As college basketball prepares to kick off the men’s and women’s tournaments this week, the NBA is quietly entering the home stretch of the regular season. And while the Phoenix Suns have run away with the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors trail the Memphis Grizzlies by just half a game — with Draymond Green set to return this week after a two-month absence.
The Miami Heat are on top in the East, but the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks are 2.5 games back. The Sixers have been surging lately, though they did suffer a blowout loss to the Brooklyn Nets in Ben Simmons’ return to Philadelphia.
Can the No. 8 Nets build on that momentum with Kevin Durant back in the lineup and climb the standings in the final month of the season? Can the Los Angeles Lakers build on LeBron James’ recent play and make a late-season push?
Our experts break down all 30 teams one month before the playoffs begin.
Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.
1. Phoenix Suns
2021-22 record: 54-14
Previous ranking: 1
With their win Wednesday against the Heat, the Suns became the first team this season to clinch a playoff berth. At 54-14, the Suns are well on their way to clinching home court through the entire 2022 playoffs. Phoenix has a 7.5-game lead on the Western Conference’s No. 2 team (Memphis) and a 9.5-game advantage over the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed (Miami). — Lopez
2. Miami Heat
2021-22 record: 45-24
Previous ranking: 2
Miami has plenty of time to rest this week with only two games — against the Pistons and Thunder — on the schedule. The good news for the Heat is that Victor Oladipo is finally back in the lineup and has shown flashes of solid play in limited minutes. Coach Erik Spoelstra will have…
Source : espn
