Miami Heat's Opponent Tonight Is Now No. 1 In Latest NBA Power Rankings

The Miami Heat will get an idea where they stand tonight when they face what many are calling the league's best team.

The Heat play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who this week surpassed the Boston Celtics for the top spot in the latest Sports Illustrated power rankings. The Thunder defeated the Celtics 127-123 Jan. 2 behind 36 points from guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder are also No. 1 in the NBA.com rankings.

At 24-11, the Thunder are 1.5 games back of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference standings.

"O.K., so the Thunder didn’t exactly seize this spot, following up a season-best win over the Boston Celtics with back-to-back losses to the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets before beating the Washington Wizards on Monday," wrote SI.com's Chris Mannix. Still, OKC’s recent run of wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and the Celtics offered the most concrete proof yet that the Thunder are legit, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s offense in those games (34, 40, 36 against Minnesota, Denver and Boston, respectively) is evidence he is a true leading man. Stop talking trades, folks. The Thunder don’t need one."

Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the league's rising young superstars. He is the NBA's third-leading scorer at 31.5 points a game on 55 percent shooting. The Thunder also have center Chet Holmgren, who is playing his first season after missing his rookie year due to injury. Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in 2022, is averaging 17.8 points and 7.3 rebounds.

Tonight is the first of two meetings between the Thunder and Heat. They play March 8 in Oklahoma City.

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat, a Fan Nation channel for Sports Illustrated. He has covered the NBA since 2010.

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