We have turned a corner around the 2025-26 NBA regular season’s 60-game mark, and that means it is well past time for our third-quarter report cards. After tackling the Eastern Conference, we move to the West, where we have given out two A’s.

That’s right: The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are the class of the conference, favorites to meet in what could be a brutal Western Conference finals.

As we have seen this week, the Denver Nuggets are right there with them when Aaron Gordon is in the fold alongside Nikola Jokić, and they are a tandem again. And the Minnesota Timberwolves can get there on the right night. Whether they can do it four times in seven tries a few times over is another matter. What a gauntlet it will be.

The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers are no slouches, either, though their offense and defense, respectively, may prevent them from contending at the top.

These are things we have known for some time. The play-in tournament field is settling into form, too, as are the tankers, including one F grade. The biggest movers? Those Los Angeles Clippers, who went from an F in the first quarter to a D at midseason and now a C. Might Darius Garland help get them to a B by end of year?

We are, after all, grading to date, not only for the third quarter, in order to give you a complete picture of the season, not just a 20-game snapshot. We are also grading against expectations. Have you completed the task you set out to do, even if that meant to properly tank, or did you exceed expectations, as have the Phoenix Suns?

But we do not want to give away too much. On to our third-quarter report card.

(For reference: first-quarter grades • midseason grades)

Dallas Mavericks • Denver Nuggets • Golden State Warriors • Houston Rockets • Los Angeles Clippers • Los Angeles Lakers • Memphis Grizzlies • Minnesota Timberwolves • New Orleans Pelicans • Oklahoma City Thunder • Phoenix Suns • Portland Trail Blazers • Sacramento Kings • San Antonio Spurs • Utah Jazz

Dallas Mavericks (21-44)

• Three-quarter MVP: Cooper Flagg (20-7-4 on 47/30/80)

• Offensive rating: 109.5 (29th) • Defensive rating: 114.2 (16th)

• Best lineup: Flagg • Max Christie • Caleb Martin • Naji Marshall • Dwight Powell (+26 in 46 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 10-29 • Against losing teams: 11-15

This was not supposed to be like this. The Mavericks thought they would compete. … Since the trade deadline, when the Mavericks dealt Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards for some picks, they are 2-12. … They are 2-18 since Jan. 24. … This is no culture in which to develop Flagg. … He is a winning, connective player, absent fellow winners to connect. … Kyrie Irving is not returning as reinforcements, either. … Look at Dallas’ best lineup. Look at those players. … At least Dallas will add another high-end lottery pick in the draft. … Maybe he wins with Flagg. … Do not let Nico Harrison off the hook. Dealing Luka Dončić for Davis, and then dumping Davis, is a disastrous development.

Grade: D Denver Nuggets (39-26)

• Three-quarter MVP: Nikola Jokić (29-13-10 on 58/39/83)

• Offensive rating: 120.1 (1st) • Defensive rating: 116.5 (22nd)

• Best lineup: Jokić • Jamal Murray • Christian Braun • Cameron Johnson • Aaron Gordon (+60 in 172 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 18-19 • Against losing teams: 21-7

When Jokić is playing, regardless of who shares the court with him, the Nuggets are scoring 125.3 points per 100 possessions, better than history’s best offensive rating. … When Jokić is on the floor with Aaron Gordon, Denver is almost as stout as Oklahoma City’s top-rated defense. … That is reason to believe in these Nuggets still, despite all their red flags (a series of injuries, Johnson’s play, an otherwise porous defense and that troublesome record against good teams, to name a few). … They’re a game from the play-in tournament, performing like they are prepared for their forthcoming test, even giving the Thunder a game, only we have not seen them studying together too much. … You would like to see more than 12 games as a group from their best lineup.

Grade: C Golden State Warriors (32-33)

• Three-quarter MVP: Stephen Curry (27-4-5 on 47/39/93)

• Offensive rating: 114.1 (16th) • Defensive rating: 113.1 (13th)

• Best lineup: Curry • Moses Moody • Brandin Podziemski • Draymond Green • Al Horford (+25 in 35 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 15-23 • Against losing teams: 17-10

Give the Warriors credit. All of their best lineups featured Jimmy Butler, who suffered an ACL injury, and they are still in position to make a play-in bid, despite missing Curry for 25 games, too. … The Green-Horford duo allows 111.2 points per 100 possessions, equivalent to a top-five rating. … Curry’s personal offensive rating: 118.0 points per 100 possessions, also top five. … He can’t get back from a knee injury soon enough, after back-to-back losses to the Jazz and Bulls, two tanking teams. … To make the playoffs, to put a scare into someone, there would be honor in that. … Allow us a wild thought: Curry, Butler, Green, Horford and … LeBron James. Golden State in their golden years.

