NBA power rankings 2024-25: Celtics back on top of final rankings, Thunder, Cavaliers round out top three

This is the final NBC Sports NBA Power Rankings of the season. By this time next week we will be deep into the Play-In Tournament and talking seedings and possible upsets. It’s appropriate that this final ranking comes full circle with Boston on top.

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1. Boston Celtics (59-20, Last Week No. 2). It’s fitting that the Celtics end the season where they started it — on top of these NBA Power Rankings and as the team to beat in the title chase. Boston is peaking at the right time, having gone 17-2 in their last 19 (best in the league), led by Jayson Tatum, who somehow almost gets taken for granted despite playing at an MVP level all-season long. The road to the Larry O’Brien Trophy runs through Boston.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (65-14, LW 1). Oklahoma City ran away with the West, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a deserving MVP. Still, in the loss last week to the Lakers, the playoff concerns with this team seemed to raise their heads again: Can Jalen Williams or Chet Holmgren step up when opponents sell out to stop SGA? That’s the question this team has to answer to reach the NBA Finals and possibly win it. Nobody is going to question SGA or if the Thunder defense is good enough, but a one-man offensive show doesn’t get this team where it wants to be.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers (63-16, LW 3). Cleveland has locked up the No. 1 seed in the East and heads into the playoffs looking like a legitimate contender and threat to Boston. Kenny Atkinson will be deservingly rewarded with the Coach of the Year award. Donovan Mitchell will be rewarded by likely being First Team All-NBA/fifth in MVP voting — but, for my money, Evan Mobley is the guy who deserves that honor, he has been the player on both ends driving the Cavaliers’ improvement.

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4. Golden State Warriors (47-32, LW 4). What a mid-season turnaround — the Warriors enter the playoffs looking like the biggest threat to the Thunder. Since the Jimmy Butler trade, Golden State is 22-6, and the team has a top-five offense and defense since the All-Star break. If you needed more proof, wins last week over the next two teams in this ranking — the Nuggets and Lakers — cemented the Warriors as a team that can make a title run. Also, all the self-promotion aside, Draymond Green has a legitimate case for Defensive Player of the Year.

5. Los Angeles Lakers (48-31, LW 9). Nico Harrison didn’t just gift the Lakers a bridge to their post-LeBron future, he gifted them a player in Luka Doncic who makes them a threat to win any playoff series starting this season. Adding Doncic has allowed LeBron James to thrive as a play finisher rather than a creator, while Austin Reaves has taken over a lot of the shot creation. J.J. Redick has proven himself as up to the job. We’ll see how the Lakers’ defense holds up in the playoffs, but this team is legit.

6. Denver Nuggets (47-32, LW 5). WHAT?!?!? Owner Josh Kroenke apparently had been thinking about firing Mike Malone since midseason (at least) but didn’t want GM Calvin Booth to “win” the long-running battle between coach and GM, so he fired them both. With three games and less than a week left in the season. Officially, Kroenke said he hoped the firings would be a “jolt” that would inspire the team in the playoffs. In reality, this feels destabilizing and like throwing in the towel on this season. Is anybody picking Denver over the Lakers or Warriors, let alone the Thunder, in the West now?

7. Houston Rockets (52-27, LW 6). Are we all sleeping on the Rockets as a playoff threat? The conventional wisdom has been they are a promising young team but who would their No. 1 option be in a tight postseason game? They are seen as a year or two — and a move or two — away. However, that athletic and long-armed defense got the Rockets wins against the Thunder and Warriors in the past week, maybe this team is a bigger threat than we realize. Whatever happens in the playoffs will set the course the front office takes going forward.

PLAYOFFS OR BUST

8. Los Angeles Clippers (47-32, LW 7). Tyronn Lue has his team peaking at just the right time. Kawhi Leonard has scored 20+ points in his last dozen games, Ivica Zubac is a force in the paint (and had a 20-20 game this week), the Clippers are stout defensively and smart offensively. Things are unsettled in the West — with four teams tied at 47-32 as of Wednesday morning — but if the Clippers face the Nuggets, Timberwolves or Grizzlies in the first round, it would be tough to pick against them.

