Today\u2019s rankings will add another to the eliminated pile and bring the total number of teams alive to eight with about two weeks remaining in the regular season to make their case.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here are our championship power rankings with approximately 10 games remaining in this NBA regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eliminated Teams The Timberwolves\u2019 inconsistency has called into question their status as a true championship contender. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/p>\n 76ers <\/p>\n Why they\u2019re eliminated: Tyrese Maxey was playing some great basketball coming out of the All-Star break, but the 76ers still looked comically outmatched against any real contenders. Then the star guard hurt his finger and was ruled out for three weeks<\/a>, effectively spelling the end of Philly\u2019s contention hopes. The Sixers were a long shot to make a title run for most of the year but any belief this team could compete with the best, even at full health, is officially gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n Raptors<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re eliminated: The Raptors could definitely prove to be a tough playoff out against the right first-round opponent, but a deep playoff run culminating in a title? A touch too optimistic for our liking. Despite a consistently strong defensive effort led by Scottie Barnes, this is a mediocre team. Mediocre teams never come anywhere close to winning a title.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rockets <\/p>\n Why they\u2019re eliminated: Even with Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn in the lineup, the Rockets have proven helpless against good teams without Kevin Durant making all his shots. Anything less and the team makes for an easy meal for their opponents. With the right playoff path the Rockets could certainly make a run, but they\u2019ve shown too many warts to really believe they can make it out of the West.\u00a0<\/p>\n Timberwolves<\/p>\n Why they\u2019re eliminated: The first truly difficult cut of the weekly NBA championship power rankings. It isn\u2019t entirely fair to eliminate the Wolves after they rallied for some quality wins in the wake of Anthony Edwards\u2019s injury<\/a>. But even despite that Minnesota has the weakest case of all the remaining teams. Edwards is a game-changing superstar, yes, but as a whole the roster has been inconsistent from Day 1; not even the production from deadline acquisitions Ayo Dosunmu or Kyle Anderson has changed that.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s a saying that when someone shows you who they are, believe them. The Wolves have shown us they are a team who will not\u2014or worse, cannot\u2014string together stretches of great basketball. To win in the West, they\u2019ll need two straight months of great basketball. That sort of consistency is established in the regular season, and Minnesota is out of time to do so. <\/p>\n NBA championship power rankings8. Cavaliers Donovan Mitchell had 42 points in Cleveland\u2019s win over the Magic. | David Dermer-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 8 The title case: The Cavaliers have the talent to compete for a title, that\u2019s for sure. The trade deadline brought James Harden to Cleveland, where he now suits up alongside Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Between those three, the Cavs should check every box for championship contention. Harden\u2019s acclimation has gone pretty well so far, which is encouraging, and Mitchell\u2019s return from injury came with enough ramp-up time that he should be at 100% when the playoffs arrive.<\/p>\n Week in review: The Cavs won two games against bad teams that were closer than they should\u2019ve been before pulling out a late win over another playoff contender in the Magic. It was Cleveland\u2019s first win of note since beating the Pistons on March 3 at full strength. So it had been a while since we saw the Cavaliers play competitive basketball against relatively even competition. The signs were encouraging enough but unremarkable play against unremarkable teams will catch up with Cleveland eventually.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 7. Celtcs Jayson Tatum has given the Celtics a big lift in his return from injury. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 4 The title case: The Celtics were an exceptionally well-coached team led by a true star in Jaylen Brown. Now they are all that plus Jayson Tatum<\/a>. Boston has maintained its place as an elite offensive team while working extremely hard as a group to put forth strong defensive efforts every night despite boasting an unrecognizable roster from last season. Tatum\u2019s return has gone very smoothly as well. The superstar forward already looks like a capable defender and rebounder who can hit open shots. It\u2019s impossible to determine this team\u2019s ceiling right now with the rotation still adjusting to Tatum\u2019s presence, but that transition is going as well as the team could have hoped.