2018-19 NBA Power Rankings: Warriors, Rockets on collision course in Week 25

In Week 25 of NBA Power Rankings for the 2018-19 season, the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets are on a collision course for Western supremacy once again.

In the penultimate NBA Power Rankings of the 2018-19 season, the eight playoff teams in the Western Conference are completely set in stone. There are 10 teams who are still technically alive in the East, with teams 6-9 separated by a mere 1.5 games.

With only 4-5 games left in the regular season, teams are jostling for seeding in both conferences, with the West heating up in particular. However, it’s starting to feel like we’re on another collision course for the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets battling it out for Western supremacy.

Whether their rematch comes in the conference finals or conference semis remains to be seen, since the shorthanded Portland Trail Blazers have ridden an unlikely 7-1 stretch to get within striking distance the 3-seed, sitting only 0.5 games behind Houston in fourth place.

However, assuming these results hold and the Rockets retain that 3-seed, it’s hard to see a scenario where we won’t get a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals.

The 2-seeded Denver Nuggets are being overlooked, but their lack of experience and one of their greatest advantages — their bench — won’t be as impactful in the playoffs when rotations shorten. They’ve been routinely whipped by both the Dubs and the Rockets this season, and at this point, it’s starting to feel like winning one playoff series would be a success.

The Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers are red-hot right now, but may not have the horses to take down either of the beasts in the West. The Oklahoma City Thunder do, but have struggled since the All-Star break. The San Antonio Spurs are an underrated group, but stand little chance of being the David to anyone’s Goliath outside of Denver, and we’ve been down this road with Portland too many times to buy into a Jusuf Nurkic-less group.

Bearing all this in mind, how does the NBA landscape look for Week 25’s NBA Power Rankings?