Week 14 NBA Power Rankings: Thunder back on top, Nuggets jump to second

This week’s NBC Sports NBA Power Rankings see some movement at the top, but not teams that should be surprising — we knew Oklahoma City and Denver could be this good.

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (30-13, LW 2). While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets all the flowers for what is happening in Oklahoma City, do not sleep on how good Jalen Williams has become. He’s not likely to be an All-Star this year, but he will be one. They realize it in OKC, where he took the game-winning shot to beat Portland Tuesday (we’re not going to get into all the late-game drama with the referees here; what matters is what Williams was asked to do). Oklahoma City beat Minnesota last week, those teams square off again Monday and this time the Thunder are on the second night of a back-to-back.

2. Denver Nuggets (31-14, LW 6). Last week’s win over Boston was a reminder that, when the Nuggets decide to focus, they remain the team to beat in the NBA. Boston, for all its defensive talent, had no answer for slowing Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, and when the right shooters and role players are around that duo nobody can stop them. That win is a reminder of how great Denver can look and bumps them up these rankings… but it likely will not be enough to get Jamal Murray his first All-Star appearance, he’s just missed too many games in a West LOADED with quality guard players. Maybe the coaches vote him in as a reserve, but it seems a long shot.

3. Boston Celtics (34-10, Last Week No. 1). Boston is still the team to beat in the East, but that loss to Denver revived every concern about this team in the playoffs and clutch minutes. The Celtics scored two points in the final 4:50 with a little too slow decision-making and too much isolation that’s easy to defend. This is the best team in the NBA when clicking, however, the questions about this core’s ability to execute in the biggest of moments is back on the front burner. We know Denver will execute, Boston has to reach that level. There are a couple of other chances to test themselves this week with the Heat and Clippers.

4. Philadelphia 76ers (29-13, LW 5). 70. That number is just insane. It again speaks to why Joel Embiid is on his way to repeating as NBA MVP if he can just stay healthy enough to get to 65 games played. He is simply playing at another level right now compared to anyone else. The only other guy who can claim to be near that level is the guy with the Finals MVP from last season Nikola Jokic, and we are all hoping we finally get to see that showdown in Denver on Saturday night. That mile-high game is the second of a five-game road trip for Philly, mostly through the West, with a brutal back-to-back in Portland and then Golden State (not that the teams are great, but that travel is harsh).

5. Los Angeles Clippers (28-14, LW 4). What makes the Clippers particularly dangerous as a playoff team is they are the best shooting team in the league, hitting 39.8% of their 3-pointers on the season (that is up to 43.3% in the past 15 games). That quality shooting, plus their depth, helps them find wins on nights they don’t play with enough focus (particularly on the defensive end). That’s how Tuesday’s game against the Lakers played out — with LeBron out, the Clippers were not sharp, but it didn’t matter because they just kept hitting shots. Friday night starts the first of seven on the road for the Clippers as the Grammys kick them out of Crypto.com Arena.

6. Cleveland Cavaliers (26-15, LW 8). Donovan Mitchell’s play of late will force a tough decision on J.B. Bickerstaff soon. Mitchell continues to thrive with the better floor spacing of the current starting five — 30.6 points and 8.2 assists a game in his last five games, shooting 50% from the field — and the team is winning, now eight in a row and 15-of-18. When Darius Garland gets healthy he can plug right into that system and it still works. But what about when Evan Mobley gets healthy? He is an elite defender, but the team is defending well without him, and he was the guy teams helped off of when the Cavs had the ball. How will Bickerstaff handle this? What will the front office have to say on the matter?

7. Minnesota Timb rwolves (30-13, LW 3). Minnesota still sits tied atop the Western Conference, but the team’s loss to Charlotte this week — in a game where Karl-Anthony Towns scored 62 but got greedy for more in the fourth quarter and took the team out of its rhythm — left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Especially coach Chris Finch: “It was an absolute disgusting performance of defense and immature basketball.” Are the Timberwolves mature enough to handle their success or are they still figuring it out? Minnesota is on the road for its next four but the first three are winnable at the Wizards, Nets and Spurs — a chance for the team to bounce back.

8. New York Knicks (27-17, LW 9). Will Jalen Brunson get the second All-Star starting guard spot? We can assume — based on the fan vote and media members who talked about their votes — that Tyrese Haliburton is a lock for one spot, but the other East guard starting slot is up in the air. The fans had Trae Young, but he rarely does well with his peers so the player vote could sink him. That openes the door for Brunson, who seemed to have a lot of support in the media voting pool. Damian Lillard is in that mix as well. A feather in Brunson’s cap is how well the Knicks are playing right now, 8-1 in games where both he and newly acquired OG Anunoby are in the lineup, but that will be put to the test this week with the Nuggets and Heat.

9. Milwaukee Bucks (30-13, LW 7). Doc Rivers is a coaching upgrade for Milwaukee. Put aside the questions of whether Griffin deserved more time to learn and grow on the job (and if he was ‘t going to get that, why hire him in the first place?). On the ground right now, Rivers brings a baseline level of competence this team needs. Rivers gets players to listen and buy in, and his teams have an identity — Griffin’s Bucks had neither of those things. Whether Rivers is going to be able to coach this Bucks team past the second round is a different question but he will make this team better over the coming months. For a win-now team, maybe that is all that matters.