It has not been a good week for the 76ers, as they have lost Joel Embiid to a meniscus injury in Tuesday’s loss versus the Golden State Warriors. At the moment, there isn’t much news on the injury or how much time he will miss, but it doesn’t seem good. Of course, this low of a ranking is taking Embiid’s injury into consideration as Philly’s net rating is significantly worse without him. Although, newly named first time All-Star, Tyrese Maxey gives 76ers fans hope. On the road against the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, he dropped a career high 51 points. Hopefully Maxey can continue to carry the team to more wins in Embiid’s absence so they don’t slide too far down the rankings before he returns. 

Cleveland is 12-1 in their last 13 games and trending in the right direction with the return of Evan Mobley and Darius Garland to their lineup. Along with the return of these talented players, Jarret Allen and especially Donovan Mitchell have been playing good enough to get them to fourth in the Eastern Conference and just a half game back on the Knicks. With their lineup back to full strength, they are a sneaky team to keep an eye on in the East.

The Phoenix Suns are understandably seen as an intimidating team because of their big three, when they are all on the floor together. However the team's success depends just as much on the supporting cast. The other two members of Phoenix’s healthy starting five are putting together quietly impressive seasons. Jusuf Nurkic is averaging a double-double along with 3.6 assists on the season. When he is on the floor, the Suns are plus 8.9 points per 100 possessions compared to minus 4.7 when he is off the floor. Grayson Allen is also adding in 13.2 points per game while having an impressive 69.9 true shooting percentage. They are currently sixth in the West, but are 8-2 in their last ten games and are trending in the right direction when it comes to health, and wins.

The Milwaukee Bucks have had an interesting week as they fired their head coach while being the second place team in the East. With that being said, they hired an NBA Championship winning Head Coach in Doc Rivers. Although they are 0-2 under Doc Rivers, and had a concerning loss to the 14 win Portland Trailblazers, they still have Dame and Giannis, and are still in second in the East. Of course getting a new coach in the middle of the season can cause some speed bumps, but they are still a team that can put together a run come playoff time with two time MVP Giannis Antetokoumpo.

The Knicks have been red hot as of late. They are currently on a nine game win streak and have won 15 of their last 17 games. Thanks to this impressive run, they are a half game back to the Bucks and second place in the East. They are now fourth in net rating, while being ranked sixth in defensive net rating and seventh in offensive net rating. Both Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle were named to the All-Star team, however, acquiring O.G. Anunoby in a trade with the Raptors certainly seemed to be a good move for this team. Along with Anunoby’s solid role play, Donte DiVincenzo has been having a breakout season to add fuel to the Knicks fire.

The reigning champs in the Denver Nuggets are having a quietly good season. The play from Nikola Jokic is as you would expect as he is currently the favorite to win MVP with Embiid’s recent injury. Really, everyone on this Nuggets team has been playing well as they have a great core group and guys that can come off the bench and provide positive minutes. This is another team that you know will be a tough matchup for any team come playoff time.

This young Thunder team has had quite the impressive season, despite losing to the worst team in the league in the Pistons earlier this week. They appear to have great chemistry, and are being led by arguably the best guard in the league in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. If SGA can continue to keep his MVP type season going and lead this young team to a top three spot in the West, there will be a serious need to watch this team and consider them title contenders, even without much playoff experience within their roster.

The Timberwolves are currently sitting in first place in the West, despite struggling a bit in January with a 10-7 record. A huge reason they remain in first is in large thanks to having the league's best defense. One thing that is a little concerning for them has been their offensive play. If the Timberwolves continue to play the best defense, come playoff time there is no doubt that Anthony Edwards and Karl Anthony Towns will lock in and take over for this team on the offensive side.

After a slow start to the season for L.A., they have been on a tear. The Clippers are 14-3 in their last 17 games, including blowing out the best team in the league in the Boston Celtics and giving them only their second loss at home on the season. This team has an extremely experienced and proven core in Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook. When those guys are playing their best, there’s not too many teams in the league that can keep up with them. The more time they have to gel and gain chemistry, the better they have been looking. While they are third in the West right now, come playoff time this is one of the last teams any team would want to have to match up against.

As expected before the start of the season, the Boston Celtics have the best record in the NBA. A big reason for this is their play at home, as they started the season with a franchise record setting 20-0 at home. Their new look starting lineup has been extremely impressive to watch as they have built chemistry fast, and are full of All-Star type players, although only two of them actually made the All-Star team. They have been extremely efficient on defense, and shoot the most three’s in the league per game, which seems to be working as they have the best net rating in the league. Watching them play this season, it feels like they have the upper hand against any team in the league when it comes to a seven-game series, as they are still the favorites to win the NBA Finals.