1.Golden State Warriors (44-14):
Houston is currently 1 game ahead of them in the lost column, but I can't in good conscience say they're a better team than Golden State right now. The Warriors continue to be the most well-rounded team in the league and it's going to take a colossal effort to keep them from winning their 3rd championship in 4 seasons.
2.Houston Rockets (44-13):
It's honestly shocking to see a Mike D'Antoni-coached team play this much defense. Offseason additions Chris Paul, P.J. Tucker and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute have given Houston a tough, consistent presence on the defensive end of the floor without sacrificing the deadly uptempo, let-it-fly-from outside offense made them so successful a year ago. If the CP3/James Harden experiment doesn't implode in the high-intensity environment of the playoffs, their two-way proficiency gives them a legitimate shot to bump the Warriors from their throne.
3.Toronto Raptors (41-16):
While it's justifiable to be apprehensive about Toronto's current top standing in the Eastern Conference considering their shaky postseason track record over the past five years, something about their current team feels different from their past iterations. The sudden emergence of their 2nd unit paired with their established corps' (Demar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valuncinas) willingness to add new facets to their respective games gives them a level of versatility that they've never had in the past. It'll be interesting to see if the Raptors will be able to parlay their new playing philosophy into the lengthy playoff run that's alluded them since Dwane Casey took over as head coach in the 2011-12 season.
4.Boston Celtics (40-19):
The Celtics potential Cinderella season in the wake of Gordon Hayward's devastating ankle injury has hit some snags in recent weeks with their lockdown defense completely fading away and just about every key player on their roster going through their worst shooting slumps of the season. While their problems with rebounding and finding consistent scoring options behind Kyrie Irving are unlikely to be fixed at this juncture, the Celtics have enough resilient, high-effort players (Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Morris, Terry Rozier, Aron Baynes) on their roster to reaffirm their standing as a defensive powerhouse and subsequently return to the high level of play they displayed from early November through mid-January.
5.Cleveland Cavaliers (34-22):
The first few months of Cleveland's season was plagued by internal dysfunction, questionable effort and a weathered-looking defense that would make members of the New York Nationals hang their heads in shame. Of course, none of these potential red flags will matter now that King James got the front office to make a series of moves to acquire the new supporting cast he wanted (George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr.) at the trade deadline. While it's too early to tell if the dominant level of play the Cavs flashed in the 2 games since they made these trades is sustainable or simply a quick bust of energy fueled by the addition of some new blood to an aging roster, it's hard to argue that the 4th straight trip to the NBA Finals that looked like an unattainable delusion at beginning of this month is now completely conceivable.
6.San Antonio Spurs (35-24):
Watching Gregg Popovich work his magic without Kawhi Leonard for much of the season has been a treat. They've had some rough performances against the league's best teams and there's no denying that they miss Leonard's 2-way dominance, but this scrappy roster led by a resurgent LaMarcus Alridge is still in contention in the hotly-contested Western Conference thanks to Pop's brilliant coaching.
7.Minnesota Timberwolves (36-25):
As expected, Jimmy Butler has helped Minnesota make the leap from promising young team on the playoff bubble to a serious contender. Butler's presence in their starting lineup has taken some weight off of budding 22-year old star Karl Anthony-Towns' shoulders and along with fellow new additions point guard Jeff Teague and power forward Taj Gibson, has helped install some veteran poise to a young corps that regularly blew late-game leads last season. Tom Thibodeau's absurd usage of his starters (average of just over 35 minutes per game) could cause some fatigue problems moving forward, but as of right now, this squad looks locked-in and ready to conquer the latter stages of the season.
8.Oklahoma City Thunder (33-26):
The building of chemistry and establishment of a consistent offensive rhythm took much longer than expected, but this revamped Oklahoma City team have looked like a potential dark horse contender since Christmas. Paul George's outside shooting and quick hands on defense, Carmelo Anthony's secondary scoring and dominant around-the-rim play from 7-foot bruiser Steven Adams have given the Thunder the supporting cast around top dog Russell Westbrook that they sorely lacked a season ago.
