NBA power rankings for mid-March

By Rick Morris

 

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

 

TOP TIER

1 Golden State (2-1-1-1-1-1)

2 Atlanta (10-4-2-2-2-2)

SECOND TIER

3 Memphis (1-5-4-3-3-3)

4 Portland (4-3-3-9-6-5)

5 Houston (6-9-6-6-5-4)

THIRD TIER

6 Cleveland (13-11-14-12-11-10)

7 San Antonio (5-13-11-10-8-8)

8 LA Clippers (8-10-8-4-9-6)

9 Dallas (7-7-5-7-7-7)

FOURTH TIER

10 Chicago (11-8-10-11-10-9)

11 Toronto (3-2-9-5-4-11)

12 Oklahoma City (22-17-15-16-14-12)

13 New Orleans (18-14-16-14-15-15)

14 Washington (9-6-7-8-12-14)

FIFTH TIER

15 Phoenix (12-12-12-13-16-16)

16 Milwaukee (14-15-13-15-13-13)

SIXTH TIER

17 Indiana (19-21-23-25-19-17)

18 Boston (24-23-25-24-20-18)

19 Utah (23-22-24-22-23-19)

20 Charlotte (28-25-20-18-17-21)

21 Miami (16-18-18-17-18-22)

SEVENTH TIER

22 Denver (17-19-17-21-24-25)

23 Brooklyn (20-16-22-20-22-20)

24 Sacramento (15-20-21-23-25-24)

25 Detroit (29-27-19-19-21-23)

26 Orlando (21-24-26-26-26-26)

EIGHTH TIER

27 LA Lakers (27-26-27-27-28-28)

28 Philadelphia (30-28-28-28-27-29)

29 New York (26-30-30-30-30-30)

30 Minnesota (25-29-29-29-29-27)

 

BIGGEST RISERS: Cleveland (4 spots), Denver (3 spots)

 

BIGGEST FALLERS: Brooklyn and Milwaukee (3 spots)

 

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

 

1 SOUTHWEST 37

2T CENTRAL 74

2T PACIFIC 74

4 SOUTHEAST 83

5 NORTHWEST 87

6 ATLANTIC 109

 

RANKINGS BY CONFERENCE

1 WEST 198

2 EAST 266