The end of week 15 marks the 3/4 mark of the NBA season. After this week there are only 6 weeks remaining before the start of the playoffs. This is when things start to get interesting. Teams hope to use the few weeks to get healthy and acclimate any new players into their system. In short, this is an important time for NBA teams with a chance to make the playoffs. Right, that is a lot of NBA teams. Remember that this season the top 10 teams will make the playoffs. Admittedly, numbers 7-10 will be in this unique play-in tournament, but it is the playoffs nonetheless.
In the Eastern Conference the bottom 5 teams are all within 6.5 games of the 10th spot. In the Western Conference there are two teams that, while not mathematically eliminated, they are theoretically eliminated. That would be the Houston Rockers and Minnesota Timberwolves. They are 9.5 and 11 games back of the 10th spot. The teams in the 11-13 spots however are within 2.5 games of the final spot. That means 28 of the 30 NBA teams have a real spot in playing in the post season.
Week 15 – Biggest Movers
There were a few teams without a loss in week 15. They include the Utah Jazz (1), Phoenix Suns (2), Denver Nuggets (3) and Dallas Mavericks (5). None of them were able to move up more than a single spot. The Memphis Grizzlies however went 3-1 and jumped up 2 spots this week making them the top mover. The victory that propelled them to the #8 spot this week was the Quality Win against the Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia.
 | Memphis Grizzlies | +2 |
Week 15 – Biggest Droppers
Every team in the Western Conference won at least one game in week 15. For 2 teams, that one win was their only win. Those two teams were the Sacramento Kings (10) that went 1-3 in week 15 and the San Antonio Spurs (13) who also went 1-3. Unfortunately for the Spurs one of those losses was a Bad Loss to those very Kings in San Antonio. While the Kings dropped a single spot, the Spurs dropped 2 spots to #13.
 | San Antonio Spurs | -2 |
Week 15 Western Conference Power Rankings
The Strength of Schedule Western Conference Power Rankings are a points based ranking method developed by thePeachBasket. In short, points are awarded for wins and losses. The better the team you beat, the more points you earn. It’s simple and takes the opinion out of Power Rankings. It’s math and its brought to you by thePeachBasket, Voice of the Fan!(tm)