Grade: C Houston Rockets (40-24)

• Three-quarter MVP: Kevin Durant (26-6-5 on 51/41/89)

• Offensive rating: 116.9 (8th) • Defensive rating: 111.9 (6th)

• Best lineup: Durant • Amen Thompson • Josh Okogie • Jabari Smith Jr. • Alperen Şengün (+60 in 346 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 20-15 • Against losing teams: 20-9

Durant, man, what a legend. He might be the most consistent scorer in NBA history. … Those numbers of his, closing in on the 50/40/90 club again, you can pencil them in every year. … What was once a promising Şengün season has turned sour, given his defensive on/off numbers. … Another interesting lineup: Durant, Thompson, Reed Sheppard, Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela (+52 in 75 minutes). … They grab 8% fewer offensive rebounds sans Steven Adams. Noticeable difference. … Both of the Thompson twins need jump shots. An offseason challenge. … For Sheppard, there is only so much trial and error a team can get away with in the West. He has to be good.

Grade: B Los Angeles Clippers (32-32)

• Three-quarter MVP: Kawhi Leonard (28-6-4 on 50/37/91)

• Offensive rating: 115.8 (12th) • Defensive rating: 115.3 (19th)

• Best lineup: Leonard • Kris Dunn • Derrick Jones Jr. • John Collins • Brook Lopez (+10 in 110 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 15-26 • Against losing teams: 17-6

Will Leonard reach 65 games for the second time since 2016-17? He may have an All-NBA First Team case if he does. … The loss of Ivica Zubac to a trade was meaningful. But the loss of Yanic Konan Niederhauser to injury may have been more significant. … (Why with Niederhauser do we always mention his middle name? Is it because it is Konan? It is because it is Konan.) … With Darius Garland in the lineup, the Clippers are outscoring opponents by 24.9 points per 100 possessions. It’s only been four games, but still. … They are 5-1 in their last six games with the league’s best offensive rating (124.1) in that span. … Hey, we almost got through this without mentioning Aspiration.

Grade: C Los Angeles Lakers (40-25)

• Three-quarter MVP: Luka Dončić (33-8-9 on 47/36/77)

• Offensive rating: 116.6 (9th) • Defensive rating: 115.7 (20th)

• Best lineup: Dončić • Austin Reaves • Marcus Smart • Rui Hachimura • Deandre Ayton (+47 in 96 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 17-20 • Against losing teams: 23-5

How dare Ayton scoff at the idea of playing like Clint Capela. The Lakers should be so lucky. … Notice who is not in the Lakers’ best lineup: LeBron James. … They are, in fact, playing better without him. … When Dončić and Reaves share the court with James, they play like a bottom-five offense. Without him? They perform like the league’s best offense. … Net rating of Dončić, Reaves, James and no Smart: -9.8. Net rating of Dončić, Reaves, Smart and no James: +29.2. … James is a free agent at season’s end. Who pays him and how much? Massive questions without answers. … It would be kind of cool to see James lean into becoming a role player, but his 3 and D are both lacking. … Can he just be connective tissue in his old (basketball) age? Or else retirement calls.

Grade: C Memphis Grizzlies (23-41)

• Three-quarter MVP: Cedric Coward (13-6-3 on 47/34/84)

• Offensive rating: 113.7 (19th) • Defensive rating: 116.3 (21st)

• Best lineup: Coward • Vince Williams Jr. • Jaylen Wells • Santi Aldama • Zach Edey (+34 in 36 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 8-30 • Against losing teams: 15-11

Why is Ja Morant still on this team? Because the Grizzlies couldn’t find any takers. ... With Zach Edey in the lineup in 11 games this season, Memphis outscored opponents by 18.3 points per 100 possessions, submitting the league’s best defense. Without him, a bottom-five defense has been beaten by 4.4 points per 100 chances. … Promise for the future. … Speaking of which, who is the Grizzlies’ MVP to this point? That was no easy question to answer. … It is Coward, though, as promising a player as there is on this roster. … He is a piece of the future, not the piece. … They do not want another No. 11 pick. And by dealing Jaren Jackson Jr. they are doing their best to acquire one.

