NBA power rankings for March 8

With less than a quarter of the NBA season remaining, the playoff race is starting to take shape in each conference. Both the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs have clinched spots in the postseason. Meanwhile, another six teams seem to be locks to earn playoff spots.

Outside of that, there is a whole heck of a lot that's undecided here. Recent struggles from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors have made the Boston Celtics a team to watch back east.

Out west, the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies are making a play for a top four seed against two teams, the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder, who have struggled out of the All-Star Break.

Here's a look at our latest power rankings around the NBA.

30. Philadelphia 76ers

Losers of 12 consecutive games heading into this week's action, Philadelphia has now compiled three double-digit losing streaks on the season and five since the start of the 2014-15 campaign. That's absolutely insane. Now on pace for a 10-72 record, Philadelphia could finish with one of the worst records in Association history.

29. Los Angeles Lakers

Coming off a shocking 17-point win over the Golden State Warriors, Kobe Bryant and Co. are riding high. It was a tremendous performance from pretty much everyone on the roster. It also represented the biggest upset in regular-season NBA history. Unfortunately, all it might have done is increase the odds that Los Angeles loses its first-round pick to Philadelphia — a pick that's top-three protected.

28. Phoenix Suns

With wins over the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies to end last week, Phoenix is in the midst of its first winning streak since early December. The play of young big man Alex Len has been the primary reason why. The former top five pick is averaging 19.0 points and 12.4 rebounds over the past eight games.

27. Brooklyn Nets

Brooklyn is on pace for 23 wins. It also won't have a first-round pick with that selection going to the Boston Celtics. The team is being led by an interim head coach that has lost 18 of his 26 games since taking over. Oh, and Brooklyn's star is a near 28-year-old big man with a laundry list of prior injury issues. Needless to say, things aren't going too swimmingly for this squad.

26. New Orleans Pelicans

Now that Eric Gordon might be lost for the season, it really is time for the Pelicans to forget about the playoffs. Heck, head coach Alvin Gentry already indicated as much last week. Despite a win over Sacramento on Monday, New Orleans has lost four of five since a stretch that saw it win five of seven. This has the team 6.5 games out of the final playoff spot out west.

25. Denver Nuggets

Playing much better ball recently, the Nuggets have put up a near .500 record since the start of February. That's not going to be enough for the team to compete for a playoff spot, but it's something. The improved play of young big man Nikola Jokic has been especially surprising. He's averaging 10.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists over the past 10 games.

24. Minnesota Timberwolves

It's all about Karl-Anthony Towns here. The likely NBA Rookie of the Year is averaging a double-double on the season with 17.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Over the past 13 games, Towns is averaging 22.5 points and 11.5 rebounds. Those are some elite numbers right there. It's now all about Andrew Wiggins picking it up and acting the part of a true No. 2 guy. Thus far this season, he hasn't done that for a Wolves squad that's 24 games under .500 following Monday's loss.

23. New York Knicks

Phil Jackson may want to keep interim head coach Kurt Rambis around beyond the 2015-16 season, but the Knicks president is going to have to add some sort of talent to make this team competitive. New York has lost seven of 10 and now boasts the third worst record in the Eastern Conference. With Carmelo Anthony now pushing for New York to make him a big-time recruiter of free agents, that's pretty much the only thing that's going to turn this around. Of course, this is all dependent on Anthony actually remaining on the Knicks beyond the 2015-16 season.

22. Milwaukee Bucks

A recent string of stellar play from Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn't been enough to allow the Bucks any real shot at earning a second consecutive playoff spot. He is averaging 19.6 points, 11.1 rebounds and 7.1 assists over the past 10 games. Unfortunately, the Bucks have lost seven of them. With Michael Carter-Williams now lost for the remainder of the season, Milwaukee also isn't going to get to see what it has in the starting point guard. The rest of the year will be spent on hoping Antetokounmpo continues to prove himself as a star in the NBA.

21. Sacramento Kings

In terms of overall talent, the Kings should be in the race for a playoff spot. Be it lackluster coaching or something else, that's simply not the case. Following a 13-point loss to the Pelicans on Monday, Sacramento finds itself 5.5 games out of the final postseason spot out west. With the way DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo have played this season, that's a crying shame. This should lead to the ousting of George Karl at the end of the year.

20. Orlando Magic

Orlando put up a heck of a fight before ultimately falling to the Warriors on Monday. That performance came on the heels of an ugly 18-point home loss to the lowly Suns. Now pretty much out of the playoff race back east, the Magic is going to want to see how new additions Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova fit in to the team's long-term plans. With a ton of cash to spend this summer, that's going to be the biggest key, as these two could act the part of solid contributors moving forward.

