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We’re a quarter of the way through the NBA season, which means it’s a good time to step back and assess where teams stand and which tier they are in. OKC seems to be on its own.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
(23-1, last week No. 1)
The Thunder have been rolling through everyone and everything in their path, and with that they deserve to be heavy favorites to win the Emirates NBA Cup. OKC reached the Cup Finals a year ago, only to have one of their worst shooting nights of the season against Milwaukee. The one thing that could stop the Thunder is the absence of reigning MVP (and arguably the current frontrunner to repeat) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He sat out Sunday against Utah with an elbow issue — and they still won by 30. SGA is expected to be good to go on Wednesday in an NBA Cup game against Phoenix, but it’s worth watching.
2. Detroit Pistons
(19-5, last week No. 4)
The Pistons get an easy A grade for the first quarter of the season, they have taken another large step forward this season and look like a legitimate threat to come out of the East. What’s driving that is the fourth-ranked defense in the NBA, which was top-10 in the league a season ago but is now 1.3 points per 100 possessions better. They are at the point where the questions we have about them — will the lack of 3-point shooting bite them? Do they need a second high-level shot creator next to Cade Cunningham? — may only be able to be answered come the playoffs.
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3. New York Knicks
(16-7, last week No. 6)
New York has won 7-of-8, and while that has come mainly against a soft spot in the schedule, the Knicks have had key guys (OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns) missing time in there to balance things out. Plus, there were some quality wins in that streak, including against Orlando on Sunday. The one question about this team is how things go on the road — New York is 13-1 in Madison Square Garden but 3-6 outside of it. The next big road test comes Tuesday in Toronto in an NBA Cup quarterfinals game, with a trip to Vegas on the line for the winner.
4. Houston Rockets
(15-6, last week No. 2)
There’s no way to describe Houston’s fast start to the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nba-power-rankings-2025-26-201147564.html
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Publish date : 2025-12-08 20:11:00
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