NBA Power Rankings: Where Every Team Stands with 5 Weeks to Go (2024)

There's just over a month left in the 2023-24 NBA season, and the contenders' tier is really starting to crystallize.

Since the All-Star break, competitiveness has ratcheted up throughout the league, and teams like the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets appear ready for a playoff run. Others are working their way up the standings to potentially challenge those betting favorites to make the Finals, while the race for the No. 1 pick is heating up too.

As teams continue to jockey for position up and down the standings, it's time for another check-in on the league with the weekly power rankings.

As always, the order is determined by individual and team numbers, championship chances, recent performance and plenty of subjectivity.

Previous Rank: 30
Net Rating: -9.3

After Washington lost to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, the Wizards' streak moved to 16. And the potential for WorldWideWob's "funniest thing" is very much in play.

When you scan their remaining schedule, it's hard to find many games in which they'll be favored. And if they lose to the Charlotte Hornets, who somehow have a worse net rating, on Friday, this streak has the potential to get mighty ugly.

And for a team with multiple championship-winning players (like Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole), one of the steadiest point guards in the league (Tyus Jones) and one of the game's more interesting young forwards (Deni Avdija), the season becoming this kind of train wreck is more than disappointing.

Previous Rank: 29
Net Rating: -10.6

The Charlotte Hornets have lost five straight and are still 30th in net rating, but they've quietly been more competitive since the trade deadline that brought them Grant Williams, Tre Mann and Vasilije Micić.

Over that span, Charlotte is eighth in the league in points allowed per 100 possessions, and each of the above has had encouraging moments in the purple and teal.

Despite being minus-21 in Tuesday's week-ending loss to the Orlando Magic, Williams is still plus-nine overall in 11 appearances for Charlotte. After averaging just 3.8 points in 13 appearances for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season, Mann is at 11.6 points and 4.7 assists while shooting 40.5 percent from deep for the Hornets. Micić has gone from 2.5 assists with OKC to 5.7 with Charlotte.

All three are under contract for next season, when the Hornets will presumably have LaMelo Ball and Mark Williams back to go along with a developing Brandon Miller.

Previous Rank: 28
Net Rating: -8.4

This Detroit Pistons season hasn't provided a ton of positives to focus on, but Jaden Ivey is certainly one.

The team's point differential is better with the 22-year-old on the floor, and once Monty Williams finally realized he should be starting and developing by playing rather than watching from the sideline, his numbers started to take off.

Over his first 22 games of 2023-24, when he didn't really have a defined role, Ivey averaged 11.5 points, 2.6 assists and 0.9 threes in 23.9 minutes while shooting 28.6 percent from three.

He entered the starting five for good on December 18, and in the 36 games since then, he's put up 17.8 points, 4.2 assists and 1.9 threes while shooting 36.8 percent from deep, a line that was boosted by his 34 points in Thursday's win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Previous Rank: 26
Net Rating: -7.8

Victor Wembanyama's rookie season just keeps getting wilder by the game, and we're running out of ways to describe it.

For today's purposes, we'll use game score, which is "a rough measure of a player's productivity for a single game."

This week, Wembanyama's total for games with a 20-plus game score climbed to 21, which puts him on pace for around 29.

Only Michael Jordan, David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal, Blake Griffin, Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon had more such games in a rookie season, but even that might sell Wemby short a bit.

Eleven of those performances have come since January 7, a stretch in which Wembanyama is averaging 22.5 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.7 blocks.

Previous Rank: 27
Net Rating: -8.0

There isn't a lot of sugar-coating for how bad the Portland Trail Blazers' first post-Damian Lillard season has been.

Beyond the dreadful record and point differential, the team didn't get any rebuild-ready players or assets for Malcolm Brogdon or Jerami Grant at the trade deadline. And Scoot Henderson has been one of this season's most underwhelming rookies.

But there is at least one ray of hope for this organization (and to be clear, Henderson could become one in time), and that's 24-year-old Anfernee Simons.

