March Madness in the NBA? Week 23 power rankings highlight league's chaos

Don't let the game-winning three-pointers, heartbreaking losses and Cinderella stories fool you: The madness of March isn't limited to the NCAA tournament. 

The current state of the NBA standings, albeit a different brand of chaos, is a beautiful disaster all the same. 

With the final stretch of the 2017-18 season upon us, here's how we view the league's current power structure. Voters, listed at the bottom of this page, include NBA reporters from across the USA TODAY Network.

1. Houston Rockets (56-14) | Last week: 1

The Rockets, winners of 22 of their past 23 games, need just three more wins to set a new franchise record.

2. Golden State Warriors (53-17) | Last week: 2

While an onslaught of injuries have made Golden State's top-seed aspirations less likely, their current spot in the standings — three games behind Houston, nine games ahead of Portland — may be a blessing in terms of health come playoff time.

3. Toronto Raptors (52-18) | Last week: 3

In the rare case you still need convincing that the Raptors are the real deal: They're the only team in the NBA that ranks in the top five in both offensive and defensive rating. 

4. Portland Trail Blazers (44-26) | Last week: 5

The Blazers, who haven't lost since before the All-Star break, close out the season with the second-toughest remaining schedule in the Western Conference (nine of their 12 remaining games are against above-.500 teams).

5. Boston Celtics (47-23) | Last week: 4

The Celtics, much like the Warriors, have essentially conceded the No. 1 seed. Marred by injuries to key players, Boston is now five games behind Toronto — but 6 ½ ahead of Cleveland — with just 12 games remaining. 

6. Oklahoma City Thunder (43-29) | Last week: 8

Could the Thunder be hitting their stride at the right time? They've won six in a row and have a two-game hold on fourth place in the West. 

7. Utah Jazz (40-30) | Last week: 15

Since Rudy Gobert returned on Jan. 19, the Jazz have an NBA-best defensive rating (96.2 points allowed per 100 possessions), the league's second-best net rating (plus-11.2, trailing only Houston), and a 22-4 record. 

8. Cleveland Cavaliers (40-29) | Last week: 9

With Kevin Love set to return this week and Tristan Thompson, Rodney Hood and Larry Nance Jr. day-to-day, the new-look Cavs could be at full force — with a handful of tune-up games under their belt — come playoff time. There is, however, uncertainty surrounding the health of coach Ty Lue, who on Monday announced that he's taking a leave of absence "for the time being."

9. Washington Wizards (40-30) | Last week: 11

With John Wall on the verge of returning — "It might be a week, might be sooner than that,” coach Scott Brooks said over the weekend — one key question for the Wizards remains: Can they fend off teams like Indiana and Philadelphia and secure homecourt advantage? This group went 6-0 at home during last year's playoffs. 

10. New Orleans Pelicans (40-30) | Last week: 6

The Pelicans, who are 2-4 since their 10-game winning streak, play four games in the next five days thanks to February's roof-leak game with Indiana being rescheduled.

11. San Antonio Spurs (40-30) | Last week: 13

The good news for the Spurs? They're in a three-way tie with New Orleans and Utah in the West standings, are riding a three-game winning streak, and on Monday night face Golden State sans Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. The bad? Games against Washington, Utah, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City and Houston are next.

12. Indiana Pacers (40-30) | Last week: 7

Saturday's loss to Washington could come back to haunt the Pacers, who dropped the season series to the Wizards, 2-1, and thus don't own the tiebreaker. If the playoffs started today, Indiana would be the fifth seed in the East, and they're just 17-17 away from Bankers Life Fieldhouse this season. 

13. Minnesota Timberwolves (40-31) | Last week: 10

The T'Wolves are 4-5 since Jimmy Butler went down with a knee injury and have dropped to eighth place in the West, though the four-time All-Star says he hopes to be back before the end of the season.

"I have a little bit of time left, but I know my guys are going to stick this thing out and do what they've been doing, keep us in this race," he said. "And when I come back, we'll see what we have left in the tank."

14. Philadelphia 76ers (38-30) | Last week: 12

The scheduling gods are looking down on the Sixers, who close out the season with the NBA's easiest remaining schedule (11 of their 14 remaining games are against teams not currently in playoff position). 

