In the moment, it was hard to tell if LeBron James was injured or just embarrassed as he headed toward the locker room in the closing minutes of the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. James, it turned out, was injured; a balky ankle, which has hobbled James since the All-Star break, was the culprit. But the loss was also embarrassing, with the Lakers blowing a 19-point lead to defensively challenged Sacramento en route to a 10-point defeat.
If you’re looking for reasons to believe the Lakers can rejoin the ranks of Western Conference contenders, there aren’t many. Since the All-Star break, the Lakers have been a top-10 offensive team. That’s good. They are also 28th in defensive efficiency during that time. That’s very bad. Against Sacramento, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk scored 70 points combined.
“Frustration makes cowards of us all,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “Just like fatigue. You try to get something back, you start going out on your own or you [get] preoccupied, which is something that you can’t control such as officiating. Instead of just figuring out how you can make plays, get stops. When we play like that, that physicality, that needs to be our identity. That right there we’ve shown when we play like that, things turn out great for us.”
Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports
It’s hard to see how this season will turn out great for the Lakers. James and Anthony Davis continue to play at an elite level but the supporting cast around them continues to struggle. Austin Reaves’s shooting numbers have dipped, Max Christie can’t seem to meaningfully crack the rotation and Taurean Prince has been a disappointment. Even D’Angelo Russell, white hot since Jan. 1, has cooled off of late.
What it adds up to is a team good enough to stay in the play-in field, possibly make the playoffs and then most likely bowing out in the first or second round. Certainly not what James, Davis & Co. were hoping for coming off last season’s trip to the conference finals.
On to Sports Illustrated’s latest NBA power rankings.
1. Boston Celtics
Last week: 1
Tuesday’s loss in Cleveland saw Boston’s 11-game winning streak come to an end, and what a stretch it was. Boston had the highest plus-minus in NBA history over an 11-game stretch (+243) with a net rating of +22.5. The Celtics have a chance to finish the season in the top three in offensive and defensive efficiency for the second season in a row. Since the All-Star break, Boston’s starting lineup has an offensive efficiency of 147.6.
2. Denver Nuggets
Last week: 4
Denver saw its six-game winning streak snapped in an overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, but the Nuggets’ post–All-Star break surge has been impressive. Nikola Jokić is pushing his case for a third MVP, averaging 25 points (on 59.3% shooting), 14.4 rebounds and 10.7 assists since the break. A switch is being flipped in Denver.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder
Last week: 2
I addressed why the Thunder should be taken seriously earlier this week. Rebounding is a weakness—Oklahoma City is 27th in the NBA in boards per game. Is Josh Giddey also a weakness? Giddey’s numbers—including minutes, scoring and field goal percentage—have dipped this season and teams are daring him to shoot threes. Giddey’s playability will be worth watching in the playoffs.
Related: Thunder Have the Talent to Make a Deep Playoff Run
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
Last week: 3
How good is Minnesota’s defense? The Wolves have held 20 opponents this season to 40% shooting or worse, the most—by far—of any team in the NBA this season. The big news, though, is the health of Karl-Anthony Towns, who will reportedly be sidelined indefinitely with a torn meniscus in his left knee.
5. Los Angeles Clippers
Last week: 5
L.A. has won three out of four since Paul George’s return to the lineup, with PG averaging 22 points during that stretch and connecting on 40.7% of his threes. The Clippers will need to figure out how to divvy up the Russell Westbrook minutes. Bones Hyland, who is shooting 21.4% over his last four games, certainly isn’t earning them.
6. Milwaukee Bucks
Last week: 9
The Bucks absorbed a pretty good beating from the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, but Milwaukee has the No. 1 defense since the All-Star break and Khris Middleton’s return is right around the corner. Doc Rivers made some public gaffes in his first week on the job, but Rivers is getting the job done.
Related: The Bucks’ Defense Is Becoming a Championship-Caliber One
7. Cleveland Cavaliers
Last week: 6
Donovan Mitchell needing PRP treatment on his ailing left knee has to have everyone a little nervous in Cleveland.
