1 Thunder The NBA’s best team finishes the season at No. 1 in the Power Rankings, and they opened the season with the league’s youngest average age. It’s good to be a Thunder fan right now. But this is where the real work begins, as an all-time regular season will be overshadowed by anything short of a conference finals run. And in the West, even their first-round matchup will be a significant test. — 66-14
2 Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers are your regular-season Eastern Conference champs, and they’re going to land either second or third in net rating after finishing 12th last year. Donovan Mitchell deserves credit for taking a backseat in both the scoring and playmaking department in order to empower Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, who have put up their best NBA seasons. — 63-16
3 Celtics After going 12-3 in their last 15 games (including Wednesday’s loss with none of the top six available), the Celtics look ready to defend their title. In addition to the usual suspects, Boston goes a bit deeper this season with an improved Payton Pritchard. They’ll also have what should be a relatively favorable opening-round matchup to get their playoff feet back underneath them. — 59-21
4 Rockets From No. 11 last season to No. 2 this year, the Rockets have pulled off a phenomenal glow-up in basically the blink of an eye. After all the talk of their offensive struggles, they ended up basically in the top 10 on that end, coupled with their absolutely elite defense. The attitude and energy are going to make this a fun team to watch during the playoffs. — 52-28
5 Knicks The Knicks are going to finish with roughly the same record as last season, but things obviously feel quite different with the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges. All that matters to them right now, however, is that Jalen Brunson is back in time for the start of the postseason. He’s averaged 21 points and eight assists in his first two games since returning from a nasty ankle injury. — 50-29
6 Lakers On Wednesday, Luka Dončić took out his frustrations on the team that traded him, and the Lakers hope this is the spark that lights a fire that lasts throughout the postseason. They look as dangerous as any non-OKC Western Conference team right now, but even the first round in the West is going to be a dogfight, no matter who ends up there. 1 49-31
7 Clippers As of Thursday morning, the Clippers have the fifth-best net rating in the entire NBA. Simply remarkable for a team that had Paul George leave them in the lurch while Kawhi Leonard’s absence was grimly tagged as