The stretch run is upon us, and as we look at where teams sit currently in our Power Rankings, we’ll also examine what ought to be their mission for the post-All-Star stretch.

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  1. Rockets

Second-half mission: Continue to play top-10 defense. The Rockets are No. 9 in defensive efficiency this season, and have done an especially good job defending the 3-point arc during their 10-game winning streak — they’ve allowed only 31.6 percent on 3s in that span. It’s the reason they’ve been able to slip past Golden State at the top of the West, and it’s also their best hope of holding onto the No. 1 seed.

  1. Warriors

Second-half mission: Snap out of it. Heading into the All-Star break, the Warriors appeared to be asleep at the wheel, half-hearted on defense and far too turnover-prone, committing 17.6 per game during a 4-4 stretch heading into the break. For a team that has gone to the NBA Finals three straight seasons, a little midseason boredom is expected. But we’re not in midseason anymore, so the Warriors will have to wake themselves up for the stretch run.  

  1. Raptors

Second-half mission: Get the bench ready. One of the keys to Toronto’s emergence as a contender in the East this year has been the play of its reserve unit, which has been the best in the league with a net rating of plus-8.8. But five of the six bench regulars are 25 or younger, and only C.J. Miles (17.6) and Norman Powell (16.0) have averaged more than 8.0 minutes per game in the playoffs in their careers. Getting important minutes in big stretch run games should help.  

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  1. Timberwolves

Second-half mission: Figure out the road woes. The Timberwolves are 24-7 at home, second-best in the league. But away from home, they’re just 12-18. They have a plus-6.5 net rating in their home games and a minus-0.5 rating on the road. It’s a young group, but if they’re to stick around in the playoffs more than a handful of games, they’ll have to win on the road.

  1. Cavs

Second-half mission: Rest LeBron. James has not missed a game this year, and at 37.0 minutes per game, he is on pace to top 3,000 regular-season minutes for the first time since 2010-11. There will be a temptation to keep playing James so that he can get accustomed to playing with new teammates Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr., Rodney Hood and George Hill. But rest of James will be more important heading into the postseason.

  1. Celtics

Second-half mission: Hope that Gordon Hayward can play. The Celtics are thin and rely too heavily on young and inexperienced players. That’s caught up to them lately, especially with the load carried by second-year forward Jaylen Brown and rookie Jayson Tatum.

Boston is building toward contending for a championship in the next couple of years, and it did not make a move at the trade deadline. If they Celtics are going to contend this year, they’ll need to get the injured Hayward back on the floor sometime before the end of March so that he can be ready to pitch in for the playoffs.

  1. Thunder

Second-half mission: Bring back the D. In the first 45 games of the season, the Thunder were among the best defensive teams in the league, allowing 102.4 points per 100 possessions, third in the NBA. In their last 15, though, OKC has held opponents under 100 points just once, and the team’s defensive efficiency has ranked just 21st in the NBA. The loss of defensive specialist Andre Roberson has been a big part of that, but the Thunder have to find ways to make up for his absence.

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  1. Pacers

Second-half mission: Go for Myles. This should have been a breakout season for third-year big man Myles Turner, but instead, he’s just been so-so, putting up pretty much the same numbers he did last season. The Pacers have been a nice story, thanks to the impact of Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, but Indiana’s ability to sustain this success in the short and long terms will require that Turner develops into the kind of all-around threat he’s shown he can be at times.

  1. Sixers

Second-half mission: Let Embiid loose. The Sixers are making a push into the playoffs and are within reach of the No. 4 seed in the East. Embiid is the key. The team has been careful with his minutes and his participation in back-to-backs over the last two years, but Philly will only go as far as Embiid can carry them. He needs to play like a star down the stretch.

  1. Spurs

Second-half mission: Block the Kawhi Leonard distraction. The Spurs have faded recently, and with coach Gregg Popovich saying he does not think that Leonard will play again this year, it would be tempting for the rest of the team to throw in the towel, knowing their best player is not coming back. Resist that, continue to let the young talent bloom and the Spurs could hang in as a top-four seed in the West.

  1. Wizards

Second-half mission: Get John Wall re-integrated. The Wizards were expected to collapse when Wall underwent knee surgery at the end of January, with his return scheduled to come as late as the end of March. Instead, they’ve won eight of 10, altering their offense to get more players involved. But when Wall gets back, the Wizards will have to adjust for his style of play without entirely giving up the progress they’ve made offensively in his absence.  

