NBA power rankings 2025-26: Spurs, Thunder remain on top but Celtics trying to crash party

While the Thunder and Spurs are separating themselves from the field, and Boston is red hot, the most interesting race in the final month of the NBA season is the East 5-10 seeds. All those teams are within five games of each other, and a lot is on the line.

1. San Antonio Spurs

(47-17, last week No. 1)
San Antonio has gone 15-1 in this run, including thrashing the Houston Rockets by 25 on NBC’s Sunday Night Basketball. However, it was a win over the Clippers on Friday that left Victor Wembanyama emotional — that game summarized how far this team has come. With just over nine minutes left in the third quarter, Los Angeles led San Antonio by 25, but the Spurs ended the game on a 66-47 run to earn the victory. “That was one of the best wins. That was one of the best games, best parts of my career, my basketball life,” Wembanyama said afterwards. On Sunday, he was just putting on a show.

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2. Oklahoma City Thunder

(50-15, last week No. 3)
It’s not a coincidence that the Thunder are 5-0 since the return of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the lineup (although he did not play in one of those wins, vs. Chicago). The Thunder are getting even healthier this week with the return of reserve guard Ajay Mitchell after he missed 20 games. The Thunder will be tested this week. That starts Monday with a rematch against Denver (a game you can watch on Peacock), a physical, bad-blood showdown after Lu Dort was ejected from the last meeting for a foul on Nikola Jokic (a game the Thunder won in OT without SGA). That Monday matchup is not just a game between the two betting favorites to win the NBA title (via DraftKings) but also the two frontrunners for MVP, although SGA has created a little separation in that race as Denver has stumbled a little of late. After that, Oklahoma City has games against Boston and Minnesota.

3. Boston Celtics

(43-21, last week No. 4)
Boston is 2-0 since Jayson Tatum’s return — including an impressive thrashing of Cleveland Sunday — and through two games he has averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, playing 27 minutes a night. He’s had some really impressive stretches, such as the first quarter against Cleveland, although he is still finding his shooting stroke (5-17 from 3-point range). “It was surreal…” Tatum said of his return. “I dreamed about this, and for it to finally happen… it was everything I could have dreamed of. It’s been tough. Emotional. A lot of times, I doubted myself. A lot of nights, I spent crying. But I just tried to keep showing up every day.” Big measuring stick game against the Spurs on Coast 2 Coast on NBC and Peacock Tuesday.

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4. New York Knicks

(41-24, last week No. 6)
Since Jan. 15, a 25-game sample, the Knicks have the best defense in the NBA. What changed from early in the season? “We’ve had to make changes, both offensively and defensively, to adapt to our personnel… and it’s just been a process…” coach Mike Brown said, referencing the players in and out of the lineup due to health. “So give a lot of credit with the incremental process that we made on the defensive floor. In terms of Xs and Os, the physicality has gotten better, for sure on the end of the floor, more than anything else.” That defense has New York 1-1 through two games of a five-game road trip that includes some winnable games in Utah and Indiana this week.

5. Detroit Pistons

(45-18, last week No. 2)
Detroit dropped four in a row, but it was blowing a 23-point second-half lead to the tanking Brooklyn Nets that stands out as maybe Detroit’s ugliest loss of the season. If you’re asking how that can happen, that game is a reminder of the drop-off once Cade Cunningham is off the court (he was out for the night but played against Miami Sunday). Even against the Nets’ lowly defense, Detroit struggled to consistently run its offense without Cunningham leading it. Boston is now within 2.5 games of Detroit for the No. 1 seed and the Pistons need to rack up a few wins in the coming weeks to secure that top spot.

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6. Cleveland Cavaliers

(39-25, last week No. 5)
One of the things Cleveland needed to make a leap forward and be a threat to come out of the East this season was improved play from Evan Mobley on the offensive end. Since James Harden’s arrival, we have seen a little more of that: In his last five games, Mobley is averaging 18.8 points, shooting 42.9% from 3-point range, and grabbing nine rebounds a night. With that improved Mobley, Cleveland beat Detroit but lost to Boston last week, splitting big measuring stick games. This week, the schedule lightens up.

