23/30 rankers reporting this week. /R/NBA's Power Rankings are published every two weeks which is a bit different from most rankings. Other than that we rank the teams the same way as our competition. If write ups are left blank the team rep decided not to submit. We encourage any user to fill in the blanks in the comment section. Please follow /u/powerrankingsnba to see this more on your feed!

# Team Δ Record Comment
1 Thunder — 20-1 At long last, reinforcements have arrived for the Thunder: Kenrich Williams (11/26), Jalen Williams (11/28) and the man who saved basketball – Aaron Wiggins (11/30) have all returned in the last week. Unfortunately, Isaiah Hartenstein has suffered a calf strain and will be re-evaluated in 2 weeks. That said, this is, surprisingly, the healthiest the Thunder have been all season (after 21 games!). Jalen Williams return couldn't have come at a more opportune time with Hartenstein going down – and will allow the Thunder to explore some solo center lineups anchored by Chet Holmgren. I am a firm believer that Jalen Williams is the magic sauce needed for the Thunder to reach that next level in play because of his positional and technical versatility. Whether you need him to space the floor as a shooter, guard a center, be the primary playmaker or lockdown the opponent's best player – Jdub has a knack for making momentum-turning plays that really allow the Thunder to play the oppressive style of ball that brought them the success of last season. It's amazing that I've written ~180 words and haven't mentioned Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Shai continues to quietly dominate the league, regardless of who he is playing alongside. He has broken Wilt Chamberlain's record of 2nd longest streak of 20 point games (92) and is only behind Wilt Chamberlain (again lol) who has the longest streak with 126 games. Shai continues to sit many 4th quarters, but in the 4th quarters he plays in – he dominates in the clutch and proves once again that he is the most methodical and skilled scorer in the NBA. The Thunder have played well, and I fully expect them to take another step as they (re-)integrate all of their injured players. I don't believe this gaudy record to be maintained going into 2026, but I do believe that we'll be able to continue to improve as a team with Mark Daigneault at the helm.
2 Rockets +1 13-4 Despite a short absence from KD, the team continues to maintain a .75 record, a testament to the team's depth and the ability of the younger stars to step. Sengun and Sheppard in particular are looking comfortable having the play run through them, and the latter has made his case for why he should remain in the starting lineup. With 5 straight wins on the road, the team seems unphased with where the action is happening.
3 Lakers +3 15-4
4 Pistons — 16-4
5 Nuggets -3 14-5
6 Knicks -1 13-6 "YOU DONE IT. YOU DONE HIRED THE HITMAKER!" These were the words that Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, one of Jazz's greatest drummers, would post up on signs next to his drum kit when invited to studios. And by God was he right. His eponymous Shuffle became a touchstone of setting grooves from the sixies to the present day. I think of Bernard Purdie… I think of Mike Brown. What that grinning magician has done to the Knicks offense is nothing short of miraculous, and a month into the season we're seeing the band settle into the pocket. The Bench is stepping up with big performances by Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson, OG and Mikal are posting defensive masterclasses, Josh Hart- mangled finger and all- is returning to his triple-double regularity, KAT and Brunson are humming well… and Mitchell Robinson is the most dynamic rebounder in modern NBA history. The Offense is putting up 135-point games on balanced minutes and shaking off the questions that dogged the team as it settled into Brown's coaching philosophy: Shoot, Shoot, Shoot. We're firing from downtown at a historic rate, and with such strong rebounding in our roster we're feasting on second chances. I for one believe in those. True, we've had a pretty easy schedule over the past stretch, but winning 6 of our last 7 is undeniable. Can't wait until we clash with Detroit.
