NBA Power Rankings Shake-Up: Which Surprising Teams Are Rising as Playoffs Loom?

*The recent injury news regarding Cunningham has the chance to seriously derail the Pistons’ season. But until we know whether he will be missing any postseason basketball, we are going to keep them in this tier for now.

True Championship Contenders

4. Cleveland Cavaliers

3. San Antonio Spurs

2. Boston Celtics

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

Finally, the cream of the crop. Ricky O’Donnell has framed this season as “the Thunder vs. the field.” It’s still that way, but like he said during his midseason edition, the field is definitely catching up. The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t really done anything to deserve their place in this tier, but they do have the second-most talented/well-balanced roster of any team in the East. Plus, they haven’t been able to have their core four healthy for very long. According to PBP Stats, when James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen share the floor (35 minutes), Cleveland has +35.2 net rating. Pretty darn promising. Also, since they are in the weaker conference, their chances of making it to the NBA Finals are just inherently higher than teams like Denver and Minnesota. The San Antonio Spurs have incredible indicators, especially when their prodigious big man is on the floor. The only thing keeping them from being higher is the relative unknown with how their young core will perform in the playoffs (typical cop out, I know). The Boston Celtics have completely re-invented themselves, and now, they are doing a fantastic job of integrating Jayson Tatum back into the mix. They are 5-1 with Tatum in the lineup, and man, does he look way better than any human ten months removed from a torn Achilles ever should. The Thunder will remain the top dog until proven otherwise.