For all the depth in the West — a team over .500 would miss even making the play-in right now — are the two best teams in the NBA in the East? They are in this week’s NBC Sports 2024-25 NBA Power Rankings.
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1. Boston Celtics (12-3, Last Week No. 5). Last season, the Celtics led the league taking 42.5 3-point attempts a game, which helped win them a ring. This season, they are taking even more — 50.5 a game — and if there was any doubt they are the team to beat their win Tuesday over the Cavaliers should have answered that. Boston “only” took 41 3-pointers against Cleveland, but they hit 22 and when the 3s are falling like that the Celtics are unbeatable. The Celtics are not playing with that focus nightly, they have often been flat. For example, last week they needed overtime to beat the Raptors, fortunately for Boston it had Jayson Tatum.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (15-1, LW 1). Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson and his players will fall back on the cliche “There are no moral victories in the NBA,” and losing to Boston on Tuesday did knock the team down a notch in these rankings. But that was a moral victory. Cleveland withstood the best punch of a championship team shooting better than 50% from 3, came back thanks great play from Evan Mobley, and stood toe-to-toe with Boston down the stretch. They did all that without Isaac Okoro (they missed his defense on Tatum), Caris LeVert and Max Strus. This team is legit. There is a light schedule ahead for the Cavs this week with the banged-up Pelicans tonight, then hosting the Raptors on Sunday.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder (11-4, LW 3). Oklahoma City needs to keep its head above water until first Isaiah Hartenstein and later Chet Holmgren get back from injuries (Hartenstein is close) — losing to San Antonio without Victor Wembanyama (as the Thunder did Tuesday) is not how one stays afloat. The Thunder are 3-2 since Holmgren went down with a fractured hip and, unsurprisingly, they are struggling on the glass without either of their big men. OKC needs a better outing Wednesday at home against an athletic and feisty Portland team, then they are off until Monday when they start a stretch of 10-of-12 on the road.
4. Golden State Warriors (10-3, LW 2). It’s hard to find much fault with the Warriors’ fast start to the season — the defense has been elite (fourth in the NBA) and playing 12 deep into the bench has worked (even with D’Anthony Melton out with a sprained ACL). However, even Stephen Curry admitted the one “glaring issue” is the team’s free throw shooting — they missed 10 against the Clippers and it cost them the game Monday. Golden State is getting to the line a fair amount (10th in free throw attempts a game, 14th in free throw rate) but is shooting a league-worst 69.7% on those attempts. The Warriors will need those gimme points over the course of the season.
CONTENDERS ON THE FRINGE
5. Houston Rockets (10-5, LW 9). Reports this week said not to expect Houston to make a big in-season trade to upgrade the roster. That’s good. First, the players that appear to be available in-season this year are good role players or volume scorers but not the kind of 1A franchise superstar the Rockets might want to put with their young core. Second, Houston should let this young core play it out this season — they are good. Just ask Alperen Sengun, who had back-to-back triple-doubles this past week. “Everybody is talking, helping each other. We are a great team right now. We are doing the teamwork in offense and defense, everything.”
6. Denver Nuggets (8-5, LW 6). New season, same issue in Denver: They look like a contender when Nikola Jokic is on the court and fall off a cliff when he sits (or has to miss a game). Denver has a 125.8 offensive rating with Jokic on the court (better than Cleveland’s league-best offense at 122.2, using NBA.com’s numbers), but that falls to 92.1 when he sits. Overall, the Nuggets outscore opponents by +11.3 per 100 possessions when he is on the court but gets outscored by -14.9 when he sits. Jokic has missed the last three games for personal reasons and Denver is 1-2 (with the win coming against Memphis). It’s unclear when he will return but it’s not expected to be a long-term situation.
