{"id":635302,"date":"2026-03-02T22:25:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T22:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/635302\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T22:25:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T22:25:36","slug":"nba-power-rankings-is-a-new-contender-emerging-out-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/635302\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA power rankings: Is a new contender emerging out West?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re entering the final months of the 2025-26 NBA season, and action is heating up.<\/p>\n

For one, players have started to chirp<\/a> and fire back at one another<\/a> as rivalries and stakes intensify<\/a>. That has led to a tightening in the battle for seeding and positioning in both the Eastern and Western Conferences.<\/p>\n

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But that hasn\u2019t stopped teams at the bottom of the standings to seemingly sabotage the remainder of their seasons in an attempt to preserve their draft positioning. That apparent tanking, against the backdrop of a loaded NBA draft class, has led to a fairly wide discrepancy between teams at the top and those at the bottom.<\/p>\n

Here are\u00a0USA TODAY Sports<\/a>\u2019 NBA power rankings after Week 17 of the 2025-26 regular season:<\/p>\n

1 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 26: The Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg dunks the ball past the Toronto Raptors’ Sandro Mamukelashvili at the American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 26: The Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg dunks the ball past the Toronto Raptors’ Sandro Mamukelashvili at the American Airlines Center.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

2 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 26: The Washington Wizards’ Cam Whitmore dunks the ball against the Charlotte Hornets at Capital One Arena.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

3 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 26: The Brooklyn Nets’ Michael Porter Jr. dunks in front of the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama at Frost Bank Center.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

4 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 25: The Denver Nuggets’ Christian Braun dunks the ball against the Phoenix Suns’ Grayson Allen at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

5 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 24: The Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. dunks against the Miami Heat at FedExForum.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

6 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 24: The Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo dunks over the Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. at FedExForum.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

7 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 22: The New York Knicks’ OG Anunoby goes up for a reverse dunk against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

8 \/ 8<\/p>\n

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents<\/p>\n

Oct. 22: The Utah Jazz’s Lauri Markkanen dunks against the Los Angeles Clippers at Delta Center.<\/p>\n

USA TODAY Sports NBA power rankings<\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0Records and stats through Feb. 8. Parentheses show movement from\u00a0last week\u2019s rankings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NBA Week 18 power rankings: Top 10<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Detroit Pistons<\/a>, 45-14 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

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2.\u00a0Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>, 47-15 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0San Antonio Spurs<\/a>, 43-17 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0Boston Celtics<\/a>, 40-20 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0New York Knicks<\/a>, 39-22 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>, 38-23 (+4)<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>, 38-24 (-1 ) <\/p>\n

8.\u00a0Houston Rockets<\/a>, 37-22 (-1)<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0Denver Nuggets<\/a>, 37-24 (-1)<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, 36-24 (-1)<\/p>\n

It is clear who are the top three teams in the NBA. For weeks now, a combination of the Pistons, Thunder and Spurs have all alternated positioning atop this list. But the most compelling narrative is between the Pistons and Thunder, who are still not quite fully healthy, but got a massive boost with the return of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Oklahoma City, though, will be waiting for Jalen Williams (hamstring) to fully heal.<\/p>\n

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The Timberwolves secured a massive, nine-point victory Sunday, March 1 over the Nuggets to move into fourth place in the West and are the big movers in this week\u2019s power rankings. Anthony Edwards is finding ways to lead his team; the Nuggets forced the ball out of his hands with double teams, so he made the right plays. But in the previous four games, he averaged 33.3 points per contest.<\/p>\n

And over the last week, each of the Cavaliers, Rockets, Nuggets and Lakers have suffered questionable losses to dip them further.<\/p>\n

\"Minnesota<\/p>\n

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) dunks the ball during the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Feb. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

NBA Week 18 power rankings: Nos. 11-20<\/p>\n

11.\u00a0Toronto Raptors<\/a>, 35-25 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

12.\u00a0Phoenix Suns<\/a>, 34-26 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

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13.\u00a0Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>, 33-27 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

14.\u00a0Orlando Magic<\/a>, 31-28 (+2)<\/p>\n

15.\u00a0Miami Heat<\/a>, 32-29 (-1)<\/p>\n

16.\u00a0Atlanta Hawks<\/a>, 31-31 (+4)<\/p>\n

17.\u00a0Charlotte Hornets<\/a>, 30-31 (+1)<\/p>\n

18.\u00a0Golden State Warriors<\/a>, 31-29 (-2)<\/p>\n

19.\u00a0Los Angeles Clippers<\/a>, 28-31 (-2)<\/p>\n

20.\u00a0Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>, 29-33 (-1)<\/p>\n

Toronto\u2019s most recent four losses have come against the Spurs, Thunder, Pistons and Timberwolves \u2014 all elite teams. For the Raptors to crack the Top 10, they\u2019ll need to take some of those games. The resurgence of the Charlotte Hornets continues, as no team has posted a higher net rating \u2014 a massive figure of 16.7 \u2014 over the last five games.<\/p>\n

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And the Hawks appear to be big winners, at least initially, from the trading deadline. Acquiring Jonathan Kuminga on a low-cost flier could be a move that gives them a big bump headed into the push for the playoffs. Atlanta has won four consecutive and Kuminga has averaged 21.3 points per game on a wildly efficient 67.7% shooting rate since joining the team.<\/p>\n

NBA Week 18 power rankings: Nos. 21-30<\/p>\n

21.\u00a0Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>, 26-33 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

22.\u00a0Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>, 23-36 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

23.\u00a0Chicago Bulls<\/a>, 25-36 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

24.\u00a0Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, 21-39 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

25.\u00a0New Orleans Pelicans<\/a>, 19-43 (+1)<\/p>\n

26.\u00a0Utah Jazz<\/a>, 18-42 (-1)<\/p>\n

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27.\u00a0Washington Wizards<\/a>, 16-43 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

28.\u00a0Indiana Pacers<\/a>, 15-45 (+1)<\/p>\n

29.\u00a0Brooklyn Nets<\/a>, 15-46 (-1)<\/p>\n

30.\u00a0Sacramento Kings<\/a>, 14-48 (\u2014)<\/p>\n

Can Milwaukee make a push into the play-in picture? Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to return<\/a> Monday, March 2, and his rapport with recent buyout acquisition Cam Thomas<\/a> will be crucial for the Bucks.<\/p>\n

After that, this bottom third is a bunch of teams who are far more interested in their draft position than they are in winning. The Jazz are shutting everyone down with injuries, the Nets<\/a> have lost eight consecutive and the Kings can\u2019t seem to find any traction whatsoever.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA power rankings have Pistons, Thunder battle as Timberwolves rise<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019re entering the final months of the 2025-26 NBA season, and action is heating up. For one, players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3782],"tags":[375,208,7,75,247,959,473,329,193,149,187,188,123,164,194,126,364,867,135,150,177,189,121,307,152,3954,6,470,191,475,179,76,207,472,471,10831,477,474,209,308,476,427,468],"class_list":["post-635302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-basketball","tag-boston-celtics","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-cam-thomas","tag-charlotte-hornets","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-houston-rockets","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-jalen-williams","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-miami-heat","tag-milwaukee-bucks","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-timberwolves","tag-minnesotatimberwolves","tag-nba","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-oklahoma-city","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-orlando-magic","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-phoenix-suns","tag-portland-trail-blazers","tag-power-rankings","tag-sacramento-kings","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-timberwolves","tag-toronto-raptors","tag-utah-jazz","tag-washington-wizards"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}