RK (LW) TEAM REC
1 (1) SPURS 37-7
Every so often even the best team can have one of those games, the kind of game when nothing seems to go right. The Spurs experienced that in New Orleans and were stung by the surging Hornets in a 96-72 defeat. The good news is that was just one game and the Spurs are still on track to win 69 games this season.
2 (2) CELTICS 33-10
Kevin Garnett returned to the Celtics lineup after a 9-game absence due to a leg injury and the team could not be happier. Since returning, the Celtics have a 3-1 record with their lone loss being a surprising 85-83 defeat against the Wizards that came from a 3-pointer by John Wall in the final seconds.
3 (3) LAKERS 32-13
The Lakers have the league’s third best record and people are still trying to dissect the team’s every move. This team has managed to play under the radar with everyone in the league focusing on the Spurs and the Eastern Conference.
4 (4) HEAT 31-13
Mike Miller’s 32 point performance while making 6 of 11 3-pointers, gave the Miami Heat fans a little taste of what he’s about and why the Heat were so excited when they signed him over the summer. Obviously his breakout game was due to him starting in D-Wade’s absence, but clearly you can see that Miller gives the Heat another dimension.
5 (5) BULLS 30-14
After New Jersey withdrew all trade offers, rumors has it that the Nuggets are now trying to engage trade talks with Chicago. If I were the Bulls, I would steer clear of the Nuggets management, whom have done nothing but disrupt several teams with lingering trade talks that never materialized. The Bulls should hang on to Joakim Noah, because he is a defensive nightmare and his energy level can be duplicated by only a few players in this league.
6 (7) MAGIC 29-15
The Orlando Magic have obviously improved since the trade, Dwight Howard in particular has found an offensive rhythm like never before however, the Magic must add a backup center if they expect to seriously contend for a title. The problem is there aren’t any good available big men out there unless the Magic make another trade.
7 (10) HORNETS 29-16
I believe Chris Paul overall is the best point guard in the NBA, but his numbers this year hasn’t really been mind blowing. His 16.2ppg and 9.6apg are both below his career average, but he is clearly the driving force behind the Hornets 8-games winning streak. That being said, I think some of the credit for the team’s success has to go to their first year rookie head coach Monte Williams. How else do you explain the Hornets last two blowout victories? The Hornets annihilated the Hawks 100-59 with CP3 posting 16 points and 8 assist. Against the Spurs, the team with the league’s best record, the Hornets had another impressive 96-72 win, with CP3 only posting 11 points and 6 rebounds, which tells me it’s time to start giving Monte Williams his fair due.
8 (8) HAWKS 29-16
The Hawks recent 100-59 loss to the Hornets is not really an indication of where they are as a team, because they are clearly heading in the right direction. The team has 8 wins in their last 10 games and Joe Johnson has been nothing short of breath taking.
9 (6) THUNDER 28-15
After two losses to the Lakers and the Nuggets the Oklahoma City Thunder got back on track thanks to a game winning 3-pointer by Kevin Durant against the rapidly falling Knicks. The Thunder have definitely improved this season, but their lack of commitment on the defensive end still places them below the Spurs, Lakers and Mavericks in my opinion.
10 (11) MAVERICKS 28-15
The Mavs are 2-3 since Dirk returned, but I expect them to get on track very soon. They added Sasha Pavlovic to fill the void left by small forward Caron Butler and if they are successful in landing Peja whose contract was recently bought out by the Raptors, the Mavs could be back to winning again like they were before the injury bug hit the team about a month ago.
11 (12) NUGGETS 25-18
If anyone is happy that New Jersey back away from their lingering trade with the Denver, it has to be the Nuggets Carmelo Anthony. Even with the Nuggets fans booing, Carmelo was able to put up some nice numbers last week. He led the Nuggets to a 2-1 week by averaging 31.3ppg and 7rpg while making 47.4 percent of his shots. He even made a career high 6 of the 8 3-pointers he attempted against the Pacers in the Nuggets last outing, a 121-107 win. He probably feels his dreams of playing for the Knicks could soon be a reality.
12 (14) TRAIL BLAZERS 25-20
With all the injuries this team has suffered, they still have found ways to win basketball games and this would not be possible without their MVP LaMarcus Aldridge. During their current 5 games winning streak Aldridge averaged 28ppg and 10rpg on 52 percent shooting. He is definitely making a strong case for an all-star reserve spot.
13 (9) JAZZ 27-17
Of all the upper echelon teams, I’ve always felt the Jazz record was somewhat deceiving. Even early on in the season, when they won 5 straight games by overcoming double digit deficits, I warned that those could have easily been losses. They play very hard, probably harder than every team in the league, but their talent level is not quite there and that’s why I am not surprised by their recent 4-game skid. I expect them to bounce back, but I don’t see this team having any real upside.
14 (13) KNICKS 22-21
I think there are two things we can take from the Knicks current 6-games skid. First, Amare definitely needs help and if it comes in the form of Carmelo Anthony, great! Second, Amare will not be the MVP of the league this season, because the Knicks will not win enough games for him to be seriously considered.
15 (15) GRIZZLIES 21-23
The Memphis Grizzlies are 15th in the league in scoring at 99.5 points per game and are also 15th in opponents points allowed giving up 98.8 points per game to their opponents. Fittingly, the Grizzlies are ranked 15th in this week’s NBA Wizard Power Ranking.
