There’s a new (old?) team atop the USA TODAY Sports NBA power rankings.
As the NBA calendar turns to the final month of the regular season, races for playoff seeding are tightening.
In the East, the difference between the top two teams, the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics, is just 2 ½ games. In the West, that margin between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs is only 3 games.
But there’s also a glut of teams in the middle of the Eastern Conference vying to climb out of the play-in picture, all of which points to a thrilling finish in the 2025-26 regular season.
Here are USA TODAY Sports’ NBA power rankings after Week 18 of the 2025-26 regular season:
USA TODAY Sports NBA power rankings
Note: Records and stats through March 9. Parentheses show movement from last week’s rankings.
NBA Week 19 power rankings: Top 10
1. Oklahoma City Thunder, 51-15 (+1)
2. San Antonio Spurs, 47-17 (+1)
3. Detroit Pistons, 45-18 (-2)
4. Boston Celtics, 43-21 (—)
5. Minnesota Timberwolves, 40-24 (+1)
6. New York Knicks, 41-25 (-1)
7. Cleveland Cavaliers, 40-25 (— )
8. Houston Rockets, 39-24 (—)
9. Los Angeles Lakers, 39-25 (+1)
10. Denver Nuggets, 39-26 (-1)
The Pistons have picked a terrible time to sputter. For the first time this season, Detroit is on a four-game losing streak, and the Pistons have lost those games by an average margin of 8.0 points. One of those losses came against the 17-win Nets. Detroit’s defensive rating in the last four games? It’s 119.7, which ranks 25th in the NBA. Compare that to the team’s overall defensive rating this season: 108.9, which ranks second in the league.
That has opened the door for the Thunder to reclaim their spot as the top team in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Oklahoma City are doing this with mounting injuries, and SGA is coming for his second-consecutive Most Valuable Player award.
Not only that, but the return of Jayson Tatum has given the Celtics a massive boost, and with Boston sitting just 2 ½ games back of Detroit, the Celtics may very well make a push for the top seed in the East. Boston, according to Tankathon.com, has the third-easiest remaining schedule in the NBA.
NBA Week 19 power rankings: Nos. 11-20
11. Phoenix Suns, 37-27 (+1)
12. Miami Heat, 36-29 (+3)
13. Orlando Magic, 35-28 (+1)
14. Toronto Raptors, 36-27 (-1)
15. Los Angeles Clippers, 32-32 (+4)
16. Atlanta Hawks, 31-31 (—)
17. Philadelphia 76ers, 34-30 (-4)
18. Charlotte Hornets, 32-33 (-1)
19. Golden State Warriors, 32-32 (-1)
20. Portland Trail Blazers, 31-34 (—)
The most exciting race in the NBA? It might be the fight for the No. 5 and 6 seeds in the Eastern Conference, where six teams (Raptors, Magic, Heat, 76ers, Hawks, Hornets) have a legitimate shot to climb into those spots.
The team with the most momentum in that group is Miami, which is on a five-game winning streak. In the absence of All-Star Norman Powell, Tyler Herro has returned to form and the Heat have the NBA’s top offensive rating (123.3 points per 100 possessions) over the last five games. The key will be to keep that consistency and offensive flow once Powell returns. The Hawks have also won six consecutive and the Magic have four in a row. Things are tightening up.
And, with a huge win Monday, March 9 over the Knicks, the Clippers climbed back to .500 for the first time since Nov. 3, when L.A. was 3-3. Kawhi Leonard has been ultra consistent, and the moves for Darius Garland and Bennedict Mathurin (18.4 points per game since joining the Clippers) have stabilized the offense.
NBA Week 19 power rankings: Nos. 21-30
21. Milwaukee Bucks, 27-36 (—)
22. Chicago Bulls, 26-38 (+1)
23. Memphis Grizzlies, 23-40 (-1)
24. Dallas Mavericks, 21-43 (—)
25. New Orleans Pelicans, 21-45 (—)
26. Utah Jazz, 20-45 (—)
27. Brooklyn Nets, 17-47 (+2)
28. Washington Wizards, 16-47 (-1)
29. Indiana Pacers, 15-49 (-1)
30. Sacramento Kings, 15-50 (—)
Frankly, there’s not a whole lot to be excited about in this group, other than the upcoming draft. The bottom three teams in the West by record, the Pelicans, Jazz and Kings have each won their most recent games. That may not seem like much, but it is progress.
Consider this: as NBA reporter Tom Haberstroh (and later, Marc Stein) noted at one point last week, the bottom 10 teams in the league had combined to lose their last 44 games.
One team that hasn’t been looking to tank, however, the Bucks, have sputtered even as Giannis Antetokounmpo has returned. Milwaukee has lost five of their last six, as new addition Cam Thomas has been wildly inconsistent.