NBA Games of the Week: The best playing the best

This edition of the NBA games of the week is brought to you by the best teams playing the other best teams.

We are over 50 games into the season. At long last, after months and months of debate and data, we have a grip on the best teams in the league. Of course, we could’ve guessed that the Warriors, Rockets, Raptors and Celtics would be the four of the best teams in the league by record, but we really don’t know until the games are played.

The Cavaliers were originally on this list for the sake of consistency — the five best records made it — but their 32-point loss to Houston on Saturday eliminated any chance they make this prestigious games of the week. Whether you want to blame GM LeBron for handing out contracts to J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson, or you want to blame the age and lack of talent surrounding him, or you want to blame Kevin Love, the Cavaliers are in such a bad place, worst-defender-in-the-league Isaiah Thomas is questioning the defensive effort of the team. It’s that bad.

And, in reality, the gap between the third seed and the rest of the playoff teams in each conference is so narrow. The Cavs are only two games away from dropping to seventh, and the Spurs are only three games from dropping to sixth. The latter made it on timing.

Since we’re approaching All-Star weekend, it’s only fitting that we focus on the best teams in the league. Four of the five — Boston, Toronto, Golden State, Houston — have, barring disastrous post-All-Star performances, near insurmountable leads in the standings and could be jostling for position with one another come April. The Celtics and Raptors have a seven and five game-lead, respectively, on the third seed, and the Warriors and Rockets have a eight and six-game lead, respectively. The Rockets and Raptors are each only one game back in the loss column for the top seed.

So this edition of the games of the week will feature five of the top teams in the standings and not the Cavs.