Whenever we see a little separation in their ranks, the standings tighten again. So with apologies to Sacramento and Golden State — both 24-23 but tied for ninth behind too many rivals — here is a ...

More than a third of the way through the NBA regular season ... Here are grades for every Western Conference team. Teams are listed in order of record through Thursday's games.

The midpoint of the NBA's regular season ... from everyone else in the West, taking a 6½-game lead in the standings. In typical West fashion, the next 11 teams are separated by just seven games ...

As the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline ... begun to heat up. One team who has been in the middle of those rumors is the Denver Nuggets. Denver currently sits fourth in the Western Conference standings ...