  1. Jazz

Second-half mission: Stick to the basics. Much has gone right for the Jazz over the course of their 10-game winning streak — they’re shooting 43.4 percent from the 3-point line and outrebounding opponents by 7.1 per game in that run — but the defense has been key.

They’re allowing 43.3 percent shooting and 31.0 percent shooting from the 3-point line during the streak, and their defensive efficiency rating of 98.9 is easily the league’s best in the last 10 games. The offense (114.8 points per 100 possessions) has been great, too, but this team was built on defense, and that can carry Utah through times when the shots are not falling.

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  1. Trail Blazers

Second-half mission: Recapture that old Nurkic magic. The Blazers have one of the two or three best backcourts in the league, but they need help from the frontcourt. Last season, after Portland traded for Jusuf Nurkic from Denver, the Blazers went on a hot streak, winning 14 of 19 with him in the starting lineup. Nurkic got off to a bad start this season, but has been more efficient in recent weeks, shooting 53.6 percent in his last 22 games, up from 44.9 percent in his first 33 games.

  1. Nuggets

Second-half mission: Survive late March. The Nuggets are six games over .500, and in good position to assure themselves of a playoff spot. But there is something to be nervous about: the brutal seven-game road trip the team has lined up in late March, which will last two weeks and take them through Memphis, Miami, Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia, Toronto and Oklahoma City. The Nuggets are 9-19 on the road, so this trip does not bode well for their postseason chances.

  1. Bucks

Second-half mission: Get the two big bench guys clicking. The Bucks have the worst bench of any likely playoff team, but there’s hope that they can change that. Guard Malcolm Brogdon will be out until late March with a torn quad tendon, and forward Jabari Parker is just returning from knee surgery. If the Bucks can get Parker and Brogdon healthy and effective by the time the postseason starts, they might have just enough depth to limit their disadvantage among their reserves.

  1. Clippers

Second-half mission: Root for Miami — and Utah. The Clippers have done well to scrap their way above .500 despite an injury-riddled season and the trade that sent Blake Griffin to the Pistons. They’re within reach of a playoff spot, which is nice, but not really in the best interests of the franchise, long-term.

Because LA has Detroit’s pick as a result of the Griffin deal, the Clippers have a shot at two lottery picks this year, but only if both they and the Pistons miss the playoffs. Thus, the Clips want to see the Heat, losers of seven of their last eight, rally to stay ahead of the Pistons, and should not worry too much about the possibility of Utah streaking past them in the West standings.

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  1. Pelicans

Second-half mission: Feed Anthony Davis. The Pelicans have gone 4-5 since losing big man DeMarcus Cousins to an Achilles injury, and Davis’ value to this team has been on full display during that stretch: In the four wins, he scored 43, 44, 38 and 42 points. New Orleans’ offense isn’t very imposing, unless the team gets Davis something like 25-35 shot attempts. It’s a tremendous load, but for a franchise desperate for a playoff spot, it’s their best chance.

  1. Heat

Second-half mission: Get clutch. The Heat have played more close games than any team this season, and for much of their year, the record in those games was impeccable — 22-11 in games that were within five points in the final five minutes, with a net efficiency of plus-19.7. In their last eight, however, they’ve fallen apart. Their margin has been just minus-2.6, but they have lost seven of those eight games. In the clutch, they’ve fallen apart, scoring just 95.7 points per 100 possessions and allowing 106.4, a net rating of minus-10.7.

  1. Pistons

Second-half mission: Keep Blake Griffin healthy. It’s understandable that coach Stan Van Gundy is under pressure to earn a playoff spot, and though Griffin has struggled in eight games in Detroit (he is shooting 40.6 percent), riding him down the stretch is Detroit’s best bet to get them there. But Griffin has been injury prone, and the Pistons will need him to be healthy past just this year. It’ll be tempting to up his minutes in the final weeks of the season, but the Pistons should resist that.

  1. Hornets

Second-half mission: Make a run at .500. There’s plenty that needs to be worked out for the Hornets’ future, and they’re not going to whirl their way into the postseason. It could be argued that tanking the rest of the way would be best for the organization, but at this point, the Hornets could stand to show some professional pride and play up to their capabilities.