9.Washington Wizards (33-24):
No good, but not great team in the league is more averse to change than Washington. This organization flat-out refuses to stray from the "play down to your level of competition" mentality or fix the depth issues that have prevented this wildly talented team from rising into the upper-echelon of the league over the past half-decade. I'd imagine Wizards fans are already thrilled about yet another Conference Semifinals exit this May.
10.Denver Nuggets (32-26):
Unless you're a purist that demands defensively-sound basketball or snuffs their nose at teams that aren't in the championship mix, Denver has been an absolute joy to watch this season. They move the ball around like crazy, jack up a ton of 3's and have a roster full of the most exciting, unheralded young talent in the league (Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris, Jamal Murray). The impending return of versatile veteran bigman Paul Millsap to the lineup should only make this unselfish, well-spaced offense even more of a pain in the ass to defend.
11.Portland Trail Blazers (31-26):
Aside from their surprising improvements on the defensive end, it's been as business as usual with Wizards West... I mean Portland. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are probably the best shooting backcourt outside of Golden State, their post-dominant frontcourt is a throwback to the good ol' days of the NBA and they have that pesky tendency of in turning shit performances against bad teams and playing brilliantly against the great ones. Even when you factor in the almost-universal continuity of their playing style and roster, they're in better shape than they were at this point last year and I wouldn't be remotely shocked if this slightly better standing going into the final 24 games of the season resulted in them securing a decent playoff seed.
12.Indiana Pacers (33-25):
Indiana's relatively strong first half has been a huge surprise in a season that has otherwise lacked them. Victor Oladipo's monster breakout season, strong productivity from their bench and an excellent rapport between the players on this largely-overhauled roster have helped the Pacers ease the sting of losing perennial All-Star Paul George last June.
13.Milwaukee Bucks (32-25):
It's hard to ignore that Milwaukee has been a slight disappointment thus far. While Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to be a force of nature and Khris Middleton is regularly pouring in the 20+ points per game that's asked of him as a secondary scoring option, their poor 3-point shooting and bench play has prevented them from emerging as one of the league's best teams. The effectiveness of Jabari Parker, who returned to the floor in a limited capacity on February 2nd, down the stretch could be critical in determining whether or not this team can finally take that next step in their evolution.
14.Philadelphia 76ers (30-25):
With Ben Simmons finally hitting the floor after missing all of last season with a broken foot, "The Process" is starting to come to fruition. The lack of discipline that inevitably occurs when you have roster dominated by youth has led to a fair amount of blown leads and regular foul trouble, but the overwhelming amount of playmaking ability their young stars (Joel Embiid, Simmons, Dario Saric) exude when they're all clicking makes up for the sloppy, unsound basketball they sometimes play.
15.Utah Jazz (30-28):
It took them a while to find their footing after losing go-to guy Gordon Hayward in free agency, but after ripping off 11 straight wins leading into the All-Star break, Utah looks like they're on the cusp of returning to the playoffs this season. Rookie of the Year favorite Donovan Mitchell has given this team a much-needed offensive weapon and Quin Snyder continues to do an excellent job of maximizing the production of every player on the roster. If they can maintain their current level of strong two-way play and physicality through April, this underrated team is going to be a very undesirable matchup for any of the West's top contenders.
16.Miami Heat (30-28):
Erik Spolestra's latest unsung Miami team limped into the All-Star Break losing 9 of their last 12 games. However, there's enough chemistry, defensive tenacity and outside shooting prowess on this true superstar-less team for me to believe that the Heat will bounce back and return to the playoffs after their bullshit tiebreaker-induced snub last season.
