Week 18 NBA Power Rankings
Week 18 Power Rankings
Tier 1
1- Win’s Up Doc (14-3) [-]
2- DTC Porkchop Express (13-4) [-]
3- The Pullies (11-6) [-]
4- Wait ‘ Til Next Year (10-7) [+1]
5- Sporty Strauss (11-5) [-1]
Tier 2
6- Minnesota Moose Knuckles (9-8) [-]
7- Las Cabras (9-8) [-]
8- Ornery Otters (9-8) [-]
Tier 3
9- The BamO’s (5-12) [+1]
10- Shepherd Goods Choppers (4-13) [-1]
11- Cooper Troopers (4-13) [-]
12- $traight Cash Homie (3-14) [-]
Week 18 Matchups
Win’s Up Doc (1) vs DTC Porkchop Express (2)
The Pullies (3) vs The BamO’s (9)
Sporty Strauss (4) vs Ornery Otters (8)
Wait ’Til Next Year (5) vs Cooper Troopers (11)
MN Moose Knuckles (6) vs Las Cabras (7)
Shepherd Goods Choppers (10) vs $traight Cash Homie (12)
(Tier 1) Not much movement in the top-two tiers as the season winds down. We know who these teams are now, and they are performing as expected. That being said, the top seed is still up for grabs. In a heavyweight matchup of all heavyweight matchups, Win’s Up Doc (1) and DTC Porkchop Express (2) battle against each other for supremacy of Fhima’s Division. Right now, there is about a 150-point gap between these two teams, but Craig has been gaining significant points ground over the past few weeks. DTC Porkchop Express has a LEGIT shot at the 1-seed right now. With some minor injuries and slumps to Doc, these teams might be dead even right now, making for an exciting finish to the season.
The Pullies (3) practically clinch the 2-seed with a victory and a Wait ‘Til Next Year victory. The only way they somehow lose the 2-seed is if they go 0-2. Which isn’t IMPOSSIBLE, but is highly unlikely. Pullies just need to claim one victory over either The BamO’s or $traight Cash Homie to clinch. The Pullies are VERY banged up too. They are lucky they’ve banked their wins.
Wait ‘Til Next Year (4) won a tightly-contested divisional matchup that practically cements his playoff status. And don’t look now, but Wait ‘Til Next Year is 3rd (!!!) in points this season. He’s entering the same territory as DTC Porkchop Express and Win’s Up Doc to form a big-3. The wildest part of that is that 2 of them likely won’t have a BYE. Luckily for them, Wait ‘Til Next Year probably has the 3-seed and will face the weakest playoff team in the field.
Sporty Strauss (5) loses to DTC Porkchop Express’ red-hot squad. There’s no shame in that, and it’s not going to change his situation at much. He’s also PRACTICALLY clinched with a 2-game lead and a large points advantage over the Otters or Cabras. Shenanigans would really have to happen for Strauss to miss. Lock Sporty Strauss into the 5-seed right now.
(Tier 2) This Tier what it’s all about: 3 teams with +.500 records tied near the end of the season. It’s going to be a tight finish, but Las Cabras (7) edge out the Ornery Otters (8) in the Power Rankings. The Otters are probably a slightly better team, but Las Cabras have a far better chance to make the playoffs.
The Ornery Otters are proving they can’t really compete in #Nolo’s Division. They beat DTC Porkchop Express narrowly in week 1 before that team rounded into form, and are otherwise on a 3-game losing streak within the division. The .6 point loss to Las Cabras last week looms large, because Las Cabras play MN Moose Knuckles this week. The Otters have lost tiebreakers to BOTH Las Cabras AND MN Moose Knuckles, so their only chance to make the playoffs is to win the final two games and then BOTH Las Cabras AND MN Moose Knuckles lose next week. A loss this week to Sporty Strauss eliminates the Otters.
The MN Moose Knuckles (6) are still a favorite to make the playoffs despite a 3 game losing streak (!!!). That being said, he played top-5 teams 3 weeks in a row. We could have seen this coming. But now they’re left to fend of the pesky little Cabras for the final playoff spot.
(Tier 3) 3 Tier 3 teams lose, and only Cooper Johnson came close to hitting his weekly plays. Not what you want. There’s still a lot at stake here down the stretch.
