NBA standings ordered by post-trade deadline record: Warriors and Mavs surging

Western Conference based on post-trade deadline record.

1) Dallas Mavericks-17-6

2) Oklahoma City Thunder-17-6

3) Denver Nuggets-17-7

4) Minnesota Timberwolves-16-7

5) Golden State Warriors-17-9

6) Los Angeles Lakers-15-8

7) New Orleans Pelicans-15-8

8) Houston Rockets-15-8

9) Sacramento Kings-14-10

10) Phoenix Suns-13-10

11) LA Clippers-13-11

12) San Antonio Spurs- 8-16

13) Memphis Grizzlies-6-17

14) Portland Trail Blazers-4-20

15) Utah Jazz-3-20

The Nuggets are quietly rounding into form and have a great chance to finish with the best record in the West. That could result in facing off against the Los Angeles Lakers again, who the Nuggets have dominated. Speaking of the Lakers, they stood pat at the deadline but did pick up Spencer Dinwiddie and have gotten stellar performances from Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell. 

Still, they haven't moved up much in the standings, despite being seven games above .500 over the last seven weeks. The same can be said for the Warriors, who have won nearly two-thirds of their games during the same span but are having to fend off the Rockets for 10th. Houston is 11-2 in their last 12 games, giving them a shot at the play-in tournament but with less than ten games left, they are running out of time.

The Spurs have played much better since the trade deadline, to the detriment of their lottery pick. They could fall out of the bottom three, though with no consensus at the top of the draft, that might not be that bad.

Overall, the Celtics are still leading in terms of post-trade-deadline record, while the Magic, Mavericks, Thunder, and Nuggets are right behind. That may translate to the playoffs, with the Celtics being the favorites to win it all.