PLAYOFFS OR BUST
7. Los Angeles Lakers (10-4, LW 12). Winners of six in a row, Lakers fans will say I should bump this team up a category because they should be considered contenders, but I’m not sold. Yet. These six wins have come against an incredibly soft part of the schedule and while the Lakers have done well to beat the teams they face, that doesn’t mean I have to consider them contenders. Yet. Credit Rob Pelinka and the front office for nailing the Dalton Knecht pick, he put up 37 on the hapless Jazz Tuesday and should never have fallen to 17 in the draft last June (always take the top shooters in the draft early!). He should be getting more and more of the inconsistent Rui Hachimura’s minutes (Knecht needs to improve on defense if he wants more time on the court).
8. Minnesota Timberwolves (8-6, LW 7). It remains hard to get a read on this team. Statistically, they should be better than this — the Timberwolves are 11th in the league in net rating and seventh in adjusted net rating — but then you watch them play, and the eye test says they are in trouble. Specifically, the eye test during the loss to Miami without Butler, then the two losses to Portland (and the Blazers were without Simons and Ayton). The problem is easy to identify — the best defense in the NBA a season ago is 12th this year, more than three points per 100 possessions worse — and the offense lacks the same flow. None of that is going to be that easy to fix. Toronto, Boston, and Houston are on the schedule for this week.
9. New York Knicks (8-6, LW 14). In the wake of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, one of the predicted upsides for New York was how having a floor-spacing five was going to open up the court. The space may be open, but what are the Knicks doing with it? So far this season, the Knicks are taking fewer 3-pointers per game than they did a season ago (barely, basically one less for every two games, but there was not an explosion of 3s we expected). With Towns struggling so far in a new defensive role — it shows in a host of metrics, plus the Knicks defense as a whole is a couple points per 100 possessions worse — it makes one question what the ceiling is for this Knicks team? They’re good, but how good can they really be?
10. Dallas Mavericks (8-7, LW 8). Looking for the common denominator from when Dallas lost four in a row and 5-of-6 while struggling in the clutch, and then bounced back with three straight wins, including a clutch one over OKC? P.J. Washington. He missed those four losses with a knee sprain but returned for the three wins. Dallas is outscoring opponents by 5.3 points per 100 possessions when he is on the court. No other big on the Mavericks can match his athleticism and activity, and they miss him when he is out.
11. Phoenix Suns (9-6, LW 4). Phoenix has dropped four in a row and 5-of-6 without Kevin Durant (those last four without Bradley Beal, who, like Durant, has a calf strain). While it was expected the Suns offense would fall off without KD (and it has), the bigger issue has been on the defensive end. Phoenix started the season solid on that end but during the last six games without Durant they have fallen to 26th in the league on that end of the court. This all feels like déjà vu from last season, when the Suns were pretty good when everyone was healthy but couldn’t stay that way.
12. Sacramento Kings (8-7, LW 11). Can we say enough good things about De’Aaron Fox? The man scored 109 points combined on a back-to-back, which isn’t just a Kings’ franchise record, the only other player to beat it in the last 50 years was Kobe Bryant (2007). Wilt Chamberlain did it 15 times back in the ay because he makes a mockery of the record books. But did Kobe or Wilt ever almost lose a shoe during a steal, stomp it back on in play, then score a lay-up? I think not.
13. Orlando Magic (9-6, LW 17). Who needs Paolo Banchero? Well, the Magic do, but they have now won six in a row without him, thanks in part to Franz Wagner stepping up — 27.4 points and 6.1 rebounds a game over his last seven. However, the bigger reason for the win streak (even bigger than the soft spot in the schedule that allowed it) is Orlando’s elite defense never went away — the Magic have not allowed a team to score in triple-digits during this win streak. That defense has pushed them up to third in the Eastern Conference right now.
14. Los Angeles Clippers (8-7, LW 13). “We just got to win games until we get No. 2 back,” was how Tyron Lue described the Clippers mindset — and they have been doing just that, including beating the Warriors twice. The Clippers have a top-10 defense so far this season and, in addition to James Harden, Norman Powell has stepped up with a career year, Ivica Zubac has been solid in the paint and role players Amir Coffey and Terance Mann have made plays when called upon. This is a solid team that could be a real threat with a healthy Kawhi Leonard back in the mix. When will Leonard return? We’ll have to get back to you on that one.
