Who had Cleveland as the top team in the season’s first NBA power rankings? Other surprises are sprinkled on the list:

We're a little over a month into the 2024-25 NBA season and we're already past the halfway point of the NBA Cup group phase with teams facing knockout round clinching scenarios this week. Some teams are dominating in group play,

Welcome back to the world's first incontrovertible power rankings, where we have sorted the NBA's 30 teams into a perfect order.

The Boston Celtics won their show-and-prove matchup last week against the previously unbeaten Cleveland Cavaliers.

Teams are competing and not blatantly exercising organizational priorities, and in a culture where we’re waiting for the next “trades we want to see” piece to drop, I like that NBA Cup games take place just after the glorified feel-out games that mark the opening weeks of the season and wrap up just before all of those new contracts become tradeable.

The Jazz snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over the Knicks. Lauri Markkenen went off for 34 points. Collin Sexton has also had a positive season. He could be traded to a contender. Meanwhile, Cody Williams has had an inconsistent start to his season.

As Victor Wembanyam and the Spurs continue to rise up the NBA power rankings, Joel Embiid and the 76ers are on the verge of total collapse.

After climbing back to .500, the Miami Heat have jumped up a spot in this week's power rankings on NBA.com. Last week, the Miami Heat stood at 18. They have only played two games since clinching home wins against the 76ers and Mavericks.

The last time we did NBA Power Rankings was after the first week of the season. Things have changed considerably since then. Philadelphia's season already looks lost while Golden State is far outpacing what we thought it would be.

The Los Angeles Clippers were a surprise, going a perfect 4-0 last week, and ending the week with an 11-7 record. Here is an updated look at the NBA power rankings heading into Week 6.