With only two weeks left in the regular season, this edition of the power rankings will bring the number of true contenders down to seven. Here are our championship power rankings with a handful of games remaining for each team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eliminated teams76ers<\/p>\n
Why they\u2019re eliminated: The 76ers are fully healthy and look pretty good. Does anybody reading this have faith they\u2019ll stay that way? I thought not. Philadelphia should make for an entertaining playoff opponent if anything. But any idea the team stays healthy and doesn\u2019t throw wins away for two straight months in the physical gauntlet of playoff basketball is fanciful at best.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Raptors<\/p>\n
Why they\u2019re eliminated: The Raptors could definitely prove to be a tough playoff out against the right first-round opponent, but a deep playoff run culminating in a title? A touch too optimistic for our liking. Despite a consistently strong defensive effort led by Scottie Barnes, this is a mediocre team. Mediocre teams never come anywhere close to winning a title.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rockets<\/p>\n
Why they\u2019re eliminated: The two-headed monster of Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn and Kevin Durant is good enough offensively to keep the team competitve every night. But the Rockets can\u2019t score when it matters most as one of the worst clutch teams in the NBA. They are entirely reliant on Durant sinking all his shots to beat equally-talented opponents. Anything less and Houston makes for an easy meal. With the right playoff path the Rockets could certainly make a run, but they\u2019ve shown too many warts to really believe they can make it out of the West.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Timberwolves<\/p>\n
Why they\u2019re eliminated: It isn\u2019t entirely fair to eliminate the Wolves after they rallied for some quality wins in the wake of Anthony Edwards\u2019s injury<\/a>. But even despite that Minnesota has the weakest case of all the remaining teams. Even with Edwards\u2019s game-changing talent the Wolves have shown us they are a team who will not\u2014or worse, cannot\u2014string together stretches of great basketball. To win in the West, they\u2019ll need two straight months of great basketball. Minnesota is out of time to prove capable of doing so.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cavaliers\u00a0<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re eliminated: If it seems odd to eliminate this team after a 10\u20135 month, consider this: Kenny Atkinson gave the roster the business about their poor defense<\/a> after their fourth win in a row last week. And matters did not improve! After hearing their head coach tee off on their defensive efforts the Cavs went on to give up 120 points in a loss to the Heat, 128 points in a win against those same Heat, and then 113 points in a win over the Jazz. The results are there; the process, not so much. It\u2019s indicative of Cleveland’s reliance on outscoring opponents, which works wonderfully in the regular season but does not lead to deep postseason runs; giving up 45-point third quarters, as they did on Tuesday against the Lakers, is not going to get them very far.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jarrett Allen\u2019s return will definitely help and even the minimal time remaining in the season will be instrumental for the roster to continue to build chemistry. But the defensive issues seen on the court lately aren\u2019t linked to one player\u2019s absence. It is a feature, not a bug, of the Donovan Mitchell-James Harden backcourt. For that reason, the Cavaliers will not win a title this season.<\/p>\n NBA championship power rankings7. Knicks The Knicks have lost three straight games. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 6 The title case: The Knicks boast a very talented starting five that is quite difficult to stop offensively. Jalen Brunson is a proven No. 1 playoff option and the OG Anunoby\u2013Mikal Bridges combo is a terror on the wing. New York is skilled on both ends and shouldn\u2019t be quite as worn down entering the playoffs with Mike Brown in charge instead of Tom Thibodeau.The fact that long bouts of inconsistency persist this deep into the season isn\u2019t great, you might say, but the talent is undeniable and things look really good when it all comes together.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: The orange-and-blue had a week\u2019s worth of tests against similarly-talented opponents\u2014and failed them all. They lost to the red-hot Hornets, couldn\u2019t quite get across the finish line against the Thunder, and completely fell apart in the second half of Tuesday night\u2019s loss to the Rockets in Houston. One could argue the first two were \u201cgood\u201d losses in that they were competitive but New York just looks\u2026 shaky right now. Things are disjointed on both ends of the court and when shots aren\u2019t falling the whole operation falls to pieces. This is a team headed in the wrong direction with the playoffs around the corner.