Ric Bucher
FOX Sports NBA Analyst
The lockdown is over. While the hierarchy of the NBA has been fairly fluid this season, all that rising and falling had taken place below the top two spots, which, for nearly a month, belonged exclusively to the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves. Not any longer.The Oklahoma City Thunder established themselves as the most formidable team in the Western Conference with a four-game winning streak that included decisive wins over both the Timberwolves and defending champion Denver Nuggets.Their week not only vaulted them past the Timberwolves but pushed them past the Celtics into the FOX Sports power rankings’ No. 1 spot for the first time this season — and possibly the first time in the history of NBA power rankings. The Celtics extended their league-best winning streak to six games to hold onto the No. 2 spot but needed overtime to get past the 30th-ranked Pistons and narrowly avoided losing to the 24th-ranked Toronto Raptors, who then became the first team to lose to that same Detroit team since October. With both games on Boston’s home floor. All that was enough to push the Thunder past them.Don’t think for a minute OKC earned the top spot with merely a good week. While they are 1 1/2 games behind Minnesota in the standings, they’ve played a tougher schedule and won more convincingly on a more consistent basis. A late November loss to the T-Wolves was mostly what had kept them at bay.The Milwaukee Bucks also leapfrogged the Philadelphia 76ers among the premier teams in the East with road wins in Brooklyn and Cleveland, while the Sixers fell to the Chicago Bulls on the second night of a back-to-back without Joel Embiid (ankle). Are the 76ers a more formidable team than the Bucks? Yes, when they have Embiid. What they’ve looked like in his four-game absence, combined with Milwaukee going 9-1 in its last 10 games was too much for the rankings committee to ignore.Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors continued their slide into the unenviable glut of midsection teams, while the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers continued to inch their way toward the top. The Heat’s win over the Warriors without Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, Josh Richardson or Thomas Bryant, on the Warriors’ home floor, powered by rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. and part-time G-Leaguer Jamal Cain, is yet another testament to the power of the Heat culture and player development.Finally: yes, the Pistons ended their two-month-long losing streak. No, beating a shorthanded Toronto Raptors’ team after their trade with the New York Knicks wasn’t enough to pull them off the bottom of the rankings. The Pistons have more talent and potential than their record would suggest, but until they realize it, the WashingtonWizards and San Antonio Spurs can breathe easy.NBA Power RankingsOklahoma City Thunder: +4Boston Celtics: -1Minnesota Timberwolves: -1Milwaukee Bucks: =Philadelphia 76ers: -2Denver Nuggets: =Miami Heat: +5LA Clippers: +2Sacramento Kings: -2Orlando Magic: -2Dallas Mavericks: -2New York Knicks: -1Phoenix Suns: +8New Orleans Pelicans: =Indiana Pacers: +2Cleveland Cavaliers: -1Golden State Warriors: -4Los Angeles Lakers: -2Houston Rockets: -1Chicago Bulls: +2Utah Jazz: +3Memphis Grizzlies: -2Brooklyn Nets: -4Toronto Raptors: -1Atlanta Hawks: =Portland Trail Blazers: =Washington Wizards: =Charlotte Hornets: =San Antonio Spurs: =Detroit Pistons: =Ric Bucher is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. He previously wrote for Bleacher Report, ESPN The Magazine and The Washington Post and has written two books, “Rebound,” on NBA forward Brian Grant’s battle with young onset Parkinson’s, and “Yao: A Life In Two Worlds.” He also has a daily podcast, “On The Ball with Ric Bucher.” Follow him on Twitter @RicBucher. FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience National Basketball Association Get more from National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Source link