15. Memphis Grizzlies (8-7, LW 10). The Grizzlies are the second unluckiest team in the NBA so far this season. Going by point differential, they should be 11-4, or maybe 10-5, but they have lost four games by five points or less (while blowing some teams out in wins). The Grizzlies lead the NBA in points in the paint this season, averaging 59.9 points a game in the paint — a sign of an offense that likes to get out in transition and get downhill.
16. Miami Heat (6-7, LW 18). A rested Jimmy Butler is a dangerous Jimmy Butler. He returned to the lineup Monday after missing four games across 10 days, and he went off against the 76ers with 30 points, 10 rebounds and zero turnovers. While we are shouting out Heat players, Tyler Herro is having a career year averaging 24.2 points a game while shooting 45.2% from 3. Healthy, this is a dangerous team come the playoffs.
17. Atlanta Hawks (7-8, LW 21). Right now, it looks like Atlanta won the Dejounte Murray trade — Dyson Daniels has been the best player involved in that deal so far. He’s made a leap averaging 14.9 points a game, all while playing First-Team All-Defense level on the other end of the court, averaging 3.4 steals a game. Daniels had four consecutive games with 15+ points and 5+ steals, something only one other player has done — Michael Jordan. A scout told NBC Sports the leap is essentially opportunity and fit. He was stuck in a crowded wing mess in New Orleans, but now he’s next to a strong point guard in Trae Young and getting to focus on his strengths rather than being shoehorned into the role the Pelican needed to be filled. He’s playing with a freedom he didn’t have before, not looking over his shoulder after every mistake.
18. San Antonio Spurs (8-8, LW 15). Victor Wembanyama has missed a couple of games with a knee contusion, just as his outside shot was stating to fall consistently fall. Wembanyama is shooting 73.4% in the paint but he is taking 47% of his shots from 3 (and hitting 33.9% of them. When they do fall it’s a thing of beauty, like when he dropped the first 50-point game of his career this week.
19. Indiana Pacers (6-8, LW 16). Across the league, injuries feel like the story of this young season, and that is no different in Indiana. Injuries have robbed the Pacers of their depth with wings Andrew Nembhard (knee) and Aaron Nesmith (ankle) out, as are reserve big men James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson (both with season-ending torn Achilles). Fun game Friday night as the Pacers take on the Bucks, a team Indiana matched up with well last season and then knocked out of the playoffs. Milwaukee will be motivated for this one, but Indiana still has some matchup advantages.
PLAY IN HOPEFULS
20. Detroit Pistons (7-9, LW 20). After starting the season 0-4, the Pistons are an impressive 7-5 since with the sixth-best defense in the NBA over that stretch. Detroits defense is doing it by taking away the easy shots and contesting everything, their opponent have the seventh hardest shot quality in the league, per Second Spectrum’s shot tracking. With winnable games coming up against Charlotte, banged-up (but hot) Orlando, and Toronto, could the Pistons climb over .500 this week?
21. Milwaukee Bucs (5-9, LW 24). Milwaukee is using a softer part of the schedule to right the ship, having won 3-of-4. On the positive side, Milwaukee beat Houston and Detroit in this stretch, but it needed OT against Detroit and lost to Charlotte (on a terrible call, but still an ugly loss). The Bucks defense has looked better, but what has really driven this week is a locked-in Giannis Antetokounmpo playing like his MVP self. Bulls, Pacers, Hornets and Heat on the schedule this week, it’s a chance for the Bucks to keep rolling in the right direction.
22. Brooklyn Nets (6-9, LW 19). As re-emphasized this week in another round of reports (stating what we already knew): The Nets solid start to the season does not change their plans to be sellers at the trade deadline. The Nets have dropped 5-of-7 against a tougher stretch of the schedule (but found their footing Monday night against Charlotte). If Brooklyn wins it tends to be in a shootout with Cam Thomas and/or Cameron Johnson going off for big numbers, because the team’s defense is 25th in the league and isn’t winning them many games (getting Nic Claxton healthy and back in the lineup will help, he has missed three games with a sprained ankle).
