NBA power rankings for start of December

By Rick Morris

NOTES: Rankings from start of season are in parentheses.

TOP TIER

1 Toronto (2)

SECOND TIER

2 Milwaukee (3)

3 LA Clippers (5)

4 Oklahoma City (6)

5 Denver (8)

6 Philadelphia (10)

THIRD TIER

7 Golden State (1)

8 LA Lakers (13)

9 Detroit (16)

10 Memphis (7)

FOURTH TIER

11 Boston (11)

12 Portland (4)

13 Indiana (9)

14 Dallas (21)

15 Houston (14)

16 New Orleans (12)

17 Minnesota (22)

18 Sacramento (19)

19 Orlando (17)

20 San Antonio (15)

21 Charlotte (20)

22 Utah (18)

FIFTH TIER

23 Miami (24)

24 Washington (25)

25 New York (27)

26 Brooklyn (23)

SIXTH TIER

27 Atlanta (29)

28 Chicago (26)

29 Cleveland (30)

30 Phoenix (28)

BIGGEST RISERS: Dallas and Detroit (7 spots), LA Lakers and Minnesota (5 spots), Philadelphia (4 spots), Denver (3 spots)

BIGGEST FALLERS: Portland (8 spots), Golden State (6 spots), San Antonio (5 spots), Indiana, New Orleans and Utah (4 spots), Brooklyn and Memphis (3 spots)

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

1 WEST 201

2 EAST 284