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The NBA is back — and with it so are our weekly NBA Power Rankings.
These will come out every Wednesday throughout the season, but this year we’re doing things a little differently: We’re dividing the teams into tiers (with teams being able to move between tiers as they earn it). The meaning of those tiers should be clear: Title contenders, fringe contenders (teams that could win it all but have big questions and/or no margin for error), solid playoff teams, play-in teams, and lottery-bound teams chasing Cooper Flagg.
TITLE CONTENDERS
1. Boston Celtics (Last season 64-18). Boston should really be on its own tier — Boston lapped the field last regular season then lost three games in their playoff run. Now they bring back the top seven rotation players from that squad — well, once Kristaps Porzingis returns from surgery around Christmas – and this team is set up to become the first repeat champion since the Durant/Curry Warriors. The question becomes how hard will the other teams in the East push them?
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (57-25). The West’s No. 1 seed last season upgraded in key ways over the summer adding Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein (although Hartenstein is out to start the season with a fractured hand). They are the team to beat out West. One thing worth noting: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s jump shot looks improved through the preseason, as evidenced by his hitting 7-of-11 from 3. If that carries over to the regular season SGA just became a bigger threat to win MVP.
3. Dallas Mavericks (50-32). Is this the season Luka Doncic earns his first MVP? Dallas reached the Finals a season ago and got better — at least on the offensive end of the court — by adding Klay Thompson. If Dallas is headed back to the Finals, it will be less about Thompson and more about Dereck Lively II and Naji Marshall — Dallas should have a top-three offense in the league, but Lively and Marshall are tasked with ensuring this team gets enough stops. Dallas will go as far as their defense takes them.
4. New York Knicks (50-32). Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have quickly formed one of the more dangerous pick-and-roll…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-power-rankings-2024-25-173450445.html
Author : NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-21 17:34:00
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