NBA Power Rankings: The Raptors finish as the best seed of the East, the concern for Rockets and the other predictions of the second half



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The NBA 2018 All-Star Game was held on February 18, 2018 in Los Angeles. At this point in the season, the Utah Jazz were at 30-28, ranking 10th in the overcrowded Western Conference. A few weeks ago, their season seemed to be lost to become a lost cause. They then lost to the modest Hawks of Atlanta and dropped to nine games under the .500 mark. However, a series of 11 consecutive wins before the All-Star break has made it one of the most prominent teams in the NBA. This series would propel them to a playoff win in the first round against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the most notable recovery this NBA season.

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The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was held on February 17, 2017 in New Orleans. At this time of the season, the Miami Heat were 25-32, sitting in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. Their season seemed to be on the verge of becoming a lost cause a few weeks ago, while they were sitting at 11:30 am and looked set for the lottery. Then a series of 13 consecutive wins before the All-Star break saved their season. After starting the 11-30 season, they finished their season by 30-30, narrowly missing the playoffs in the most notable recovery this NBA season.

Now that the 2019 NBA All-Star Game is over, we can speculate on how the rest of the season will unfold. Although we tend to think that the NBA hierarchy in this season is already defined when we have exceeded half the bar, this is often not true. A team can collapse, or a team can come out of nowhere. This week's Power Rankings will project – OK, they will to guess – what will the rest of the season look like in this league? Can Bradley Beal push John Wall-less Washington's Wizards to participate in the playoffs in his new role as the undisputed face of the team? Can the Minnesota Timberwolves of Karl-Anthony Towns finally stay healthy during a sustained stretch and look like the rejuvenated team that immediately follows the deal with Jimmy Butler? Can Myles Turner and the Indiana Pacers really keep up this pace as the top five – they are currently third, ahead of the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers – in the east after losing Victor Oladipo?

Here are the power rankings this week:

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