It’s time for another round of power rankings – and a busy one. Between the Lakers’ bruiser win in Phoenix, Atlanta’s late-game execution masterclass, Victor Wembanyama detonating Oklahoma City’s offense on Saturday, and a ton of uneven scheduling thanks to the NBA Cup, we’ve got a wild mix of signals to parse.
As always, all current title odds are provided by Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook.
10. Orlando Magic (+3000)
Another maddening injury week for Orlando, a team that cannot keep its core healthy for more than 48 hours at a time.
They lose Franz Wagner early in the Knicks game, Jalen Suggs pulls a groin mid-takeover, and the shooting fizzles again in a moment where they desperately needed rim pressure and spacing. That’s been the recurring theme for this squad: whenever they settle into a rhythm – boom, someone goes down.
And yet, they remain a dominant defense and an elite rebounding team. What’s encouraging is the transition explosion – 28 fast-break points per game, fifth in the NBA, up from bottom-five last season. That’s coaching growth. Jamahl Mosley deserves real credit for modernizing this offense: more pace, more passing layers, more cutting, more randomness.
Still: big game, stakes rise, the shooting goes ice-cold. Until they stabilize health and perimeter consistency, they’ll hover here.
9. Boston Celtics (+3000)
A bad loss to Milwaukee without Giannis raises some eyebrows. The Bucks just hunted mismatches over and over – Kuzma punishing, Bobby Portis torching switches, and Boston never quite dictating the terms of engagement defensively.
But the Celtics have won seven of nine, have the third-best record since November 23rd, and are hitting a beautiful offensive stride with a 129 offensive rating during that stretch. The shooting, the spacing, the decisiveness – all clicking.
With a possible center acquisition at the deadline, the Celtics still have a clear runway to being the East’s scariest postseason matchup.
8. Minnesota Timberwolves (+3000)
Minnesota gets two solid wins vs. Sacramento and Golden State, but the bigger theme continues: They beat bad teams and can’t crack good ones.
They’re 15-1 against sub-.500 teams… and 2-8 against teams .500 or better.
The defense is the reason. Against top-10 point-differential teams, the Wolves are allowing 124 points per 100 – 23rd in the league. But Rudy Gobert’s impact remains enormous; they fall off a cliff when he sits.
Offensively? Best they’ve ever looked. Defensively? Situational, matchup-dependent, and way too variable.
They’re better than their record suggests – but not trustworthy enough to climb higher yet.
7. Houston Rockets (+1000)
Only one game this week, but a good one: a measured, poised win over the Clippers driven by Kevin Durant’s orchestration and their bruising, brute-force half-court ecosystem.
KD didn’t have the cleanest box score, but he absolutely commanded crunch-time pick-and-roll: pocket passes, four-on-three ignitions, weak-side skips – vintage quarterbacking. Sengun continues to be a late-game battering ram. Amen Thompson gives them vertical pressure and paint touches nobody can stay in front of.
Still the only team besides OKC with a double-digit net rating. Still built like a playoff nightmare.
6. Los Angeles Lakers (+1300)
We broke this game down earlier, so no need to rehash every detail – but the story is simple: Lakers 112, Suns 105 – a win on effort, not aesthetics.
LeBron and Luka were messy. The offense sputtered. The turnovers were brutal. And they still won because they punked Phoenix physically:
- 24 offensive rebounds
- 25 second-chance points
- 13 steals
- 8 blocks
Jared Vanderbilt, Jake LaRavia, Gabe Vincent, and Jaxson Hayes swung the game with pure defensive fury. The Suns were outworked, outfought, out-scrapped.
The Lakers remain flawed, but their mental toughness is real – still haven’t lost two straight this season. That matters.
5. Denver Nuggets (+700)
One game, one demolition.
Sacramento had no answers for Nikola Jokić, who put up 36 on 14-of-16 shooting. The bench continues trending up – Jonas Valančiūnas gave them a perfect night – and the non-Jokić minutes are now merely a mild negative (-3.8 per 100), which is a gigantic improvement from the yearly double-digit collapses they’re used to.
Denver continues to look inevitable, even while missing core defenders.
4. New York Knicks (+1500)
My current pick to win the Eastern Conference.
Their win over Orlando was another offensive clinic:
- Brunson dismantling one of the best defensive backcourts in basketball
- Karl-Anthony Towns torching Wendell Carter Jr.
- Mike Brown’s offense humming with more passes, more drives, more spot-ups, more complexity
They’ve improved their offensive rating by five full points over last season – a massive year-over-year leap.
Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges give them transition speed and a defensive backbone.
Big test vs. San Antonio Tuesday – a battle of athleticism vs. structure.
3. San Antonio Spurs (+3000)
I was wrong about the Spurs in October. I’m not wrong now.
Under De’Aaron Fox, their drive-and-kick machine looks legitimately elite, and defensively they have the highest ceiling of any team besides OKC. Victor Wembanyama is breaking offensive schemes – not disrupting, breaking.
Saturday vs. OKC was the perfect example. When Wemby was on the floor:
- OKC had an 83.3 offensive rating
- They were forced into 15 off-the-dribble jumpers in just 21 minutes
- They shot 9-for-26 on pull-ups overall
That’s defensive domination approaching historic levels.
The Spurs are coming.
2. Detroit Pistons (+2000)
One game this week – one annihilation.
Eight players in double figures. 72 points in the paint. The NBA’s No. 1 paint-scoring team (58 per game).
They take far fewer jump shots than a typical modern team – just 41 jumpers and 32 threes per game – because they don’t need them. This roster is built on rim pressure. Cade, Duren, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland, Caris LeVert… everyone drives.
It’s an anti-variance offensive model, and it’s starting to look like a winning identity.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder (+100)
Even odds to win the title now. Wild.
San Antonio proved OKC is mortal – if you have:
- elite rim protection
- elite perimeter athletes
- disciplined shooters
Only San Antonio checks all those boxes, and only in spurts.
No other team in the league has the combination of athleticism, spacing, depth, and two-way force to withstand OKC over a seven-game series. Their flaws are matchup-specific, and their strengths overwhelm everywhere else.
Still the best team in basketball. Still in a tier of their own.
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