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: This recent stretch wasn\u2019t exactly inspiring from Boston. The Celtics had no trouble with the Warriors but came dangerously close to dropping one against the tanking Grizzlies before getting outhustled by a Timberwolves team without Edwards to lose on their home floor. Tatum clearly still isn\u2019t back into a shooting rhythm and is hitting fewer than 40% of his shots from the floor. It\u2019d be unfair to extrapolate that into larger worries about his return from the Achilles injury at this time. But as far as the Celtics\u2019 championship hopes for this year go, it could prove a very big problem if Tatum can\u2019t hit the broad side of a barn; he shot 9 for 31 from the field in Boston\u2019s last two games and his team\u2019s play suffered as a result.\u00a0<\/p>\n 6. Knicks Jalen Brunson is the key to the Knicks\u2019 championship hopes | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 6 The title case: The Knicks boast a very talented starting five that is quite difficult to stop offensively. Jalen Brunson is a proven No. 1 playoff option and the OG Anunoby\u2013Mikal Bridges combo is a terror on the wing. New York is skilled on both ends and shouldn\u2019t be quite as worn down entering the playoffs with Mike Brown in charge instead of Tom Thibodeau. At this stage the orange and blue are just hoping to get to the playoffs healthy; their identity on both ends is well-established, although the bouts of inconsistency are frustrating and worrying in equal measure.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: It was another seesaw week for the Knicks. They beat the tar out of the Wizards with 145 points in regulation. But New York also came within two points of losing to the Nets, managing only 93 points against the NBA\u2019s fourth-worst defense in Brooklyn. The orange-and-blue\u2019s final game of the week was a sloppy win over the Pelicans at home. As far as win-loss goes it was a perfect week but the Knicks have to start stringing together good performances as the playoffs approach to climb these sorts of lists. <\/p>\n 5. Nuggets Nikola Joki\u0107 remains one of the NBA\u2019s most dominant forces. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 5\u00a0 The title case: The Nuggets are enjoying another great Nikola Joki\u0107 season. As long as he\u2019s healthy Denver has a shot. Jamal Murray enjoying his first All-Star campaign could lead to an even better postseason for an already proven playoff performer. They just barely lost to the Thunder last year and have gotten better this season. The kicker for these Nuggets, more than any other team, is health. Injuries have plagued the roster up and down all season long. If they can hit the postseason at full strength there\u2019s plenty of reason for optimism.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: The Nuggets are healthy. Huzzah! With Peyton Watson\u2019s return over the weekend<\/a> Denver finally enjoys a fully locked and loaded rotation for the first time all season. We\u2019ve yet to see everyone operating at full capacity; Watson is on a minutes restriction and missed Tuesday night\u2019s narrow win over the Suns with an injury management designation. But Joki\u0107 is clearly rounding into playoff form after putting up 23 points, 17 rebounds, 17 assists and the game-winning shot against Phoenix. If that version of the Serbian superstar comes to play, the Nuggets will be tough to knock off on any night.\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Lakers The Lakers\u2019 win streak was snapped by the Pistons but it\u2019s been a great stretch for Los Angeles anyway. | David Reginek-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 7 The title case: Star power. Most opponents cannot handle the full might of Luka Don\u010di\u0107, LeBron James and Austin Reaves. The trio boast ludicrous shotmaking and creation skills against any opponent. Of late, James seems to have accepted the Lakers are at their best when he plays like a supercharged role player<\/a> and the dividends have been clear as day since he returned from injury last Thursday. Los Angeles is healthy and coalescing at a great time, showing a consistent spark only seen in short spurs previously.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: The Lakers are on a heater<\/a> and doing everything possible to convince the greater viewing population that they can win a title. It is an enticing argument. An otherworldly Don\u010di\u0107<\/a> working with this version of James (extremely overqualified for his role as the third wheel in Los Angeles) and a defensive unit meshing at the right time is a dangerous recipe. Has the team\u2019s hot streak done away with questions about Austin Reaves\u2019s vulnerabilities as a defender or Deandre Ayton\u2019s consistency? Not entirely. But even though it took until March the Lakers finally seem like a team with more answers than questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. Pistons Pistons big man Jalen Duren has taken a leap for Detroit this season. | David Reginek-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 3 The title case: The Pistons are an excellent, physical defensive squad with an MVP candidate leading the way offensively in Cade Cunningham. Jalen Duren\u2019s All-Star leap has given the team a true centerpiece to man the middle on both ends. J.B. Bickerstaff has inspired a physical defense that overcomes a lack of offensive output from the players who surround Cunningham most nights. It\u2019s all resulted in an in-your-face brand of basketball that offers multiple avenues to victory each night.