RK (LW) TEAM REC
1 (2) SPURS 35-6
The Spurs have held on to this position for most of the season and even though they lost it to the Heat last week, they are right back on top with their league leading 35-6 record.
2 (4) CELTICS 30-9
The Celtics received some good news that their all-star forward Kevin Garnett is set to rejoin the team and their defensive center Kendrick Perkins after being out since last June, should be also be joining the team within weeks. The Celtics are in great shape considering their 30-9 record is the best in the Eastern Conference.
3 (5) LAKERS 30-12
The Lakers were on a mini tear, sporting a 7-game winning streak before losing their cool and obviously the game against their Staple Center rivals L.A. Clippers. A late game tussle led to the ejections of the Lakers Lamar Odom and Ron Artest and the Clippers Blake Griffin and Baron Davis, but clearly the Lakers seem to be back on track before that loss.
4 (1) HEAT 30-12
I am very aware that the Heat loss their last three games, but Lebron was out of the lineup in two of them while injuring his ankle in the Heat’s first loss on their current three game skid. Lebron will be back on Tuesday against the Hawks, but Bosh is listed as doubtful, while Wade who injured both wrists against the Bulls is listed as a game time decision. Either way, the Heat should be fine.
5 (5) BULLS 27-13
I ranked the Bulls one spot below the Heat because they needed a Lebron injury (out for the game) and Chris Bosh ankle injury (out for the entire fourth quarter) and a graceful bounce that led to a wide open 3-point game winning shot by Kyle Korver in order to defeat the Heat. Obviously the Bulls deserve their 5th ranking, but in all fairness I couldn’t rank them ahead of the Heat, at least not entering week 13.
6 (7) THUNDER 27-13
With the Thunder recent success, I think it’s time to start seriously including Kevin Durant in the MVP discussion. His teammate Russell Westbrook is also equally worthy of the award, but Durant’s 32.4ppg over the last five games while shooting 55.7 percent from the field has clearly moved him ahead of Westbrook.
7 (3) MAGIC 26-14
I think it needs to be mentioned that after the Magic 9-games winning streak, their next two losses to the Hornets and Thunder were by only 3 and 1 points respectively. I understand a loss is a loss no matter how you slice it, but this Magic team could easily be sporting a 12-games winning streak. The Magic have way more shooters as a result of their trade for Arenas, Richardson and Hedo, which has made life a lot easier on Dwight Howard.
8 (8) HAWKS 26-15
The Hawks recent turnaround can be directly attributed to the Play of Joe Johnson. Even in their recent loss against the Rockets, Johnson still managed to score 30 points. Like I’ve always said, the Hawks success lies in the hands of their $126 million all-star Joe Johnson.
9 (9) JAZZ 27-13
Should we be considering Deron Williams, the Jazz all-star point guard an MVP candidate? Of course we should. The Jazz are on track to win 55 games and there’s no question that Williams is definitely the catalyst behind everything. His average of 22ppg and 9.4apg certainly qualifies him for the discussion not to mention the Jazz 27-13 record which is tied for sixth best in the league.
10 (11) HORNETS 25-16
With his team only on track to win 50 games, the Hornets point guard Chris Paul is not on track to win the MVP Award. He may be the best point guard in the league, but he obviously does not have the talent level around him that the other MVP candidates do. Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Lebron James, D-Wade and Dirk all have a better supporting cast then Paul, but considering all the trade rumors and ownership issues, the Hornets 25-16 record should be commended and that’s mainly because of Chris Paul.
11 (10) MAVERICKS 26-13
Dirk Nowitzki must be considered an MVP candidate and that fact has become more evident over the last several weeks when the Mavs posted a 2-6 record with Dirk out with a knee injury. Dirk returned sluggish and frustrated against the Grizzlies and was even ejected in the Mavs 89-70 loss to the Griz in that game. However, I expect Dirk and the Mavs to recover quickly and return back to their winning ways.
12 (13) NUGGETS 23-17
Despite all the trade rumors surrounding Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets have recently played like the bully on the block. Before their 110-97 loss to San Antonio, the Nuggets won their previous three games by a combined 90 points for an average of 30 points per game and one of those wins was against the Lebron-less Miami Heat. I think this really says a lot about the professionalism of Carmelo Anthony. As far as the Nuggets new management, I think their inexperience has really affected four teams including the Nuggets adversely.
13 (12) KNICKS 22-17
Other than Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton, the rest of the Knicks seemed clearly affected by recent trade rumors linking them to Carmelo. The Knicks are winners of only 1 of their last 4 games and things don’t look promising on the horizon.
14 (14) TRAIL BLAZERS 21-20
The Blazers are holding on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the West by giving everything they have, especially now that it’s finally confirmed that Brandon Roy will have surgery on both knees. I don’t know if they can hold on with the Grizzlies breathing down their necks, but I think as a team they have the resolve to hold on to the eighth spot.
15 (17) GRIZZLIES 19-20
The Memphis Grizzlies are making a push for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference and their 89-70 win over the Mavericks tells me they may be on the right track. I think they will give the Blazers a run for that spot for the remainder of the season.
16 (15) 76ERS 16-23
The Sixers are holding on to the eighth seed in the East and they don’t appear to be ready to give that up. I think trading Iguodala is off the tables for now and the only way the Sixers trade him is if they get equal value in return.
17 (16) PACERS 16-21
The Pacers have a real nice young core. An excellent wing player in Danny Granger, a solid young point guard in Darren Collison and an up and coming center in Roy Hibert not to mention their other young players should be enough to make the playoffs. I believe this is the sentiment from the Pacers management which is why I think they will stay pat rather than make trades and I tend to agree with them.
