{"id":20609,"date":"2021-12-25T17:34:47","date_gmt":"2021-12-25T17:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/?p=20609"},"modified":"2021-12-25T17:34:49","modified_gmt":"2021-12-25T17:34:49","slug":"nba-power-rankings-update-december-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/nba\/nba-power-rankings-update-december-25\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Power Rankings Update – December 25"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We have settled into a somewhat predictable groove in the NBA over the last few weeks. There hasn\u2019t been much change in terms of contenders, and the oddsmakers are still discounting<\/a> the Chicago Bulls. Chicago is currently in second place in the Eastern Conference, but the Bulls are 28-1 to win the NBA title on Christmas Day. We will see how much that changes in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Brooklyn Nets<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Week\u2019s Odds: +275 (No Change)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kevin Durant will not be playing on Christmas Day due to COVID protocols, and Kyrie Irving is still out for Brooklyn. However, Irving will at least be returning soon, and James Harden will be available when the Nets face the Los Angeles Lakers on the holiday. Despite the off-court drama, Brooklyn is currently the top team in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Golden State Warriors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Week\u2019s Odds: +400<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Week\u2019s Odds: +425<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s going to be a dog fight between Golden State and Phoenix in the Western Conference this season. The Warriors are currently a half-game behind the Suns, but they are playing exceptional defense and we finally have a timetable for Klay Thompson\u2019s return. Thompson is expected to be back in the lineup on January 9 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Milwaukee Bucks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Week\u2019s Odds: +700<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Week\u2019s Odds: +800<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reigning NBA champions have not been as dominant as we thought they would be in the regular season<\/a>. The grind of last year\u2019s playoffs seems to have affected the Milwaukee Bucks, but they do have something going for them heading into the 2022 calendar year. While several teams have been racked by COVID and injuries, the Bucks are very healthy with only Brook Lopez sidelined<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Phoenix Suns<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Week\u2019s Odds: +700<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Week\u2019s Odds: +900<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phoenix still hasn\u2019t lost a home game in nearly two months. Many observers expected the Suns to fall back down to Earth after last year\u2019s surprising trip to the NBA Finals, but they are currently the top team in the NBA heading into their Christmas Day showdown with Golden State. Devin Booker has been dealing with a hamstring injury, yet he is expected to suit up against the Warriors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Utah Jazz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Week\u2019s Odds: +1200<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Week\u2019s Odds: +900<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Western Conference hasn\u2019t been as dominant as expected, so Utah is just cruising along in third place in the standings. The Jazz are 3.5 games behind Golden State and four games ahead of Memphis, so they are all by themselves at this point. They do have the second-best point differential in the NBA though despite the subpar play of Jordan Clarkson to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Los Angeles Lakers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Week\u2019s Odds: +1200<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Week\u2019s Odds: +1000<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s going to be a down season<\/a> for the Los Angeles Lakers. They mortgaged their future to try to win another title with an aging LeBron James, and it is backfiring in a very predictable way. The Lakers don\u2019t have any real youth or depth, and Russell Westbrook has not fit in well with James to this point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Miami Heat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Week\u2019s Odds: +1200<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Week\u2019s Odds: +1400<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2020-21 Eastern Conference champions continue to be an intriguing team. Unfortunately, Miami is dealing with a slew of injuries at this point. Jimmy Butler, Dewayne Dedmon, Victor Oladipo, Markieff Morris, and P.J. Tucker are all out, yet they are still a massive favorite<\/a> to win their division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow our <\/em>Twitter account<\/em><\/a> for the latest sports news and wagering odds, and come to our <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a> for more useful betting info too.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have settled into a somewhat predictable groove in the NBA over the last few weeks. There hasn\u2019t been much…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":17675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20609"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20611,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20609\/revisions\/20611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}