NBA power rankings: Cleveland Cavaliers back on top after win over OKC Thunder

Posted by Admin January 13, 2025 NBA

Spread the love

OK. OK. OK.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have settled who is the NBA’s top team by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder last week.

Not even Sunday’s upset home loss to Indiana can’t knock them off the top The Arizona Republic’s latest NBA power rankings

1. Cleveland Cavaliers (33-5)

Last week: No. 2 in rankings.

Cleveland snapped Oklahoma City’s 15-game winning streak with a 129-122 home win. This game showed that the Thunder can’t run with the NBA’s top offense.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (32-6)

Last week: No. 1 in rankings.

The Thunder responded to Cleveland’s loss like a team with legitimate championship aspirations, winning at New York by 25 points and 41 at lowly Washington. The Cavs visit OKC on Thursday in a huge rematch.

Last week: No. 3 in rankings.

The Celtics continue to play inconsistently, going 2-2 in their last four games. How they follow up a solid win at Denver to lose at home to Sacramento and then only beat New Orleans by a point?

Last week: No. 5 in rankings

Winners of their last three games, the Rockets took down the Los Angeles Lakers, blitzed the Wizards and outlasted Memphis as Alperen Şengün went for 32 points and 14 boards.

Last week: No. 4 in rankings.

The Knicks are 2-4 in their last six games, but two of the losses were to Oklahoma City. Nice 140-106 bounce back win Sunday against Milwaukee as Jalen Brunson dropped 44 points on the Bucks.

Teams 6-10

Memphis Grizzlies (25-14) – They’re 2-3 in their last three games, but Ja Morant is back as he scored the team’s final four points including the game winner with 18.1 seconds left to top Minnesota.

Denver Nuggets (23-15) – Denver has won its last three games over the Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks by an average margin of 17.6 points.

Orlando Magic (23-18) – Paolo Banchero is back after missing months with a torn oblique. The Magic more than stayed afloat without him.

Indiana Pacers (22-18) – Uh oh. Look who is finding their stride. The Pacers have won their last six games with the latest win a stunner in handing Cleveland just its second home loss of the season.

Dallas Mavericks (22-17) – This could easily be the Los Angeles Lakers (20-16) or Los Angeles Clippers (20-17), but they’ve had games postponed due to the wildfires in their area. Stay safe.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.