17.Los Angeles Clippers (30-26):
The sudden trade of Blake Griffin to Detroit on January 29th completely altered the trajectory of the 2017-18 Clippers. This drastic midseason move indicated that the Clippers didn't believe he could lead this team moving forward, despite giving him a max deal last summer, and immediately put a rebuild into motion. With Griffin out of the equation and their playoff hopes likely coming to an end, the final stretch of this adversity-filled season for the Clippers is going to serve as an audition for what players are going to remain on this roster long-term and answer the question of whether or not Doc Rivers is wiling to remain with a team that isn't going to contend for a championship anytime soon.
18.New Orleans Pelicans (31-26):
Because the basketball gods seem intent on constantly punishing DeMarcus Cousins, Boogie went down with a torn Achilles pretty much as soon as New Orleans started to really click in late January. Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday and newly-acquired Nikola Mirotic should continue to play their assess off and give this seemingly cursed team a shot at making the playoffs, but the sad reality is that the Pelicans crippling lack of depth has become even more evident without Boogie in the picture.
19.Detroit Pistons (28-29):
It seems like its been an entirety since Detroit started 14-6 and was alongside Boston, Toronto, Washington and Cleveland at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Since early December, they've struggled to generate an offensive rhythm to match their pretty strong defensive effort and as a result, now find themselves 1.5 games behind Miami for the #8 seed. Thankfully for the Pistons, newly-acquired star bigman Blake Griffin and the impending return of starting point guard Reggie Jackson from a grade 3 ankle sprain that's kept him out since late December gives them a pretty good of reestablishing the offensive proficiency they need to battle back into the East's playoff field.
20.Charlotte Hornets (24-33):
Charlotte honestly might be the most anonymous team in the NBA right now. They're not bad enough to be in contention for the top pick in the draft nor good enough to be taken seriously as a potential playoff team. My advice to Hornets fans would be to enjoy the high-flying theatrics of Kemba Walker while he's there because there's almost no chance that he's still on this team after next season.
21.Chicago Bulls (20-37):
Fred Hoiberg deserves a ton of credit for the job he's done with a Chicago team that's only 8 months removed from blowing up pretty much their entire roster. He's brought this largely inexperienced group back from a horrific 3-20 start by giving young players the substantial minutes they need to grow as players and establishing a strong sense of camaraderie that simply wasn't there under his veteran-lead teams in the past. It also helps that Finnish sharpshooter Lauri Markannen is far more polished than anyone expected to be as a rookie, offensive sparkplug Zach LaVine has been on a warpath (16.9 PTS in just over 25 minutes a game) since returning from an ACL injury in January that many feared would take away the explosive athleticism that defined his game and Kris Dunn has blossomed into a pretty promising young floor general after a rough rookie campaign in Minnesota last year. They clearly have long odds of reaching the playoffs this season, but the team's long-term outlook is far brighter than anyone would've expected at this point.
22.Los Angeles Lakers (23-34):
The 2017-18 Lakers season has had enough up-and-downs to fill a dozen mediocre Hollywood rise-and-fall biopics. On the tragic side, Lonzo Ball's shooting has been abysmal, Luke Walton can't figure what the hell to do with Julius Randle and controlling owner Jeanie Buss is shelling out $18 mil for Luol Deng to sit on his couch. On the plus side, Brandon Ingram has vastly improved his efficiency as a shooter in his 2nd season, surprising rookie breakout Kyle Kuzma's bruising, strong offensive game has brought a much-needed burst of energy to their bench and above all, they were also able to get Jordan Clarkson's awful contract off their books at the trade deadline and clear the necessary cap space to potentially bring in a pair of superstars this summer. The only goal for this team for the rest of the 2017-18 is to play well enough to lure a LeBron James or Paul George here in free agency, which is definitely attainable if their young corps continues to play hard and the suddenly volatile Isaiah Thomas doesn't come in and shit over the locker room culture like he (allegedly) did in Cleveland.
