NBA power rankings 2025-26: Thunder remain on top, Pistons jump to second, Lakers enter top five - NBC Sports
A lot of focus on the NBA Cup this week, including the big game between the Clippers and Lakers on NBC and Peacock.
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Rotoworld Bet Staff,
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In new era, Matt Kuchar weighing money exemption vs. conditional status
Associated Press,
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Matthew Berry’s Fantasy Football Rankings for Week 13 of 2025 season
Matthew Berry,
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Will Cowboys’ defense be able to limit Mahomes?
PFT Power Rankings: Rams on top in Week 13
KC vs. DAL feels like an ‘elimination game’
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Washington Commanders
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NBA power rankings 2025-26: Thunder remain on top, Pistons jump to second, Lakers enter top five
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Kurt Helin,
By
Kurt Helin
Published November 24, 2025 01:33 PM
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We are a quarter of the way into the NBA season and we now have a pretty good sense of who most teams are. Now we also get to see how teams perform under a little bit of pressure with the NBA Cup, and here we talk about the teams facing it.
(17-1, last week No. 1)Oklahoma City’s defense hasn’t just been good this season, it’s been suffocating — OKC’s 103 defensive rating is 7 points better than second-place Detroit. Nobody is close to them. While that’s a team effort — they play defense on a string and have a wealth of quality perimeter defenders — Chet Holmgren and his rim protection could be rewarded. He is going to get mentioned in Defensive Player of the Year conversations already, and if Victor Wembanyama can’t reach the 65-game threshold set by the league for awards (a real possibility with him being out with a calf strain), Holmgren becomes the favorite. One other note to scare the rest of the league: Oklahoma City could have two lottery picks next June. They own the Clippers’ first-round pick (the last of the Paul George trade). OKC also owns Ut
Rating: 5