I can’t bump Houston from the top spot of my NBA Power Rankings based on one loss to the surging Spurs. After all, it was the Rockets’ first defeat following eleven victories.
Meantime, the Celtics won’t roll over, and the Utah Jazz might be the toughest-to-beat late playoff qualifier in many years.
The bottom teams are showing little progress. The NBA really needs to get serious about issues of tanking. Too many of the starting lineups teams like Memphis and Phoenix are rolling out have no business in the supposed best league on the planet.
I won’t be publishing Power Rankings next week; instead I’ll do them just before the playoffs commence.