Related: SI:AM | The Cavs’ Unlikely Hero
8. Miami Heat
Last week: 12
Stop me if you have heard this before: Miami is a contender. The Heat, even in the loss column with the fourth seed Orlando Magic, have won seven of the last eight. They are putting a chokehold on teams defensively—Miami is allowing just 109.9 points per game this season, the sixth least in the NBA, and have held opponents to under their season scoring averages by an average of -12.1 points per game over their last 14 contests—and even with never-ending injury issues (Josh Richardson is officially done for the season) are grinding out enough offense to win. No one will want to face the Heat in the playoffs.
9. Phoenix Suns
Last week: 8
Jusuf Nurkić collected 31 rebounds against Oklahoma City—a potential playoff opponent—on Sunday and played credible defense against Jokić before fouling out in the fourth quarter of an overtime win over the Nuggets. Phoenix needs its Big Three healthy—Devin Booker is day-to-day with an ankle injury—but Nurkić, a reliable double double threat for most of the season, will be a factor in the playoffs.
10. Sacramento Kings
Last week: 10
Statement win for Sacramento, which beat up on the Lakers on Wednesday, gouging L.A. for 76 points in the paint. Fox was outstanding in his second game back from a knee injury, scoring 44 points on 59.2% shooting. Defense continues to be an issue, though: Since the All-Star break, the Kings are 22nd in defensive efficiency, keeping Sacramento in the bottom third of the NBA for a second season in a row.
11. Dallas Mavericks
Last week: 7
The Mavs, losers of five of their last six, are in a freefall. Dallas’s defense has collapsed during this stretch, with the Mavericks last in defensive rating, nearly six points worse than the next lowest team. Not even Luka Dončić’s brilliance—Dončić is averaging 37 points, 10 rebounds and 11.3 assists over the last six—can overcome that.
12. New Orleans Pelicans
Last week: 14
The Trey Murphy III effect is real. Murphy has led the Pelicans in scoring in two of their last four wins. In his last two games—wins over the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors—Murphy shot 61.5% from three. That’s more impressive when you consider he took 26 triples in those two games.
13. Orlando Magic
Last week: 15
With the caveat that Orlando’s recent five-game winning streak has come against the dregs of the NBA, the Magic have looked sharp. Their defense, a strength all season, has been suffocating of late, with Orlando nearly six points better in defensive rating than Boston during this stretch. The offense, a decided weakness all season, has been in the top 10. Matchups with the New York Knicks and Pacers this weekend will reveal a lot more about the state of the suddenly surging Magic.
14. Philadelphia 76ers
Last week: 17
The Sixers continue to tread water while (fingers crossed) waiting for Joel Embiid to return. Kyle Lowry has made a seamless transition to the Philadelphia rotation, playing nearly 30 minutes per game and shooting an impressive 43.5% from three.
15. Golden State Warriors
Last week: 16
Putting aside the 52-point pasting Golden State absorbed in Boston, the Warriors have been playing good basketball. The Dubs went 3–1 on their East Coast road trip, have won 14 of the last 18 and on Wednesday battered a Bucks team that has been on a roll since the All-Star break. The game against Milwaukee was the first time in a long time the Warriors were injury free. Don’t count Golden State out yet.
16. New York Knicks
Last week: 11
The Knicks avoided catastrophe with Jalen Brunson this week, and O.G. Anunoby and Julius Randle are reportedly on the mend. Donte DiVincenzo has stepped up of late: DiVincenzo, who averaged 21.7 points in February, is averaging 24.5 in March. New York will need that firepower while it fights to stay out of the play-in tournament over the next month.
17. Indiana Pacers
Last week: 13
The Pacers blew two winnable games in the last two weeks to the Raptors and San Antonio Spurs, dropping them (for now) into the play-in field. Tyrese Haliburton has struggled since the All-Star break, shooting 40.2% from the field and 23.5% from three-point range.
