NBA Power Rankings (Dec. 4th): Celtics remain top

The Boston Celtics went 3-1 over the last week with a loss to the Miami Heat on a night when Jimmy Butler returned to NBA action. The Celtics are now 19-5 on the season and they remain the team in the NBA with the best winning percentage so far this season. They are also on top of our NBA power rankings, a list that factors in the results up to and including December 4th, 2022.

Top Ten NBA Power Rankings (7th edition)

1. Boston Celtics: 19-5 (no change since last week’s rankings)
2. Milwaukee Bucks: 16-6 (no change)
3. Phoenix Suns: 16-7 (+1)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers: 15-9 (-1)
5. New Orleans Pelicans: 15-8 (+4)
6. Memphis Grizzlies: 14-9 (+1)
7. Sacramento Kings: 13-9 (+3)
8. Denver Nuggets: 14-9 (-3)
9. Golden State Warriors: 13-11 (new entry)
10. LA Clippers: 13-11 (-1)

Going forward, our power rankings will start to place a bigger emphasis on recent games. We can all agree that losses in the first games of October matter in the standings all season long, however, there’s often more insight into a team’s direction by focusing on momentum.

Milwaukee has struggled lately

One team that stands to drop down in our rankings soon is Milwaukee. The Bucks are 16-6 but this is a team that started the season 9-0. They are just 7-6 over their last 13 games and have had some struggles.

Conversely, the Sacramento Kings could improve in our power rankings soon. They started the season on a losing streak, however, with a de-emphasis coming on older results, Sacramento might move into our Top Five next week. That is….as long as they have a good week this week.

NBA key games this upcoming week

Looking ahead at the upcoming week, there is a good game to look forward to on Wednesday. The Kings will be in Milwaukee to take on the Bucks in a game between high-ranked teams. Boston will also play Phoenix that night so any NBA fans looking for some quality games should have that night set aside for NBA action.