Welcome back to Sports Illustrated’s weekly NBA championship power rankings.
In case you’re new here, the premise for these rankings is as follows: At the start of each NBA season there are, realistically, about 10 teams that could make a run at a championship. By the time the All-Star break hits, those teams have made themselves known. The last stretch of the season further separates those with a legitimate chance to win and those destined to go home disappointed. We endeavor to identify those teams and rank them based on our belief in their ability to win 16 playoff games and a championship.
We began with the first iteration of championship power rankings, ranking the top 12 teams in the NBA based on the standings at the time. Then the stakes were heightened: one team will get eliminated from the rankings every week as the season winds down. The first team to go was the 76ers. Then the Raptors got the axe. Last week it was the Rockets’ turn.
Today’s rankings will add another to the eliminated pile and bring the total number of teams alive to eight with about two weeks remaining in the regular season to make their case.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleHere are our championship power rankings with approximately 10 games remaining in this NBA regular season.
Eliminated Teams
76ers
Why they’re eliminated: Tyrese Maxey was playing some great basketball coming out of the All-Star break, but the 76ers still looked comically outmatched against any real contenders. Then the star guard hurt his finger and was ruled out for three weeks, effectively spelling the end of Philly’s contention hopes. The Sixers were a long shot to make a title run for most of the year but any belief this team could compete with the best, even at full health, is officially gone.
Raptors
Why they’re 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.
Rockets
Why they’re eliminated: Even with Alperen Şengün in the lineup, the Rockets have proven helpless against good teams without Kevin Durant making all his shots. Anything less and the team makes for an easy meal for their opponents. With the right playoff path the Rockets could certainly make a run, but they’ve shown too many warts to really believe they can make it out of the West.
Timberwolves
Why they’re eliminated: The first truly difficult cut of the weekly NBA championship power rankings. It isn’t entirely fair to eliminate the Wolves after they rallied for some quality wins in the wake of Anthony Edwards’s injury. But even despite that Minnesota has the weakest case of all the remaining teams. Edwards is a game-changing superstar, yes, but as a whole the roster has been inconsistent from Day 1; not even the production from deadline acquisitions Ayo Dosunmu or Kyle Anderson has changed that.
There’s a saying that when someone shows you who they are, believe them. The Wolves have shown us they are a team who will not—or worse, cannot—string together stretches of great basketball. To win in the West, they’ll need two straight months of great basketball. That sort of consistency is established in the regular season, and Minnesota is out of time to do so.
NBA championship power rankings
8. Cavaliers
Last week’s ranking: No. 8
Record entering March 25: 45–27
The title case: The Cavaliers have the talent to compete for a title, that’s for sure. The trade deadline brought James Harden to Cleveland, where he now suits up alongside Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Between those three, the Cavs should check every box for championship contention. Harden’s acclimation has gone pretty well so far, which is encouraging, and Mitchell’s return from injury came with enough ramp-up time that he should be at 100% when the playoffs arrive.
Week in review: The Cavs won two games against bad teams that were closer than they should’ve been before pulling out a late win over another playoff contender in the Magic. It was Cleveland’s first win of note since beating the Pistons on March 3 at full strength. So it had been a while since we saw the Cavaliers play competitive basketball against relatively even competition. The signs were encouraging enough but unremarkable play against unremarkable teams will catch up with Cleveland eventually.
7. Celtcs
Last week’s ranking: No. 4
Record entering March 25: 47–24
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. 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 an unrecognizable roster from last season. Tatum’s return has gone very smoothly as well. The superstar forward already looks like a capable defender and rebounder who can hit open shots. It’s impossible to determine this team’s ceiling right now with the rotation still adjusting to Tatum’s presence, but that transition is going as well as the team could have hoped.
Week in review: This recent stretch wasn’t exactly inspiring from Boston. The Celtics had no trouble with the Warriors but came dangerously close to dropping one against the tanking Grizzlies before getting outhustled by a Timberwolves team without Edwards to lose on their home floor. Tatum clearly still isn’t back into a shooting rhythm and is hitting fewer than 40% of his shots from the floor. It’d be unfair to extrapolate that into larger worries about his return from the Achilles injury at this time. But as far as the Celtics’ championship hopes for this year go, it could prove a very big problem if Tatum can’t hit the broad side of a barn; he shot 9 for 31 from the field in Boston’s last two games and his team’s play suffered as a result.