9. New York Knicks (50-29, LW 10). The Knicks are locked into the No. 3 seed and Jalen Brunson is back in time for the playoffs. That means it’s time for the annual concern that Tom Thibodeau has run his starters into the ground during the regular season — it’s a legitimate concern. Check out this stat from Chris Herring at ESPN: “Looking at the teams the Knicks could face in the first round of the playoffs, Bridges this season has run 37 miles more than Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, 41 miles more than Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and 66 miles more than Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard, according to NBA tracking data.”

10. Indiana Pacers (48-31, LW 11). Another team peaking at the right time, the Pacers have won five in a row, 11-of-13, and they have a top-10 offense and defense over that stretch. The Pacers are on the verge of a 50-win season and will have home court in the first round of the playoffs, likely against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks (Milwaukee won the season series between the teams 3-1).

11. Minnesota Timberwolves (46-33, LW 8). The season started with management trading away Karl-Anthony Towns, leading to rough patches as Minnesota tried to find a new identity. That identity has come around of late, with the Timberwolves going 14-4 in their last 18, but Tuesday’s ugly come-from-ahead loss to Milwaukee (where Minnesota led by 24 with 10:09 left and got outscored) hurt. Huge game Thursday against Memphis, Minnesota needs that one to avoid the play-in.

12. Memphis Grizzlies (47-32, LW 13). After dropping their first three games under interim coach Tuomas Iisalo, the Grizzlies have won three straight and find themselves in the four-way tie between seeds 4-7 in the West. The Grizzlies face a critical back-to-back against the Timberwolves and Nuggets on Thursday/Friday and need wins to avoid the play-in. This summer, there are some hard questions in Memphis that need to be answered about the direction of this franchise (and who is coaching them).

13. Milwaukee Bucks (45-34, LW 14). Are we underselling Milwaukee as a playoff threat? The Bucks are peaking at the right time, having won five in a row — including an insane comeback against Minnesota — and Giannis Antetokounmpo has three straight triple-doubles. Milwaukee seems likely to land the No. 5 seed, meaning on the road against Indiana in the first round, followed likely by the Cavaliers in the second round. If the Bucks get bounced in the first round or get destroyed in the second round, it could be a very hot summer in Milwaukee.

14. Detroit Pistons (43-36, LW 12). The Pistons made a massive leap this season and are playing with house money entering the playoffs (where they likely get the Knicks in the first round). Cade Cunningham is deserving of an All-NBA nod and maybe Most Improved Player, while J.B. Bickerstaff will get votes for Coach of the Year. After some rough years, Pistons fans should savor this season, it’s been fantastic.

15. Orlando Magic (39-40, LW 15). Orlando will want to clinch the No. 7 seed before facing No. 8 seed Atlanta on Sunday in the final game of the regular season, but that means beating one of two red-hot teams to close the season in Boston or Indiana (though both may not have much to play for and rest key guys). Last season Orlando pushed the Cavaliers to seven games in the playoffs, a great learning experience for Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and the rest of the team, but it’s going to be tough to build on that facing Boston (if Orlando is the No. 7 seed) or Cleveland (if No. 8). Still, this is a team on the rise if it can stay healthy.

16. Miami Heat (36-43, LW 17). The Jimmy Butler III era is over in Miami, but now the hard questions come: Who is this team without Butler? Can they land another name free agent? How do the Heat take a step forward off being a bottom-tier play-in team this season? They have Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, and Kel’el Ware had a strong rookie season, but right now this is a middle-of-the-pack team, and that is not where Pat Riley likes to be.

17. Atlanta Hawks (37-42, LW 16). Is there a player more at a crossroads entering the playoffs than Trae Young? He has matured his game, become a strong playmaker and at least tries harder on defense, but the question about whether the Hawks can build a winner around him remains. If (really, when) the Hawks are bounced either in the Play-In Tournament or the first round, the Hawks need to take a hard look at this team and where they want to go. They have other talent on the roster, including Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels, among others, but is it time to pivot from Young? Can they?

18. Sacramento Kings (39-40, LW 20). It’s going to be a rough offseason in Sacramento. De’Aaron Fox pushed his way out the door to San Antonio and now Domantas Sabonis and others will have questions about what direction this franchise goes, or they may push to leave, also. This isn’t a terrible roster with Zach LaVine on it, maybe a .500 team, but in this West, that will not get the Kings very far.

