The season is starting to really shake out, the former champs are down a star, the Suns are getting their stars to show out and the Jazz are officially an elite team. The big three in the east are starting to separate themselves from the bunch. The 76ers, Bucks and Nets are going to be fun to watch down the stretch. Same old same old here, who did you beat and by how much determines these rankings.

#16 Charlotte Hornets (13-15)

Just when the Hornets get their best player back, Devonte Graham, they lose more from Covid 19 protocols. Martin Brothers and PJ Washington go down and Gordon Hayward missed a game with a back issue. They played with three guards to start against Minnesota and it worked well. They are a fast and fun team with Ball, Rozier, and Graham on the floor together.

#15 New York Knicks (14-15)

Julius Randle is a dark horse MVP candidate and now he will have to shoulder the load for a while with Mitchell Robinson missing 4-6 weeks with a broken hand. He does get some veteran support with Derek Rose coming over in a trade from Detroit. He will bring some depth scoring and leadership to a Knicks team fighting for a playoff spot for the first time in a long time.

#14 Sacramento Kings (12-15)

The Kings came into this week with a four game win streak and they ended it with a 3 games losing streak. Fox missed the first loss against the 76ers, but with him back the loss to the Grizzlies hurts as they are one of the teams they are fighting for a playoff spot. They need more consistent defense if they want a shot at losing in the first round.

#13 Golden State Warriors (15-13)

Steph Curry is a legit MVP candidate, his numbers are almost the same as his MVP seasons. They haven’t had a huge winning streak or a big losing streak and if Curry keeps playing at a high level they have a real shot at the playoffs. They need to foul less and give up less free throws and Curry needs to play at a high level and they have a real shot.

#12 Boston Celtics (14-13)

What has happened to the Celtics? They started the season as my number two team in these rankings. The injuries are starting to pile up and Brown and Tatum can only carry the team so far. Look for the Celtics to make some noise at the trade deadline to keep themselves afloat.

#11 Indiana Pacers (14-14)

The Pacers have a very similar story to the Celtics, relying on two stars to carry the team. Sabonis and Brogdon can only do so much. Myles Turner and Doug Mcdermot helped carry some of the load this week and will need to continue to help if the Pacers want to stay fresh for the playoffs.

#10 Portland Trailblazers (17-10)

Here comes the Trailblazers, it has been amazing what they have done despite the injuries. Melo has shown some of his old spark averaging over 20 points a game over the last week and Gary Trent Jr has helped a lot in CJ McCollum's absence. Wait for this team to get healthy and they have a real chance of making some noise.

#9 Denver Nuggets (15-12)

The Nuggets won some easy games to start the week and then met the champs and came out on top. Jokic is still playing at an MVP level, averaging nearly a triple double this season. Hopefully for Denver fans Jamal Murray can get his season going after his 25 point performance against LA. Big test coming in the next couple of weeks with 8 of 10 games coming on the road, we will see if they are contenders or pretenders by the end of February.

#8 Milwaukee Bucks (16-12)

The Bucks finally come home from a six game road trip that ended with a three game losing streak. They had some issues with Covid, with Jrue Holiday missing games and the Bucks really couldn’t defend the perimeter without him. How did the Bucks lose to the Thunder, an OKC team without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

#7 San Antonio Spurs (16-11)

Never count out Pop, never. They are on top of the Southwest Division. They are on their rodeo trip right now and have started strong at 2-0. If they can keep this going watch out. Getting Lamarcus Aldridge back from injury would really help, but Jakon Poeltl has been very serviceable in his place, San Antonio is 5-1 without their star bigman.

#6 Los Angeles Clippers (21-8)

The Clippers are without their two stars this week but went 3-0 anyway. Granted the competition wasn’t the greatest. They get to move up in the rankings this week because of that record, but they need to play better in the clutch. They have a minus 9.8 net rating and their field goal percentage drops by 20%. They will need to play better this upcoming week with showdowns with Miami, Utah (2), and Brooklyn.

#5 Brooklyn Nets (17-12)

The Nets lost to the Pistons to start this week, that is not a good look for a finals contender. They had a big blowout win over the Pacers with Kyrie dropping 35 points in the win, KD came back with a win in the Bay, but will now miss two games with a hamstring strain. Tough five game stretch for the Nets has they play the entire Pacific division coming up.

#4 Philadelphia 76ers (18-10)

The 76ers were supposed to be the best defensive team in the league, but it has started to falter. The defense really let them down in losses to Portland and Phoenix. The defense against elite guards is going to have to improve as Fox, Lillard, and Booker each dropped 30+ on the 76ers this week. They will need to play more elite defense or this team will start to slip in these rankings.

#3 Phoenix Suns (17-9)

The Suns are the 2nd hottest team in the association right now, a 6 game win streak and a 9 wins out of the last 10. CP3 and Booker have finally started to click, they both dropped 25 or more during the win over the Bucks. Booker has finally started to turn his season around and look out western conference, the team in the desert is starting to heat up.

#2 Los Angeles Lakers (22-7)

If you are a Lakers fan it is time to start worrying a bit. They had a seven game win streak before a loss to Nuggets to finish out the week. Those wins weren’t exactly blowouts either as they had three overtime games in a row. The biggest worry is Anthony Davis will miss a couple of weeks with an achilles injury, they can compete without him, defend their title not so much.

#1 Utah Jazz (23-5)

Let’s take a look at the teams the Jazz beat by an average of 15 points, Boston, Milwaukee, and Miami. Utah has won 7 in a row and 18 of 19. Rudy Gobert is playing like the former defensive player of the year and is the front runner for this season. Mike Conley has missed games which pushes Spida Mitchell to perform at an even higher level, 28.8 points and 7.5 dimes a game. It is officially time to consider the Jazz a championship contender.

NBA Power Rankings: Week 9