NBA Power Rankings: Are the Thunder still No. 1 after losing to West rivals?

Welcome back to the world’s most perfect NBA power rankings.

The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder dropped two games in a three-outing span, losing to the Western Conference rival San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves. It is their first sign of weakness — or, at least, the first sign that they are mortal — since the Indiana Pacers forced a Game 7 of the NBA Finals. It still is not enough to drop OKC from the top spot.

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Meanwhile, the New York Knicks won the third annual NBA Cup, their first title since 1973 (even if it wasn’t The Big One), surging since the last time we sorted all 30 teams into a perfect order.

The Knicks must be the favorites in the East, given the Cleveland Cavaliers’ struggles and the relative playoff inexperience of the Detroit Pistons. But the 2024 champion Boston Celtics — with Jayson Tatum rehabbing his torn left Achilles tendon well ahead of schedule — are lurking.

Still, can anyone in the East challenge the West, where the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and the Wolves are all serious challengers (or, at least, threats to the Thunder’s supremacy)? This edition of the power rankings indicates they can …

Previous rank: 30

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Poor Khris Middleton. “It’s hard in this league,” the veteran said of his leadership role, “especially when you lose so many games in a row before you win a game, and then [next game] you lay an egg. That’s not what you want to see. That’s not how you get better as a group, so come in tomorrow, and we get to look at this film, and we get to look at ourselves.”

Previous rank: 25

Is Malik Monk confused about being benched? “1,000%,” he said. “But it’s not my job to try to figure out why I’m not playing because I deem myself more than the whole. … Everybody knows I want to be out there, especially playing in front of this crowd in Sac, but there ain’t s*** I can do about it.” A new slogan in Sacramento, where no coach’s seat is hotter than Doug Christie’s.

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Previous rank: 29

The Pacers are searching for answers after a blowout loss to New Orleans. “I just don’t think there was much fight,” said T.J. McConnell. Added coach Rick Carlisle. “I gotta look at what’s happening with the starters. We can do better there. We can do better there. A lot of times in this world small adjustments can make a significant difference. I gotta see what those might be.”

Previous rank: 28

The Pels won five in a row, more than doubling their season total for victories. “Pleased, but never satisfied,” said interim coach James Borrego. “That’s the mentality right now. … I’m pleased with the progress, and I’m pleased with these four games. I’m proud of the group. They are putting in the effort. This is not [the time] to pat ourselves on the back and be satisfied.”

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Previous rank: 20

As trade rumors fly, Giannis Antetokounmpo likened his agent to his wife. “I can’t control her,” he said. “She’s a grown-ass woman. I can’t control what she does. So, same thing with my agent. I can’t control the conversations they’re gonna have.” Either he does not understand player-agent relationships, or he is laying a trade request at his agent’s feet, but it sounds like he wants out.

Previous rank: 21

In an early-season effort to coalesce the Clippers, Chris Paul reportedly “hosted a Halloween party for players and staffers in a club at the Intuit Dome,” where “only a handful of players” attended, before the team proceeded to lose six straight games. A metaphor for these Clips, whose coach, Tyronn Lue, is now challenging them to finish .500. How expectations have fallen.

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Previous rank: 24

“If you want to pull out wins even when you are not shooting well, you’ve got to rely on your defense,” said Hornets coach Charles Lee. “I think that’s got to be a mindset for our group going forward as we continue to build winning habits. It’s not all about offense. There are other ways to impact the game, and the defensive side of the ball gives us a great chance to win games.”

Previous rank: 27

A message to 19-year-old Egor Demin, the No. 8 overall pick  — and to all of Brooklyn’s rookies, really — from Nets coach Jordi Fernandez: “I need him to play with better readiness and better physicality. And this is not the way that the team needs him to play. So he’s got to be better. Otherwise, the minutes are going to go down, and somebody else will take advantage of that.”