Grade: F Minnesota Timberwolves (40-25)

• Three-quarter MVP: Anthony Edwards (29-5-4 on 49/40/79)

• Offensive rating: 116.0 (11th) • Defensive rating: 112.4 (9th)

• Best lineup: Edwards • Donte DiVincenzo • Jaden McDaniels • Julius Randle • Rudy Gobert (+128 in 676 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 17-18 • Against losing teams: 23-7

Michael Jordan said he loves the passion Edwards plays with on both ends and told him, “You need to continue improving on your game.” … A heady challenge from the G.O.A.T. But a necessary one. If anyone understands what it takes to win from the 2 position. … It isn’t out of the realm of possibility to consider Edwards could one day be a 30-point 50/40/90 guy. … A sub-.500 record against winning teams but 5-5 against OKC, San Antonio and Denver is reason to believe in these Wolves. … More reason to consider them contenders: That starting lineup. It has played 160 more minutes than Detroit’s starting lineup and almost twice as many minutes as any other lineup in the NBA. … Rudy Gobert is all but assured of making a ninth All-Defensive team in 10 years.

Grade: B New Orleans Pelicans (21-45)

• Three-quarter MVP: Trey Murphy III (22-6-4 on 47/39/89)

• Offensive rating: 113.1 (22nd) • Defensive rating: 117.7 (26th)

• Best lineup: Murphy • Jeremiah Fears • Herbert Jones • Saddiq Bey • Derik Queen (+17 in 117 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 5-34 • Against losing teams: 16-11

Notice, again, who is absent from the Pelicans’ best lineup: Zion Williamson, who is playing like a 41-year-old LeBron, only at the age of 25. … There was a time when we could not fathom the possibility that Williamson, in his prime, could approach the 65-game mark and not be in the All-NBA conversation, but here we are. … Be careful who we saddle with the Face of the League label so early. … Dejounte Murray in six games back from an Achilles injury: 16-5-5 on 47/27/89 shooting splits. Encouraging! … Since Jan. 14, the Pelicans are 12-12 with a (slightly) positive net rating (+0.1). … Queen and Fears appear to be players. … But the team is in line to hand a top-10 pick to Atlanta.

Grade: D Oklahoma City Thunder (51-15)

• Three-quarter MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32-5-7 on 55/38/90)

• Offensive rating: 117.0 (7th) • Defensive rating: 106.2 (1st)

• Best lineup: Gilgeous-Alexander • Cason Wallace • Lu Dort • Chet Holmgren • Isaiah Hartenstein (+71 in 165 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 27-11 • Against losing teams: 24-4

The difference between OKC’s defense and the Western Conference’s second-best defense, that of the Spurs, is the difference between San Antonio and the 16th-rated Mavericks. … The Thunder are 15-0 when that top lineup takes the floor. … Another top five-man unit: SGA, Wallace, Dort, Holmgren and Jalen Williams (+69 in 117 minutes), though they are “just” 8-4 in their games together. … They might be the favorite, with or without Williams. That depth is something. … Should we be concerned at all about their offense? Not when SGA is on the court. Did you see him close out the Nuggets — and maybe the MVP conversation — on Monday? He is offense unto himself. … And adding Jared McCain gave them just the offensive boost they needed off the bench.

Grade: A Phoenix Suns (38-27)

• Three-quarter MVP: Devin Booker (25-4-6 on 45/32/87)

• Offensive rating: 113.8 (18th) • Defensive rating: 112.6 (10th)

• Best lineup: Booker • Collin Gillespie • Dillon Brooks • Royce O’Neale • Mark Williams (+56 in 266 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 17-23 • Against losing teams: 21-4

Booker is back in the fold from a hip injury and not a moment too soon, as the Suns’ offense was severely slipping in the absence of him and Brooks. … Phoenix is 5-1 with a top-five offense in its last six games. … It needs Brooks back to solidify the defense in advance of the playoffs. … If it gets there. The recent skid sent the Suns into seventh in the West, where they will have a hard time leapfrogging anyone in front of them. … Jordan Ott has done the most with the least in his conference. The Suns play hard for their coach. … That includes Williams, who was cast aside by the Lakers for medical reasons, only to perform admirably in his 1,322 minutes across 56 games this season.

