In the latest SB Nation NBA Power Rankings, the Denver Nuggets are the No. 6 team in the Western Conference. That is a one spot improvement from last week's ranking. What's becoming clear is that the Denver Nuggets are a middle-of-the-pack team. The San Antonio Spurs, the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers remain the top teams in the conference, the latter two teams swapped places this week.
The Nuggets are lucky they stayed at No. 7 after a 1-3 road trip. George Karl won his 1,000th career game on his third try. Remember Friday, Dec. 10 against the Toronto Raptors as the day George Karl attained that achievement. But other than that, it was a rough week. Carmelo Anthony missed a couple of games with a knee injury and the Carmelo trade rumors continued to swirl when the team played the New York Knicks on Sunday. Melo put up a solid 31 points in the 129-125 loss.
In the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks vaulted up from No. 9 to No. 5 because they are 16-9 and on an eight-game winning streak. They went 4-0 in last week's games. The Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic retained the top two spots, but the Miami Heat are breathing down Orlando's neck.