NBA Power Rankings: Wemby leads Spurs, and the Heat push for the postseason

We’re in the final third of the 2023-24 NBA regular season, and the postseason race in both conferences is tight.

In the West, the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets are all within a half-game with each other, jostling for the No. 1 spot. And despite an impressive win over the Thunder on Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers remain stuck in the play-in bubble, half a game behind the Dallas Mavericks.

While it appears no team in the East will catch the Boston Celtics, who most recently topped their regular-season dominance with a 52-point win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers — one game apart — could make another surprising postseason run, with the health of the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks still up in the air.

Here’s where all 30 teams stack up this week, with just one month to go.

Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Kendra Andrews, Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball and which teams are looking most like title contenders.

Previous rankings: Post-Finals | Nov. 1 | Nov. 8 | Nov. 15 | Nov. 22 | Nov. 29 | Dec. 6 | Dec. 13 | Dec. 20 | Dec. 27 | Jan. 3 | Jan. 10 | Jan. 17 | Jan. 24 | Jan. 31 | Feb. 7 | Feb. 14 | Feb. 28

Jump to a team:

ATL | BOS | BKN | CHA | CHI | CLE
DAL | DEN | DET | GS | HOU | IND
LAC | LAL | MEM | MIA | MIL | MIN
NO | NY | OKC | ORL | PHI | PHX
POR | SAC | SA | TOR | UTA | WAS

2023-24 record: 48-13

• Previous ranking: 1

• Next games: @ DEN (Mar. 7), @ PHX (Mar. 9), @ POR (Mar. 11), @ UTA (Mar. 12)

Entering Tuesday night’s game in Cleveland, the Celtics had the record for point differential, outscoring their opponents by 243 points during its 11-game winning streak. Boston is on pace to have a net rating over 10, something few clubs in NBA history have accomplished. The Celtics have the same lead over No. 2 Milwaukee in the East that No. 1 Minnesota has over No. 7 Sacramento in the West — a sign of just how dominant the Celtics have been. — Bontemps

2023-24 record: 42-19

• Previous ranking: 3

• Next games: vs. BOS (Mar. 7), vs. UTA (Mar. 9), vs. TOR (Mar. 11)

The Nuggets suffered their first loss since the All-Star break, snapping a six-game winning streak after Phoenix somehow survived in overtime in Denver after blowing a 22-point second-half lead. The Suns managed to do something that has only happened five times all season — force Nikola Jokic to have more turnovers (seven) than assists (five). The Nuggets are now 1-4 in those games. Jokic and Denver will look to rebound in a colossal showdown at home against the Celtics on Thursday. That game will be the end of a six-game gauntlet in which the Nuggets faced the Warriors, Kings, Heat, Lakers and Suns. — Youngmisuk

2023-24 record: 41-21

• Previous ranking: 6

• Next games: @ GS (Mar. 6), @ LAL (Mar. 8), @ LAC (Mar. 10), @ SAC (Mar. 12)

The Bucks have won six consecutive games coming out of the All-Star break, including a victory over the Clippers on Monday without Giannis Antetokounmpo, thanks to a defense that looks back in form. Milwaukee ranks first in defense since the break, giving up 102.6 points per 100 possessions to fuel its winning streak. — Collier

2023-24 record: 43-19

• Previous ranking: 4

• Next games: @ IND (Mar. 7), @ CLE (Mar. 8), @ LAL (Mar. 10), @ LAC (Mar. 12)

The Timberwolves dropped consecutive home games over the weekend to the Kings and Clippers for just the second time all season before beating the Blazers on Monday to maintain a slight advantage in the race for the No.1 seed in the West. The Wolves, who top the league in defense but rank 17th in offense, begin one of their longest road trips of the season, a six-game set that begins with a back-to-back contests against the Pacers and Cavs on Thursday and Friday. — Collier

2023-24 record: 42-19

• Previous ranking: 2

• Next games: @ POR (Mar. 6), vs. MIA (Mar. 8), vs. MEM (Mar. 10), vs. IND (Mar. 12)

