NBA Power Rankings: Race to top Thunder tightens, Pistons stumble

There’s a new (old?) team atop the USA TODAY Sports NBA power rankings.

As the NBA calendar turns to the final month of the regular season, races for playoff seeding are tightening.

In the East, the difference between the top two teams, the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics, is just 2 ½ games. In the West, that margin between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs is only 3 games.

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But there’s also a glut of teams in the middle of the Eastern Conference vying to climb out of the play-in picture, all of which points to a thrilling finish in the 2025-26 regular season.

Here are USA TODAY Sports’ NBA power rankings after Week 18 of the 2025-26 regular season:

1 / 8

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents

Oct. 26: The Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg dunks the ball past the Toronto Raptors’ Sandro Mamukelashvili at the American Airlines Center.

1 / 8

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents

Oct. 26: The Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg dunks the ball past the Toronto Raptors’ Sandro Mamukelashvili at the American Airlines Center.

2 / 8

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents

Oct. 26: The Washington Wizards’ Cam Whitmore dunks the ball against the Charlotte Hornets at Capital One Arena.

3 / 8

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents

Oct. 26: The Brooklyn Nets’ Michael Porter Jr. dunks in front of the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama at Frost Bank Center.

4 / 8

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents

Oct. 25: The Denver Nuggets’ Christian Braun dunks the ball against the Phoenix Suns’ Grayson Allen at Ball Arena.

5 / 8

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents

Oct. 24: The Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. dunks against the Miami Heat at FedExForum.

6 / 8

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars posterize opponents

Oct. 24: The Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo dunks over the Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. at FedExForum.

7 / 8

Dribble into this collection of dunk photos as NBA stars…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nba-power-rankings-race-top-175421134.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-10 17:54:00

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