19. Houston Rockets

Hanging on to the eighth seed with a sub-.500 record heading into the week, the Rockets have been nothing more than mediocre thus far this season. Their last 10 games have been a prime example of this, losing six of them. They have yielded an average of nearly 110 points per game during this span, losing to the likes of Milwaukee, Utah and Chicago in those 10 games. The semi-good news here is that James Harden is averaging 35.4 points while shooting 48 percent from the field during this 10-game span.

18. Utah Jazz

Despite dropping eight of its past 11 games, the Jazz finds itself just 1.5 games out of the final playoff seed out west. That's simply due to the lack of any team taking control of the race with less than 20 games remaining. The primary issue during this bad stretch of action has been a lack of scoring. Utah has failed to put up 100 points seven times, including a horrendous 78-point performance against San Antonio.

17. Washington Wizards

Washington was in the midst of a solid stretch of action that saw it win four in a row and seven of nine. That's until it lost consecutive games against Eastern Conference competition to end last week. Now that the often-injured Bradley Beal is dealing with a hip injury, there's also a concern that John Wall won't have his backcourt partner in crime at 100 percent for the remainder of the season. Two games out of the final playoff spot, this could be a major issue.

16. Chicago Bulls

Just one game after returning from a month's absence due to a knee injury, All-Star Jimmy Butler was sidelined for Monday's win against the Milwaukee Bucks with a setback. There's no word on whether he will be able to return soon, but this could end up being a major issue for the injury-plagued Bulls. Despite the win, Chicago is just a half game ahead of Detroit for the final playoff spot back east. The good news here: Derrick Rose is playing at an extremely high clip recently. He's averaging 20.3 points and 5.0 assists while shooting 52 percent from the field over the past 10 games.

15. Indiana Pacers

Indiana is coming off a surprising home win against the Spurs on Monday night. That game saw the Pacers open up a 25-13 lead after one quarter en route to holding San Antonio to 35 percent shooting from the field. In reality, this is going to be Indiana's recipe for success if it's going to earn a playoff spot. Lock-down defense, solid interior defense and timely shooting from the outside. It all came out in droves Monday. Unfortunately for the Pacers, this hasn't been a consistent theme for what has been an up-and-down season.

14. Detroit Pistons

Detroit will be an extremely dangerous team come playoff time should it find a way to the postseason. The primary issue here is that Stan Van Gundy's squad finds itself on the outside looking in after putting up two consecutive road losses last week, one to the lowly Knicks. In order for Detroit to overcome a lack of consistency, it needs someone outside of Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson to step up. It thought that guy might be the newly acquired Tobias Harris, but he's failed to put up as much as 20 points in each of the past five games after dropping that amount in two of his first four outings with the team.

13. Dallas Mavericks

Losers of three consecutive following a 19-point defeat at the hands of the Clippers on Monday, Dallas is no longer a lock to even make the playoffs. It sits just three games ahead of Utah for the final playoff spot. And at just two games over .500, Dallas is its closest to dropping under that mark for the first time since Dec. 22. What we've seen recently is a lack of any type of real defense. The Mavericks have yielded 100-plus points in each of the past 11 games after giving up triple digits 11 times in their previous 22 outings.

12. Portland Trail Blazers

Despite Damian Lillard's ridiculous post-All-Star stretch (32.8 points per game), the Blazers have cooled down considerably. Following a 20-point road loss to Detroit over the weekend, Portland has dropped three in a row by an average of 15 points. During that span, Lillard himself has turned the ball over 14 times. In fact, he coughed the ball up seven times against Detroit. A young team with one of the highest-upside rosters in the NBA, Portland needs to get back to where it was before this mini losing streak.

11. Memphis Grizzlies

What in the world is happening in Memphis? Following the season-ending injury to Marc Gasol as well as the trades of Courtney Lee and Jeff Green, many figured the Grizzlies would fall back from a top five seed out west. With eight wins in their past 11 games, that obviously hasn't been the case. Coming off a three-point win against Cleveland without the likes of Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Matt Barnes, it's pretty crazy where the Grizzlies are right now. That's testament to the job Dave Joerger is doing.

10. Atlanta Hawks

It's pretty crazy that Atlanta remains just a couple games out of a top three seed back east. After all, here's a team that boasts a losing record since the start of the new calendar year. The positive news here is that Atlanta is coming off a road win against the Los Angeles Clippers over the weekend, a game that saw Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and Al Horford combine for 53 points. Those three are going to have to be the reason the Hawks earn a home-court advantage in the first round. Heck, Atlanta is just three games up for the final playoff spot. That's how hotly contested the final six spots are right now.