7. Minnesota Timberwolves

(40-24, last week No. 7)
It remains hard to get a real feel for this team on any given night. Minnesota is 8-2 in its last 10, with quality wins in that stretch, including against Denver, but then you watch it lose to Orlando by 27 over the weekend and wonder if this team is any good. Both of the losses in the last 10 games are by 27 points, this is a team capable of losing focus on any given night and getting crushed. The Timberwolves are also capable of beating anyone. They need to be focused this week with a tough four-game, West road swing that starts in Los Angeles on Tuesday — part of NBA Coast 2 Coast on NBC and Peacock — and finishing next Sunday in Oklahoma City.

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8. Denver Nuggets

(39-25, last week No. 8)
Denver just can’t catch a break. Aaron Gordon made his return to the Nuggets lineup on Friday, only to have Jamal Murray leave that same game after rolling his ankle. While Murray’s injury reportedly is not serious (he is questionable for Monday night), this team just needs to get healthy. Gordon returned after missing 17 games, and the Nuggets went 8-9 in those games (to be fair, Nikola Jokic and others missed time in that stretch, too). Denver may limit Gordon for a while. Remember, he first injured his right hamstring in November, missed 19 games, returned for a few weeks, then strained it again, missing more than a month in that second go-round. Denver needs him for the playoffs, the Nuggets’ defense is 7.1 points per 100 possessions better when he is on the court. Big rematch with the Thunder Monday night on Peacock.

9. Miami Heat

(36-29, last week No. 12)
Winners of five in a row and quietly one of the hotter teams in the NBA — Miami’s streak includes beating Houston, Charlotte and Detroit. Over their last 15 games, the Heat are 10-5 with the fourth-best offense and sixth-best defense in the league. That improved offense has seen the Heat slow the pace a little and set a few more ball screens, but with Tyler Herro and Norman Powell leading the way, this team has found its groove at just the right time. Big game this Saturday against Orlando, the team just above them in the standings.

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10. Houston Rockets

(39-24, last week No. 9)
Houston spent the past couple of weeks alternating wins and losses (3-3 in its last six), but the losses sting. There was getting blown out on national television Sunday by San Antonio. Then there was the overtime loss to the Warriors — Houston is 17-18 with a -6 net rating in the clutch this season (games within five points in the final five minutes). Make that within three points in the final three minutes and things look marginally better — a 14-14 record with a +4.2 net rating — but this is not a team that is at its best in the biggest moments. Big showdown Wednesday at Denver.

11. Orlando Magic

(35-28, last week No. 13)
The theory of the Magic before the season (and before injuries hit them hard) was that Desmond Bane would improve the offense, but their winning was built on the foundation of an elite defense. That foundation was crumbling much of the season, but the Magic have found their footing of late — Orlando has the second-best defense in the NBA over the last 10 games. Not so coincidentally, Orlando is 7-3 with a +10.9 net rating in those games, helping it hold off Miami and Philadelphia for the No. 6 seed and avoiding the play-in. Huge game Saturday against that hot Miami squad.

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12. Los Angeles Lakers

(39-25, last week No. 14)
Los Angeles holding New York to 97 points on Sunday was the latest sign in a trend — the Lakers are playing better defense of late. The multiple efforts are there, rotating quicker and drawing charges. “Down the stretch, I think we had three or four possessions where we end up with either deflection or steals. All of that was on multiple efforts. We were able to sustain that for all four quarters…” JJ Redick said after the win. “We’re 15-9 in our last 24. We’re a top-10 offense and a top-15 defense. That’s what we wanted coming into this season with this group, and that’s where our group is right now.” Watch that defense get put to the test Tuesday night on NBA Coast 2 Coast on NBC, when they take on Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves. Maybe that game will feature more Luka magic.