18. Los Angeles Lakers
Last week: 18
The Lakers sandwiched a win over Oklahoma City between losses to Denver and Sacramento, but things aren’t looking good in L.A. The Kings loss was embarrassing, with the Lakers blowing a 19-point lead in what turned into a 10-point loss. Ham continues to face criticism over his rotations, and James went to the locker room early with an ankle injury.
Related: LeBron James Explains Early Exit From Lakers-Kings Game Due to Injury
19. Chicago Bulls
Last week: 19
Don’t look now but the Bulls are closing in on .500. Coby White—a leading candidate for Most Improved Player—scored 37 in a win over Sacramento and is averaging 28 points in three games this month. More White: Zach LaVine is the only other player in Bulls history with six or more games with 30-plus points and five-plus made threes in a single season.
20. Houston Rockets
Last week: 20
There might be no ceiling on Alperen Şengün. Şengün followed up a 45-point, 16-rebound effort with a 23-point, 19-rebound, 14-assist outburst against the Clippers the next night. Şengün is confident, wildly talented and when he develops a three-point shot—and believe me, at 21, it’s coming—he has Jokić-like potential.
21. Toronto Raptors
Last week: 21
The injuries keep racking up for the Raptors, who added Jakob Poeltl to their growing list of sidelined players. Kelly Olynyk, who Toronto signed to a two-year extension this week, has been a nice addition. Olynyk has scored in double figures in six of his 10 games with the Raptors.
22. Atlanta Hawks
Last week: 22
Four out of six for Atlanta? Back-to-back wins over the Knicks and Cavs? De’Andre Hunter has been outstanding for the Hawks of late. Hunter scored 17 points (on 50% shooting) in Atlanta’s win over Cleveland. Entering that game, Hunter was averaging 18.3 points (on 54.2% shooting, 49% from three and 86.8% from the free throw line) over his last 11 games. Since Feb. 5, Hunter is one of only three players in the NBA averaging at least 18 points on 50/45/85 shooting splits, joining Kristaps Porziņģis and Jamal Murray.
23. Brooklyn Nets
Last week: 24
Another back injury for Ben Simmons. Yeesh.
24. Utah Jazz
Last week: 23
The Jazz’s only wins since Feb. 8 have come against the Washington Wizards and San Antonio.
25. San Antonio Spurs
Last week: 28
In a season filled with the kind of performances that have Spurs fans giddy about the future, over the last week Victor Wembanyama strung together two of his best. A 28-point, 13-rebound, seven-assist effort led to a win over Oklahoma City. And a 31-point, 12-rebound, six-assist output powered San Antonio to a win over Indiana a few days later. What a player.
26. Memphis Grizzlies
Last week: 25
In a bizarro world, Taylor Jenkins is a candidate for Coach of the Year because the Grizzlies just don’t quit. Memphis followed a tough overtime loss against the Portland Trail Blazers with back-to-back road wins over the Nets and Sixers. Luke Kennard has been a sniper of late. Kennard scored 25 points in 27 minutes against Brooklyn and is connecting on 58.8% of his threes over the last three games.
27. Portland Trail Blazers
Last week: 27
The injury-ravaged Blazers hung in during back-to-back losses to Western Conference–leading Minnesota and Oklahoma City this week, losing both by a combined 13 points. Anfernee Simons has cracked 30 points in two of the last three games, averaging 25 points per game this month.
28. Charlotte Hornets
Last week: 26
Good luck, Jeff Peterson.
29. Detroit Pistons
Last week: 29
Ausar Thompson, the Pistons’ defensive-minded rookie, is showing signs of life on the offensive end. Thompson is averaging 10.1 points per game since the All-Star break, bumping his three-point percentage up to 30%.
30. Washington Wizards
Last week: 30
Jordan Poole trips, falls, blows a transition opportunity and then considers shooting from the floor. There is your weekly Wizards update.