9. Charlotte Hornets

Winners of four consecutive and eight of 10 entering the week, an argument could be made that Charlotte is playing the best basketball in the Eastern Conference. It's been the continued excellent play of Kemba Walker that has this team playing at such a high level. He's averaging 25.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists while shooting 49 percent from the field over the past 10 games. With the healthy return of Al Jefferson and great all-around play of Nicolas Batum, there's a decent chance Charlotte might be able to find a way to a top four seed come playoff time.

8. Miami Heat

Following two consecutive wins over Philadelphia during the weekend, Miami has now won five in a row and 14 of its past 19. It's now just a half game out of a top three seed back east. Taking more initiative on offense and playing increased minutes, Dwyane Wade has been the primary reason for this turnaround. He's averaging 22.8 points over the past 10 games and has tallied 20-plus points four times during the team's five-game winning streak. With him picking it up, the second-tier options have fallen in line behind him. Knowing their roles on a talented team is going to be huge for Miami moving forward.

7. Boston Celtics

Despite a 17-point loss to Cleveland over the weekend, Boston continues to play stellar basketball. It has won 15 of 20 and finds itself somewhat in the mix for a top two seed back east. The continued excellent play of Isaiah Thomas is what stands out the most here. The All-star is averaging 24.2 points and 6.6 assists over the past 11 games. In Boston's past three outings, Thomas is shooting 58 percent from the field.

6. Toronto Raptors

The Raptors have hit a bit of a rut here recently. Since Feb. 1, they have lost to the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets. Contending teams need to find a way to beat inferior squads. That's something Toronto was doing at will earlier in the year. Now less than five games ahead of Boston for the second seed, the Raptors simply need to play better basketball to secure that likely positioning. Averaging 31 points and 7.3 assists over the past four games, Kyle Lowry is doing just that. He's going to be the key figure in Toronto's likely deep run in the playoffs.

5. Los Angeles Clippers

Despite an odd six-game stretch heading into this week that saw them lose to both Denver and Atlanta, the Clippers find themselves just 1.5 games behind Oklahoma City for the third seed out west. That's going to be the team's absolute ceiling come playoff time. It wold also help Los Angeles to avoid the division-rival Warriors in the second round. We can talk about Chris Paul's performance until we are blue in the face, but it's DeAndre Jordan who's stepped up big time recently. He's averaging a surprising 14.8 points to go with 14.7 rebounds over the past 10 games. This added offense has been needed for the Clippers of late.

4. Oklahoma City Thunder

Losers of six of nine since the All-Star Break, the Thunder is now flirting with falling out of a top three seed out west. As has been the case most year, the primary issue here is defense. The Thunder is giving up an average of 112.4 points since the break. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook can go ahead and average a combined 50 points per game. Without a consistent third scorer and no real defensive capability, that's not going to equate to a championship.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers

Good news first. Toronto hasn't done anything over the past two-plus weeks to narrow that gap between itself and the Cavaliers. The bad news. Cleveland simply isn't playing good basketball recently. How in the world does it lose to a Grizzlies team that suited up seven players and was without the likes of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Mike Conley? That happened Monday. And it's absolutely absurd. LeBron James says this team isn't ready for the playoffs. Truer words have never been spoken.

2. San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio saw its eight-game winning streak snapped by Indiana on Monday. It's a rare loss for a Spurs team that's doing its best to stay with the conference-leading Warriors in preparation for their final three meetings of the regular season. Like most of the Spurs' 10 losses on the season, it simply came down to a lack of shooting. Teams have off nights from that aspect. And in reality, it's simply not a big deal. Though, any stretch of bad basketball moving forward will eliminate San Antonio from contention for the top spot out west. That's big with the Warriors' current home winning streak standing at 45 and the Spurs' streak at 39.

1. Golden State Warriors

The Warriors have been playing some sloppy basketball. Whether it was due to the entire roster being hungover following a Saturday night off in Los Angeles or something else, Golden State dropped to the lowly Lakers by 17 points on Sunday. It then followed that up with a 24-turnover performance in a win over the Orlando Magic the following day. If there's one criticism of the Warriors, this is it. They are simply too sloppy with the basketball at times. Still, here's a team that sits 50 games over .500, just broke the record for most consecutive home wins and remains on pace to best the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' single-season record of 72 wins. Oh, and Stephen Curry is averaging a cool 38.5 points over the past six games.