NBA power rankings for start of December

By Rick Morris

NOTES: Rankings from start of season are in parentheses.

TOP TIER

1 Golden State (1)

2 Cleveland (5)

3 Houston (3)

4 Boston (2)

SECOND TIER

5 San Antonio (6)

6 Detroit (4)

7 Toronto (9)

THIRD TIER

8 Portland (13)

9 Denver (10)

10 Philadelphia (15)

11 Milwaukee (16)

12 Washington (8)

13 Utah (19)

14 Minnesota (7)

15 New Orleans (12)

16 Indiana (22)

17 New York (17)

18 Miami (20)

FOURTH TIER

19 Oklahoma City (18)

20 Orlando (11)

21 LA Lakers (21)

22 Charlotte (23)

23 LA Clippers (24)

24 Phoenix (25)

25 Brooklyn (26)

26 Sacramento (28)

27 Memphis (14)

FIFTH TIER

28 Atlanta (30)

29 Dallas (29)

SIXTH TIER

30 Chicago (27)

BIGGEST RISERS: Indiana and Utah (6 spots), Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Portland (5 spots), Cleveland (3 spots)

BIGGEST FALLERS: Memphis (13 spots), Orlando (9 spots), Minnesota (7 spots), Washington (4 spots), Chicago and New Orleans (3 spots)

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

1 EAST 228

2 WEST 237