23. Charlotte Hornets (5-9, LW 22). Among the bright spots in Charlotte has been reserve center Moussa Diabaté stepping up, playing well and being a beast on the boards. He’s been pressed into action due to injury, and the third-year center out of France (by way of Michigan) has been solid defensively and strong on the glass (he had 10 offensive rebounds against the Bucks). It was good to see Brandon Miller have a strong game against Brooklyn (27 points) after he struggled since coming back from injury.
24. Chicago Bulls (6-9, LW 23). One of the reasons teams have been hesitant to trade for Zach LaVine has been concerns about his defense, but he has played better on that end of the court this season. “I’m definitely trying,” LaVine told Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I know what I can do on that end, especially in isolation one-on-one, and just try and make it tough on them.” LaVine is averaging 21.6 points a game shooting 42% from 3, but his ability to get points was never the issue, it’s always been the size of the contract and injury history. Still, his name will come up around the trade deadline.
CAPTURE THE (COOPER) FLAGG
25. Portland Trail Blazers (6-8, LW 27). Here’s a sentence I didn’t think I’d write this season: This ranking may be too low for the Trail Blazers. They have won three straight, and done it without Deandre Ayton and Anfernee Simons (both out with injuries). Shaedon Sharpe has stepped up like a star averaging 27.3 points a game in those three wins, while backup centers Robert Williams III and rookie Donovan Clingan have impressed on both ends of the court. Reality may come crashing down on Portland as it heads out of a five-game road trip that includes Oklahoma City and Houston (twice), but this team is fun and plays hard.
26. New Orleans Pelicans (4-11, LW 26). We’re just 15 games into the season, but in a deep West, it’s almost time to have this conversation: At what point do the Pelicans pull the plug on this season and become sellers at the trade deadline? New Orleans hasn’t been healthy, but Zion Williamson isn’t returning anytime soon and key players like Dejounte Murray and Herb Jones remain out. The Pelicans are already four games out of the No. 10 seed and have to jump four teams to get there. New Orleans controls its own first-round pick. It’s not time yet, but in a year with a strong top of the lottery, it’s going to be time to have that conversation sooner rather than later.
27. Toronto Raptors (3-12, LW 28). Monday’s win against Indiana snapped a seven-game losing streak. One bright spot of late has been the play of center Jakob Poeltl, who has averaged 30 points and 15 rebounds a night over the last three games. Continued improved play could up his trade value heading toward the trade deadline (Poeltl is on a very tradable contract). Don’t expect to see a lot of wins until Scottie Barnes returns from his orbital bone fracture.
28. Philadelphia 76ers (2-11, LW 25). Team meetings are overrated in terms of the impact they tend to have, but it sounded like Philadelphia needed one in the wake of falling to 2-11. Maybe this team could be very good if Tyrese Maxey got healthy, Paul George stayed healthy, Joel Embiid got in better condition, if those three started finally playing like All-Stars, if Nick Nurse coached them harder and if their key role players started performing better. However, even if that happens, this slow start has made any postseason path this team climbs up to so much harder. This feels a lot like a season ago in Philly — a play-in team bounced in the first round by a superior opponent.
29. Utah Jazz (3-11, LW 29). Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht dropped 37 on the Jazz Tuesday and this postgame quote from Utah coach Will Hardy sums up their season: “It seemed like everybody in the gym knew that Dalton Knecht was going to shoot the next shot with the exception of a few people. The problem was that those few people were on our team.” Ouch.
30. Washington Wizards (2-11, LW 30). The Wizards have dropped nine in a row, with the worst defense in the NBA over that stretch and the second-worst defense. If you’re looking for bright spots, um… rookie Alex Sarr scored 20 against Atlanta on Friday. And Malcolm Brogdon has returned from thumb surgery. So there’s that.
