NBA Power Rankings – James Harden has entered the chat, and the Wolves make a

The Denver Nuggets and the Boston Celtics remain at their respective first and second spots in the rankings, dominating on both ends of the court — and that includes Nikola Jokic, who notched his 108th triple-double in Denver’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.

The Celtics and Nuggets are among the four teams left in the league with only one loss. The others are the Dallas Mavericks and the Philadelphia 76ers, both of whom made significant jumps in the rank this week, with the Sixers doing so despite the drama surrounding their recent blockbuster trade of James Harden.

Speaking of Harden, the 10-time All-Star made his long-awaited season debut with the LA Clippers on Monday. Although they didn’t move in the rankings this week, the Clips will be a team to watch as they work to mesh together their stars.

The Minnesota Timberwolves made a surprising climb in this week’s ranking, topping off a three-game winning streak by felling the Celtics in overtime on Monday. But the Western Conference remains in flux, as both the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers dropped considerably in the latest rankings.

Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (Kendra Andrews, Tim Bontemps, Jamal Collier, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.

Previous rankings: Post-Finals | Nov. 1 |

Jump to a team:
ATL | BOS | BKN | CHA | CHI | CLE
DAL | DEN | DET | GS | HOU | IND
LAC | LAL | MEM | MIA | MIL | MIN
NO | NY | OKC | ORL | PHI | PHX
POR | SAC | SA | TOR | UTAH | WAS

1. Denver Nuggets
2023-24 record: 7-1

The defending champs are off to a dominant 7-1 start, but the Nuggets now face an extended period of time without Jamal Murray, who is out due to a right hamstring strain. Without Murray on Monday, Nikola Jokic continued his early MVP start with a 35-point, 14-rebound, 12-assist triple-double in Denver’s 18-point win over New Orleans. Other Nuggets stepped up in Murray’s absence. Michael Porter Jr. posted 22 points and nine rebounds, while rookie Julian Strawther, who had an impressive camp, hit five 3s and scored 21 points off the bench. — Ohm Youngmisuk

2. Boston Celtics
2023-24 record: 5-1

• Previous ranking: 2

• Next games: @ PHI (Nov. 8), vs. BK (Nov. 10), vs. TOR (Nov. 11), vs. NY (Nov. 13)

The Celtics’ overtime loss to Minnesota on Monday was their first defeat of the season. Derrick White missed a second straight game for personal reasons. But the C’s continue to lead the league in net rating, and they have the second-best offense and fourth-best defense while still figuring out how to play together after…