Injuries have limited his availability this season, but since the start of 2021-22, he's averaged 20.1 points, 4.4 assists and 3.3 threes, while shooting 38.8 percent from deep. And he's still a few years shy of his prime.

Previous Rank: 24
Net Rating: -2.2

Some bad (and perhaps inevitable) news broke for the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, when The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that Ben Simmons will miss the rest of the season with a nerve impingement in his back.

Simmons has only appeared in 15 games this season (after managing 42 in 2022-23), but he's the team's highest-paid player. And recently dismissed coach Jacque Vaughn reportedly built an offense focused on Simmons' playmaking.

A quicker pivot away from that may have preserved this campaign, at least to some degree. Instead, it looks like the Nets are going to miss the play-in in their first full season post-Kevin Durant, especially after losing to the Detroit Pistons on Thursday.

Previous Rank: 25
Net Rating: -6.3

Given the number and severity of the injuries they've dealt with, the Memphis Grizzlies being definitively better than the teams that have made up the bottom five for most of the season is pretty impressive.

This week, they authored a pair of surprises, closing things out with back-to-back road wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers.

And while this campaign has probably been tough on balance for Grizzlies fans, they can probably take some solace in the fight shown by players like Jaren Jackson Jr. (who's grown as a top scoring option), GG Jackson and Vince Williams Jr.

Those latter two have probably played their way into meaningful roles for the healthy version of this team in 2024-25.

Previous Rank: 22
Net Rating: -3.8

The Toronto Raptors finally got their "pizza party" promised by coach Darko Rajaković after winning three straight games toward the end of February.

The streak pushed them to 22-36 and opened up at least some hope for a 10th place finish and play-in berth. But they followed that up by losing four of five and now appear all but eliminated.

After operating as buyers on back-to-back trade deadline days (expending first-round picks for Jakob Poeltl in 2023 and Kelly Olynyk in 2024), it's fair to wonder where Masai Ujiri is taking this team.

The earlier trades of OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam suggested a rebuild around Scottie Barnes was on the way. While Immanuel Quickley fits that plan pretty well, RJ Barrett (a below-average three-point shooter for his career) and Olynyk (who turns 33 in April) are harder to imagine as long-term solutions.

For a team that's been a playoff fixture for most of the past decade, missing in back-to-back years and on the heels of some questionable moves could lead to organizational questions this summer.

Previous Rank: 23
Net Rating: -3.0

The Utah Jazz's play-in hopes (or at least the players' hopes for a play-in spot) keep slipping away. The latest blow was a two-point home loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday that pushed them to seven games under .500.

Combining that with Utah having the hardest remaining strength of schedule in the NBA pretty much eliminates them (even if they're not statistically out just yet).

That doesn't mean fans can't take some solace in little victories, though.

Collin Sexton, who's quietly played like a top-50 player this season, is certainly one of those.

Since he became a full-time starter in mid-December, Sexton has averaged 21.4 points, 5.6 assists and 2.0 threes in just 27.8 minutes, while shooting 43.8 percent from deep.

Previous Rank: 21
Net Rating: -0.2

The Houston Rockets added Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks last offseason to speed up their rebuilding timeline a bit, but the team's most important players are all still on their rookie contracts. And their age has shown repeatedly since the calendar flipped to 2024.

Houston was two games over .500 when it beat the Milwaukee Bucks on January 6, but they're 9-19 since then and have been nearly eliminated from play-in contention.

Another example happened on Wednesday, when the Rockets were up 20 on the Los Angeles Clippers in Houston before eventually collapsing and losing by six.

Moments like that are all part of the process, though, even when you try to skip steps with players like Brooks and VanVleet. The younger core will better understand how to hold leads next season, because they've experienced losing them.

And the continued ascension of center Alperen Sengun will undoubtedly be one of the reasons they will (or at least should) turn a corner in 2024-25.