7 Spurs — 13-6 The guys are holding down the fort admirably without Wemby or Castle over the last two weeks. Fox has stepped up ably as our first option in that time, averaging 26/7 and 1.6 steals on .618 TS% during the Spurs' 5-2 record in the aforementioned two's absence. Julian Champagnie and Devin Vassell have been our top contributors in recent games to help propel us to some huge wins over the Blazers and the Nuggets (both wins helping to propel us to the knockout stage of the NBA Cup!), but behind Fox it's been a very balanced team effort, all in. While I do generally point out that the Spurs are roughly league average at defending the 3 (they surrender a combined 33.1 Open + Wide Open 3s per game according to nba.com vs the league average of 33.9), the Spurs have a ton of improvement to be had there; lots of poor communication and slow rotations are giving teams several more opportunities at picking us apart from the perimeter than they need. It's definitely the most obvious area of improvement for us right now (and is the main reason why we lost to Phoenix and Minnesota), but overall not too much to complain about. Fingers crossed that we finally get a healthy squad for the first time this year sometime in the next two weeks. Dylan Harper finally returned this week and still looks awesome driving to the rim. The Spurs have MEM, @ORL, @CLE, @NOP, @LAL (Cup), (Cup or Cup Consolation) over the next two weeks.
8 Raptors +5 14-7 Sandro Mamukelashvili. Enough said. I don't want to crunch numbers but we were great but our offence fell off after RJ went down. Let's hope with a day of practice that we start a new win streak! The 9 straight were a lot of fun. Sandro Mamukelashvili
9 Magic +9 12-8 8-2 in our last ten and climbing up the standings. Top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating and of recent time, just absolutely pounding their opponents. 4 straight games with a different 30 point scorer, Wagner with 37 against the Knicks, Howard with 31 against the Celtics, Black with 31 against the 76ers and Bane with 37 against the Pistons, showcasing the offense doesn't necessarily have to come from just one guy. Paolo has been sidelined with a groin strain for the last 9 games but we can't act like the Magic are better without him. They were already starting to click as a team with him in the lineup and just continued to gel together as a team once Mosley figured out the right rotations and Suggs had his minutes restriction lifted. And we can't forget that even with that bad start to the season, the Magic's starting lineup of Suggs-Bane-Wagner-Banchero-Carter has one of the best net ratings of all lineups being used. I know it's early but there's no reason not to believe that this team can still get to 50 wins and be near the top of the East like most predicted before the start of the season.
10 Heat +6 13-7 Looking for a ranker, please apply here! You will need to remove the "np" (no participation in the link to apply.
11 TWolves -1 12-8 The Wolves finally beat 2 teams with winning records, those 2 wins came off of 3 absolutely choke job games. That is what the Wolves are this season Anthony Edwards carrying a bad roster night in and night out.
12 Hawks -3 13-8 The fact that this team is on a 51 win pace through 21 games despite only having Trae for 4 games is amazing. Yes, there have been some rough spots (the Wizards game in particular), but overall I think that these games have gone better than pretty much any Hawks fan realistically expected. Jalen Johnson is flirting with a triple double almost every game, Onyeka Okongwu is bombing away from three (38.4% on 5.0 3PA/G), and Nickeil Alexander-Walker is outperforming his contract by taking on more offense than anyone really expected he could. Risacher seems to be bouncing back in his last couple games after a nasty fall, so that's good. Dyson is struggling a bit offensively as teams are leaving him open, but over the last couple of games he's taken advantage of this and started crashing the rim to get offensive rebounds. This is easily the best the team has performed with Trae out of the lineup since we drafted him, and I'm very intrigued to see what we end up looking like once he gets back. Sadly, that looks like it won't be happening soon since it was announced on Saturday that Trae will be reevaluated in 2 weeks
13 Cavaliers -5 12-9 3-4 stretch amid continuing injury issues, but most of the main rotation is back and we still lost the last two with the starters. We’ll be an elite team again when we’re healthy and have some time on the court together, right? Right? We’re in the bottom 10 for fg% from the floor on the year and surely this team is too talented to keep that up… right?
