NBA Official Power Rankings: Thunder Tops for 10th Straight Week, Rockets Drop to 6th, Lakers 7th, Clippers Fall to 27th

On December 23rd Beijing time, the NBA published the newest team power rankings. The Thunder have held the top spot for 10 straight weeks, the Rockets slipped from 3rd to 6th, the Lakers remain at 7th, the Warriors climbed to 15th, the Trail Blazers remain at 20th, and the Clippers dropped to 27th.

This week’s detailed team power rankings are as follows (previous week’s ranks in parentheses):

Ranks 1-5: Thunder (1), Nuggets (2), Knicks (5), Pistons (4), Spurs (6)

Ranks 6-10: Rockets (3), Lakers (7), Celtics (8), Timberwolves (10), Suns (9)

Ranks 11-15: Magic (11), 76ers (15), Raptors (13), Heat (12), Warriors (17)

Ranks 16-20: Hawks (14), Cavaliers (16), Grizzlies (18), Mavericks (19), Trail Blazers (20)

Ranks 21-25: Hornets (22), Jazz (23), Pelicans (26), Nets (25), Bulls (27)

Ranks 26-30: Bucks (21), Clippers (24), Wizards (28), Kings (30), Pacers (29)

Compared to last week, the biggest rank improvements were by the Pelicans and 76ers, each moving up 3 spots, while the largest drops were by the Bucks, who fell 5 places; the Rockets and Clippers also each declined by 3 positions.

The Thunder remain in first place. Over their last three games, they hit their lowest offensive efficiency this season, scoring only 106.6 points per 100 possessions. Particularly in two narrow losses decided in the final moments, when the score gap was within 5 points in the last 5 minutes, the team shot just 6-for-23 overall — with Alexander making 5 of 10 shots, and all other players combining for only 1 of 13. Despite losing these three games, the total point differential in those losses was only 9 points; moreover, their net point differential over the first 28 games remains the best ever recorded in NBA history for this stage of the season.

The Rockets have unexpectedly lost three of their last four games, dropping to sixth place in the Western Conference. They squandered strong leads in three overtime losses, including two against the Pelicans and Kings where they collapsed dramatically. In New Orleans, they blew a massive 25-point lead — the largest comeback against any team this season — and in Sacramento, they still led by 14 points with less than 10 minutes remaining. This season, there have been five instances league-wide where a team lost despite leading by at least 14 points in the final 12 minutes; the Rockets and Wizards each account for two of those occurrences.

After closing November with a seven-game winning streak, the Lakers have gone 4-4 this month — their four wins combined for a net margin of just 17 points, while their four losses totaled a deficit of 66 points. The Lakers have been without Reeves for their last three games, and in the loss to the Clippers, Doncic (with a leg contusion) exited due to injury at halftime. During Reeves’ absence, LeBron has averaged 30 points per game. Data shows that in the 521 minutes played without Reeves, the team’s net rating is minus 4.1 points per 100 possessions.

In critical defensive moments, the Warriors allowed 105 points over 81 clutch defensive possessions, which translates to a very high 130 points allowed per 100 possessions. However, in the game against the Suns, they showed strong offensive efficiency in the closing stages, successfully resisting the Suns’ comeback attempt. Curry hit a crucial three-pointer with less than two minutes left, bringing his season total to 11 clutch-time threes — four more than any other player in the league. The Warriors currently have a 6-10 record in close games decided in the final moments, but perform better with an 8-5 record in games not decided in clutch situations.

The Trail Blazers started a stretch of five games against teams with below .500 records with two losses but then bounced back with three consecutive wins. Avdija has logged 971 minutes this season, ranking seventh in the league, a significant amount of playing time. When he is on the court, the Trail Blazers score 117.1 points per 100 possessions; when he sits, the team’s scoring plummets to 98.7 per 100 possessions, a positive differential of +18.4. This offensive plus-minus gap is the highest among players with at least 200 minutes played this season.

The Clippers ended a five-game losing streak, but at the cost of their starting center Zubac suffering a severe ankle injury that will sideline him for several weeks. Lopez had mostly fallen out of the rotation over the past month, but in the last game, he stepped in as the second-half starter replacing Zubac and delivered one of his best performances this season: under 25 minutes played, he scored 11 points and had 2 blocks. However, looking at the season overall, in the 308 minutes Lopez has played, the Clippers score only 104.1 points per 100 possessions. This splits into two extremes: in the 151 minutes he shared the floor with Harden, the team scored 120.9 points per 100 possessions; but in the 157 minutes Lopez played without Harden, the scoring dropped drastically to a mere 87.7 points per 100 possessions.