This week, he became just the 24th player in NBA history to have a 45-point, five-steal game when he dominated Victor Wembanyama in a win. And then he followed that up with 23 points, 19 rebounds, 14 assists and two steals in the loss to L.A.

Houston already has a bona fide star at center, and if Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore and Jabari Smith Jr. catch up a bit, the Rockets are going to be exciting next season.

Previous Rank: 20
Net Rating: -1.7

The Atlanta Hawks are coming off a solid 2-3 week in which they beat the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Both of those teams are more than banged up, but the Hawks are also without Trae Young. And for a team that has been so attached to mediocrity over the last couple of years, just about any string of wins is worth noting.

And while it's way too early for any "are they better without Trae?" takes, this opportunity to run the team without him could pay dividends down the line.

Previous Rank: 18
Net Rating: +3.2

Things have to be getting at least moderately uncomfortable for a Philadelphia 76ers squad that looked like a bona fide title contender before Joel Embiid left the rotation with a knee injury.

After losing to the injury-ravaged Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, Philly is 6-14 in its last 20.

And while the absence of Embiid is easy to point to as the reason for the collapse, Philadelphia will occasionally have wins like Sunday's over the Dallas Mavericks that suggest the team should be more competitive.

If Sixers can't more consistently find the juice that helped them in Dallas (which might've just been the 28 points from Tobias Harris, who's been conspicuously unproductive in a lot of the losses), they are in real danger of finishing the season in the play-in tournament.

They're there now. And though there's little chance they fall to ninth or 10th, just being in that mix opens up a very real possibility of missing the playoffs altogether.

Previous Rank: 19
Net Rating: -1.5

Zach LaVine's absence has oddly sort of clarified things for the Chicago Bulls, who just closed out their week with a road win over the Golden State Warriors and have won four of their last five.

DeMar DeRozan, who had 33 in Thursday's victory, is now pretty clearly the No. 1 option. And more importantly, Coby White has emerged not just as a Most Improved Player candidate, but also as the team's primary guard of the future.

In another road win on Wednesday over the Utah Jazz, White had his 12th game of at least 25 points and five assists of 2023-24. In his previous three seasons combined, he had eight such games.

Previous Rank: 16
Net Rating: +1.3

They blew out the Dallas Mavericks (in Dallas) this week, but the Indiana Pacers have quietly slowed down of late, and Tyrese Haliburton's return to earth may be why.

Over the team's first 34 games, Haliburton only missed three and averaged an eye-popping 24.4 points, 12.8 assists and 3.5 threes. Through that point, the Pacers were scoring 123.1 points per 100 possessions and outscoring opponents by 3.2 points per 100 possessions.

Since then, Haliburton has missed 10 games and is averaging 15.3 points, 9.1 assists and 2.1 threes while shooting 31.1 percent from deep. Over that period, Indiana is putting up 116.9 points per 100 possessions and being outscored by 0.8.

Previous Rank: 15
Net Rating: -0.6

It's probably worth remembering that the Los Angeles Lakers were below .500 as recently as January 30. In general, things are looking up.

But it's easy for fans to be discouraged by stretches like the last couple of weeks.

In their last five games, L.A. has beaten the Los Angeles Clippers on the road but had to go to overtime to beat the Washington Wizards in the next game. They lost at home to the Denver Nuggets, but then they comfortably beat the Oklahoma City Thunder. And finally, they followed up the vibes-juicing win against OKC by being handily beaten by the Sacramento Kings.

The up-and-down nature of the season probably shouldn't be all that surprising. The Lakers, after all, are in 10th place. But when they give glimpses of contender upside like they did against the Clippers and Thunder, the lows feel even more disappointing.

Previous Rank: 12
Net Rating: +1.6

The Golden State Warriors reminded everyone during a national TV showcase on Wednesday that they can still be an overwhelming force.

The ball and player movement that has become synonymous with Golden State over the years had a Milwaukee Bucks defense that has been stellar since the All-Star break completely flummoxed.

