2023-24 NBA Power Rankings: Timberwolves overtake top spot from Celtics

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Updated Dec. 11, 2023 11:54 p.m. ET

Even in the halcyon days of The Big Ticket, a.k.a Kevin Garnett, in Minneapolis, the Timberwolves were never viewed as the best team in the NBA. There were always the Los Angeles Lakers with Shaq and Kobe or the San Antonio Spurs with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker looking down at them. Even in 2004, when the T-Wolves won 58 games and made their way to the Western Conference Finals, it’s highly unlikely they were ever first in any league-wide power ranking.

Which is what makes this week’s FOX Sports NBA power rankings so special. Thanks to the Indiana Pacers knocking off the Boston Celtics in fairly convincing fashion in the In-Season Tournament quarterfinals and the Timberwolves solidifying their perch atop the Western Conference with the league’s longest current winning streak (six games and counting), Anthony Edwards and Co. have claimed the top spot for the first time this season — and possibly ever — in this week’s rankings.

It was not an easy decision. Despite the loss to the Pacers, the Celtics remain the most balanced team in the league and Minnesota’s winning streak has been built mostly off bottom feeders, the Oklahoma City Thunder being the only quality opponent among the six.

But the committee opted not to penalize the Timberwolves for their schedule, moving them from second to first on the strength of the league’s stingiest defense, highest winning percentage and second-highest scoring differential. How long they stay there remains to be seen — six of their next eight games are on the road, all against teams with winning records.

As unlikely as it might be to see the Timberwolves at the top of the rankings, though, even more surprising are the teams that are nowhere near it. Start with the defending champion Denver Nuggets, who are on a three-game losing streak, the last of which was at home to the Houston Rockets. They are now 5-7 over their last dozen games.

No one has slid more, though, than the Golden State Warriors, who started the season ranked among the top five teams but have not won two games in a row or beaten a team with a winning record since the second week of the season. They sit 11th in the Western Conference and 19th in this week’s power rankings.

NBA Power Rankings

Ric Bucher is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. He previously wrote for Bleacher Report, ESPN The Magazine and The Washington Post and has written two books, “Rebound,” on NBA forward Brian Grant’s battle with young onset Parkinson’s, and “Yao: A Life In Two Worlds.” He also has a daily podcast, “On The Ball with Ric Bucher.” Follow him on Twitter @RicBucher.

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