NBA power rankings for mid-December

By Rick Morris

NOTES: Rankings from start of season are in parentheses.

TOP TIER

1 Golden State (1)

SECOND TIER

2 San Antonio (2)

THIRD TIER

3 Cleveland (3)

4 Oklahoma City (6)

FOURTH TIER

5 Chicago (7)

6 Indiana (4)

7 Charlotte (10)

8 LA Clippers (13)

9 Toronto (8)

10 Boston (15)

11 Miami (5)

12 Orlando (16)

13 Dallas (9)

14 Memphis (11)

15 Detroit (19)

16 Atlanta (12)

FIFTH TIER

17 Houston (22)

18 Utah (14)

19 Portland (21)

20 Phoenix (17)

21 New York (20)

22 Washington (23)

23 Denver (24)

24 Minnesota (18)

25 Sacramento (25)

26 Milwaukee (26)

SIXTH TIER

27 Brooklyn (28)

28 New Orleans (27)

SEVENTH TIER

29 LA Lakers (29)

EIGHTH TIER

30 Philadelphia (30)

BIGGEST RISERS: Boston, Houston and LA Clippers (5 spots), Detroit and Orlando (4 spots), Charlotte (3 spots)

BIGGEST FALLERS: Miami and Minnesota (6 spots), Atlanta, Dallas and Utah (4 spots), Memphis and Phoenix (3 spots)

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

1 EAST 210

2 WEST 245