Stephen Curry hit six threes. Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Chris Paul and Klay Thompson (who continues to come off the bench) hit two apiece. And the Warriors scored 125 points in a 35-point win.

But this week, they also lost to the Boston Celtics by 52 points and looked completely overwhelmed by a younger and more explosive (both in terms of athleticism and three-point prowess) core.

After the win over Milwaukee, they lost a home game to the sub-.500 Chicago Bulls, and Stephen Curry had to leave that one with a sprained ankle.

In a one-off (like the play-in tournament), this team can be devastating. And if they catch one of the less experienced teams (like the Oklahoma City Thunder or Minnesota Timberwolves) in the first round (assuming they escape the play-in), the Warriors could have a run in them.

But they're also prone to letdowns. Given where they are in the standings (the bottom half of the play-in tournament), one letdown could mean no postseason.

Previous Rank: 14
Net Rating: +0.5

In his second game back from a brief injury absence, De'Aaron Fox had a statement game in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.

On the road and against a Lakers squad that's seemingly locked in for a play-in push, Fox dropped 44 points on 19-of-32 shooting. He was a frequent visitor in the paint, where he made 16 of his buckets.

In a season that's been largely defined by inconsistency, Sacramento has still had plenty of moments like these. When some combination of Fox, Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk are all on, the Kings can look like an offensive juggernaut.

If they can figure out how to do that in three or four games of a seven-game series, they're going to be a tough out in the playoffs.

Previous Rank: 13
Net Rating: +3.7

The New York Knicks were already one of the league's most injury-depleted teams prior to this week.

They've been without starting center Mitchell Robinson for months. They've been without starting forwards OG Anunoby and Julius Randle for weeks.

And on Sunday, they got a big scare when All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson went up for an elbow jumper and appeared to suffer a non-contact injury prior to landing.

Fortunately, he's only listed on the injury report with a left knee contusion, but adding his absence to those of the bigs made things ugly on Tuesday.

The Knicks lost to the sub-.500 Atlanta Hawks and only managed an even 100 points. He may not have a ton of options, but coach Tom Thibodeau played Miles McBride, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo 46, 43 and 39 minutes, respectively.

Survival while the rest of the roster gets whole could take a lot out of those three.

Previous Rank: 10
Net Rating: +0.8

Playoff Jimmy Butler has arrived for the Miami Heat, just in time for another potential postseason run for the Miami Heat.

Box plus/minus is "a basketball box score-based metric that estimates a basketball player's contribution to the team when that player is on the court," according to Basketball Reference. A mark around 2.0 is roughly equivalent to that of a "good starter." Something around 10.0 is around the range of an "all-time season."

Well, through the end of 2023, Butler had a 2.1 box plus/minus. Since then, he's at 10.2. And Miami's slow and steady ascent up the Eastern Conference standings has coincided with Butler's activation.

When he's playing like he has over the past several weeks, the Heat are capable of playing with anyone.

Previous Rank: 9
Net Rating: +0.4

We're not too far into the post-All-Star portion of the season, but the Dallas Mavericks are an early candidate for most disappointing team since then.

Just when it looked like they might be able to surge out of play-in range and maybe even toward home-court advantage in the first round, Dallas started hemorrhaging points on defense at a worse rate than the Washington Wizards.

Their inability to stop anyone has led to losses to the Indiana Pacers (twice) and Boston Celtics in which the Mavs surrendered 130-plus points. Perhaps most concerning, they dropped a game to the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers at home.

Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving give this team an absurd offensive ceiling, but if it can't slow anyone down on the other end, this campaign might end after the play-in tournament. Back-to-back seasons without the playoffs for a roster with Luka is borderline disastrous.

On the bright side, they closed out their week with a home win over the Miami Heat in which they allowed just 108 points, but they'll need to flash defensive upside in a few more games to earn some trust back.