14 Suns +1 12-9 It’s nice seeing the respect the team has earned. From assumed dead to a legit (play-in) team, the entire fanbase is feeling ⋆｡°✩ Aligned✩°｡⋆. Williams has everything we could have wished for in a center. Brooks has imprinted his attitude on the team and playing like a fringe all-star. And Gillespie, Denver MAJORLY fucked up letting him go. Even with an ever-growing list of injuries threatening our already limited depth and firepower, this is a team worth supporting. Now if they can just get Booker out of one of the worst slumps in his career, one that is starting to drag on, we may be able to weather the most brutal part of our schedule. 5 games in 7 days against the west’s top 4 seeds (plus GSW).
15 Celtics +2 11-9 It's been said every ranking, but the Celtics are Team Chaos. Jaylen Brown might go for 40 points one night, Payton Pritchard might do it the next, Derrick White might put up 30, and then randomly Anfernee Simons might go off for 25. One night they're losing to the Nets, the next they're breaking the Pistons' 13 game win streak. This is a random fun team that is showing that once Tatum is back next season along with one more rotational big man, this team can compete for the top spot in the East. Jordan Walsh has (relatively) exploded onto the scene as of late, earning the praises of fans and coaches alike. This is the perfect season to embrace chaos, be a roughly .500 team, and develop players to join Tatum next season as they jump back into trying to contend. Some games have been admittedly frustrating so far, but knowing you're not really playing for a championship this season and everything is building towards next year and beyond makes the grand scheme of things a lot easier.
16 Warriors -5 11-10 Without Steph the Warriors struggled against the Pelicans…we really booty, even with Jimmy. Luckily Steph's injury is reportedly minor and he's day to day. The Kuminga rollercoaster continues and after a hot start to the season he has gone MIA with the Pelican game being the first game back since 2.5 weeks ago. He actually looked decent that game but it would not surprise anyone if he were part of a trade package for either a playmaker or 3&D type player.
17 76ers -3 10-9 What are these Sixers? Maxey looks every bit of an MVP caliber player (his defense has even improved dramatically), but then you have Embiid who has now started missing games even the team doesn't expect. Paul George looks solid when he's available, and now VJ Edgecomb is quickly hitting a rookie and injury wall (likely from his insane run in MPG). In one single game they can play to the level of any team in the league and then hemorrhage an entire lead and end up down 10 in half a quarter. This is a team of runs who is damn near middle of the pack in just about every advanced stat you can look at. I don't even know if the Sixers know who they are yet. They'll need to figure it out, as those teams they were hanging with in the middle have now all hit their strides. They should comfortably sit near a play-in team this year, but I know they'll need more if they have any hope of winning a series.
18 Bucks -6 9-12 The Bucks lost every game while Giannis was out, but that's over now, and the team has a healthy starting lineup for the first time this season. Doing well in this next stretch will be crucial to dig out of the hole the 7-game losing streak put us in. Ryan Rollins should be MIP, btw.
19 Grizzlies +5 9-12 THE BIG ZAMBONI. Zhaq Edey has been on a tear since coming back from his injury, already looking more athletic and precise with the ball than he did last year. He's doing this without playing with a real PG on the roster, as his first game back from injury he and Ja only played 6 minutes together on the court before Ja got hurt. We're seeing solid contributions from guys like Cam Spencer, and Cedric Coward continues to impress in a growing role. Despite the doomer takes (don't look at my comment history), the team has managed to string together some wins and is beginning to look like a team that can approach a .500 win percentage in time for the rest of the team to get healthy. As a reminder, we're currently out our PG1, PG2, PG3, and PF1 to injury in Ja Morant, Ty Jerome, Scotty Pippen Jr, and Brandon Clarke. It's looking like most of these guys should be back by the all star break, and if the team is at .500 at that point we have a good chance to make a play off push.