Oklahoma City has spent a total of two days atop the Western Conference standings this season. The Thunder slipped out of the top spot with Monday’s road loss to the Lakers, a potential first-round foe who won three of the four meetings between the teams this season and the only team to beat Oklahoma City three times. Anthony Davis (27.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists per game in the series) has been an especially difficult matchup for rookie center Chet Holmgren. — MacMahon

2023-24 record: 39-21

• Previous ranking: 5

• Next games: @ HOU (Mar. 6), vs. CHI (Mar. 9), vs. MIL (Mar. 10), vs. MIN (Mar. 12)

The Clippers’ inconsistent play continued after one of their most impressive wins at Minnesota with a disappointing loss the next night at Milwaukee, where they blew a 15-point second-half lead to a Bucks team playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo. This was the first of four back-to-backs in a month jammed with 17 games in 31 days. The Clippers will miss LA Clippers for the fourth spot in the West, but just four ahead of Golden State at No. 10. — Lopez

2023-24 record: 36-26

• Previous ranking: 8

• Next games: vs. ORL (Mar. 8), vs. PHI (Mar. 10), vs. PHI (Mar. 12)

New York, which has lost seven of its past 10 games, appeared to catch a significant break when ‘s awful-looking injury in Sunday’s win over the Cavaliers was deemed to only be a knee bruise. The last thing the Knicks need is to lose another starter, as they are still waiting for Scottie Barnes likely saw his season come to an end after undergoing surgery Monday to repair the third metacarpal bone in his left hand. Still, Toronto has to be thrilled about the growth it has seen this season from Barnes, averaging career highs in points (19.9), rebounds (8.2), assists (6.1) and blocks (1.5), with significant jumps in 3-point percentage (34.1) and attempts (4.9) per game. With Barnes, and , Toronto has a young core to build around. — Bontemps

2023-24 record: 21-41

• Previous ranking: 25

• Next games: @ PHI (Mar. 6), vs. ATL (Mar. 8), @ OKC (Mar. 10), vs. WAS (Mar. 12)

Forward , the No. 19 pick in the 2022 draft who spent most of the season assigned to the G League or injured, has been getting rotation minutes since the All-Star break. He has averaged 9.8 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 34% from the floor in those six games, five of which have been losses for Memphis. The Grizzlies moved on from , another forward selected in the first round of that draft, at the trade deadline. Memphis, which has the sixth-best lottery odds, could target that position again in this year’s draft. — MacMahon

2023-24 record: 13-49

• Previous ranking: 28

• Next games: @ SAC (Mar. 7), @ GS (Mar. 9), vs. GS (Mar. 11), vs. HOU (Mar. 12)

In the Spurs’ 132-118 victory over Oklahoma City on Feb. 29, Victor Wembanyama, Tre Jones, Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan scored all 34 of the team’s points in the fourth quarter. That lineup combination has been effective for the Spurs this season. In 462 minutes, that four-man group has a plus-6.6 net rating and are plus-79. Add sixth man Keldon Johnson to the lineup, and the plus-minus is 50 (in just 107 minutes) and a plus-20.2 net rating. — Lopez

2023-24 record: 17-43

• Previous ranking: 27

• Next games: vs. OKC (Mar. 6), vs. HOU (Mar. 8), vs. TOR (Mar. 9), vs. BOS (Mar. 11)

The Blazers failed to register one win in February, and silver linings, even amid a descent to the bottom of the standings, are becoming harder to identify. , who has missed the past six games, is not living up to expectations, averaging just 12.9 points on 37.5% shooting this season. As topsy-turvy as this season has been, it’s hard to tell if this young core can work long term. — Andrews

2023-24 record: 15-47

• Previous ranking: 26

• Next games: @ WAS (Mar. 8), vs. BKN (Mar. 9), @ DET (Mar. 11)

The Hornets have dropped five straight games but have an opportunity to break that slide in their next four games. They hit the road to play the Wizards, who have lost 15 straight contests. After that, they play the Nets, Pistons and Grizzlies. With still out, has found new life in Charlotte after starting the season in OKC. In a start against Orlando on Tuesday, Micic had 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. He is averaging 15.3 points and 5.6 assists in his past two games.— Youngmisuk

2023-24 record: 9-52

• Previous ranking: 29

• Next games: vs. BKN (Mar. 7), vs. DAL (Mar. 9), vs. CHA (Mar. 11)