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: Hats off to Detroit for refusing to roll over in the wake of Cunningham\u2019s collapsed lung. Since the Pistons\u2019 superstar was declared out indefinitely his team has gutted out three wins, most impressively against the Lakers to end L.A.\u2019s nine-game win streak<\/a>. It was an extremely important stretch of performances from the Detroit roster\u2014it kept the top seed in the East firmly in the team\u2019s hand and inspired more optimism than ever about this supporting cast. The Pistons\u2019 championship hopes still rest on Cunningham\u2019s shoulders, but it was a great stretch for this young team.\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Spurs Victor Wembanyama is making an MVP push as the season winds down. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s ranking: No. 2 The title case: Victor Wembanyama<\/a>. That\u2019s the start and end of the Spurs\u2019 case to win a title way ahead of schedule this year. The third-year All-Star has been a force unto himself since coming into the league but figured out how to best apply his outrageous skill set to winning games en masse this season. San Antonio\u2019s supporting cast has proven ready to rise to the moment alongside him. This is a very good team with a hard-to-see ceiling due to Wemby\u2019s generational talents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: The Spurs have been mowing down opponents for months now. Wembanyama\u2019s MVP case is growing stronger by the day<\/a> as the star center locks in in anticipation of the playoffs\u2014he\u2019s played some of the best basketball of his career lately. San Antonio is proving extraordinarily tough to beat as the rest of the roster clicks around the superstar manning the middle. How they fare in the crucible of postseason play is all that\u2019s left to be determined.\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in the hunt for a second straight NBA MVP award. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s rankings: No. 1 The title case: The Thunder have fallen off the historic pace they set to kick off the year but were still the first team to hit 50 wins, as well as the first team to clinch a playoff berth<\/a>. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander broke a Wilt Chamberlain record<\/a> and seems poised to take home a second consecutive MVP award. With Jalen Williams\u2019s return OKC is finally at full health, too. The prospect of this OKC team getting better is frightening but appears to be the reality as the season draws to a close.\u00a0<\/p>\n Week in review: The Thunder are cruising. Williams played 18 minutes and scored 20 points in his first game since before the All-Star break. The team hasn\u2019t lost since late February. Gilgeous-Alexander remains the MVP favorite and OKC should finish with the most regular season wins in the NBA, again. All is well with the leading championship contenders.<\/p>\n More NBA from Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n Listen to SI\u2019s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple<\/a> and Spotify<\/a>. Watch the show on SI\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to Sports Illustrated\u2019s weekly NBA championship power rankings.\u00a0 In case you\u2019re new here, the premise for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-563942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmjpd1jp40x9zdfp6s.jpg\" "\\"Minnesota")
<\/p>\n![\"Donovan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmjm59hhmxd36v0b56.jpg\" "\\"Donovan")
<\/p>\n
Record entering March 25: 45\u201327<\/p>\n![\"Boston](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmjp0c7btm6kxfspkf.jpg\" "\\"Boston")
<\/p>\n
Record entering March 25: 47\u201324<\/p>\n![\"Jalen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmjm7qx3fhwbsz9kzb.jpg\" "\\"Jalen")
<\/p>\n
Record entering March 25: 48\u201325\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Denver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmjnyqrzkyjpa4axa0.jpg\" "\\"Denver")
<\/p>\n
Record entering March 25: 45\u201328\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"LeBron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmjmap7a14dv0q1s1y.jpg\" "\\"LeBron")
<\/p>\n
Record entering March 25: 46\u201326<\/p>\n![\"Detroit](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmjnwp8k88dqcnsk3g.jpg\" "\\"Detroit")
<\/p>\n
Record entering March 25: 52\u201319<\/p>\n![\"Victor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmjmcp5pnmcqzkqjfb.jpg\" "\\"Victor")
<\/p>\n
Record entering March 25: 54\u201318\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Oklahoma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmjnv83pbqfvr26asy.jpg\" "\\"Oklahoma")
<\/p>\n
Record entering March 25: 57\u201315\u00a0<\/p>\n