20 Bulls -1 9-10 Goddamn. What is with our defense? What is with our rebounding? Did Billy just tell the team to stop trying? Why does Billy play Patrick Williams so much? Why is everybody chucking up contested 3's instead of finding open shots elsewhere? Why are we ass again?? Sure, our amazing start to the season wasn't sustainable, but it was reasonable to think we'd maybe get the 5 or 6 seed. What happened? As soon as teams started matching our pace, we didn't evolve and just returned to the team that falls into the play-in every year. Defense is meh, but even if it was good, it wouldn't matter because we can't catch the ball. We were beating great teams, and when we weren't, we'd only lose by a few points. Now, we're the team that ends 50-game losing streaks. This awful stretch of games isn't even the worst of our worries, because Billy is ruining all our young guys. Our lottery pick is stuck on the Windy City Bulls, and for some reason Billy is forcing Matas to become a role player. I want us to stop pretending we're winning a chip, and start playing the young guys more and finding out their style of play. Right now, the Bulls are molding the strengths of the players, instead of the strengths of the players molding the Bulls. It's infuriating to watch guys like Matas, Coby and (to a lesser extent) Ayo reduced to ONLY shooting threes when their offense is so much more versatile. Changes need to be made, and it needs to happen quick if we don't want to suffer the same fate as the last few years.
21 Trail Blazers -1 8-12 You could say the Blazers have cooled in recent weeks – and sure, they're 2-5 since the last rankings. But you would be hard pressed to find many Blazer fans that are worried about their squad. For one, they played the Thunder twice since the last rankings, and 5 of the 7 total teams have winning records. They Blazers are also remarkably injured. Notably, Sharpe, Clingan, Holiday, and Henderson have all missed significant time, and they haven't even had a single PG on their active roster over the past 8 games. Even with all that, they've remained remarkably competitive in most games. And of course, no fanbase can lose hope when they're witnessing the rise of a star in real time. For the season, Deni Avdija is averaging 25.8p/7.1r/5.8a on 62.1 TS%, and those numbers have done nothing but creep upward as the season has progressed. And he's still only 24 and on one of the best contracts in the league.
22 Hornets +1 6-14 The team is very bad. Don't get fooled by b2b wins against teams who couldn't care less. Kalkbrenner is no longer the Gem of the draft, his defense has been horribly exposed. He's not good. A drop only big who gets eviscerated by shooters on defense due to lacking mobility. Ball and Miller are back though both extremely fragile and out of form. As for LaMelo, his ankle seems to be jelly. Just not the same guy after hurting it vs Miami. I'm beginning to lose faith with him. Tre Mann and Miles Bridges form the most disgusting two man lineups in the NBA. If it weren't for Kon Knueppel I'd be out of faith. But our beautiful Kon has provided salvation this season. All hail Kon.
23 Mavericks +2 6-15 Cooper Flagg has found his rhythm, which is really one of the very few bright spots for this team, which continues to be plagued by the infamous trade. Despite being 4th in defense, the Mavs offense moved to last in the league, which amounts to the 8th worst net rating in the league. These problems won't go away, and as the trade window gets closer to opening up, Dallas seems to have lots of pieces that playoff teams would love to trade for.
24 Jazz -3 6-13 Fans are getting real tired of tanking. We're ass. Despite Keyonte George dropping an insane statline of 0 points and 8 turnovers last night, he has been consistently good this season. He's improved his PPG by 6, his TS% by 5%, APG by 1, and is cementing himself as a building block for our team. Markkanen has cooled off slightly, but still the best player on our team. And Ace Bailey has been getting consistent minutes, and is making the most of them. The rest of the team is still one big question mark though. Will Cody Williams somehow become an NBA rotational player? Will Taylor Hendricks take the next step offensively? Will Kyle FIlipowksi be the stretch big/secondary playmaker a la Kelly Olynyk? Who will be our second string PG, Isaiah Collier or Walter Clayton Jr?
