With their first consecutive losses since Jan. 20 and 22, the Timberwolves slipped into a three-way tie for the Western Conference lead entering Sunday night.
Their 89-88 defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday afternoon at Target Center left the Wolves winless in March and invigorated questions about their high turnover ratio, offensive efficiency in clutch situations and ability to score in transition against quality teams.
Grading on a mixture of talent, pedigree and recent play, here are my altered Western Conference power rankings:
1. Denver Nuggets
Denver is the NBA's best team until proved otherwise, and nobody has proved otherwise.