NBA Power Rankings at Season's End: Thunder Repeat Favorites Despite Injury Carnage
Well, folks, the 2025-26 NBA regular season is officially in the books as of Sunday, and it's been a wild ride. Some teams absolutely crushed their preseason expectations. Others? Let's just say October feels like a lifetime ago. Our ESPN insiders have crunched the numbers and here's where all 30 squads land as we head into the playoffs.
Thunder Dominate the West, Again
The Oklahoma City Thunder are sitting pretty at number one with a 63-16 record, and honestly, they had to do it the hard way. Jalen Williams missed 46 games. Isaiah Hartenstein missed 33. Alex Caruso missed 24. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed 12. Chet Holmgren missed 11. That's a ton of injury attrition for any team, but the Thunder just kept winning anyway. Yeah, their 24-1 start had insiders predicting a run at the 73-win record, so a mid-60s win total isn't quite as historic as that pace suggested. But this team still flexes hardest when it matters most. Over the past two seasons, they're 130-30. They're entering the playoffs as the favorite to repeat, and it's hard to argue with that.
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San Antonio comes in at number two with a 60-19 record. Rookie Dylan Harper set the tone early, declaring at his introductory news conference in June that the franchise's postseason drought is "going to change pretty quick." Looks like he wasn't just talking.
The Surprises and Disappointments
In the East, the Detroit Pistons have absolutely exceeded expectations. Only two seasons after sitting at the absolute bottom with the league's worst record, they're back in the postseason picture. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks are looking ahead after a rough first season with No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, despite winning the lottery last year. And the Boston Celtics, almost a year after losing Jayson Tatum to an Achilles injury, are firmly back in the playoff conversation.
The final week of the regular season is here, and these rankings tell the real story of who showed up and who didn't.
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