Christmas Day is the unofficial start to the NBA season — well, at least it was before the excitement of the In-Season Tournament entered our lives (feel free to read that with or without sarcasm). This year’s slate did not disappoint, as we saw brilliant individual and team performances in a showcase of the league’s top talent.
As far as the Power Rankings go, the top wasn’t affected much this week, with the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves remaining in the top two spots despite each suffering a loss. Last week’s No. 3 team, the LA Clippers, fell to No. 10 as a result of their winning streak being snapped and were the biggest fallers of the week.
Speaking of the top 10, the Miami Heat and New York Knicks each find themselves among the league’s elite after strong weeks that ended in Christmas Day wins. The Heat jumped nine spots without the services of Jimmy Butler, to claim the title as the week’s biggest riser.
Meanwhile the Phoenix Suns, amid rumors of Kevin Durant’s discontent, dropped four more spots to No. 19 after a winless week capped by Luka Doncic dropping 50 and 15 on them on Christmas. Yeesh.
With the Christmas Day slate behind us, here’s a look at this week’s NBA Power Rankings.
*Please keep in mind that our NBA Power Rankings are based on weekly performance (Tuesday to Monday), not the whole season.
Christmas Day is the unofficial start to the NBA season — well, at least it was before the excitement of the In-Season Tournament entered our lives (feel free to read that with or without sarcasm). This year’s slate did not disappoint, as we saw brilliant individual and team performances in a showcase of the league’s top talent.
As far as the Power Rankings go, the top wasn’t affected much this week, with the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves remaining in the top two spots despite each suffering a loss. Last week’s No. 3 team, the LA Clippers, fell to No. 10 as a result of their winning streak being snapped and were the biggest fallers of the week.
Speaking of the top 10, the Miami Heat and New York Knicks each find themselves among the league’s elite after strong weeks that ended in Christmas Day wins. The Heat jumped nine spots without the services of Jimmy Butler, to claim the title as the week’s biggest riser.
Meanwhile the Phoenix Suns, amid rumors of Kevin Durant’s discontent, dropped four more spots to No. 19 after a winless week capped by Luka Doncic dropping 50 and 15 on them on Christmas. Yeesh.
With the Christmas Day slate behind us, here’s a look at this week’s NBA Power Rankings.
*Please keep in mind that our NBA Power Rankings are based on weekly performance (Tuesday to Monday), not the whole season.
| RK | TEAMS | CHG | RCRD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 CELTICS |
— | 23-6 | |
| 2 |
 TIMBERWOLVES |
— | 22-7 | |
| 3 |
 BUCKS |
1 | 22-8 | |
| 4 |
 76ERS |
1 | 20-9 | |
| 5 |
 NUGGETS |
3 | 22-10 | |
| 6 |
 THUNDER |
1 | 19-9 | |
| 7 |
 HEAT |
9 | 18-12 | |
| 8 |
 KNICKS |
4 | 17-12 | |
| 9 |
 MAVERICKS |
2 | 18-12 | |
| 10 |
 CLIPPERS |
7 | 18-12 | |
| 11 |
 KINGS |
5 | 17-12 | |
| 12 |
 MAGIC |
3 | 18-11 | |
| 13 |
 WARRIORS |
5 | 15-15 | |
| 14 |
 CAVALIERS |
1 | 17-13 | |
| 15 |
 ROCKETS |
1 | 15-13 | |
| 16 |
 PELICANS |
6 | 17-14 | |
| 17 |
 LAKERS |
— | 16-15 | |
| 18 |
 BULLS |
1 | 14-18 | |
| 19 |
 SUNS |
4 | 14-15 | |
| 20 |
 JAZZ |
3 | 13-18 | |
| 21 |
 NETS |
1 | 15-15 | |
| 22 |
 GRIZZLIES |
6 | 10-19 | |
| 23 |
 HAWKS |
1 | 12-18 | |
| 24 |
 PACERS |
— | 15-14 | |
| 25 |
 RAPTORS |
4 | 11-18 | |
| 26 |
 WIZARDS |
1 | 5-24 | |
| 27 |
 TRAIL BLAZERS |
— | 8-21 | |
| 28 |
 HORNETS |
1 | 7-21 | |
| 29 |
 SPURS |
3 | 4-25 | |
| 30 |
 PISTONS |
— | 2-28 |
