Last week, in the aftermath of a disastrous pre-All-Star break loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Damian Lillard closed his eyes and leaned back in his locker. This isn’t what Lillard envisioned in the aftermath of the trade with the Milwaukee Bucks, not after a solid training camp and an encouraging preseason.
“After that first preseason game [against the Los Angeles Lakers], I was like, ‘Man, we’re going to be rolling,’ ” Lillard says. “I thought we were going to be how Boston is right now.”
It hasn’t worked out that way. At 35–21, Milwaukee is third in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks have lost seven of the 10 games Doc Rivers has coached and are just two games up on fifth-seeded Philadelphia.
And yet, Lillard continues to exude optimism. He likes Rivers’s keep-it-simple approach. He likes the emphasis on the two-man game between him and Giannis Antetokounmpo. He likes that the Bucks defense, a disaster most of the season, has ranked in the upper half of the NBA since Rivers took charge.
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“We’ve had adversity hit our team two or three different times and we’ve managed to still be a top-three team in the East with a lot of games to go,” Lillard says. “And we’re still far away from reaching what we could be and what we should be. I think my job is to just stay in the process. I think it’s going to come with some criticism, with ‘Why is Dame not doing this? What’s going on? He’s not shooting well.’ And that’s part of the reason why I think [the trade] happened at the perfect stage of my career or at the age that I’m at, because I can handle that and I know the process part of it, so I’m just sticking with it.”
The Bucks are perhaps the most intriguing story as the NBA prepares to begin the second half—or, more accurately, final third—of its season. Milwaukee’s championship winning window is tight. Lillard is 33. Khris Middleton is 32. Antetokounmpo is 29. And while the core of the team is tied to long-term contracts, well, we all know that doesn’t mean a team will stay together long term.
Antetokounmpo called for urgency last week, and he’s right. Urgency for the coaching staff to get up to speed on the Bucks roster. Urgency for its stars—particularly Antetokounmpo and Lillard—to play better. Urgency for Milwaukee’s rotation players (Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis and Malik Beasley) to perform at a championship level. There is still time to do it. But time, Antetokounmpo reminded reporters last week, is running out.
“I think the beauty of it is adversity hits everybody and when you get toward the end is who’s tested, who’s tried and who’s really true,” Lillard says. “And I think that gives us a great opportunity still.”
Related: Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo Preaches ‘Urgency’ After Shocking Loss
On to Sports Illustrated’s latest NBA power rankings.
1. Boston Celtics
Last week: 1
Not much to complain about in Boston. The NBA’s best record, a commanding six-game lead in the conference standings and a top-six better than anyone in the NBA. Even the bench is getting it done: The Celtics’ second unit ranks fourth in three-point percentage (38.8), third in offensive rebounds (5.2), first in plus/minus (2.8) and has committed the second-fewest turnovers (4.1) in the NBA this season. All that’s left is to put Kristaps Porziņģis in bubble wrap and get to the postseason.
2. Minnesota Timberwolves
Last week: 4
Smart move by Minnesota locking up Mike Conley on a two-year extension. At 36, Conley is having another productive season. He’s averaging 10.6 points and shooting a career-best 44.2% from three with a better than 6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Besides, Conley’s a winner. Memphis? Winner. Utah Jazz? Winner. Minnesota has won 66.2% of its games since acquiring Conley last season. Well worth the $10.5 million the Wolves will be paying him the next two seasons.
3. Los Angeles Clippers
Last week: 2
Since Nov. 17, the Clippers are an NBA-leading 32–9. During the stretch, L.A. ranks first in offensive rating (121.6), second in three-point percentage (40.2), tied for third in plus/minus differential (7.2) and fourth in field goal percentage (49.9). Fully healthy, the Clippers are tough to beat.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
Last week: 6
If you’re waiting for OKC to stumble, you’re going to be disappointed. The Thunder have a top-five offensive and defensive rating, are top three in the league in field goal percentage (tied for second, 49.9), free throw percentage (first, 83.0) and three-point percentage (third, 39.3). They have the seventh-easiest remaining strength of schedule, per Tankathon.com, and have an MVP candidate (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and Rookie of the Year contender (Chet Holmgren) who really want the hardware. Oklahoma City isn’t going anywhere.
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
Last week: 3
To win in the playoffs, you have to win on the road, where the Cavs are an NBA-best 17–8. You have to defend; Cleveland has the league’s second-best defensive rating, trailing only Minnesota. To win, you need a surefire, go-to franchise player. Donovan Mitchell is tied for a career best in scoring (28.4 points per game, fourth best in NBA), plus career highs in rebounds (5.4), assists (6.3, 20th in NBA) and steals (1.91, second in NBA) in 35.4 minutes. The Cavs are checking a lot of boxes.