They won’t get to .500, but they have enough talent to be much better than a group sitting at eight games under. The schedule is tough, so if they got to 38 or 39 wins, they’d salvage something positive here.

  1. Lakers

Second-half mission: All about Ball. It has been a weird year for rookie point guard Lonzo Ball, which means it has been just about what you’d expect for the son of LaVar Ball. He is coming back from a knee injury, and the Lakers need to help him zone out the distractions his dad creates and finish with the kind of final 25 games that will resuscitate the franchise’s enthusiasm for him.

  1. Bulls

Second-half mission: Size up Zach LaVine. The Bulls got Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn as part of the deal for star guard Jimmy Butler, and both have shown some promise. But LaVine was the main attraction, and he returned from knee surgery in mid-January.

He has been good since then, averaging 17.3 points, with just 40.2 percent shooting from the field, but a 40.3 percent mark from the 3-point line. He has gotten more comfortable playing on the knee, and should keep getting better over the final seven weeks of the season. At issue will be his next contract — LaVine will be a restricted free agent this summer, and the better he performs, the higher the Bulls’ outlay for him will have to be.

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  1. Mavericks

Second-half mission: Clean up the mess. The Mavericks have big troubles on multiple fronts. First, they’re not a particularly good basketball team, and they need to address the ramshackle roster. The No. 1 job on that is to tank the rest of the year — and owner Mark Cuban has already copped to that plan. But the Mavs also have to deal with the allegations sexual harassment in their front office, which will mean a thorough and credible investigation that leads to substantive changes in the franchise.

  1. Knicks

Second-half mission: Evaluate Jeff Hornacek. The Knicks’ early-season promise was a result of a soft schedule, and the team wilted once things toughened up. Losing Kristaps Porzingis to a knee injury is a tough blow, too. But the Knicks are still ahead of where they probably should be, and Hornacek deserves some credit for that. There’s a slew of issues to be worked out here, but deciding whether Hornacek will be their coach is first on the list.

  1. Hawks

Second-half mission: Tank. There are a few teams who should just lose as much as possible in the next two months, and the Hawks are near the top of the list. Other than rookie big man John Collins, and maybe Taurean Prince and/or Dennis Schroder, there could be no one on this roster who is part of the long-term plan. Watch the NCAA tourney and prep for the draft.

  1. Kings

Second-half mission: Give the ball to De’Aaron Fox. There is not much for the Kings to play for in the coming weeks, but seeing whether Fox — the fifth pick in last year’s draft — can handle the workload as a lead guard and improve his perimeter jumper will be worth watching. Fox is promising, and a good finish could go a long way toward securing his status as the point guard of the future, a spot that has been such a longtime bane for this organization.

  1. Magic

Second-half mission: Decide on Aaron Gordon. Gordon will be a restricted free agent this summer, and he will have at least three suitors. The Magic have little else going for them on the roster, but they’re seeking to rebuild completely, and they have not been certain that something close to a max contract for Gordon is something they want as a foundational piece. The team can match any offer for Gordon, and likely, it will match. But the remainder of the season will be a factor in that choice.

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  1. Nets

Second-half mission: Let Jahlil Okafor play. The Nets are not going anywhere and don’t have their first-rounder this year, and while the team has come up with some nice finds from other teams’ castoffs (D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie), getting Okafor from the Sixers represented the latch onto a former No. 2 pick with high offensive potential. Okafor is not in great condition, but it can’t hurt for the Nets to get him on the floor and determine what he has to offer before he becomes a free agent this summer.

  1. Grizzlies

Second-half mission: Keep Marc Gasol healthy. The Grizzlies have been terrible lately, and they’ll probably be terrible next year, too. The franchise needs to explore trade options for star center Gasol this offseason to give the front office a chance to jumpstart the rebuilding process. Gasol has been injury-prone in his career, and one more major health woe for Gasol in March or April would be devastating.

  1. Suns

Second-half mission: Tank. Hey, everyone else is doing it. The Suns have been drafting talented youngsters in the last few years, and only one has really panned out — guard Devin Booker, who has All-Star potential. They’ll try again in the lottery this year, adding yet another youngster to the mix, but they’re best of giving themselves the best chance possible at the first overall pick.