Philips Arena in a 25- point loss to the Jazz. Their lone win of the week came when they scored a season- high 72 points in the first half and held off the Nuggets 117- 106. 13. (—) Indiana Pacers ( 29
25): The Pacers started off the week with a 93- 90 win against the Thunder, pushing their winning streak to seven games. Then Wednesday happened. And Friday. And Saturday. The Pacers dropped three in a row — 132- 117 to Cleveland, 112- 107 to Washington and 116- 100 to Milwaukee — and must face the Spurs, Cavaliers and Wizards before the AllStar break. 14. (—) Chicago Bulls ( 26
28): Mired in mediocrity and full of locker room drama, the Bulls have yet to find any sort of identity this season. Yet two games below .500, they find themselves in seventh place in the East, on track for their first playoff appearance under coach Fred Hoiberg. 15. (+ 1) Detroit Pistons ( 2529): The Pistons, who are in play-
off contention due to the Eastern Conference’s weak bottom half, rank 29th in the NBA in threepointers made ( 7.7 per game) and 27th in three- point percentage ( 33.8%), categories they ranked 10th and 22nd in last season, respectively. 16. (+ 2) Denver Nuggets
( 24- 30): The highlight of the Nuggets’ week came Friday, when second- year big man Nikola Jokic poured in a career- high 40 points ( on 17- for- 23 shooting), along with nine rebounds and five assists, to lead Denver to a 131- 123 win against the reeling Knicks. 17. (- 2) Miami Heat ( 24- 31): Forget the fact that Miami’s 13game winning streak came to an end Saturday against the 76ers. This is a team that sat at 11- 30 on Jan. 13 with little hope of a playoff berth but is 11⁄ games out of 2 eighth place. 18. (+ 2) Portland Trail Blazers ( 23- 31): The Blazers played two games and split. The win came Tuesday, when C. J. McCollum answered a Dirk Nowitzki three- pointer by hitting a runner with 0.9 seconds left to give Portland a one- point edge. The loss came Thursday, when the Blazers couldn’t hold off the Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas, who poured in 15 points in the fourth quarter. 19. (- 2) Charlotte Hornets
( 24- 30): The Nets are the only team in the NBA with a worse record over the last 10 games than the Hornets, who have gone 1- 9 during that span. First- time All- Star Kemba Walker has struggled during this skid, shooting 35.9% from the field and 26.8% from beyond the arc. 20. (- 1) Milwaukee Bucks
( 23- 30): The Bucks didn’t lose just their 29th game of the season Wednesday against Miami. They also lost Jabari Parker — their second- leading scorer and franchise cornerstone — to his second torn three anterioryears. Not cruciateonly is ligamentthis a dev- in astatingthe midst blowof a careerto a 21- year, year- it’s old also in a team significantthat was step lookingback for to a hit Bucks its stridewith Khrisafter the MiddletonAll- Star ( break hamstring)21. back(—) in the lineup. Dallas Mavericks ( 22- 32): The Mavericks entered 2017 with a Western Conferenceworst 10- 24 record. Since then? The Mavs have gone 12- 8, which is 11th in the NBA in 2017, and are two games behind the eighthplace Nuggets. 22. (+ 1) Sacramento Kings ( 22- 32): The Kings bounced back from a five- point loss to Chicago with two wins and are two games behind the Nuggets for eighth place in the West. 23. (+ 2) New Orleans Pelicans ( 21- 33): The highlight of their week came Friday, when Anthony Davis poured in 42 points and 13 rebounds en route to a 122- 106 win against the Timberwolves. 24. (—) Minnesota Timberwolves ( 20- 34): February hasn’t been all that kind to the Timberwolves, who are allowing a league- worst 120.6 points per 100 possessions this month. 25. (- 3) New York Knicks ( 22- 33): Where do we begin? Amid the drama over the Charles Oakley incident, they lost all three of their games. 26. (+ 1) Philadelphia 76ers ( 20- 34): Rookie phenom Joel Embiid has a minor meniscus tear, which is likely to hold him out until after the All- Star break. 27. (- 1) Orlando Magic ( 2036): The Magic have lost four in a row — the worst of which came Saturday, when they were blown out 112- 80 by the Mavericks in Dallas. 28. (+ 1) Los Angeles Lakers ( 19- 37): The Lakers won two of their three games. 29. (- 1) Phoenix Suns ( 1738): Suns center Alex Len was suspended for one game and rookies Tyler Ulis and Marquese Chriss were each fined $ 15,000 for their roles in an altercation with the Grizzlies’ Troy Daniels in a loss Wednesday. 30. (—) Brooklyn Nets ( 945): The Nets have lost 12 games in a row and 19 of their last 20. Power ranking, MVP and Rookie award voters: USA TODAY Sports’ Jeff Zillgitt, Sam Amick, Kevin Spain, AJ NeuharthKeusch and Michael Singer; The Arizona Republic’s Doug Haller; The ( Memphis) Commercial Appeal’s Ronald Tillery; the Detroit Free Press’ Vince Ellis; The Indianapolis Star’s Nate Taylor; The ( Bergen County, N. J.) Record’s Steve Popper; HoopsHype. com’s Jorge Sierra and Raul Barrigon; USA TODAY Sports Weekly’s Howard Megdal.