Meanwhile, the Celtics look like the East's most dangerous team -- even after back-to-back losses
Mar 13, 2026 at 9:47 am ET • 1 min read
With almost exactly one month remaining in the 2025-26 NBA regular season, we have a pretty good idea of who the top two seeds in each conference are going to be: Oklahoma City and San Antonio in the West, and Detroit and Boston in the East.
The Knicks could catch Boston for No. 2 (they're two back in the loss column with one head-to-head left, and New York currently owns the tiebreaker), and San Antonio could still catch the Thunder from three back being that they own the tiebreaker. Both feel unlikely.
After that this thing is wide open. In the East, one game separates No. 3 New York and No. 4 Cleveland, and the same is true of No. 5 Orlando, No. 6 Miami and No. 7 Toronto. Out West, two games separate the Nos. 3-7 seeds.
So buckle up. It's going to be a wild final month in terms of playoff positioning at the top and tank positioning at the bottom. For now, here are this week's Power Rankings.
- Note: As a general Power Rankings rule, we're going to try to strike a balance between what we've seen in the last week, the season as a whole so far, and what can reasonably be expected to play out over the rest of the season. This week there is a greater emphasis on that last factor after the trade deadline has passed and given us a clear picture of where every roster officially stands.
- We will not go so far as to rank these teams based on championship expectations, because in that case it would take a lot more to alter, at least in tiers, the generally accepted hierarchy. Winning matters, and it will get you on the move up this board form week to week. But if you're beating bad teams, just as an example, and probably playing a little above your head, it's not necessarily going to be reflected in a completely commensurate climb up the rankings. Or vice versa.
