Week 7 Power Rankings: Denver Nuggets No. 2 on the Rise in Top 5 Denver and Oklahoma City are moving up as the 2023-24 season nears its halfway point.
Over the last 20 full (82-game) seasons, 83% of teams that won at least 11 of their first 20 games advanced to the postseason. However, only 13% of teams that won fewer than nine of their first 20 games advanced to the playoffs.
So it’s a big week all around, and it starts with two double-headers (Monday and Tuesday) to determine which four teams will compete for the NBA Cup in Las Vegas.
Plus-Minus Players of the Week
- Right Way: Julius Randle (NYK) was a plus-53 in three games last week.
- Wrong Way: Isaiah Livers (DET) was a minus-56 in four games last week.
Teams of the Week
- Make It Last Forever: Minnesota (3-0) -The Wolves won a showdown with the Thunder, and then got two wins without Anthony Edwards.
- Something Just Ain’t Right: Houston (0-3) -The Rockets remain winless on the road.
East vs. West
- The West is 35-34 (.507) against the East in interconference games after going 5-4 last week.
Movement in the Rankings
- High jumps of the week: Brooklyn (+3), Chicago (+2);
- Free falls of the week: Houston (-3), Philadelphia (-2),
Week 7 Team to Watch
- New Orleans, Louisiana –The Pelicans are the most intriguing team among the eight in the In-Season Tournament quarterfinals because they are finally healthy, with CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy III available for their game in Sacramento on Monday (10 ET, TNT). The games in the Western Conference are also likely to be more important in terms of the regular season standings.
#1
BOSTON CELTICS
Record: 15-4, OffRtg: 117.1 (9) DefRtg: 107.6 (2) NetRtg: +9.5 (1) Pace: 98.7 (23)
The Celtics allowed the Sixers to hang around until the final seconds on Friday, with Philly scoring 119 points on 103 possessions, the most efficient performance Boston has allowed this season. However, the Celtics remain undefeated (9-0) at TD Garden, one of only two teams in the Eastern Conference that rank in the top 10 on both ends of the floor.
Three key points
- Prior to last week, the Celtics’ lineup without Kristaps Porzingis was outscored by 32 points and shot 5-for-26 from 3-point range in 25 minutes. But in 29 minutes against the Bulls and Sixers last week, it was a plus-20 (15-for-27 from 3-point range).
- Jrue Holiday returned from a two-game absence by shooting 7-for-10 from 3-point range in the two games last week, after shooting 7-for-24 (29%) in his previous five. His effective field goal percentage (50.5%) and true shooting percentage (52.9%) remain his lowest in the previous eight seasons.
- The Celtics have been at their best (plus-15.6 points per 100 possessions) with Derrick White on the floor for the second straight season. That is the best on-court performance among 162 players who have played at least 25 minutes per game.
The Celtics should be the favorite in the In-Season Tournament, and they annihilated the Pacers in their first meeting. To get to Las Vegas, they’ll have to win on the road, where they’ve scored 14.7 fewer points per 100 possessions than they have at home.
Their seven least efficient offensive games have all occurred on the road, and among 181 players with at least 50 field goal attempts both at home and on the road, Payton Pritchard (62.7% vs. 35.7%) and Sam Hauser (77.4% vs. 56.9%) have the largest and third largest home-road differentials in terms of effective field goal percentage.
They’ll also have to win without Porzingis, who will miss his fourth straight game.
Week 7: IND* vs. MIL/NYK
#2
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVESLast Week:2
Record: 15-4
OffRtg: 113.2 (18) DefRtg: 106.7 (1) NetRtg: +6.5 (4) Pace: 98.9 (19)
The Wolves have won both of their games without Anthony Edwards, keeping pace with the Celtics for the best record in the league.
Three key points
- Edwards suffered a hip contusion late in the third quarter of Tuesday’s game against the second-place Thunder. And it was his replacement in the lineup (Troy Brown Jr.) who hit the game-winning shot, a long, late-clock 3 that put Minnesota up five with 1:39 remaining. During the team’s four-game winning streak, Brown is 10-for-18 from beyond the arc.
- The Wolves trailed by 12 points in both games against Oklahoma City and Utah on Thursday. They are the only team with a winning record (5-4) in games where they trailed by more than ten points. The Utah victory also gave them the same number of games (seven) in which they held their opponent to less than a point per possession as they did all of last season.
- The offense remains below-average, but the Wolves’ win in Charlotte on Saturday was their most efficient of the season, with their three centers accounting for 77 of their 123 points. Although Naz Reid’s minutes have been limited recently, the Wolves have remained strong with Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert on the court together.
While the Celtics are likely favorites to win the In-Season Tournament, the Wolves are favorites to finish the week with the best record in the league. They were given the easiest Week 7 schedule, with games against the Spurs and Grizzlies, two teams they had only played three times previously.
Bilal Coulibaly, a rookie, has benefited from the minutes spread and has continued to make an impact defensively. In Detroit, he helped on the ball and then recovered to make a big play on two occasions: a block on James Wiseman and an interception of Isaiah Livers. When Coulibaly is on the floor (115.5), the Wizards allow 8.7 fewer points per 100 possessions (with a huge difference in opponent turnover rate) than when he is off the floor (124.2).
With games against the Sixers and Nets added to their schedule, the Wizards are just two games into a nine-game stretch against teams currently above.500. They’re 0-11 against that group so far, and five of their next six games are against teams ranked in the top eight in terms of offense.