{"id":169148,"date":"2025-12-09T09:30:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T14:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=169148"},"modified":"2025-12-08T21:22:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T02:22:32","slug":"nba-power-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/12\/09\/nba-power-rankings\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Power Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we get closer to the midseason mark, the NBA picture is becoming much clearer as the strongest teams begin to distinguish themselves from the pack. Rosters are settling in, stars are finding their rhythm, and the early chaos of the season is giving way to more consistent trends. With all of that in mind, here is a look at the top ten teams to this point in the season and the ones that have positioned themselves as the league\u2019s true contenders.<\/p>\n

NBA Power Rankings for December 9<\/h2>\n

10. Cleveland Cavaliers<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cavs<\/a> are a very confusing team because they will look great one game and then pretty horrible the next. Injuries have plagued them, but they should still be a lot better than 8th in the Eastern Conference standings. They need to get healthy and get as many wins in these games as they can, and it will benefit them a lot later in the season.<\/p>\n

9. Minnesota Timberwolves<\/h3>\n
\"Minnesota
Photo Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Timberwolves<\/a> are currently 15-8, and they have been very consistent so far this season. Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards have been great at leading the Timberwolves so far this season, and they still have not been living up to their full potential. They land at number 9 in this week’s power rankings.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

8. Boston Celtics<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Celtics<\/a> have been a very surprising team this season, without Jayson Tatum; a lot of people wrote them off. They have been playing team basketball, and Jaylen Brown has taken a huge step up in leading the Celtics. The Celtics have shown a lot of people they can win games in a multitude of ways, and they have looked really solid 23 games into the season. And it looks like they may be ready to double down to solve their BIG problem<\/a>.<\/p>\n

7. San Antonio Spurs<\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Spurs<\/a> have been one of the most consistent teams in the NBA this season. They looked solid at the beginning of the season, till now. With Victor Wembanyama out these past few games, they have still found ways to win in impressive fashion. The Spurs have more depth this season and do not just rely on their stars to win games, but they have an actual roster.<\/p>\n

6. New York Knicks<\/h3>\n
\"Whats
Photo Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Knicks<\/a> are slowly rising up the power rankings every single week. They had a rough start to the season, but since then have been playing lights out. Jalen Brunson and KAT now have a season under their belt, and they are continuing to build up chemistry, and it is just good basketball. The Knicks are number 6 in the power rankings<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

5. Houston Rockets<\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Rockets<\/a> are probably the best constructed team in the NBA outside the Oklahoma City Thunder. They just feel like they have everything you would want in a championship-caliber team. The combination of offensive skillsets and defense is exactly what you would want; the Rockets will probably only climb these rankings.<\/p>\n

4. Denver Nuggets<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Sam Sharpe-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Nuggets<\/a> are one of the NBA’s scariest teams because they have the NBA’s scariest player. Nikola Jokic is putting himself into the talks of one of the 10 best players of all time, and he is currently easily averaging a triple-double. The roster around him is playing at a high level, and the Nuggets will always be high on this list as long as Jokic is healthy.<\/p>\n

3. Los Angeles Lakers<\/h3>\n
\"NBA
Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Lakers<\/a> have been one of the most entertaining teams to watch this season. Lebron James just returned, and he has been showing his age, but he is still great. He had a vintage Lebron game with 29 points, and his impact on the floor is very high. The Lakers are going to have an interesting end to the season, but as long as they keep doing what they are doing, they will be in a good spot.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Detroit Pistons<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Pistons<\/a> started off the season extremely strong, and they are still a great NBA team, but they have not been as dominant as earlier in the season. The Pistons will be a force to be reckoned with, no matter what team they play, because they are so consistent on the defensive end and are just a well-rounded team.<\/p>\n

1. Oklahoma City Thunder<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Thunder<\/a> are the NBA’s best team, and it is not close; they are looking at a great shot to have the best record in NBA history. They have only lost one game, and most of their games have not even been close. It will be a sweep down the stretch for them if they keep winning to get that record.<\/p>\n

For more great NBA analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we get closer to the midseason mark, the NBA picture is becoming much clearer as the strongest teams begin to distinguish themselves from the pack. Rosters are settling in, stars are finding their rhythm, and the early chaos of the season is giving way to more consistent trends. With all of that in mind, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":169163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62],"tags":[511,1382],"class_list":["post-169148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-nba-power-rankings","tag-nba-trade"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169148"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169169,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169148\/revisions\/169169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}