NBA Power Rankings: How every team stacks up one month into the season, featuring a surprising top 10

Welcome back to our bi-weekly NBA power rankings, where we sort the league’s 30 teams in so perfect an order you cannot quibble with your team’s placement. It is written in stone until two weeks from now.

This time, the Suns, Raptors and Heat have all climbed into the top 10, their success too palpable to ignore. The question is whether, with ceilings set below championship contention, they can hold on to these rankings. We have our doubts, but thus far all three teams have done enough to prove us wrong.

(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

The same cannot be said about the Bucks, Clippers and Mavericks, three teams we figured for some success this season. Milwaukee is without Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Clips have largely been without Kawhi Leonard. And Dallas is without Anthony Davis. Hard to compete if your best guys are unavailable.

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Unless, of course, you are the Thunder, who continue to roll without All-Star wing Jalen Williams. Or the Pistons, who have won 13 straight whether or not Cade Cunningham, their MVP candidate, is in the lineup.

Let’s get to it. One month into the NBA season, your latest and greatest power rankings …

Previous rank: 29

The Wizards have already reached a point where they are asking existential questions. “Look at yourself in the mirror and answer the deeper questions,” said Kyshawn George. “It’s more than basketball. What do you really want in life? What do you want to build? What do we want to do here as an organization?”

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Previous rank: 28

Rick Carlisle is trying to find motivation for his injury-riddled Pacers: “With this kind of adversity comes opportunity. We got to find the opportunity. Our fans have been great. They’ve given us great support even though it’s been difficult. We’re going to continue to have to lean on them and lean on each other.”

Previous rank: 27

As Pelicans president of basketball operations Joe Dumars, who fired coach Willie Green this week, said, “We have to establish who we want to be here in New Orleans going forward, and I just wasn’t seeing that happening. I didn’t see us establishing anything as far as who…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/nba-power-rankings-how-every-team-stacks-up-one-month-into-season-featuring-a-surprising-top-10-175924143.html

Author : Ben Rohrbach

Publish date : 2025-11-25 17:59:00

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