25 Clippers -3 5-15 Where the fuck do you even start bruh. The Unction is on its damn deathbed, immobile and breathing out of an iron lung 2 months into the season. This team is physically incapable of playing winning basketball for more than 3 quarters, as if Father Time himself starts playing lockdown defense on this geriatric ass roster. You'd think things would get better now that Kawhi is back, but the sad truth is that no one is scared of Kawhi Leonard in 2025 coming in with red lower body health and a fraud case. Tyronn Lue has seemed to have lost the locker room, but I can't honestly say if a coaching change can steer this ship back to even a .500 record. I feel so bad for James Harden and the young guys on the team (the 3 that we have), they have been the only bright spots this season and they deserve infinitely better than the hell they have already been through this season. On top of it all, the damage of the Paul George trade hangs over us for the rest of the season, as our misery only makes the best team in the league potentially set for the next couple years. There is very little hope at the end of the Intuit Dome tunnels at the moment, and only some form of divine intervention could guide this team to some form of watchable basketball.
26 Pacers +3 4-16 Stop the presses- the 2025 Indiana Pacers are on a winning streak! Who would've thought that after getting key guys in the rotation back, that Indiana would start to look more like an actual professional basketball team? Since his return in mid-November, Bennedict Mathurin has chipped in close to 20 poins per game, which has been an excellent complement to Pascal Siakam's reliable output. TJ McConnell is working his way back up to his usual playing time as well, already scoring 10 points per game and dishing 5 assists in just 17.8 mpg off the bench.
27 Kings -1 5-16 Looking for a ranker, please apply here! You will need to remove the "np" (no participation in the link to apply.
28 Pelicans — 3-18 The Pelicans have shown a bit more interest and impetus under interim head coach James Borrego, but the struggle continues. Derik Queen has promise, but leading the team with 3.4 APG is indicative of the severe lack of playmaking on the roster. Zion is reaching mid-season form, with good efficiency, limited minutes and bated breath waiting for the other shoe to drop. Trey Murphy III hasn't taken the step forward many hoped to see. The Pelicans are simply not a serious NBA franchise.
29 Nets -2 3-16 Finally, the Nets are playing their rookies real minutes. We're seeing Egor Demin flashes that remind you why he was so highly touted last year before injuries – on top of his surprisingly good shooting, the kid is a dynamic defender who can interrupt passing lanes and make ball handlers uncomfortable with his long arms and slender frame. Additionally, Danny Wolf is starting to get some minutes and he's already making an impact on the floor with his scoring and passing touch. Drake Powell has been exciting to watch all year, he's an athletic marvel who looks to be a rugged/hard worker on defense. Other than the rooks, there isn't much to talk about with the Nets as they continue to lose games as scheduled.
30 Wizards — 2-16 We still ass. However, it is very funny that Washington broke a losing streak that appeared to be endless against an Atlanta Hawks team that was in a prime position to rub it in Bill Duffy and Alex Sarr's faces. A civil war is transpiring among the fans. Some are pro-Brian Keefe and his developmental ways because Sarr, George and Coulibaly got better over a summer where they were away from the Wizards. Some are anti-Brian Keefe, witnessing the malpractice transpire with Bub Carrington's development along with general basketball woes. But this is just the reality of tanking basketball. You know things are getting bad when even Zach Lowe is even struggling to be polite about the team. You have to listen to people still telling you every single Deni Avdija stat-line — even if it has been two years and it is a little weird to keep bringing it up. You just have to watch terrible basketball on a nightly basis and take it on the chin.

