NBA power rankings for mid-January

By Rick Morris

NOTES: Rankings from start of season are in parentheses.

TOP TIER

1 Cleveland (2-3-1)

2 Golden State (1-1-2)

3 San Antonio (3-2-3)

SECOND TIER

4 Houston (9-4-4)

THIRD TIER

5 LA Clippers (4-6-6)

6 Toronto (5-5-5)

7 Boston (8-10-9)

8 Utah (11-7-7)

9 Atlanta (13-18-13)

10 Memphis (7-8-11)

11 Oklahoma City (10-9-8)

FOURTH TIER

12 Milwaukee (15-12-14)

13 Washington (23-17-12)

14 Charlotte (12-11-10)

15 Indiana (14-14-20)

16 Chicago (6-15-16)

17 New York (19-13-15)

18 New Orleans (22-25-22)

19 Portland (17-19-23)

20 Sacramento (24-22-17)

21 Orlando (21-20-19)

22 Detroit (18-16-21)

23 Denver (20-21-18)

FIFTH TIER

24 Minnesota (25-26-24)

25 Philadelphia (30-30-29)

26 Los Angeles Lakers (16-23-25)

27 Phoenix (26-27-27)

28 Dallas (29-29-28)

SIXTH TIER

29 Miami (27-24-26)

30 Brooklyn (28-28-30)

BIGGEST RISERS: Indiana (5 spots), Atlanta, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Portland (4 spots)

BIGGEST FALLERS: Denver (5 spots), Charlotte and Miami (4 spots), Oklahoma City and Sacramento (3 spots)

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

1 WEST 228

2 EAST 237