It’s here, the last week of the regular season. There’s still a lot up for grabs in terms of homecourt advantage, seeding, and avoiding and making the play-in tournament. Let’s take a look at the current top 10 teams in the NBA power rankings a week before the play-in tournament tips-off.<\/p>\n
10. Miami Heat<\/p>\n
Miami looks like their true self right now.\u00a0Jimmy Butler<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is balling,\u00a0Bam Adebayo<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is playing tough defense, and\u00a0Tyler Herro<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Duncan Robinson<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>are draining threes. Add in the rest of the supporting cast, and\u00a0T<\/strong>revor\u00a0<\/strong>Ariza\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>doing well, the Heat are a darkhorse and could finish as a four or five seed.<\/p>\n 9. New York Knicks<\/p>\n Defense is the name of the game, and the Knicks are using that<\/a> to their advantage. Their defense is absolutely stifling,\u00a0Julius Randle<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is a legitimate star, and the re-emergence of\u00a0Derrick Rose<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is a story all NBA fans can get behind. Randle will likely make an All-NBA team and Tom Thibodeau will get serious Coach of the Year consideration.<\/p>\n 8. Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n Dallas has been missing\u00a0Kristaps Porzingis<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>for most of the last month, but that hasn’t slowed them down.\u00a0Luka Doncic<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>leads the team nightly in almost all statistical categories, but the role players are really stepping up. Tim Hardaway Jr<\/strong>.<\/a> is dropping over 20 points per game over the last two weeks,\u00a0Dwight Powell<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>looks like his pre-Achilles injury self, and\u00a0Jalen Brunson<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is emerging as one of the league’s top bench players.<\/p>\n 7. Los Angeles Clippers<\/p>\n The Clippers are the NBA’s top three-point shooting team but have been a tad sloppy lately. With\u00a0Kawhi Leonard<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>back, that will all start to change very soon. They’re battling with the Denver Nuggets for the third spot, and that will go down to the wire this week. Expect the Clippers to be even stronger once\u00a0Serge Ibaka<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>returns.<\/p>\n 6. Denver Nuggets<\/p>\n Denver has been very resilient since\u00a0Jamal Murray<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>went down with a season-ending injury. Much of this, of course, is due to\u00a0Nikola Jokic<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and his MVP-caliber season.\u00a0Michael Porter<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is emerging as a stud second-option, while much of the team’s role players are stepping up. The Nuggets, even without Murray, will be dangerous as\u00a0Monte Morris<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Will Barton<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0Aaron Gordon<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>return to the court.<\/p>\n 5. Brooklyn Nets<\/p>\n Brooklyn faced a slide during the last week but recovered with a big win over Jokic and the Nuggets. What’s most important is that\u00a0Kevin Durant<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Kyrie Irving<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>are consistently playing together on the court. That, of course, is more than enough to be elite. It’s only a matter of time until\u00a0James Harden<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>returns, then the league will truly get a look at the real Nets.<\/p>\n 4. Phoenix Suns<\/p>\n The Suns are coming off a loss versus a\u00a0LeBron James<\/a><\/strong>-less Los Angeles Lakers team, but slip-ups are bound to happen. They’re still second in the Western Conference and an elite two-way team.\u00a0Chris Paul<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>will surely have some MVP votes come his way, while\u00a0Devin Booker<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>maintains a starring role and the rest of the supporting cast fulfills all their duties.<\/p>\n 3. Milwaukee Bucks<\/p>\n Milwaukee, somehow, has flown under the radar for much of the regular season. This is mostly due to the majority of attention in the Eastern Conference being placed on the Nets, but the Bucks finished 2-0 in their mini-series versus Brooklyn last week. There’s not much more to add on Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a><\/strong> as he’s his usual dominant self, but\u00a0Khris Middleton<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Jrue Holiday<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>are firing off right now.<\/p>\n 2. Utah Jazz<\/p>\n Utah maintains the best record in the league, even though they were dealing with\u00a0Donovan Mitchell<\/a><\/strong>‘s injury. In the meantime,\u00a0Rudy Gobert<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>kept his Defensive Player of the Year run in line, while players such as Jordan Clarkson<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Bojan Bogdanovic<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>performed admirably. Utah has been great and flopped in the playoffs before, but this year seems different.<\/p>\n 1. Philadelphia 76ers<\/p>\n Philadelphia responded to a four-game losing streak by starting an eight-game winning streak. This streak is still alive, and the 76ers will finish their season with three very winnable games out of four. The only one in question is versus Miami.<\/p>\n In any other year,\u00a0Joel Embiid<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>would walk away with the MVP award. Jokic complicates things. With that being said, Embiid,\u00a0Ben Simmons<\/a><\/strong>, and Doc Rivers<\/a> look to have finally solved Philadelphia’s problems and they may finally make the jump as a legitimate championship contender in the playoffs.<\/p>\n Main Image: Embed from Getty Images<\/a>Teams Six to Four<\/h3>\n
Top Three in the NBA Power Rankings<\/h3>\n