Power Rankings, Week 24: Celtics, Wolves rising as season nears its end

[CeltsSteve]

https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2025-26-week-24

#3

BOSTON CELTICS

Last Week:5↑

Record: 50-24

OffRtg: 119.4 (2) DefRtg: 111.5 (4) NetRtg: +7.9 (4) Pace: 95.4 (30)

The league’s longest active playoff streak has officially been extended to 12 years. The Celtics have won seven of their last eight games, ending the Thunder’s 12-game winning streak along the way, and giving themselves a three-game lead (in the loss column) over the Knicks for second place in the East.

Three takeaways

• The Celtics’ win over the Thunder was just the eighth time this season that the champs have allowed more than 120 points per 100 possessions. The Celtics rank last (by a healthy margin) in free-throw rate, but Jaylen Brown has the highest rate of his career (34.5 attempts per 100 shots from the field), and he outscored Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the line (12-10) on Wednesday.

• Brown has missed the last two games, but the Celtics beat the Hawks and Hornets without him, improving to 8-1 without their first-team All-NBA candidate. Payton Pritchard and Jayson Tatum totaled 64 and 58 points, respectively, over the two games, and the Celtics have now outscored their opponents by 11.4 points per 100 possessions in Brown’s 1,334 minutes off the floor.

• There were worries about their frontline coming into the season, but the Celtics now rank third in total rebounding percentage (their highest standing in the last 17 seasons), having seen the league’s fourth biggest jump from last season (11th). They outscored the Thunder and Hawks by 26 total points (37-11) on second chances and limited the Hornets to just six second-chance points (their second-lowest total of the season) on Sunday.

Coming up: With the wins over the Hawks and Hornets last week, the Celtics are 13-5 (7-2 on the road) against the 5-10 tier in the East (all potential first-round opponents). Five of their remaining eight games are against that group, with visits to Atlanta and Miami coming in the next three days.

Week 24: @ ATL, @ MIA, @ MIL, vs. TOR

[david Pontrelli]

Its gratifying seeing the Celts back as a rebounding team. And, its coming from all 5 positions.

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