16 (18) SUNS 20-22
After a 5-games winning streak during which time we saw the re-emergence of Steve Nash, the Suns suffered a heart breaking 75-74 defeat to the Pistons in their last game, which put them 3.5 games behind the Blazers for the eighth and final spot. Unfortunately, it appears that the Suns might keep Nash in hopes of bolstering their chances of making the playoffs and even if they do, are sure to get bounce out in the first round. This is unfortunate for Nash because I was really hoping for his sake, that he gets traded to a contender.
17 (16) 76ERS 18-25
The Sixers have an 18-25 record three games better than they were last year around the same time, but you can see that they believe they are a playoff team. New head coach Doug Collins has done an underrated job and deserves to be commended.
18 (22) BOBCATS 17-25
The Bobcats are playing better because they are scoring more. Their defense has never been a problem, but since the arrival of new head coach Paul Silas, the Bobcats have definitely sped up the tempo. They are currently hanging on the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
19 (19) ROCKETS 20-25
Aaron Brooks was 2 for 10 from the field for 9 points against the Grizzlies and 2 for 11 from the field against the Magic for 4 points and the Rockets lost 115-110 and 118-104 respectively to those teams. Like I’ve always said, Aaron Brooks is the Rockets most important player. When he plays well, they can beat any team, when he doesn’t, they struggle.
20 (20) CLIPPERS 17-26
I am running out of superlatives to describe Blake Griffin and his up and coming L.A Clippers team. We already know about Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon, but I think the Clippers will improve immensely next season due to DeAndre Jordan and Al-Farouq Aminu. I think defensively, both the center and small forward has the potential to make the nba’s second defensive team in two seasons. Offensively, I think Aminu will emerge as the Clippers third option by next season.
21 (21) WARRIORS 19-24
Last season Monte Ellis said Kobe, himself and Lebron were the three best players in the league in that order. This season Ellis argued that the all-star game should have the league’s best players regardless of their team records, not just good players from playoff team. Well Mr. Ellis, if that were the case then Blake Griffin and Kevin Love would definitely make the team over you. Also, I think Ellis is an excellent player, but as impressive as his 25.7ppg may seem, I think it needs to be pointed out that he is leading the league with 20.7 shot attempts per game. Not to knock Monte Ellis, but I think he needs to understand the importance of team success before proclaiming himself as one of the league’s top three players, which he’s obviously not!
22 (24) BUCKS 16-25
After only playing in eight games this season, forward Carlos Delfino returned to give the Bucks some much needed help on offense, but as you would expect was extremely sluggish. He shot 2 for 12 from the field, which included 1 for 7 from 3s in the Bucks 94-81 loss against the Grizzlies. Delfino is an above average scorer so I expect to see him improve, because the Bucks could sure use some offensive punch considering they are the NBA’s worst scoring team at 91.2 points per game.
23 (23) PISTONS 16-28
After everything that Rip Hamilton did for the Pistons over the last decade you can’t fault him for wanting to play with Carmelo and his former back court partner Chauncey Billups in New Jersey, a trade that never materialized. Rip has had 7 straight DNPs during which time the Pistons have a 4-3 record and seem to be happy with Tracy McGrady starting at the point guard position for now. I think it’s only a matter of time before the Pistons trade Rip.
24 (25) WIZARDS 13-29
No pressure, just play ball, seems to be the theme in Washington D.C for this young Wizard team and their rookie point guard John Wall. This theme was on full display in Boston when Wall led his team back from a 16-point first-quarter deficit by hitting a bank 3-pointer that ended up being the eventual game winner in an 85-83 win against the Celtics. I think from here on out we will see the Wizards make settle improvements as the season progresses.
25 (17) PACERS 16-25
The Pacers are sporting a 5-game losing streak with their last four being all road losses. It doesn’t get better for them because their first game following their current road trip will be against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. Maybe the Pacer’s head coach Jim O’Brien need to rethink his decision to play small ball, or he can use the excuse that his team five game skid was due to a grueling road trip.
26 (28) NETS 12-32
Nothing is a quick fix in the NBA and if you make a mistake it could take five years or more to correct it, is what you are hearing out of New Jersey, which is why they decided to pull out of the Carmelo Anthony nightmarish trade. Good for them! I think they just need to draft well and develop the players that they do have. In terms of salary cap, they are still in a very good position with Brooklyn being only two years away.
27 (26) RAPTORS 13-31
The Raptors are going through one of those periods that a team goes through after losing a big star. The one good thing is, currently they are only 5 games out of the playoffs. The bad news is the Raptors are heading in a downward spiral very quickly.
28 (27) TIMBERWOLVES 10-33
I guess if we are to endorse Monte Ellis’s argument that the players with the best numbers should make the all-star team, then Kevin Love would be a definite candidate. Even though Kevin Love leads the league in rebounds with 15.6 per game, it will be very shocking to see him make it over the Blazers LaMarcus Aldridge.
29 (29) KINGS 9-32
The Sacrament Kings lost their last four games by 4, 2, 4 and 7 points respectively. They are simply not good enough to win the close ones and their star guard Tyreke Evans has regressed this season. After a breakout rookie campaign all his numbers are down across the board. Maybe the losing is wearing him down, but not too long ago he was the one bright spot in Sacramento and probably still is.
30 (30) CAVALIERS 8-35
The Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert came out with another proclamation, but this time he toned it down when he vowed that his team will definitely get better, a sentiment I shared and pointed out in last week’s ranking. I know the record says otherwise, but the Cavs will have everything in their court this summer. The Cavs will obviously have a high draft pick, tradable assets and some cash to spend, so I share Dan Gilbert vision.
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