The latest ESPN NBA power rankings from Marc Stein are out and the Denver Nuggets are the No. 3 team in this set. This represents a five-spot jump from last week, and it includes a move ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Only the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat are ahead of the Nuggets. As Stein writes:
They're a win in Sacramento away from a 5-0 road trip and sport the league's third-best record at 30-12 since the Melo trade last February.
And those two teams with a better record than the Nuggets? The Bulls and the Thunder. Oklahoma City fell two spots from No. 2 to No. 4 largely as a result of its loss to the Washington Wizards. That's the 2-15 Wizards, worst in the league.
The Nuggets should remain just as high next week as long as they take care of favorable games against the Kings and the Toronto Raptore before playing the Los Angeles Clippers over the weekend.
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