NBA power rankings for mid-December

By Rick Morris

Previous rankings are in parentheses, from start of December to present.

FIRST TIER

1 Indiana (1)

2 Oklahoma City (5)

3 Portland (4)

4 San Antonio (3)

5 Miami (2)

SECOND TIER

6 Houston (6)

7 LA Clippers (7)

8 Denver (8)

9 Phoenix (13)

10 Golden State (9)

11 Dallas (10)

12 New Orleans (16)

13 Atlanta (12)

14 Minnesota (14)

15 Boston (23)

16 LA Lakers (11)

17 Memphis (15)

18 Detroit (20)

19 Charlotte (19)

20 Chicago (18)

21 Washington (17)

22 Cleveland (26)

23 Toronto (21)

24 Brooklyn (25)

THIRD TIER

25 Orlando (22)

26 Sacramento (27)

27 New York (28)

28 Philadelphia (24)

FOURTH TIER

29 Milwaukee (29)

30 Utah (30)

BIGGEST RISERS: Boston (8 spots), Cleveland, New Orleans and Phoenix (4 spots), Oklahoma City (3 spots)

BIGGEST FALLERS: LA Lakers (5 spots), Philadelphia and Washington (4 spots), Miami and Orlando (3 spots)

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

1 SOUTHWEST 50

2 NORTHWEST 57

3 PACIFIC 68

4 CENTRAL 80

5 SOUTHEAST 83

6 ATLANTIC 117

RANKINGS BY CONFERENCE

1 WEST 175

2 EAST 280