19. Chicago Bulls (36-43, LW 18). Chicago made its move towards a youth movement — then kept winning games because Coby White and Josh Giddey stepped up and played well. Giddey and White are good, but not the No. 1 option the Bulls need, and they are winning too much to draft that star. The big question this summer: How much do the Bulls want to pay Giddey? He wants starting point guard money (around $30 million a season), but do the Bulls want to tie themselves to him long term, or really go all-in on the rebuild? (If not the Bulls, who pays Giddey?)

20. Dallas Mavericks (38-41, LW 19). Dallas has its path for next season, if it can just get and stay healthy. Anthony Davis in the paint and Kyrie Irving — likely returning mid-season from his torn ACL — give the Mavericks two All-NBA level players when they are on the court. Dallas ownership needs them on the court because the bad blood from the Luka Doncic trade is only going away with wins on the court.

CAPTURE THE (COOPER) FLAGG

21. Portland Trail Blazers (35-44, LW 22). The final months of the season showed that Portland has a lot of quality on its roster: Deni Avdija took a big step forward, as did Scoot Henderson, they have Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe. Look for the Trail Blazers to make a leap next season and be playing in late April (and maybe beyond). The big question this offseason, will Chauncey Billups get an extension and be back coaching, or are the two sides parting ways? A lot of buzz around the league about a split.

22. Phoenix Suns (35-44, LW 21). Celtics announcers Brian Scalabrine and Mike Gorman pretty much summed up the Suns’ season when Boston and Phoenix played last week. Scalabrine: “Great practice game for us. You really want to execute your offense, just call the Phoenix Suns. It’s the best way to work on what you want to work on.” Gorman: “You are not gonna face much resistance against this team.” Yup. There are big changes coming this offseason, with Kevin Durant likely traded and league sources expecting Mike Budenholzer to be out as coach.

23. Toronto Raptors (29-50, LW 23). Rough season in Toronto, but their future is laid out: Brandon Ingram gets healthy and returns next season to play alongside Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, and RJ Barrett. Toronto should move up and be a playoff team next season.

24. San Antonio Spurs (32-47, LW 24). We only got five games of Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox together this season, but next season look for them to show some chemistry and for the Spurs to make a leap in the West. The big offseason question: Who is going to coach them? Will Gregg Popovich return, and if so, for how long? Long-time Popovich right-hand man Mike Budenholzer is expected to be available, as is Taylor Jenkins (who was the right-hand to Budenholzer for a long time). And don’t forget Michael Malone.

25. Brooklyn Nets (26-53, LW 25). The bright spot in Brooklyn this season was the job by rookie coach Jordi Fernandez, who kept this team competitive even as GM Sean Marks traded away talent as the team is in a full-on rebuild. It will be interesting to see what Fernandez can do with real talent in a few years.

26. New Orleans Pelicans (21-58, LW 26). Is Zion Williamson back in New Orleans next season? The Pelicans are expected to test the trade waters for him, there will be interest, but will New Orleans get the haul they hope for the former No. 1 pick? Might they just hold on to him? What happens with Zion determines where this franchise goes next year.

27. Philadelphia 76ers (23-56, LW 27). Nick Nurse and Daryl Morey need to swing by a church every day this summer and light a candle for the health of Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey. Philadelphia is locked into that core, and while they can tweak the role players around them, that core being healthy for 55+ games next season is the only way they get anywhere near the heights they expected this season.

28. Charlotte Hornets (19-60, LW 28). Two keys to the Hornets’ offseason: 1) How the lottery balls bounce; 2) The answer to the question “Do they still want to build around LaMelo Ball?” Those two things could be interrelated.

29. Washington Wizards (17-62, LW 29). Rookies Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George showed promise this season, but the Wizards still need the lottery balls to bounce their way this offseason. This is not going to be a fast rebuild.

30. Utah Jazz (16-63, LW 30). While the short-term focus is on the lottery balls and the NBA Draft, the other big question for Utah is whether they trade Lauri Markkanen this summer or bring him back and try to win with him? Expect a Markkanen trade, but if the lottery gods are unkind that could change the dynamic.