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Previous rank: 26

It’s been two weeks since Jazz coach Will Hardy implored his team, “I’m tired of f***ing doing this every game. F***ing play harder,” and the viral video has not gotten old. He is quietly (or now loudly) the best quote in the game. And maybe it worked. Utah is 4-6 in its last 10, including 2-3, with a pair of hard-fought losses, since Hardy kindly asked his team to meet his standards.

Previous rank: 16

Bulls coach Billy Donovan saw through his team’s three-game win streak. “I’m happy we won the game, I’m happy with a lot of things that we did do, but I always try to look at the things that we’ve got to really, really control and take some ownership of,” he said. “Those are the things that can come back and hamstring you. I always say — you let luck come back in with that.”

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Previous rank: 15

A new motto for the once-proud Warriors, via coach Steve Kerr: “There is something beautiful in the quest. Because we love it so much, because we love what we do, there really is a beauty in the collaboration, the journey, the quest to hang in there and maybe reach the mountaintop one more time. You just can’t quantify it. But we all know inside what that journey means to us.”

Previous rank: 19

“I’m just happy they’re stepping up every game,” said Blazers coach Tiago Splitter. “Shaedon [Sharpe] is getting better every night. Deni [Avdija] is getting better at point guard every night. DC [Donovan Clingan] is protecting the rim. Guys are having more confidence out there. Toumani [Camara] shooting the ball. So it’s good to see them developing and getting better.”

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Previous rank: 23

Cooper Flagg celebrated his 19th birthday. Nobody but LeBron James and Kobe Bryant scored more points in the NBA at so young an age. “He’s playing high-level basketball at the age of 18,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd. “Through Duke and his first couple of weeks here, he’s been playing extremely well, and we believe at the age of 19 it’s just going to get better.” Watch out.

Previous rank: 13

Trae Young is back, and the Hawks are struggling again, giving up 152 points to the Bulls. Atlanta is the equivalent of the league’s worst defense when Young is on the court and a top-10 outfit when he’s not. “It’s kind of tough winning games when you give up 80 points in the first half,” said Jalen Johnson. “It’s embarrassing, in a sense. So we just gotta get better soon.”

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Previous rank: 10

The Heat have hit the skids, losing seven of their last eight, but coach Erik Spoelstra trusts his process. “We’re developing a competitive, collective will,” he said. “Our guys care in the locker room, but it’s got to be another level. It’s not enough. It’s got to be more. This league is a savage league. It’s survival of the competitive toughest, and that’s where we’re going to get.”

Previous rank: 22

“The deep end is the best teacher. Comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.” Deep thoughts, by Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo, whose injury-riddled charges are, for the most part, responding to his hard coaching, winning nine of their last 13. “That competitive edge has really developed, and the team believes we can win together with whoever we have.”

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Previous rank: 6

Coach Kenny Atkinson is downplaying his Cavs’ struggles. “I call it ‘the dip,’” he said. You’ve got to manage the dip. It’s really important. Very rare does [the season] just go [on an upward trajectory]. Maybe OKC this year; that’s one team in this league. … Everybody else, we’re going through the ups and downs; kinda normal in an NBA season.” (This is not normal for Cleveland.)

Previous rank: 7

“You fight for respect every day,” said Suns coach Jordan Ott. “This league changes too fast. Too many things can happen. LeBron is still out there fighting. Every day we get out there, we’re trying to be the best we can and really challenge ourselves to grow, and the only way to do that is to be in the arena. The only way to get better is to be in the heat, and our group enjoys it.”

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Previous rank: 9

“He brings the energy every single day,” Brandon Ingram said of Raptors coach Darko Rajaković, an early Coach of the Year favorite. “He’s the leader of our team. He makes sure we bring it to practice, to games, to shootarounds. He makes sure we have it every time we step on the floor. That, for me, is the best part about being here: a coach who is present every day.”

