NBA Power Rankings: Knicks, Heat, Nets and 76ers ensure East playoff race will be chaos

The longest win streak in the NBA at this moment belongs to...the New York Knicks?

The Knicks have won seven straight and established themselves as playoff contenders at a minimum. They’ve taken out the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings as part of their run and dispatched the hopeless Chicago Bulls twice. The Bulls continue to stumble as the season heads into 2023 and likely need to consider tanking.

The Knicks aren’t the only team in the East finding ways to win. The Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat all have win streaks heading into this latest week, creating more of a jumble in the middle of the playoff picture. Only six teams get an automatic spot and right now, that means one of New York, Miami, Philly and Brooklyn would be in the play-in tournament. We’ll see which group can keep this up the rest of the way, with the 76ers likely to keep improving once Tyrese Maxey returns.

The Toronto Raptors are watching their division mates win while they stumble into Christmas. The Raptors have lost five in a row, including a Sunday debacle against the Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors. Golden State will still have a few road games to navigate before getting some relief with a homestand but this team gets downgraded with Curry out about a month.

The Los Angeles Lakers are also dealing with a big injury blow, losing Anthony Davis for about a month with a foot issue. The Lakers don’t have the luxury of Golden State’s depth and proven success with this roster, so they’re in an even bigger hole. We’ll see how they can respond over the next month before Davis rejoins the team.

Here’s a look at the updated power rankings for the 2022-23 season.