Week 17 High Score
DTC Porkchop Express (Craig McCall)
1503 points
Notes: His top-2 performers last week: DeMar DeRozan and Chris Paul, the two BIGGEST names on the League of Leagues trading block. These are premium assets for this season, but nobody’s been able to pry them away from DTC Porkchop Express. That might be for the best. If Craig beats Win’s Up Doc this week, he potentially takes the division. Which means he’d force Sporty Strauss to play Doc in the first round of the playoffs. Which means Strauss might only score 7 or 8 points in NBA and 22 or 23 season-long points. If DTC Porkchop Express won NBA or even came in 2nd, he’d have 19 or 22 points. It’d be a 2-horse race in MLB, a sport that Craig has an advantage over Sporty Strauss. DTC Porkchop Express is definitely in play to win it all right now if these scores keep pounding in.
Week 17 Low Score (AKA the JordJack Award)
$traight Cash Homie (Jack)
1015 points
Notes: Oh… hi, Jack. 4 straight weeks as the lowest-scoring team.
Week 17 MVP
Jayson Tatum
Wait ‘Til Next Year (Kyle)
131 points
Notes: While this is a lower-scoring MVP this week, Jayson Tatum is ABSOLUTELY deserving. He only had 3 games this week, and almost 44 PPG is stellar. On top of that, this looked like it was going to be a close matchup between division rivals on Sunday afternoon. But Tatum went off for a 58-point game to ice it. Impressive for one of the ten best assets in the League of Leagues.
Week 17 LVP
Richaun Holmes
MN Moose Knuckles (Hall)
10.7 points
Notes: This is worrisome. Richaun Holmes was a 24 PPG scorer in fantasy up to this point, but this looks disastrous after the Domantas Sabonis trade. He only played an average of 14.5 minutes per game in two games this week and did absolute squat. MN Moose Knuckles losing Bradley Beal and PRACTICALLY losing Richaun Holmes, who was supposed to be a keepable asset, could spell doom for the 6th-best team in the league. It might even lead to his exit from the playoffs.
Current Playoff Seeding
Playoffs
Win’s Up Doc – BYE
The Pullies – BYE
Wait ’Til Next Year
DTC Porkchop Express
Sporty Strauss
MN Moose Knuckles
Consolation
Las Cabras – BYE
Ornery Otters – BYE
The BamO’s
Cooper Troopers
Shepherd Good Choppers
$traight Cash Homie
Week 18 MATCHUP of the WEEK
Las Cabras [9-8] (7th) vs MN Moose Knuckles [9-8] (6th)
You just have to laugh. This is literally the 5TH STRAIGHT Matchup of the Week for the MN Moose Knuckle’s. He has another handful of Matchup of the Weeks from early in the season too. But that’s what happens when you had the most variability in end-of-season results.
Now, the MN Moose Knuckles have to hope for the 6-seed, and this is likely the matchup that decides it. The MN Moose Knuckles clinch the playoffs with a win and an Otters loss. Las Cabras, however, need to win both games AND have the MN Moose Knuckles lose in the final week of the season.
If Las Cabras were going to make a trade and bolster an injured lineup, now is the time. They won’t have another shot. NBA play resumes tonight, and it might be too late if they don’t maximize their shot. It’s been an impressive 3-game winning streak, but this is not a playoff team as currently constructed.
That being said, the injuries to the MN Moose Knuckles are giving Las Cabras an opportunity here. Hall is still a better team, but losing Gobert, Barrett, Beal and a benched Richaun Holmes will make things really tough.
Lineups:
PG1 – Cole Anthony vs Terry Rozier
PG2 – Coby White vs Raul Neto
SG1 – D’Angelo Russell vs Devin Booker
SG2 – Seth Curry vs Jalen Suggs
SF3 – Jerami Grant vs Devin Vassell
SF4 – Saddiq Bey vs Justise Winslow
PF1 – Harrison Barnes vs Julius Randle
PF2 – Chris Boucher vs Bobby Portis
C1 – Nikola Jokic vs Rudy Gobert (Q)
C1 – Steven Adams vs Wendell Carter, Jr.
FLEX1 – Chris Boucher vs Jarred Vanderbilt
FLEX2 – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope vs Quentin Grimes
FLEX3 – Cam Thomas vs Aleksej Pokusevski or RJ Barrett (Q)
Las Cabras: Advantage at 6/13 positions
MN Moose Knuckles: Advantage at 7/13 positions
Las Cabras INJURIES: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Q after ASG - Ankle), Lauri Markkanen (Q - Ankle)
MN Moose Knuckles INJURIES: Rudy Gobert (Q - Calf), RJ Barrett (Q after ASG - Ankle), Bradley Beal (O - Wrist), Markell Fultz (Q - ACL), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (O - Broken Foot)