Previous Rank: 17
Net Rating: +2.0

After beating the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, the Orlando Magic have suddenly won five straight and are 13-3 in their last 16.

And thanks in part to being in the Eastern Conference and having multiple games left against the Charlotte Hornets, the Magic have one of the easiest remaining strengths of schedule in the league.

Suddenly, a 50-win (or at least high-40s) season is very much in play for a team that's only made the playoffs twice since Dwight Howard left in 2012.

And with their two best players, Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, just 22 and 21 years old, it feels like postseason appearances are going to be a lot more common.

Previous Rank: 8
Net Rating: +4.6

The Cleveland Cavaliers had one of the best wins of the season on Tuesday, when they overcame a 22-point second-half deficit to snap the Boston Celtics' 11-game winning streak.

One week after Max Strus went 5-of-5 from three in the fourth quarter of a comeback win over the Dallas Mavericks, Dean Wade replicated the line by shooting his own 5-of-5 from deep against Boston.

But the good vibes from those comebacks could be in jeopardy, as the injury bug has suddenly bit one of the best teams in the league over the last couple of months.

Donovan Mitchell has been a top-10 player this season and is out through the weekend after getting a platelet-rich plasma injection in his knee. And after hurting his ankle in the win over the Celtics, Evan Mobley could be on the shelf for "extended time."

Cleveland more than survived a tough run of injuries earlier in the season, but Mitchell had a lot to do with that. With him out, now could be the time for a much-needed Darius Garland breakout.

Previous Rank: 11
Net Rating: +5.4

They've sort of flown under the radars of fans and analysts, but a 41-point win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday nudged the New Orleans Pelicans up to fourth in the league in net rating.

During this 11-4 stretch in which they've climbed that leaderboard, the emergence of point Zion has to be getting the attention of some of New Orleans' potential playoff opponents.

Zion Williamson is averaging a team-high 6.7 assists during this 15-game run.

Previous Rank: 7
Net Rating: +3.0

The Phoenix Suns have had very few opportunities to develop a rhythm with all three of their stars available.

They're plus-9.2 points per 100 possessions when all of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal are on the floor, but they've only appeared in 23 games together. The latest absences have come thanks to an ankle injury for Booker.

Still, as long as Phoenix has two of the three, it can get to a ceiling that can push just about any team, thanks in large part to the unsung contributions of role players like Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkić.

The Suns beat the reigning-champion Denver Nuggets on Tuesday without Booker. Nurkić held Nikola Jokić to 8-of-18 shooting, and Allen went 8-of-12 from deep in that game.

Previous Rank: 3
Net Rating: +6.5

The Athletic's Shams Charania reported some terrible news for the Minnesota Timberwolves this week.

For a team that was already short on playoff experience (at least relative to some of the West's other contenders), the loss of Karl-Anthony Towns is massive.

He's had his postseason struggles, but Towns was an All-Star and integral part of Minnesota's push for first place this season.

The team's point differential was comfortably better with him on the floor, and if he's not out there to pull bigs away from Rudy Gobert and the paint, things could get crowded for an already underwhelming offense.

There's still a chance he could return in 2023-24 (ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that he could be back early in the playoffs.), but if he doesn't, a deep postseason run feels unlikely.

Previous Rank: 6
Net Rating: +4.6

The Los Angeles Clippers hit a bit of a rough patch in February, going 3-5 in their last eight games of the month.

But despite coughing up a big lead and losing to the Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, the team looks mostly back on track.

That loss to Milwaukee was the only one from a three-game road trip that just ended with a comeback win over the Houston Rockets. And L.A. has suddenly won three of its last four.

The brief struggles may have taken the Clippers out of the mix for the No. 1 seed, but they can still secure home-court advantage in at least the first round. And if they do, they should be in pretty good shape to advance.

When they're home and James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are on the floor, the Clippers are outscoring opponents by 12.5 points per 100 possessions

Previous Rank: 5
Net Rating: +3.8

They got blown out by the Golden State Warriors to close out their week on Wednesday, but things are undoubtedly headed in the right direction for the Milwaukee Bucks.

