Toughest: 1. Memphis, 2. Detroit, 3. Oklahoma City
Easiest: 1. Orlando, 2. Philadelphia, 3. Atlanta
Schedule strength is based on cumulative opponent record, and adjusted for home vs. away and days of rest before a game.
Movement in the Rankings
Free falls of the week: Cleveland (-5), New York (-5), Portland (-5), Toronto (-5)
Week 7 Team to Watch
Atlanta The Hawks are one of two East teams with a winning record (4-2) against the West. But two of those wins came against the Wolves and another came against the Clippers without Paul George or Kawhi Leonard. So this week will be a real test of the Hawks, who have won four of their last six games overall and currently sit in sixth place in the East. They’ll host the Lakers on Monday, the Mavs on Wednesday, and the Jazz on Thursday. Then they complete the four-game homestand with a visit from the Raptors, one of the East teams they may have to hold off come playoff time.
NetRtg: +9.8 (1)
The Lakers let one get away (they led by 14 points in the fourth quarter) against the Warriors on Monday. But they held on (after almost losing an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead) in Milwaukee on Thursday, holding the league’s No. 1 offense to one of its least efficient games of the season. The Bucks actually outscored the Lakers, 54-18, in the restricted area, but L.A. was a +30 from beyond the arc, where Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and LeBron James combined to shoot 13-for-20.
Caldwell-Pope hit some of the biggest, game-in-the-balance shots in the win, including a corner 3 that gave the Lakers a five-point lead with 2:42 left. He’s getting fewer minutes (23.3 per game) than he did last season (25.5), but he’s made the most of them. Though he’s playing less than half the game, he’s tied fourth in the league in cumulative plus-minus, with the Lakers having outscored their opponents by 146 points with him on the floor. The 22.7 points per 100 possessions that t