10 comments

  1. BIAS RANKINGS!

    Team | Rank | Ranks Above Avg | Lover | Ranks Below Avg | Hater |
    :– | :-: | :-: | :– | :-: | :– |
    [](/ATL) Hawks | 12 | 5 | 2 Tied | -5 | [](/OKC) /u/AnkitPancakes |
    [](/BOS) Celtics | 15 | 5 | [](/ATL) /u/not-a-potato-head | -2 | 2 Tied |
    [](/BKN) Nets | 29 | 4 | [](/GSW) /u/swollencornholio | -1 | [](/CHI) /u/crugreddit |
    [](/CHA) Hornets | 22 | 2 | [](/TOR) /u/Jaseen | -3 | [](/CHA) /u/NotManyBuses |
    [](/CHI) Bulls | 20 | 2 | 3 Tied | -2 | 3 Tied |
    [](/CLE) Cavaliers | 13 | 4 | [](/ORL) /u/albinorhino21 | -3 | [](/TOR) /u/Jaseen |
    [](/DAL) Mavericks | 23 | 2 | 2 Tied | -2 | 2 Tied |
    [](/DEN) Nuggets | 5 | 3 | 6 Tied | -1 | 3 Tied |
    [](/DET) Pistons | 4 | 2 | 4 Tied | -2 | 2 Tied |
    [](/GSW) Warriors | 16 | 4 | [](/CHA) /u/NotManyBuses | -4 | [](/GSW) /u/swollencornholio |
    [](/HOU) Rockets | 2 | 0 | 7 Tied | -3 | 3 Tied |
    [](/IND) Pacers | 26 | 4 | [](/CHA) /u/NotManyBuses | -2 | 2 Tied |
    [](/LAC) Clippers | 25 | 2 | 4 Tied | -2 | [](/CLE) /u/PootieTooGood |
    [](/LAL) Lakers | 3 | 1 | 6 Tied | -3 | [](/ATL) /u/not-a-potato-head |
    [](/MEM) Grizzlies | 19 | 3 | 2 Tied | -4 | [](/CHA) /u/NotManyBuses |
    [](/MIA) Heat | 10 | 2 | 6 Tied | -5 | [](/MIN) /u/flyingscissor |
    [](/MIL) Bucks | 18 | 3 | 2 Tied | -3 | 2 Tied |
    [](/MIN) TWolves | 11 | 3 | 2 Tied | -3 | 2 Tied |
    [](/NOP) Pelicans | 28 | 2 | [](/DAL) /u/rps215 | -2 | [](/BOS) /u/walterdog12 |
    [](/NYK) Knicks | 6 | 2 | 2 Tied | -4 | 2 Tied |
    [](/OKC) Thunder | 1 | 0 | 23 Tied | 0 | 23 Tied |
    [](/ORL) Magic | 9 | 3 | [](/OKC) /u/AnkitPancakes | -5 | [](/LAC) /u/deepwebteddy |
    [](/PHI) 76ers | 17 | 3 | [](/WAS) /u/TopOfTheKey | -2 | 3 Tied |
    [](/PHX) Suns | 14 | 6 | [](/BKN) /u/BasedGodProdigy | -4 | [](/CHA) /u/NotManyBuses |
    [](/POR) Trail Blazers | 21 | 5 | [](/OKC) /u/AnkitPancakes | -1 | [](/ORL) /u/albinorhino21 |
    [](/SAC) Kings | 27 | 4 | [](/MIN) /u/flyingscissor | -1 | 4 Tied |
    [](/SAS) Spurs | 7 | 1 | 4 Tied | -7 | [](/OKC) /u/AnkitPancakes |
    [](/TOR) Raptors | 8 | 3 | [](/SAS) /u/Uncle_Freddy | -4 | 3 Tied |
    [](/UTA) Jazz | 24 | 2 | 4 Tied | -4 | [](/IND) /u/imkunu |
    [](/WAS) Wizards | 30 | 1 | 2 Tied | 0 | 21 Tied |

    * Boring ranker of the week is [](/MEM) /u/Projinator with a 1.06 standard deviation
    * Crazy ranker of the week is [](/OKC) /u/AnkitPancakes with a 2.63 standard deviation

  4. I never know how much you’re supposed to count current vs expected in these rankings. I think we’re probably a better team than Denver without AG but definitely worse if he’s healthy. So is this ranking right? IDK

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