NBA Power Rankings – The Nuggets maintain chemistry and the Thunder
We’re nearing the end of the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament, with the Western and Eastern semifinals set for Thursday.
But the regular season continues to push along as teams look to wrap up 2023 on a high note and enter the new year swinging.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have made a jump into the top 5 in this week’s ranks, led by rookie Chet Holmgren and All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. And as the Western Conference continues to shake up, the Boston Celtics have yet to be dethroned in the East.
The Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers are not far behind. With Tyrese Haliburton having a breakout season, leading the league in assists (11.9) and second in 3s (4.0). The Pacers will face the Milwaukee Bucks, and the New Orleans Pelicans will face the Los Angeles Lakers to determine who will play in the in-season tournament finals on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Kendra Andrews, Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball and which teams are looking most like title contenders.
Previous rankings: Post-Finals | Nov. 1 | Nov. 8 | Nov. 15 | Nov. 22 | Nov. 29 |
Jump to a team:
ATL | BOS | BKN | CHA | CHI | CLE
DAL | DEN | DET | GS | HOU | IND
LAC | LAL | MEM | MIA | MIL | MIN
NO | NY | OKC | ORL | PHI | PHX
POR | SAC | SA | TOR | UTAH | WAS
1. Boston Celtics
2023-24 record: 15-5
Boston was the favorite to win the in-season tournament — only to go down after a hellacious second-half performance from budding superstar Tyrese Haliburton Monday night. Now, the Celtics will spend their next few days licking their wounds until they host the Knicks Friday at home. The one positive thing: Boston, which still tops the East and ranks in the top 10 in both offense and defense, will spend the next couple of weeks at home, before going out West later this month. — Tim Bontemps
2. Minnesota…
