With the All-Star break approaching, many NBA teams have been struggling to maintain their health and win games.
"It's painfully obvious that our guys are mentally fried right now," Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors, Steve Kerr said. "So it's a good job to just get a win. ... Our guys are tired mentally, emotionally. So we just got to fight through, get to the break and rejuvenate."
As of February 5, the Golden State Warriors hold the number two spot in the NBA Power Rankings, falling down from the top spot last week. Last week, the Warriors went 1-2 and have a 41-12 record.
The previous number 2, the Houston Rockets have since moved up to number one from last week. They held a 3-0 record last week and have an overall record of 38-13.
Following the Rockets and Warriors are the Boston Celtics (3), Toronto Raptors (4), and Minnesota Timberwolves (5). All three teams maintained their rank from last week.
On February 6, the two top teams in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics and Raptors faced each other in their only meeting this season. Raptors guard, Kyle Lowry, scored 23 points and received help from other Raptors players to edge out the Celtics 111-91 on Tuesday night in Toronto.
Celtics star, Kyrie Irving returned from injury, but couldn’t help lead his team to victory. Irving has missed the past three games after suffering from a bruised right quad. "We got hit tonight," Irving said. "When you get hit early and they consistently hit you, they buried us, which a good team should do."
Number five in power rankings sits the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have an overall record of 34-22, more wins than 11 of the 12 past seasons.
In the sixth slot of the power rankings is the San Antonio Spurs, who moved up from number seven last week. This week, the Spurs begin a six-game-long road trip. So far, they have a 12-15 overall record on the road.
Seventh in the rankings is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who fell last week from number six. The Thunder defeated the Warriors on February 6th for the second time this season, 125-105.
Closing out the top 10 are the Washington Wizards (8), Milwaukee Bucks (9), and Portland Trail Blazers (10).
The Wizards have done exceptionally well this season, and have established their longest win streak (+4) in franchise history.
The Bucks won 6 of 7 games after firing Jason Kidd and are now over .500 for the first time this season.
CJ McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers scored 50 points in just three quarters against the Chicago Bulls on January 31. He became only the second player (1st, Klay Thompson) to do so in under 30 minutes.
After losing eight nationally televised games, the Cleveland Cavaliers dropped out of this week’s top ten, sparking LeBron James trade rumors. Following the February 6 loss to the Orlando Magic, James stated that he will not waive his no-trade clause before the NBA’s February 8 trade deadline.