23.New York Knicks (23-36):
In their 1st season without primitive bozo Phil Jackson running the personnel department, New York managed to be the same below-average, Jekyll-and-Hyde team they've been over the past several years. Every strong performance that made it seem like this team's was rebuilding was finally gaining traction was seemingly always followed by a porous one that left you completely hopeless about their future. In the wake of Kristaps Porzingis' devastating torn ACL, it'll be interesting to see how Jeff Hornacek goes about distributing playing time between their non-essential veterans (Jarret Jack, Kyle O'Quinn, Lance Thomas) and underutilized young players (Frank Ntilikina, Luke Kornet, newly-acquired Emmanuel Mudiay) for the rest of the season.
24.Brooklyn Nets (19-40):
While their record might not show it, this new Brooklyn regime continues to make the best of the post Paul Pierce/KG trade asset mess they inherited. Veteran forward DeMarre Carroll has given them the reliable 3-and-D player they desperately need in their rotation and the handful of young players they've been able to acquire over the past few years (Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert, Jarret Allen) have all put forth pretty substantial contributions this season. Once D'Angelo Russell shakes the rust off after missing over 2 months with a knee injury, this feisty young Nets squad could emerge as a late-season spoiler for the East's plethora of bubble playoff teams.
25.Memphis Grizzlies (18-38):
Mike Conley's season-ending heel injury effectively ruined Memphis' bid to clinch their 8th consecutive playoff berth. In Conley's absence, the Grizzlies have showed their age and embarrassing lack of depth/reliable offensive options behind Marc Gasol by ranking near the bottom of the league in every notable metric. Barring a miraculous post All-Star break turnaround, a long-overdue rebuild looks imminent for this former pillar of consistency in the Western Conference.
26.Dallas Mavericks (18-40):
The 2nd year of Dallas' rebuild has been just as painful as the 1st. Some nice contributions from their more seasoned players (Harrison Barnes, Dwight Powell, J.J. Barea) and Rick Carlisle's solid coaching have prevented them from completely bottoming out, but they've yet to demonstrate any truly encouraging signs for the future.
27.Atlanta Hawks (18-41):
Atlanta punted on the 2017-18 season with their offseason moves, which has made this a painful but necessary rebuilding season for this organization. Despite their relative lack of talent, Mike Budenholzer has this veteran role player-heavy roster playing hard every night and rookie John Collins is an explosive athlete with a deft shooting touch that could very well end up being the 1st significant building block of this new-look Hawks team.
28.Orlando Magic (18-39):
Orlando turned a lot of heads with their 8-4 start which included impressive wins over San Antonio and Cleveland. That "surprise team of the year" bid quickly went up in flames once their offense fell back down to earth and the team has won just 10 games since then. While they have some talented players (Aaron Gordon, Evan Forunier, Nikola Vucevic) that can put together dominant performances on any given night, their lack of consistency (particularly on the defensive end of the floor), clear identity and a true superstar continues to prevent this team from taking their next step forward in the rebuilding process.
29.Sacramento Kings (18-40):
Sacramento's bizarre mix of young players and relics has yielded the poor results you'd probably expect. On the bright side, rookie De'Aaron Fox has flashed serious potential as a 2-way player and Buddy Hield, the lone piece from last year's Boogie Cousins trade that's still with the team, is starting to look like the 3-point specialist he was pegged to be when he was drafted 6th overall in 2016.
30.Phoenix Suns (18-41):
No one makes uninspired basketball look like an artform quite like the Phoenix Suns. The lack of hustle, chemistry and discipline they show on a nightly basis is borderline comical to behold. If they want to escape the hardcourt purgatory they've been since the end of the Nash/Stoudemaire/D'Antoni-era, they're going to need to bring in a new head coach this offseason that can drastically shift the culture and develop the abundance of raw young players (Dragan Bender, Marquise Chriss, Josh Jackson, Tyler Ulis) they currently have playing alongside long bright spot Devin Booker.
