Nba Power Rankings: Are The Surging Lakers A Threat Out West?

We are down to the final month of the 2025-26 NBA regular season.

No NBA team has more than 16 games remaining, as the races for seeding tighten up. And there’s still a possibility for some upheaval at the top of both the Eastern and Western Conferences; the Boston Celtics are only 4 games back of the Detroit Pistons in the East, while the San Antonio Spurs trail the Oklahoma City Thunder by just 3 ½ games.

And, as has been the case for a couple of months now, there’s also a race to the bottom, with tanking teams in the bottom third of this list looking to improve their draft positioning.

Here are USA TODAY Sports’ NBA power rankings after Week 19 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 20 power rankings: Top 10

1. Oklahoma City Thunder, 53-15 (—)

2. San Antonio Spurs, 49-18 (—)

3. Detroit Pistons, 48-19 (—)

4.Boston Celtics, 44-23 (—)

5. New York Knicks, 44-25 (+1)

6. Los Angeles Lakers, 42-25 (+3)

7. Denver Nuggets, 41-27 (+3)

8. Houston Rockets, 39-24 (—)

9. Minnesota Timberwolves, 41-27 (-4)

10. Cleveland Cavaliers, 41-27 (-3) 

The very top of this list remains intact, and the Thunder, with the Western Conference’s longest active winning streak of eight games, are peaking at the right time; OKC continues to lead the NBA in net rating (10.7), by a healthy margin. The Knicks have course corrected and have won three consecutive, even though the quality of opponent has been below average.

The Lakers are also rolling, having won five consecutive, and their defense has improved markedly over this recent stretch. In recent games against the Nuggets, Timberwolves and Knicks, Los Angeles has allowed just 109.3 points per game.

NBA Week 20 power rankings: Nos. 11-20

11. Orlando Magic, 38-28 (+2)

12. Miami Heat, 38-30 (—)

13. Phoenix Suns, 39-28 (-2)

14. Toronto Raptors, 38-29 (—)

15. Atlanta Hawks, 36-31 (+1)

16. Los Angeles Clippers, 34-33 (-1)

17. Philadelphia 76ers, 37-31 (—)

18. Charlotte Hornets, 34-34 (—)

19. Portland Trail Blazers, 32-35 (+1)

20. Golden State Warriors, 32-36 (-1)

The Magic simply have the upper hand on the Heat, and it will almost certainly cost Miami come playoff time: Orlando has defeated the Heat all five times that the Southeast Division rivals have played. The Magic have won seven consecutive games and their offense has finally started firing with efficiency, scoring 122.4 points per 100 possessions during their winning streak.

The Hawks have been stellar, winning nine consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NBA. Yet, Atlanta’s recent success should be tempered somewhat. While the Hawks are mauling opponents, leading the league in defensive rating (102.7) over the last nine games, the combined winning percentage of its opponents during its winning streak is just .354.

And now that Stephen Curry will continue to miss time with a right knee injury, the Warriors, losers of five consecutive, are in big trouble.

NBA Week 20 power rankings: Nos. 21-30

21. Milwaukee Bucks, 28-39 (—)

22. Chicago Bulls, 27-40 (—) 

23. Dallas Mavericks, 23-45 (+1)

24. Memphis Grizzlies, 23-43 (-1)

25. New Orleans Pelicans, 22-46 (—)

26. Utah Jazz, 20-48 (—)

27. Sacramento Kings, 18-51 (+3)

28. Brooklyn Nets, 17-50 (-1)

29. Washington Wizards, 16-50 (-1)

30. Indiana Pacers, 15-53 (-1)

The big move here is the Sacramento Kings climbing out of the cellar with four victories out of their last five games. But this final third continues to be a race to the bottom, with the Pacers (13 games), Wizards (11), Grizzlies (seven), Jazz (three) and Nets (three) are in the middle of lengthy losing streaks.

One thing to watch with the Bucks, who had been trying to make a late push into the play-in picture — a push that is seemingly unlikely now that Milwaukee is 5 ½ games back of the No. 10 seed — is that Giannis Antetokounmpo left the team’s victory Sunday, March 15 over the Pacers when he tweaked his knee landing after a dunk.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NBA power rankings have Lakers rise in the West as Thunder top league