They're 6-1 since the All-Star break. And even after surrendering 125 to Golden State, they have the second-best defense in the league over that span.

That end of the floor was among the bigger concerns under first-year coach Adrian Griffin, so progress there is a feather in Doc Rivers' cap.

Of course, all of the above could be moot if Giannis Antetokounmpo isn't 100 percent soon. After missing Monday's win over the Los Angeles Clippers with left Achilles tendinitis, Giannis had 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists against the Warriors but didn't look quite like his typically explosive self.

Positioning in the standings is important, but Milwaukee also has a four-plus-game cushion between itself and having to go on the road to start the playoffs. Giannis and the Bucks' medical staff know his Achilles best, but a few games off might not be a terrible idea.

Previous Rank: 4
Net Rating: +7.6

Victor Wembanyama has likely surpassed Chet Holmgren for good in the Rookie of the Year race. Wemby's numbers have been absurd over the last several weeks, and he's now an overwhelming betting favorite to win the award.

But that shouldn't detract from an outstanding rookie campaign from Holmgren that would've earned the honor in most other years.

Holmgren has been, at least statistically, the second-best player on a team still in the hunt for first place in the Western Conference.

After going for 21 points (on 6-of-9 shooting), 14 rebounds and five assists in Wednesday's win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Holmgren is now averaging 17.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 blocks for the season.

Wembanyama and Tim Duncan are the only rookies in NBA history who match or exceed all of those marks.

Previous Rank: 1
Net Rating: +11.1

The Boston Celtics closed this week with back-to-back losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets, but both games were on the road and came down to the wire.

Boston is still, by the numbers, dominating the entire league this season. The last time they were at home, they crushed the Golden State Warriors by 52 points.

Mini-lulls like this may raise some eyebrows. Facing a playoff atmosphere like the one in Denver on Thursday could be tough for seven straight games. But there are still plenty of indicators to suggest the Celtics can make another deep playoff run.

They've led the league in net rating and winning percentage for the bulk of the season. They play most of their minutes with five dangerous shooters on the floor. They have all kinds of switchability on defense.

This week proved the Celtics aren't invincible, but they're very much in the top tier of title contenders.

Previous Rank: 2
Net Rating: +4.2

In a game of the year candidate and potential NBA Finals preview, the Denver Nuggets moved to 2-0 against the Boston Celtics on the season with a defense-first 115-109 win on Thursday.

Nikola Jokić had a very Jokićian line with 32 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, two steals and zero turnovers, and he had a "how did he see that" lob to Aaron Gordon to put the game away late in the fourth.

But this was a game the Nuggets won on the defensive end. The Celtics entered averaging an NBA record 121.5 points per 100 possessions, but Denver held them to 109 points and disrupted their three-point-heavy attack. Boston averages a league-leading 16.3 threes and shoots 38.6 percent from deep, but the Nuggets scrambles to the perimeter held them to 11-of-38 from three for the game.

In matchups like this, Denver clearly hits another, playoff-like level. It's time for these power rankings to finally reflect the ceiling the reigning champs can reach.

This year's MVP race is one of the most competitive in recent memory.

In each of the past three seasons, advanced numbers have overwhelmingly tilted to Nikola Jokić.

While they still lean that direction, when you sort qualified 2023-24 players by the average of their ranks in eight different catch-alls, Jokić (with an average rank of 2.4), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2.5) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (3.0) are neck and neck.

If SGA can lead one of the youngest teams in the league to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, he'll have a very compelling case to be the first guard to win the award since James Harden in 2017-18.

On the season, SGA has 23 games with at least 30 points, five assists and two steals.

That puts him on pace for 31 such games, and Michael Jordan (who had 35 in 1987-88 and 32 in 1988-89) is the only player who had more in a single campaign.