6. Knicks
Last week’s ranking: No. 6
Record entering March 25: 48–25
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–Mikal Bridges combo is a terror on the wing. New York is skilled on both ends and shouldn’t be quite as worn down entering the playoffs with Mike Brown in charge instead of Tom Thibodeau. At this stage the orange and blue are just hoping to get to the playoffs healthy; their identity on both ends is well-established, although the bouts of inconsistency are frustrating and worrying in equal measure.
Week in review: It was another seesaw week for the Knicks. They beat the tar out of the Wizards with 145 points in regulation. But New York also came within two points of losing to the Nets, managing only 93 points against the NBA’s fourth-worst defense in Brooklyn. The orange-and-blue’s final game of the week was a sloppy win over the Pelicans at home. As far as win-loss goes it was a perfect week but the Knicks have to start stringing together good performances as the playoffs approach to climb these sorts of lists.
5. Nuggets
Last week’s ranking: No. 5
Record entering March 25: 45–28
The title case: The Nuggets are enjoying another great Nikola Jokić season. As long as he’s 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’s plenty of reason for optimism.
Week in review: The Nuggets are healthy. Huzzah! With Peyton Watson’s return over the weekend Denver finally enjoys a fully locked and loaded rotation for the first time all season. We’ve yet to see everyone operating at full capacity; Watson is on a minutes restriction and missed Tuesday night’s narrow win over the Suns with an injury management designation. But Jokić is clearly rounding into playoff form after putting up 23 points, 17 rebounds, 17 assists and the game-winning shot against Phoenix. If that version of the Serbian superstar comes to play, the Nuggets will be tough to knock off on any night.
4. Lakers
Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Record entering March 25: 46–26
The title case: Star power. Most opponents cannot handle the full might of Luka Dončić, 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 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.
Week in review: The Lakers are on a heater and doing everything possible to convince the greater viewing population that they can win a title. It is an enticing argument. An otherworldly Dončić working with this version of James (extremely overqualified for his role as the third wheel in Los Angeles) and a defensive unit meshing at the right time is a dangerous recipe. Has the team’s hot streak done away with questions about Austin Reaves’s vulnerabilities as a defender or Deandre Ayton’s consistency? Not entirely. But even though it took until March the Lakers finally seem like a team with more answers than questions.
3. Pistons
Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Record entering March 25: 52–19
The title case: The Pistons are an excellent, physical defensive squad with an MVP candidate leading the way offensively in Cade Cunningham. Jalen Duren’s 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 players who surround Cunningham most nights. It’s all resulted in an in-your-face brand of basketball that offers multiple avenues to victory each night.
Week in review: Hats off to Detroit for refusing to roll over in the wake of Cunningham’s collapsed lung. Since the Pistons’ superstar was declared out indefinitely his team has gutted out three wins, most impressively against the Lakers to end L.A.’s nine-game win streak. It was an extremely important stretch of performances from the Detroit roster—it kept the top seed in the East firmly in the team’s hand and inspired more optimism than ever about this supporting cast. The Pistons’ championship hopes still rest on Cunningham’s shoulders, but it was a great stretch for this young team.
2. Spurs
Last week’s ranking: No. 2
Record entering March 25: 54–18
The title case: Victor Wembanyama. That’s the start and end of the Spurs’ 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 en masse this season. San Antonio’s 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’s generational talents.
Week in review: The Spurs have been mowing down opponents for months now. Wembanyama’s MVP case is growing stronger by the day as the star center locks in in anticipation of the playoffs—he’s played some of the best basketball of his career lately. San Antonio is proving extraordinarily tough to beat as the rest of the roster clicks around the superstar manning the middle. How they fare in the crucible of postseason play is all that’s left to be determined.
1. Thunder
Last week’s rankings: No. 1
Record entering March 25: 57–15
The title case: The Thunder have fallen off the historic pace they set to kick off the year but were still the first team to hit 50 wins, as well as the first team to clinch a playoff berth. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander broke a Wilt Chamberlain record and seems poised to take home a second consecutive MVP award. With Jalen Williams’s return OKC is finally at full health, too. The prospect of this OKC team getting better is frightening but appears to be the reality as the season draws to a close.
Week in review: The Thunder are cruising. Williams played 18 minutes and scored 20 points in his first game since before the All-Star break. The team hasn’t lost since late February. Gilgeous-Alexander remains the MVP favorite and OKC should finish with the most regular season wins in the NBA, again. All is well with the leading championship contenders.
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