The defending champs from San Antonio, still seeded sixth in the West, are in our top three for the first time since Week 6 back on Dec. 8. The only team that can claim a better record in March than the Spurs is -- you guessed it -- Golden State.

Houston (No. 6 to No. 5) and the Los Angeles Clippers (No. 7 to No. 6) moved up only marginally compared to where they were last Monday. In the Rockets’ case, that’s because they lost defensive perimeter ace Patrick Beverley just as they got back Dwight Howard. For the Clippers, winners of seven straight, it’s because there simply isn’t a team easily bumped out of the top five to make room for them, hot as they are.

Thanks to its 11-10 malaise since the All-Star break, Memphis is out of the top four for the first time since Week 10 on Jan. 5. The Grizzlies have been a top-four team on all but four of 22 regular-season Mondays thus far this season.

The Thunder normally would have cratered out of the top 10 after Friday’s confirmation that Kevin Durant is lost for the rest of the season. But I think everyone knows by now that this OKC team -- Russell Westbrook especially -- is not normal. It is impossible to drop the Thunder any lower when they’re 19-8 since Feb. 1.

The 11-through-20 range is as unsightly as ever. Dallas should be lower than No. 11 given the Mavericks’ recent struggles, but whom can you move ahead of them? The Pelicans are also higher than we felt comfortable with, given that their playoff hopes have essentially been extinguished, but there is rampant mediocrity outside of the NBA’s current top 10. Toronto has slipped only to No. 14, in a nod to the fact that the Raptors just clinched their second straight Atlantic Division title, but they have exactly one win since the All-Star break against teams with a winning record: Toronto’s Feb. 20 rout of the Hawks in Atlanta that somehow triggered a six-week slump.

The Knicks, having just clinched the first 60-loss season in franchise history, are back in the No. 30 basement. Kentucky’s struggles with Notre Dame on Saturday night illustrated that we might have been a bit unfair with any suggestions this season that the Wildcats could hang with New York or Philly or any NBA team … but we have nothing to apologize for after relegating these Knicks back to the cellar.

The Golden State Warriors are the 13th team in league history to rack up 60 wins in their first 73 games. Nine of the previous 12 went on to win the NBA championship.