Previous rank: 14

The Magic own a top-10 offense for the first time in forever, and the defense — since a 4-6 start — is back to being stout, rating in the top 10 ever since. “A lot of guys are out right now,” said Wendell Carter Jr. “We’re at Game 27, so we’re still trying to figure each other out. It’s not perfect, but these last two days were something that we really needed. We’re in a good spot.”

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Previous rank: 17

Tyrese Maxey continues to perform at an All-NBA level, while the Sixers continue to wait on something from Joel Embiid, whose contributions are crucial if Philly wants to win in the playoffs. Meanwhile, “We’re starting to turn it around a little bit, little by little,” said Andre Drummond. “So, we’ll take the small victories and progress that we’re making and continue to build on it.”

Previous rank: 18

The latest (insane) inspiration from Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, a Coach of the Year candidate: “I’m trying to convince my wife to get a wolf that roams the area of our house, as an extra layer of inspiration. Apparently the trainer said that another guy had one and it turned on him in the middle of the night. And I was like, ‘[The wolf] didn’t have a good enough relationship with him.'”

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Previous rank: 12

Wolves coach Chris Finch was run by the officials from their win over the Thunder, but his outburst, which spurred Minnesota to the upset, could be the motivation this team needed to recapture its back-to-back Western Conference finals juju. “I’ve never seen him run on the court,” said Naz Reid. “I’ll take it. It got us going, flipped the script. It was exciting to see.”

Previous rank: 5

LeBron James has a pretty good idea of why the Lakers are so good. “It’s Luka Magic,” he said. “He’s just so damn good. It’s ridiculous.” And coach JJ Redick has a pretty good idea of what it takes to succeed around James and Luka Dončić. “Defend and shoot 3s,” he said. Now, to contend, the Lakers need more players who can do both. Maybe they will fall into their laps, too.

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Previous rank: 4

Rockets coach Ime Udoka didn’t mince words when his team blew a game to Sacramento after a big win over Denver the night before. “We had a game yesterday that we were much more motivated for,” he said. “Just to let the [Kings] hang around the way that we did was a lot due to us. … I’ve got to do a better job of getting them motivated in games against lesser opponents.”

Previous rank: 2

Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren developed their chemistry with an “off-the-grid” week in Colorado. “We were literally outside, in the woods, only one TV in the main cabin,” Duren told The Athletic of Cunningham. “Bugs, little ass mattresses. … I feel like that’s what you need in your friend or homie — someone who’s elevating your mindset and encouraging you to grow.”

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Previous rank: 8

Devin Vassell issued a word of warning to the NBA for whenever Victor Wembanyama — playing his way back from a calf strain — returns to his regular workload for the Spurs, who have won six straight (save for the Cup final): “The impact he has on both ends of the floor is just amazing. And to see that he’s doing it on a minutes restriction, the league is in trouble.”

Previous rank: 11

Still fresh from an MVP effort in the NBA Cup, Jalen Brunson showed out in another win over Miami. “You want to have an MVP on your side,” said Knicks coach Mike Brown. “For him to score 47 points, 15 for 26 from the field, 6 of 13 from 3, 11 of 11 from the line, and dish out eight assists … that’s what MVPs are supposed to do.” And, yes, Brunson is in that conversation.

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Previous rank: 3

Nikola Jokić submits a new entry into the MVP discussion every night. In fact, Jokić — already a three-time winner of the award — has been so good, so consistently, that David Adelman is running out of ways to characterize the planet’s best player. “The efficiency has been through the roof,” the Nugs coach said. “He’s just having a hell of a season, man. That’s all I can say.”

Previous rank: 1

Meanwhile, the league’s reigning MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, continues to be a killer, even as his team lost two games in three outings for the first time all season. They are still on pace to match the 2015-16 Warriors’ record of 73 wins. As Gilgeous-Alexander said, as cool as ever, “All I can do is play basketball and that’s all I focus on, trying to win games and championships.”