Grade: B Portland Trail Blazers (31-35)

• Three-quarter MVP: Deni Avdija (24-7-7 on 46/34/80)

• Offensive rating: 112.5 (23rd) • Defensive rating: 115.2 (18th)

• Best lineup: Avdija • Shaedon Sharpe • Kris Murray • Toumani Camara • Donovan Clingan (+15 in 106 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 16-29 • Against losing teams: 15-6

Good news for the Blazers: It would be almost impossible to fall out of 10th place. … Bad news: They may not make it much farther than that, unless they can catch the Warriors, and even then what hope do they have of winning consecutive play-in games? … They have not won two straight games in more than a month, and before then they lost six straight. … Since Jan. 22, when the Blazers took a .500 record into the second half of the season, they are 8-13, owners of a 27th-rated offense. … With Avdija in the fold, though, now back from injury, and even without Sharpe, who could be out through March, they are scoring 117 points per 100 possessions, a top-10 figure.

Grade: C Sacramento Kings (16-50)

• Three-quarter MVP: DeMar DeRozan (18-3-4 on 49/33/86)

• Offensive rating: 109.7 (27th) • Defensive rating: 119.7 (28th)

• Best lineup: DeRozan • Russell Westbrook • Zach LaVine • Keegan Murray • Maxine Raynaud (+14 in 90 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 8-35 • Against losing teams: 8-15

The Kings thought they would be decent. … How do we square this: They refused to play Keon Ellis, even though everyone knew he was good, and they gifted him to the Cavaliers, who now count him as integral to their playoff rotation? … Dennis Schröder, too. The Kings signed him, only to undermine him by adding Russell Westbrook, and then traded him, along with Ellis, for De’Andre Hunter’s cumbersome contract. … Make it make sense. … Nothing may ever make sense in Sacramento. … Might the Kings actually secure a top-three pick in this top-heavy draft? They have a 40% chance right now. … With whom are they building around that pick? … Free Domantas Sabonis.

Grade: C

San Antonio Spurs (47-17)

• Three-quarter MVP: Victor Wembanyama (24-11-3 on 51/35/82)

• Offensive rating: 117.5 (5th) • Defensive rating: 110.2 (3rd)

• Best lineup: Wembanyama • De’Aaron Fox • Stephon Castle • Devin Vassell • Julian Champagnie (+82 in 178 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 27-12 • Against losing teams: 20-5

When Wembanyama is on the court, the Spurs operate like a top-three offense and the NBA’s best defense (allowing just 103.8 points per 100 possessions). … Stephon Castle has been sensational when paired with either De’Aaron Fox or Dylan Harper in the backcourt, outscoring opponents by 8.7 and 14.3 points per 100 possessions, respectively. … San Antonio belongs in every conversation of the most serious contenders. … Vassell’s return was big for them. They still might need another wing. … How much do we trust Harrison Barnes, Keldon Johnson or Julian Champagnie in the biggest moments? … The Spurs have one of the easiest remaining schedules; the Thunder have one of the hardest. The No. 1 seed, then, and the MVP race, is not set.

Grade: A Utah Jazz (20-45)

• Three-quarter MVP: Lauri Markkanen (27-7-2 on 48/36/90)

• Offensive rating: 113.3 (21st) • Defensive rating: 120.5 (29th)

• Best lineup: Markkanen • Keyonte George • Svi Mykhailiuk • Kyle Filipowski • Walker Kessler (+34 in 51 minutes)

• Against .500 teams: 10-30 • Against losing teams: 10-15

Seven-footers to make at least 2.5 3-pointers per game for their careers: Markkanen. That is the list. … In the brief time they played together, Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., acquired at the trade deadline, outscored opponents by 13.4 points per 100 possessions. Encouraging. … Perhaps too much, at least for this season, when the goal is to secure a top-eight pick (and not lose it to the Thunder). … They would, ideally, like a higher pick than that, but they may have won too much. … George is good. The Jazz are scoring 119 points per 100 possessions, a great number, when he shares the court with Markkanen. … Ace Bailey is gonna be good. … A lot to like about these Jazz.

Grade: B

read more