NBA power rankings for start of January

By Rick Morris

NOTE: Rankings for mid-December in parentheses.

TOP TIER

1 San Antonio (1)

2 Boston (2)

3 Dallas (3)

4 Miami (5)

5 Los Angeles Lakers (4)

6 Oklahoma City (6)

7 Chicago (8)

8 Utah (7)

9 Orlando (9)

10 Atlanta (10)

SECOND TIER

11 New York (12)

12 Denver (13)

13 New Orleans (11)

THIRD TIER

14 Portland (14)

15 Houston (17)

16 Memphis (16)

17 Indiana (18)

18 Philadelphia (20)

19 Phoenix (15)

20 Milwaukee (19)

21 Golden State (23)

22 Toronto (21)

23 Charlotte (22)

24 Detroit (25)

25 Los Angeles Clippers (27)

26 New Jersey (26)

27 Minnesota (28)

28 Washington (30)

29 Cleveland (24)

30 Sacramento (29)

BIGGEST RISERS: None more than two spots

BIGGEST FALLERS: Cleveland (5 spots), Phoenix (4 spots)

RANKINGS BY DIVISION – 1 POINT PER RANKING SPOT FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL TEAM, LOWEST SCORE IS BEST

1 Southwest (48)

2 Northwest (67)

3 Southeast (74)

4 Atlantic (79)

5 Central (97)

6 Pacific (100)

RANKINGS BY CONFERENCE

1 West (215)

2 East (250)