Related: NBA All-Star Game: Don’t Complain About Lack of Competitiveness
6. Denver Nuggets
Last week: 5
Are Christian Braun and Peyton Watson playoff-ready? That might be the only question the Nuggets—who will undoubtedly be fueled by perceived All-Star snubs—will have to answer down the stretch. Watson’s three-point shooting dipped below 30% in January before rebounding to shoot 50% in the first half of this month. Braun’s shooting numbers are down nearly six points from last season. Denver knows what it’s going to get from its starting lineup. Can the Watson/Braun combo be relied on in the postseason? Stay tuned.
7. Phoenix Suns
Last week: 8
First, more Jusuf Nurkić–Draymond Green. Second, the Suns offense has been cooking. Over a 10-game stretch between Jan. 22 and Feb. 8, Phoenix shot 56%. 56%! Not since 1988 has a team had a better 10-game stretch. Grayson Allen—remember him?—leads the NBA in three-point percentage and has made eight threes in a game four times. Meanwhile, over the last 10 games, the Suns are fourth in defensive rating. Look out.
8. Dallas Mavericks
Last week: 7
Speaking of teams with better-than-expected defensive ratings: The Mavs are seventh in the NBA over the last 10. Daniel Gafford’s per-36 production is bonkers (25.3 points, 20.3 rebounds, four blocks) and Dante Exum, a surprise contributor in his first season in Dallas, is nearing a return from a knee injury. The Mavs’ upcoming schedule is brutal—a home date with Phoenix before a road trip that includes swings through Indiana, Cleveland and Boston—which will be a good test for this new-look roster.
9. New Orleans Pelicans
Last week: 11
The Pels defense is terrific. They are seventh in efficiency and rank in the top 10 in steals, deflections and loose balls recovered. The middle-of-the-pack offensive rating has a lot to do with Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum still figuring things out. In 538 minutes together this season, New Orleans’s Big Three has a plus/minus of … 0.0. That’s got to improve before the playoffs.
10. Sacramento Kings
Last week: 13
The Kings (31–23) are right around where they were this time last season (32–25) but the depth of the West has pushed them down the standings in this one. The Kings’ top-line talent (De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis) has been good, and while Keegan Murray’s shooting numbers have dipped, he’s been a more complete player this season. What Sacramento needs are its role players (Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes and Malik Monk) to be consistent over the last two months. Monk has scored 20-plus points in six of his eight games in February while connecting on 52.1% of his attempts in the month.
11. New York Knicks
Last week: 10
Let’s talk again when the Knicks’ injury report gets a little shorter.
12. Milwaukee Bucks
Last week: 9
Will Danilo Gallinari crack the Bucks’ rotation? Milwaukee outbid several teams for Gallinari, a career 38% three-point shooter, who has played 32 games this season after missing all of last season with a knee injury. The Bucks need an extra big to join the Antetokounmpo, Lopez and Portis frontcourt rotation. But Gallinari will have to defend to get any kind of extended minutes.
13. Miami Heat
Last week: 14
The Heat, which won six of their last eight headed into the All-Star break, are desperate for consistency. Miami has started 29 different lineups in its 55 games this season, with 16 different players registering at least one start. That hasn’t stopped the Heat from racking up road wins (15) and holding a top-10 defensive rating. Jimmy Butler, who has made at least one three for 10 straight games, has been a sniper, connecting on 44% from three-point range.
14. Philadelphia 76ers
Last week: 15
The Buddy Hield deal is working out. Since being acquired by Philadelphia, Hield is averaging 22.3 points on 52% shooting, including 44.8% from three-point range. Kyle Lowry will join the rotation this week and the Sixers have received a nice boost from Ricky Council IV, who is averaging 10.4 points per game in February. Philly will need all the firepower it can get while it awaits Joel Embiid’s return.
15. Indiana Pacers
Last week: 12
Indy has absorbed some bad losses this month, including winnable games over New York, Sacramento and Charlotte and a double-digit loss to Golden State. The Pacers’ (understandable) decision to ease Tyrese Haliburton back into the rotation probably cost them a couple of games; getting Haliburton’s minutes back into the mid-30s will certainly help. But Indiana has to improve its defense, which over the last 10 games is 24th in the NBA.
16. Los Angeles Lakers
Last week: 16
That LeBron-to-Golden State trade rumor was fun, huh? The Lakers won three straight after a quiet deadline and six of the last seven entering the All-Star break. D’Angelo Russell has stayed hot, with February numbers (20.3 points, 8.2 assists, 42% from three-point range) that mirror his production in January (22.7/6.0/45.9%). Can Russell maintain this level of play? The Lakers’ ability to climb the standings over the next two months likely depends on it.
