Chuddy's NBA Power Rankings: Week of April 8th

Welcome to the nineteenth installment of King Chuddy’s weekly NBA power rankings and the seventh post-all-star edition! This will be the last edition of the regular season rankings as we are somehow in the final week of the regular season. As always, these rankings will fluctuate based on the team's performance during the previous week and any changes in personnel, health, schematics, or overall quality of play. These rankings are NOT predicting the future, or used to determine the odds of ultimately winning the title, they are just based on what the team has done recently and what is their immediate outlook. For example, most people would likely think the Lakers or Warriors have a much better chance of actually winning a title than teams like the Magic or Pelicans, but they simply have not played better this season so the rankings reflect that. Think of these rankings as something more like the top 25 rankings in college basketball/football and they should make more sense. Feel free to leave your comments/opinions and tell me why I’m wrong, or why I am a genius. Without further ado…

1. Denver Nuggets (54-24, Last week: 2) - Jamal Murray finally returned to the lineup and they put up 142 points in a big win. Huge sigh of relief for Nuggets fans; they look like the team to beat again.
2. Boston Celtics (62-16, Last week: 3) - The clear team to beat in the East and heavy favorites against anyone but Denver. Even their backups seem to be able to beat most teams.
3. Minnesota Timberwolves (54-24, Last week: 4) - It’s damn impressive how the Wolves have stayed in the hunt for the one seed while playing without KAT for over a month. Now it looks like he’ll be back before the playoffs even start.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder (53-25, Last week: 1) - SGA and J-Dub have been sitting and the Thunder have been hemorrhaging losses as a result. Maybe they’re tanking out of the top 2 seeds to ensure they avoid the Lakers.
5. Dallas Mavericks (48-30, Last week: 6) - The Mavs have been arguably the hottest team in the league and could somehow finish with a top 4 seed. They’ll be a bitch to face in the playoffs with the way Luka and Kyrie have it going.
6. Los Angeles Clippers (50-28, Last week: 8) - The Clips have steadied the ship a bit with some solid wins, but the absence of Kawhi Leonard is getting extremely concerning for me.
7. Orlando Magic (46-32, Last week: 10) - What a season the Magic are having. Even the biggest Orlando optimists would have been surprised to see them competing for the 2 seed with a week to play in the season.
8. Phoenix Suns (46-32, Last week: 15) - The Suns have their whole team healthy and have been playing pretty well. They look like they’ll be able to avoid the play-in as well.
9. Philadelphia 76ers (44-35, Last week: 16) - Joel Embiid is back and the Sixers might be the second-best team in the East again already. He’s looked pretty spry and the team has won 5 games in a row. They still may be stuck in the play-in but they may be favored against anyone but the Celtics.
10. Golden State Warriors (43-35, Last week: 17) - Don’t look now but the Warriors have caught fire and getting pushed by the Rockets may have been a blessing in disguise. Wiggins and Klay have been better lately, Draymond has helped steady the defense, and if Steph can get hot they may have another run in them.
11. New Orleans Pelicans (46-32, Last week: 7) - The Pels had some very discouraging results that have dropped them back into the play-in, but they did pull out a huge gutsy road win over the Suns. Still very live.
12. Los Angeles Lakers (45-34, Last week: 11) - The Lakers will almost certainly have to play their way in via play-in but they’ve been hot lately and have proven they can beat anyone when the team is locked in.
13. New York Knicks (46-32, Last week: 9) - While Randle is done for the year, they did get OG back and have a legit chance to get the 2 seed in the East.
14. Indiana Pacers (45-34, Last week: 18) - The Pacers won a massive game over the Heat to give them the upper hand for the 6 seed and to stay out of the play-in. Haliburton still hasn’t looked like his early-season self, but if he can find it, they should have a winnable series in round one.
15. Sacramento Kings (45-33, Last week: 19) - This team is still in big trouble without Monk and Huerter, but if they can hold off the Lakers and Warriors they’ll at least have two chances to win one game and buy themselves a playoff series.
16. Miami Heat (43-35, Last week: 14) - The Heat are almost definitely stuck in the play-in again, but in some ways, they’ve got the league right where they want it.
17. Milwaukee Bucks (47-31, Last week: 5) - Holy moly what is going on in Milwaukee? Each loss looks more pathetic than the one before it. They are running out of time to get right and if they don’t stop the bleeding they may find themselves on the road in round one.
18. Cleveland Cavaliers (46-33, Last week: 13) - The only team that may be going through as rough a stretch as the Bucks. Mitchell hasn’t looked right since returning and the team can’t seem to get everyone healthy and playing well together.
19. Houston Rockets (38-40, Last week: 12) - It was a fun ride for the Rockets, but since getting within sniffing distance of the 10 seed they’ve gone in the tank and officially ended their chances with their latest losing skid. Still a great season for this group.
20. Chicago Bulls (37-41, Last week: 21) - I’ve been ready to fast-forward to the Bulls/Hawks 9/10 game for three months.
21. Atlanta Hawks (36-42, Last week: 20) - I’ve been ready to fast-forward to the Bulls/Hawks 9/10 game for three months.
22. San Antonio Spurs (15-64, Last week: 23) - Credit where credit is due… despite the awful record and all the guys they’ve shut down, as long as Wemby is out there this team can compete in every single game. 
23. Memphis Grizzlies (27-51, Last week: 25) - Everything I said about the Spurs is true of the Grizz, they just don’t have a Wemby on their team.
24. Toronto Raptors (25-53, Last week: 29) - The Raps finally ended their ridiculous losing streak and now they’ve won two in a row. That’s really all it takes to move up at this point in the rankings.
25. Brooklyn Nets (31-48, Last week: 22) - Hard to find a less inspiring team lately; they are just dying to get to the offseason… where they don’t have any first-round draft picks.
26. Charlotte Hornets (19-59, Last week: 27) - They got a win and competed with the Thunder. They’re bad but in a kind of endearing way. Brandon Miller continues to crush in his rookie season.
27. Washington Wizards (15-64, Last week: 24) - Nothing endearing about this bad team, but they do have some guys who can get hot and make a game interesting for a quarter or two.
28. Portland Trail Blazers (21-57, Last week: 30) - Scoot has been playing decently…I guess. Ayton has had a few nice moments. Dalano Banton may have actually found an NBA home. There are a few positives.
29. Detroit Pistons (13-65, Last week: 28) - There have not been a ton of positives here recently, except that the season is mercifully almost over.
30. Utah Jazz (29-49, Last week: 26) - I hate to do it to my Jazz, and they aren’t lacking for talent overall, but this is just an egregious tank job. They went from a playoff contender to being on a hopeless 12-game losing streak. They have no desire to win games and likely won’t again this season.