18 (21) SUNS 17-21
The Suns are still the league’s worst defensive team, but that hasn’t stopped Steve Nash the ageless wonder from doing his job. Just when it looked like the suns had no chance of making the playoff, Steve Nash decided to return to his old MVP-self. Nash led the Suns to a 3-1 record over their last four games by averaging 20.3ppg and 13.3apg. How impressive for a guy whose about to turn 38 years old in less than a month.
19 (19) ROCKETS 18-23
There is a familiar trend in Houston and his name is Aaron Brooks. Follow Brooks and you will know exactly what the Rockets are doing. After a three games absence due to a gimpy ankle (Rockets lost all three games), Brooks returned to the lineup four games ago and the Rockets are 2-2 with their two losses being to the Thunder and the Hornets, both very good playoff teams.
20 (23) CLIPPERS 14-25
I know the Clippers are hoping they could play their first 14 games of the season all over again. The Clips were 1-13 during that stretch, since then they have a 13-12 record and seem to be improving every game. Blake Griffin continues to improve and has not been derailed by the petty cheap shots that his opponents are taking on him, like the one Lamar Odom tried to justify when he literally pulled Griffin out of bounds due to his frustration. Griffin had 2 points and 5 rebounds at half time, but fought his way for 16 points and 10 boards after half time, which was the key to helping the Clips secure a come from behind victory against the Lakers. Blake Griffin is an absolute BEAST!
21 (22) WARRIORS 16-23
The Warriors are playing a lot better as of late and have a 3-2 record over their last five games, with their two losses coming against the two hot L.A. teams, the Lakers and Clippers. I don’t think much is to be made out of this, because as of now the Warriors are light years away from making the playoffs.
22 (20) BOBCATS 15-23
Just when it seemed like the Bobcats were playoff bound the schedule turned against them and their emotional and scoring leader Stephen Jackson went into a slump. In the Bobcats two losses against the Celtics and Hornets, Jackson made a combined 10 for 32 shots (.3125) for a total of 28 points in both games. I understand the Bobcats new head coach, Paul Silas has them playing faster, but they are simply not good enough to beat the elite teams with Jackson posting those types of numbers.
23 (25) PISTONS 14-26
I don’t know what to make of the Rip Hamilton’s three straight DNPs. My guess is the Pistons trade with New Jersey may be all but done. Either way, they seem to be playing better without Rip in the lineup. The team is currently 2-1 without him and from the looks of things I don’t expect him in the Pistons lineup anytime soon.
24 (18) BUCKS 14-23
No matter how good a team is defensively, if they are dead last in assist and scoring, they simply will not win a lot of ball games and that is what you have with the Bucks. There are times when they look brilliant on defense, but they can’t come up with points and end up losing close games. This trend will continue unless bring in some scorers.
25 (28) WIZARDS 11-27
In a way, I guess it’s a blessing for John Wall, that his fellow rookie Blake Griffin is dominating the race for the ROY Award, because that was probably putting too much pressure on Wall. In order to keep up with Blake, which isn’t even possible at this point, Wall had to really increase his scoring output, which took away from his naturally ability to pass like a true point guard. I think now that he is no longer expected to win the award, you can expect Wall to develop at his own pace, which will ultimately be a good thing for him and the Wizards organization.
26 (24) RAPTORS 13-27
There Raptors are 1-3 in their last four outings, but the reason they are losing has absolutely nothing to do with Andrea Bargnani, who averaged 28ppg while shooting 51.7 percent from the field during the four games. He is definitely one of the league’s best kept secrets.
27 (27) TIMBERWOLVES 10-31
Every team better enjoy beating the Wolves this season because next year things could be dramatically different in Minnesota. Ricky Rubio may join the team next year from Europe and if they end up with the top pick, the Wolves could go from NBA doormat to being the talk of the league, not to mention Kevin Love and Michael Beasley will be one year better.
28 (26) NETS 10-30
My heart goes out to the New Jersey Nets, losers of their last five games. In an effort to improve their team, they’ve allowed the Denver Nuggets inexperienced managers to string them along all season with one supposed trade after another for Carmelo Anthony that may never happen. It’s clearly taking a toll on the Nets players, because at various points every player on the team outside of Brook Lopez has been rumored in a trade. I really hope they can look elsewhere because the more this drags on, the less likely it appears that Carmelo will be a New Jersey Net.
29 (29) KINGS 9-29
Don’t expect any player or management change anytime soon in Sacramento. Don’t be surprised to see the Kings relocate in the near future. If I were a betting man, I would put my money on the Kings leaving Sacramento very soon. In recent reports, the Anaheim Ducks owner recently agreed to borrow the Kings owners (the Maloofs brothers) $100 million to help aid the Kings relocation to Southern California.
30 (30) CAVALIERS 8-32
The Cavaliers are currently sporting a 13-games losing streak and with Anderson Varejao out for the remainder of the regular season, things appears to be even more dismal for the Cavs. Well, that’s the bad news and like the old saying goes, “sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before climbing to the top” and that is exactly what could happen in Cleveland. First, their payroll is only $48 million for next season which includes Antawn Jamison’s very attractive $15 million expiring contract. Second, because they will more than likely end up with the league’s worst record, they have the best odds of landing the first overall pick in the draft this June. Third, they still have the $14.8 million trade chip they received from Miami that they got for Lebron James. My point is laugh all you want now, but next season the Cavs could easily be a playoff team and depending on who they end up with, even be a contender. I could make this happen if I were the Cavaliers General Manager.
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