<\/p>\n 6. Nuggets Jamal Murray\u2019s Nuggets took care of business against weak competition. | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 6 The title case: The Nuggets are enjoying another great Nikola Joki\u0107 season. As long as he\u2019s healthy Denver has a shot. Jamal Murray enjoying his first All-Star campaign could lead to an even better postseason for an already proven playoff performer. They just barely lost to the Thunder last year and have gotten better this season. The kicker for these Nuggets, more than any other team, is health. Injuries have plagued the roster up and down all season long. If they can hit the postseason at full strength there\u2019s plenty of reason for optimism.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: Aaron Gordon missed two games in the last week with a calf issue, throwing a wrench into what was shaping up to be the first fully healthy stretch<\/a> of the Nuggets\u2019 season. Regardless, the team rolled anyway against a series of undermanned and\/or tanking opponents. The biggest takeaway? Joki\u0107 seems to be rounding into dangerous playoff form. He averaged 27 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists a night in the last three games, all wins. That\u2019s a frightening sight for any potential playoff opponent. The defense remains middling, however, and that makes it hard to buy the idea of Denver making a run through the West\u2014the Nuggets rank only 19th in defensive rating around the league over the last three games despite playing the Mavericks, Jazz and Warriors.\u00a0<\/p>\n 5. Lakers\u00a0 It\u2019s all smiles in Los Angeles for Luka right now. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 4 The title case: Star power. Most opponents cannot handle the full might of Luka Don\u010di\u0107, LeBron James and Austin Reaves. The trio boast ludicrous shotmaking and creation skills against any opponent. Of late, James seems to have accepted the Lakers are at their best when he plays like a supercharged role player<\/a> and the dividends have been clear as day since he returned from injury last Thursday. Los Angeles is healthy and coalescing at a great time, showing a consistent spark only seen in short spurs previously.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: The Lakers are still on a heater<\/a> exiting March and have officially convinced the public of their championship intentions. While the Luka Don\u010di\u0107 MVP debate is only just getting started<\/a> there\u2019s no doubting his greatness offensively, and the winning streak he led Los Angeles on allowed them to coast to a few easy wins over the course of the last week. At some point the weight he carries offensively might be worth worrying about, in fairness. He scored 42 points in the Lakers\u2019 latest win over the Cavs while not one of his teammates passed the 20-point mark. But Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s proven up to the task thus far of shouldering an enormous offensive load while playing winning basketball.\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Celtics Jayson Tatum led the Celtics to multiple big wins this week. | Brian Westerholt-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 7 The title case: The Celtics were an exceptionally well-coached team led by a true star in Jaylen Brown. Now they are all that plus Jayson Tatum<\/a>. Boston has maintained its place as an elite offensive team while working extremely hard as a group to put forth strong defensive efforts every night despite boasting a nigh-unrecognizable roster compared to last season. Tatum\u2019s return has gone very smoothly as well\u2014the superstar forward already has a Player of the Week award to his name, which speaks to how strong his all-around game has been despite subpar shooting numbers. It is difficult to determine this team\u2019s ceiling right now with the rotation still adjusting to Tatum\u2019s presence, but that transition is going as well as the team could have hoped.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: There was a ton to like from Boston over this recent stretch, although it ended with a stinker. The Celtics snapped the Thunder\u2019s winning streak despite falling down by double digits in the first quarter. Then Tatum led the team to back-to-back wins over the Hawks and Hornets, the two hottest teams in the East, with Brown sidelined due to Achilles tendonitis. It was the biggest show of progress yet from Tatum and the OKC win showed how dangerous the C\u2019s still are when he and Brown are still healthy. The hype train hit the brakes with an ugly loss to Atlanta but Boston looks to be gaining momentum at just the right time.<\/p>\n 3. Pistons Jalen Duren is one of several Pistons to have upped his game since Cade Cunningham went down. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 3 The title case: The Pistons are an excellent, physical defensive squad with an MVP candidate leading the way offensively (when healthy) in Cade Cunningham. Jalen Duren\u2019s All-Star leap has given the team a true centerpiece to man the middle on both ends. J.B. Bickerstaff has inspired a physical defense that overcomes a lack of offensive output from the roster overall. It\u2019s all resulted in an in-your-face brand of basketball that offers multiple avenues to victory each night.