17. Golden State Warriors
Last week: 17
Sure, it was “weird,” as Stephen Curry put it, to see Klay Thompson coming off the bench. But Thompson’s 35 points in a 28-minute outburst against the Jazz last week proved it can be effective. Golden State is having a moment, winning six of the last eight. Steph is Steph, Jonathan Kuminga is making a case for next season’s All-Star Game and Draymond Green is leading a defense that is top 10 during this stretch. Thompson embracing—and thriving in—a role with the second unit makes the Warriors a dangerous bunch.
18. Orlando Magic
Last week: 18
What was true at the start and middle of the season is true now, with the regular season entering its final months: The Magic are a playoff-caliber defensive team with an offense that would land them in the lottery. Orlando’s bottom-third offensive rating—sandwiched between Houston and Washington—along with the league’s second-worst three-point shooting percentage spells trouble in the postseason, even if the defense is good enough to grind out some wins.
19. Chicago Bulls
Last week: 19
Torrey Craig is down for at least the next four to six weeks with a foot injury, in case you needed another reason to think this Bulls team is going nowhere.
20. Utah Jazz
Last week: 20
How about a nod to the remarkable revival of Kris Dunn? The ex-lottery pick played 40 NBA games over the last three seasons, but has appeared in 48 in this one, emerging as a defensive stopper and efficient, albeit reluctant, scorer in the Jazz rotation. Among players who have defended 100 or more shots this season, Dunn leads the NBA in field goal percentage allowed as the closest defender. At 29, Dunn has found a home—and a role—in Utah.
21. Houston Rockets
Last week: 22
There are a lot of positives the Rockets can take from this season. A stellar home record (19–9), the rise of Alperen Şengün and, remarkably, a positive point differential (plus-0.6) after finishing at minus-7.9 last season. But the road record (5–21) is dreadful and when the going gets tough, like when Houston falls behind by double digits, the Rockets, 4–26 in those games, rarely get going. With five of the next six games against Phoenix and Oklahoma City, Houston’s chances of making a run at the play-in tournament will likely be decided quickly.
22. Atlanta Hawks
Last week: 21
Just when you start thinking the Hawks might have a run in them … they lose at home to Chicago and get blown out in Charlotte by double digits. The offense, the NBA’s best over the last three weeks, stalled against the Hornets and the defense, better of late, isn’t good enough to pick up the slack.
23. Brooklyn Nets
Last week: 23
Jacque Vaughn took the fall for the Nets’ recent struggles—including a 50-point pre-All-Star loss in Boston—and while Vaughn certainly had issues (who builds an offense around the notoriously unreliable Ben Simmons?) he’s among the many Nets problems this season. The offense is bad (18th in efficiency), the defense is worse (21st) and the decision to mail in that late December game against Milwaukee still stands as a turning point in the season. Big offseason coming up in Brooklyn.
24. Memphis Grizzlies
Last week: 26
I’m bumping the Grizz up a couple of spots for that incredible effort against the Bucks last week. GG Jackson, Memphis’s 19-year old rookie, is a stud. His numbers in January were good (10.6 points on 46.3% three-point shooting) and his output this month has been outstanding (16.9/37.5%). The Grizzlies have another budding star to add to what’s shaping up to be a terrific roster next season.
25. Charlotte Hornets
Last week: 27
Break up the Hornets! Charlotte took its first three-game winning streak—and just its second winning streak this season—into the All-Star break. Brandon Miller isn’t Victor Wembanyama, but Miller, who is averaging 23.5 points and connecting on 42.5% of his threes this month, is validating the Buzz spending the second overall pick on him.
26. Toronto Raptors
Last week: 24
A 23-point loss to the Spurs last week. Yikes.
27. Portland Trail Blazers
Last week: 25
How about some good Scoot Henderson news? Henderson, my pick for Rookie of the Year (whoops), is averaging 18.3 points this month. His three-point shot is still erratic, but Henderson’s playmaking continues to improve (six assists per game in February) and he has looked more confident running an NBA offense of late. In Portland, they will take whatever good news they can get.
28. San Antonio Spurs
Last week: 29
Has Wembanyama wrapped up Rookie of the Year? Wemby leads all rookies in points, rebounds, blocks and steals and had a ridiculous 27-point, 14-rebound, 10-block triple double against Toronto before the All-Star break. The competition with Holmgren has been fierce all season, but Wembanyama’s recent play—he averaged 24 points and 9.6 rebounds in January—may have wrapped it up.
29. Washington Wizards
Last week: 28
I’m still trying to figure out why the Wiz moved Gafford.
30. Detroit Pistons
The good vibes from two early wins on Detroit’s six-game road trip were erased by three straight losses and Isaiah Stewart’s arrest in Phoenix for his role in an altercation with Suns center Drew Eubanks. Meanwhile, the Pistons open the unofficial second half with seven straight games against playoff or play-in contenders.
