All-Star Break Tiers: 5, By-A-Thread

There's still hope for these squads, as difficult as it might be to believe. The Play-In is chaos, and the race to the de-facto postseason is on.

The second-lowest tier for our All-Star break rankings is composed of the Knicks, Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Spurs, and Kings.

New York Knicks

Record, Pre All-Star break: 25-34, 12th in Eastern Conference

Bing Bong ruined the Knicks. A promising start to the season combined with the regular season success of last year fueled high expectations for NY. The roster construction hasn't worked, and the rotation isn't fluid. Julius Randle and company have been settling for bad shots at the end of the shot clock too often, and a few standout RJ Barrett performances and the shooting of Quentin Grimes are the only bright spots thus far. The Knicks are sitting 3.5 games back of the Play-In, and will have to figure out a way to win ASAP. The loss to the Nets after leading by over 20 might have encapsulated their season.

Portland Trail Blazers

Record, Pre All-Star break: 25-34, 10th in Western Conference

Portland has the same record as the Knicks, but the struggles of the Western Conference teams outside of the top four have allowed the Blazers to remain in Play-In territory. Damian Lillard's injury puts a shadow over whether or not this team will even compete for the 9-10 seed, but Afernee Simons would have you think differently. He has put the team on his back and proves his clutch gene game after game, most recently against the Grizzlies with a late three that got them the dub over a great Memphis team. Portland has to watch out for the Spurs and Pelicans, who could easily pass them if Lillard remains out long enough.

San Antonio Spurs

Record, Pre All-Star break: 23-36, 11th in Western Conference

Dejounte Murray is the bad teams MVP. His splits are extremely good, as he averages 20 PPG, 8 RPG, and 9 APG. San Antonio, unlike the two teams that trail them in the standings, was quiet at the deadline. While they didn't improve, Murray might be able to carry them to the 10 seed.

New Orleans Pelicans

Record, Pre All-Star break: 23-36, 12th in Western Conference

NOLA acquired CJ McCollum from Portland, and while the future is uncertain with regards to him sticking around, his scoring ability is valued on any team, and maybe is enough to give the Pelicans one final push. If Zion were healthy, it seems as if the team would already be in the playoff picture, but his return seems increasingly unlikely.

Sacramento Kings

Record, Pre All-Star break: 22-38, 13th in Western Conference

Oh, Sacramento. The best draft steal in recent memory belonged to the Kings, who drafted Tyrese Haliburton 12th overall before last season. He could've been the only untouchable player that deserved to be, but instead the Kings got rid of the guy who was proving to be a leader and possibly the franchise cornerstone. The news shocked Kings fans but they must be used to dysfunction on all levels by now. Sacramento is focused on moving forward with a Fox-Mitchell backcourt, and their frontcourt is now led by their next cornerstone, Domantas Sabonis. After all this, they still won't make it past the Play-In. The real question is if they make it to the 9/10 seed, will the front office consider it a postseason berth? It would be the first since 2006, and deserves a parade.

Full Tiers: