NBA power rankings 2024-25: Thunder, Celtics top the rankings, with Warriors now lurking at four

March always leads to funky results — tanking teams picking up unexpected wins, contending teams losing head scratchers — and this month has been no different. It's going to be a wild last few weeks of the season.

TRUE TITLE CONTENDERS

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (60-12, Last Week No. 2). Oklahoma City is the first team to 60 wins and has locked up the No. 1 seed in the West, which leaves Mark Daigneault and staff with the rest vs. rust challenge. "[Our] highest priority is health and freshness, we want to be feeling really good physically going into the playoffs," he said this week. "But that includes rhythm, that includes playing. It doesn't mean we're just going to shut the team down, you got to play, you got to keep your rhythm, you got to stay sharp, you got to stay urgent. So that's a huge emphasis for us, like keeping our edge, our fundamentals and all that."

2. Boston Celtics (53-19, LW 3). Jayson Tatum's ankle injury Monday night was scary looking, but the fact that he left the building without a boot or crutches is a sign that things are not too serious. Tatum likely misses a game or three, which serves as a reminder we have only seen the Celtics' preferred starting five — Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis — in 21 games this season, and that lineup has a -1.7 net rating.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers (58-14, LW 2). Cleveland dropped four in a row before righting the ship against Utah and Portland. It’s easy to write those losses off — mini-slumps happen to every team during a season and the opponents were all hot from beyond the arc — but there were concerns. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley could not slow Ivica Zubac inside for the Clippers. Sacramento went small and that seemed to bother Cleveland at both ends of the floor, plus DeMar DeRozan targeting Donovan Mitchell was something we will see come the playoffs. The Cavaliers are still a threat in the East but need to get their rhythm back before the postseason starts.

SECOND TIER CONTENDERS

4. Denver Nuggets (45-28, LW 4). The Nuggets have gone 2-3 without Nikola Jokic, which his backers say should help his MVP case — he has a heavier load to carry than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander because there is not much talent around him (Denver gets outscored by 7.6 points per 100 possessions when Jokic is off the court). Jokic is expected to return during the team's five-game homestead (on which it is 0-1 so far) with the Bucks coming to town Wednesday, followed by the Jazz, Timberwolves and Spurs.

5. Houston Rockets (47-26, LW 6). Can the Rockets hold on to the No. 2 seed? They have a two-game cushion over the Nuggets with nine games to play (that loss to a Jokic-less Denver on Sunday was not pretty, however). It's been a month since the Rockets beat a winning team and if they want to hold on to this No. 2 seed they need at least a split in a tough road back-to-back Sunday/Monday against the Lakers and surging Suns.

6. Golden State Warriors (41-31, LW 5). It’s weird to say about a team with Stephen Curry (and considering recent Warriors history), but this is not a great shooting team. That has shown up in the two losses without Stephen Curry (pelvic contusion). Come the playoffs, it’s going to be difficult for Steve Kerr to play Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga together because that’s three non-shooters on the floor at once (Kerr seems to recognize that as that trio has barely played together so far). Golden State is 0-2 to start its six-game road trip and it needs wins to hold off the Clippers and Timberwolves for the six seed. The good news is there are winnable games up this week in the Pelicans, Spurs and Grizzlies.

PLAYOFFS OR BUST

7. Los Angeles Clippers (40-31, LW 11). James Harden injured his foot Sunday against the Thunder, and the Clippers hope he can return on their upcoming road trip (he is questionable heading into Wednesday's game vs. the Knicks). It's not just his 22.5 points and 8.7 assists a game that will be missed, the Clippers run their entire offense through him, and they are basically a .500 team without him (they are +4.5 when he is on the court). With the Clippers, Warriors and Timberwolves all within half a game of each other, Los Angeles can't afford to be without him for long.

8. Minnesota Timberwolves (41-32, LW 7). The Timberwolves have a much easier remaining schedule than the Clippers and Warriors in the race for the No. 6 seed and avoiding the play-in, but will they take advantage of it? Minnesota has lost three of its last four and needs to turn things around fast. Naz Reid has quietly made a strong Sixth Man of the Year case averaging 14.7 points and 6.1 assists a game for the Timberwolves this year (he has started just 17 of 72 games).

9. New York Knicks (45-26, LW 8). The Knicks are 5-4 since Jalen Brunson went down with a sprained ankle and with that have maintained a solid grip on the No. 3 seed in the East with 11 to play (the red-hot Pacers are three games back). Brunson is doing "controlled work" according to the team, but the expectation has been that he would return in late March or early April. Impressive Tuesday night by Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart to become the first-ever Knicks teammates with triple-doubles in the same game.

10. Indiana Pacers (42-29, LW 14). Since the All-Star break, Tyrese Haliburton has averaged 21.6 points and 11.8 assists per game, and it has sparked the Pacers. Indiana now has a two-game lead over the (now shorthanded) Bucks for the No. 4 seed in the East and hosting a first-round playoff game and catching the Knicks for the No. 3 seed is not out of the question (the Pacers are three games back with 11 to play but have a much easier schedule the rest of the way). Good measuring stick game Saturday against the Thunder.

11. Los Angeles Lakers (43-28, LW 9). The Lakers are 0-2 since the return of LeBron James, but what's more concerning is how they lost those games. Both the Bulls and Magic played up-tempo and exploited the Lakers' weak transition defense. In the half-court, both teams used the Lakers' switch-heavy defense against them to create mismatches to exploit. The Lakers don't have a high-level rim-protecting big to clean up those messes, and it has shown. All of this means that we can expect to see a lot more of that during the playoffs. The Lakers need to find the on-court connectivity they had before LeBron's injury.

12. Memphis Grizzlies (44-28, LW 10). Memphis is 1-3 on its current five-game road trip (with the only remaining game Thursday against the Thunder) and injuries have hit the team hard with Ja Morant missing time with a hamstring strain and now Brandon Clarke being out for the season with a sprained knee. With that, the Grizzlies have not been able to take advantage of the stumbles of the Lakers and Nuggets in a race for the 3/4/5 seed in the West (all three teams are within a game of each other).

13. Detroit Pistons (41-32, LW 12). The Pistons are tied with the Bucks for the 5/6 seeds in the East (one game back in the loss column) with nine games left to play, but Detroit's easy stretch of their schedule is now over — they have the toughest remaining schedule in the East. The Pistons' next three games are the Cavaliers, at the Timberwolves, and at the Thunder. Getting the No. 5 seed means an easier (but not easy) first-round matchup against the Pacers, the No. 6 seed will get the Knicks.

14. Phoenix Suns (35-37, LW 18). Phoenix has won four in a row, 5-of-6, and is now tied with slumping Sacramento for the 9/10 seed in the West — ninth gets to host the first-round of the play-in, so it matters. Kevin Durant dropped 40 in each of the last two wins against the Cavaliers and Bucks. The challenge is that the Suns still have the toughest remaining schedule in the West and this week that includes Boston, at Minnesota, Houston, and at Milwaukee.

15. Milwaukee Bucks (40-31, LW 13). Damian Lillard being out with deep vein thrombosis in his calf is scary for him personally, but the fact that it was caught early and is being treated is important for him and his long-term health. The Bucks believe this will not be recurring and suggest he could even return this season or during the playoffs. We'll see. The Bucks have played well late in the games Lillard has missed. Still, Milwaukee bet big on the Lillard/Giannis Antetokounmpo pairing lifting this team back to the top of the East, but Antetokounmpo was out injured last playoffs and now Lillard is in danger of missing this season's run.

16. Orlando Magic (35-38, LW 17). Orlando is finding its footing again and is the team the top seeds in the East shouldn't want to see in the first round. The Magic have won three in a row and 5-of-7 behind a resurgent top defense and enough offense from Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner to make it work. The Magic are just half-a-game back of the Hawks for the No. 7 seed (one back in the loss column) and could make up that ground, but have a tougher schedule the rest of the way. The Magic have winnable games this week against the Mavericks, Kings and Spurs so now is the time to make the move.

17. Atlanta Hawks (35-37, LW 16). Should Zaccharie Risacher be in the Rookie of the Year conversation? The gambling market thinks so, with Risacher now second in the betting odds to win the award (behind the Spurs Stephon Castle). In his last 15 games, Risacher has averaged 14.2 points and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 42.7% from 3 (and it's up to 17.6 points per game in his last five). The problem for Risacher is that the first half of the season still counts in the voting, but he's going to get consideration from voters (and gets aided by recency bias).

18. Chicago Bulls (32-40, LW 19). Coby White is drawing the attention — three straight 35+ point games and he was just named NBA Player of the Week — but Chicago has another hot hand right now in Josh Giddey. Since the All-Star break, Giddy has averaged 22.6 points per game, 10.3 rebounds per game, 9.1 assists, and is shooting 53.1% on 3-pointers. Giddey is a restricted free agent this summer and reportedly is looking for starting point guard money, around $30 million a year. Do the Bulls want to pay that? Does anyone?

19. Sacramento Kings (35-37, LW 15). Losers of four in a row and 8-of-10, the Kings are in danger of sliding out of the play-in completely (they are tied with the surging Suns, and Dallas is right there and just got Anthony Davis back). A lot of those losses happened with Domantas Sabonis out of the lineup, his return is a big boost, although the bigger issue remains defense, which is 29th in the league over the last 10 games. If only the Kings had a coach who was defensive-focused... like Mike Brown.