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: The Pistons will just not give up. Cunningham going down for the season would have made for a perfectly fine excuse to lose steam with the season coming to a close; indeed the expectation around these parts was that they would do just that and tumble a few spots down the rankings. Instead Detroit\u2019s hard-nosed group of role players came together to fight tooth and nail for wins\u2014the team is 4\u20132 since he went down and the two losses have been by a combined five points. It\u2019s encouraging to see the supporting cast step up from a contention perspective and makes it all but impossible to knock the Pistons for Cunningham\u2019s injury at this stage. If he can\u2019t make it back for the playoffs, that\u2019s one thing. But right now Detroit\u2019s less-heralded players are getting thrown into the deep end and that can only pay dividends in the postseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Spurs The Spurs have been on a roll for months. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 2 The title case: Victor Wembanyama. That\u2019s the start and end of the Spurs\u2019 case to win a title way ahead of schedule this year. The third-year All-Star has been a force unto himself since coming into the league but figured out how to best apply his outrageous skill set to winning games this season. San Antonio\u2019s supporting cast has proven ready to rise to the moment alongside him. This is a very good team with a hard-to-see ceiling due to Wemby\u2019s generational talents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: The Spurs annihilated everyone in their path over the last week and nobody was surprised. What else is there to say about this breakout squad? They have maintained an extremely high level of play for months. Wembanyama continues to get better as the season winds down. The players around him are meshing very well and Mitch Johnson is coaching his tail off. Unfortunately for San Antonio the Thunder have kept pace and so the Spurs figure to finish second in the West despite a 60-win season, which will probably be the only negative of the franchise\u2019s otherwise laudable year.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. Thunder Will SGA\u2019s whistle hold up in the playoffs this year? | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s rankings: No. 1 The title case: The Thunder have fallen off the historic pace they set to kick off the year but still hit 60 wins with weeks to go in the season and became the first team to clinch a playoff berth<\/a>. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander broke a Wilt Chamberlain record<\/a> and is at the forefront of MVP talks yet again. Jalen Williams came back with plenty of time to ramp up for the postseason. OKC should feel great right now.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: The Thunder lost at full health against the Celtics in what could be a very interesting hint at the particular types of players OKC struggles to stop (read: superstar wings). But, while some losses are concerning no matter when they happen, the defending champs won\u2019t lose sleep over a competitive defeat in mid-March. It will be mighty interesting to see how much (if at all) the whistle tightens up for SGA come playoff time, though. In two narrow wins over the Knicks and Pistons, Gilgeous-Alexander recorded 17 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter and overtime combined; he shot a whopping 41 attempts from the charity stripe overall between the two contests. The Thunder really needed those points to emerge victorious, too. Will he get the same calls in a more physical setting when the games really matter? If not then OKC\u2019s margin for error may be thinner than it appears. <\/p>\n![\"Knicks](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kn4n5sttjk6kac5y9v.jpg\" "\\"Knicks")
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Record entering April 1: 48\u201328<\/p>\n![\"Jamal](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kn4ncf0bf0dsn1mwzk.jpg\" "\\"Jamal")
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Record entering April 1: 48\u201328\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Luka](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kn4nf9wj5bwk20q019.jpg\" "\\"Luka")
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Record entering April 1: 50\u201326<\/p>\n![\"Jayson](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kn4ngrhgdbzx9zfbfr.jpg\" "\\"Jayson")
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Record entering April 1: 50\u201325<\/p>\n![\"Jalen](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kn4nshaterv2az7bet.jpg\" "\\"Jalen")
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Record entering April 1: 55\u201321<\/p>\n![\"Spurs](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kn4nvwgjaxk91dk5j0.jpg\" "\\"Spurs")
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Record entering April 1: 57\u201318\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Shai](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01kn4nxept492758cd5s.jpg\" "\\"Shai")
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Record entering April 1: 60\u201316<\/p>\n
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