15. Denver Nuggets (38-32) | Last week: 16

As far as bad losses go, it doesn't get much worse than Denver falling to Memphis on Saturday. The Nuggets are now 1 ½ games out of eighth place in the West and each of their next six games will be played on the road, where they're 11-22 this season. 

16. Milwaukee Bucks (37-32) | Last week: 18

A postseason spot is all but certain for the Bucks, who currently sit in seventh place in the East and hold a seven-game lead on ninth-place Detroit. But where do they go from here? Anything less than a trip to the second round should — and will — be viewed as underachieving. 

17. Los Angeles Clippers (37-32) | Last week: 14

After three consecutive losses, and with Milwaukee, Minnesota, Indiana, Toronto and Portland on tap to close out the month, the Clippers' postseason dreams are fading quickly.

18. Miami Heat (37-33) | Last week: 17

The Heat (No. 8 in the East) are essentially locked into the playoffs thanks to Detroit's continued struggles, but with a relatively easy schedule to close out the season, could find themselves up a spot or two when it's all said and done. 

19. Los Angeles Lakers (31-38) | Last week: 19

Indiana's Victor Oladipo is the frontrunner for Most Improved Player, but Julius Randle certainly deserves some consideration. The fourth-year forward has been on a tear as of late, averaging 23.3 points (on 60.6% shooting) and 9.7 rebounds in March.

20. Detroit Pistons (30-39) | Last week: 20

The Pistons are 7-13 since Blake Griffin's arrival, have won just one game this month, and are likely just days away from officially reaching their inevitable fate.

21. Charlotte Hornets (30-40) | Last week: 21

Could injuries to Nicolas Batum and Michael Carter-Williams finally mean more playing time for Malik Monk? The rookie's 23 minutes in Saturday's loss to New York were his most since November. 

22. New York Knicks (25-45) | Last week: 22

The Knicks' decision to devote the remainder of the season to internal development isn't one that's backed by Enes Kanter, who on Friday expressed his dissatisfaction with the rebuild.

"Let me tell you something, man: They can develop guys in the G League," he said. "This is not the time to develop young guys or whatever because we’re trying to win games here."

23. Chicago Bulls (24-45) | Last week: 23

An update on how Chicago's season is going: They sent out a starting lineup of Cameron Payne, Justin Holiday, Denzel Valentine, Paul Zipser and Cristiano Felicio for Saturday's loss to Cleveland.

24. Sacramento Kings (23-48) | Last week: 25

One of the main beneficiaries of the tank in Sacramento has been Buddy Hield, who has scored 20-plus points in three consecutive games for the first time in his career and on Friday tallied a season-high seven assists. 

25. Brooklyn Nets (22-48) | Last week: 26

The fact that the Nets already have more wins than they did in each of their last two seasons has to count for something, right? 

26. Dallas Mavericks (22-48) | Last week: 24

Four teams now sit below (er, above?) the Mavs, who have gone 3-3 in their last six games, in the race to the bottom of the standings. 

27. Orlando Magic (21-49) | Last week: 27

The NBA's tank race is about to get all the more interesting, as the Magic get set to close out the season with games against Phoenix, Brooklyn, Chicago, Atlanta, New York and Dallas. 

28. Atlanta Hawks (20-50) | Last week: 28

Is it time to start viewing Taurean Prince as a key member of Atlanta's core? The second-year forward, enjoying the best stretch of his career, ranks second in the NBA in scoring (30.8 points per game) over his past four games, along with averages of eight rebounds and 4.3 assists. 

29. Memphis Grizzlies (19-50) | Last week: 30

The Grizzlies won a basketball game! And just like that, the longest single-season losing streak in NBA history (26 games; Cleveland and Philadelphia) is safe for another year. 

30. Phoenix Suns (19-52) | Last week: 29

The only bright side of the Suns' continued struggles, aside from better positioning themselves for another young asset, has been Josh Jackson. The rookie poured in a career-high 36 points (in 36 minutes, on 14-for-23 shooting) in Saturday's loss to Golden State. 

This week’s voters: USA TODAY Sports’ Sam Amick, Jeff Zillgitt, Michael Singer and AJ Neuharth-Keusch; Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis; The Record's Steve Popper; Indianapolis Star's Clifton Brown; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Matt Velazquez; HoopsHype's Raul Barrigon and Jorge Sierra.