PLAY IN HOPEFULS

20. Portland Trail Blazers (32-41, LW 20). While much of the focus of the Trail Blazers' recent surge has been on Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe, don't leave Donovan Clingan out of the mix. Moved into a starting role after the All-Star break, in his last 10 games Clingan has averaged 7.4 points a game on 50% shooting and has grabbed 10.1 rebounds and blocked two shots a night. He's been solid and could be the guy in the middle for whatever is being built in Portland.

21. Dallas Mavericks (35-38, LW 22). Anthony Davis has returned from his adductor strain and in the one game he's played so far it was evident how much just his gravity on the court opens up driving lanes and makes the Mavericks' offense look better. With AD, the Mavericks could make the play-in... I still don't get why they want to. Sit him, tank the rest of the season, fall out of the play-in and get the best lottery position you can in hopes of landing another Dereck Lively II who can help this team win next season and beyond, when they have a chance.

22. Miami Heat (31-41, LW 21). The Heat have won two in a row — and if they play every game like the Jimmy Butler return game this team would look much more dangerous. One key reason the Heat don't look like a threat? They have a league-worst -7.4 net rating in the fourth quarter. On the bright side, the Heat have Kel'el Ware doing this:

CAPTURE THE (COOPER) FLAGG

23. San Antonio Spurs (31-40, LW 24). San Antonio had won three in a row and 5-of-7 until running into Detroit this week, and they had done it with a very balanced attack. Give credit to Chris Paul, who continues to play every night, put up numbers and show a young team what it means to be a true professional. Don't expect the Spurs' hot streak to continue against a brutal schedule this week: Cavaliers, Celtics, Warriors, Magic.

24. Toronto Raptors (25-47, LW 23). Despite a four-game losing streak and some creative tanking measures (playing their stars then pulling them in the clutch), the Raptors still seemed destined for the seventh-worst record in the league. It's going to be tough to keep losing at the pace Toronto needs to because it has the easiest remaining schedule in the league. This week, the Raptors face three other tanking teams in the Nets, Hornets, and 76ers, plus the Bulls and whatever they are doing.

25. Brooklyn Nets (23-49, LW 25). Management's tanking efforts won out — they have traded away/bought out enough talent (Dennis Schroder, Ben Simmons, Dorian Finney-Smith, Bojan Bogdanovic) that the team has fallen apart and gone 3-15 since the All-Star break and 2-11 in March. That said, the Nets are competitive in most of their losses, a sign of what a great job Jori Fernandez has done in his first year.

26. Philadelphia 76ers (23-49, LW 26). Philadelphia and Brooklyn are tied for the 5/6th worst records in the league — and getting fifth matters to the 76ers. Philly owes its pick this year to the Thunder, but it is top-six protected. If they finish with the sixth-worst record, they have a 47.7% chance of keeping it after the NBA Draft Lottery. However, finish with the fifth-worst record and the odds of retaining the pick jump to 62.1. The 76ers will be in some tanktastic games this week against the Wizards, Heat and Raptors.

27. New Orleans Pelicans (20-53, LW 29). The biggest question facing New Orleans: Will they trade Zion Williamson this offseason? There will be interest if the Pelicans test the market. Zion is averaging 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists a game, shooting 56.7% from the floor for the season, looking like an All-NBA player, but he has been in just 30 games (missing a couple more games recently with a lower back contusion) and played less than 1,000 minutes. Do the Pelicans still want to build around him?

28. Charlotte Hornets (18-54, LW 27). Charlotte has gone 4-6 in its last 10 and is playing its best ball of the season. Miles Bridges was asked about the late-season push after a win against the Knicks (courtesy the Charlotte Observer): “It just gives us confidence. "It gives us confidence knowing we can play how we want to when we are semi-healthy... As long as we keep building good habits, building winning habits, I think we’ll be good for next year.” Fair, but the question is how much of this roster will be back next year? It's going to be an interesting offseason in Charlotte.

29. Utah Jazz (16-57, LW 30). Utah moves out of the cellar of these rankings because it snapped its 10-game losing streak by beating the Wizards, one of the few bright spots on the court for this team this season. That said, don't expect an extended, Sixers process like tanking rebuild from Utah, that's not how this franchise operates, it will expect to start winning games within a couple of years. That is not going to happen this week, however. The Jazz have lost three straight since that win and things will not get easier with the Rockets next, followed by a five-game road trip that starts in Denver.

30. Washington Wizards (15-56, LW 28). Rookie Alex Sarr is starting to find his footing, averaging 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds a game over his last 10. He's shooting just 38.6% in those games and has a long way to go, but it's progress. Sarr can be paired with whichever high draft pick the Wizards land this year to start to build a foundation.