RK (LW) TEAM REC
1 (1) SPURS 51-12
The Spurs had gone the entire season without having any of their starters miss a game, but that all changed when Parker went down with a strain calf against the Grizzlies. To everyone surprise, Parker who was expected to be out for about a month, returned three games later to help the Spurs annihilate the slumping Miami Heat 125-95 in San Antonio.
2 (2) CELTICS 46-15
When the Celtics first traded Kendrick Perkins, the consensus around the league was that the Celtics took a step backwards. Well, in their five games since the trade the Celts are 5-0 and their two new acquisitions Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic have combined to average 22.2ppg and 6.4rpg and offensively, the team is looking better than ever.
3 (4) MAVERICKS 45-17
Of all the contenders, the Mavs is the one team that no one is really talking about. Despite their recent 8-game winning streak, which was finally ended by the Griz in a 104-103 loss, this team is not really getting their due respect. My guess is regardless of how good they are and how much they’ve improved on defense nobody thinks they can beat the Spurs and Lakers.
4 (6) LAKERS 45-19
The Lakers are sporting a 7-game winning streak and the rest of the NBA is jumping back on their bandwagon and why not? The Lakers went into San Antonio, the team with the NBA’s best record and blew them out in their own gym. Their 99-83 win over the Spurs was not really indicative of how dominant the Lakers were, because they were up by more than 25 points for most of the game. This team is preparing to defend their title.
5 (5) BULLS 43-18
Derrick Rose has emerged as the undisputed leading candidate to win the NBA MVP Award. The race was considered a two-way race between Rose and Lebron, but after leading his team to two victories over the Heat in ten days, Rose is now the clear cut favorite.
6 (4) HEAT 43-20
The latest news out of Miami following their fourth straight loss was that there were a few players crying in the locker room after their loss to the Bulls. I am willing to bet, Mike Miller was definitely one of those players. The guy can’t hit a rock in an empty ocean right now and Lebron is simply not attacking the rim. During their four losses, Lebron attempted seven free throws or less in each of those games. Bosh is soft on the interior and that is not going to change any time soon so unless Lebron imposes his will by attacking the basket, his team will continue to struggle.
7 (7) MAGIC 40-23
The Magic probably had their most fulfilling win when they overcame a 24-point third quarter deficit to defeat the Heat 99-96 in Miami for their fourth straight win. Even though they won that game, one thing was evident and that is the Magic will live and die by the 3 point shot. As a team, they made 16 of 29 in that game led by Jason Richardson who made 6 of 8. I think in a 7-game series, the Magic will not survive against the Heat, Celtics or Lakers by simply shooting 3s.
8 (9) THUNDER 39-22
The Thunder alternated 3-game streaks by winning their last 3 games after losing their previous 3. In their defense, those losses came against the Spurs, Magic and Lakers respectively. It will be interesting to see how this team acclimates newly acquired center Kendrick Perkins, who is definitely a defensive stud, but is nowhere close to the offensive player that Jeff Green is, the player who the Thunder traded for Perkins.
9 (10) TRAIL BLAZERS 35-27
The Blazers have one of the best collections of guard/forward combo in the league, especially since acquiring Gerald Wallace from the Bobcats. They have a 3-forward rotation of Aldridge, Batum and now Wallace to go with their 3-guard rotation of Roy, Matthews and Miller. This should serve them well moving forward and create major matchup problems for their opponents.
10 (11) NUGGETS 37-27
The Nuggets in another one of those teams that is extremely deep at every position especially since trading Carmelo Anthony. They may not have that one go to player, but they can rotate another player at every position if the starter at that position is having a poor game, which is definitely a luxury to have.
11 (12) GRIZZLIES 35-29
The Grizzlies are determined to make the playoffs and have been able to hold on to the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference even without Rudy Gay, their leading scorer who has been out for eight games (Grizzlies 5-3 record during that stretch). It’s going to be a dog fight between this team and the Suns for that last playoff spot in the West.
12 (8) HAWKS 37-26
The Hawks are still adjusting to playing without point guard Mike Bibby who they traded to the Wizards for Kirk Hinrich. In the long run though, I think the Hawks will come out ahead because Hinrich is almost as good a shooter as Bibby but a far better defender. His defense was on display when he held Derrick Rose to 5 for 21 shooting to help the Hawks beat the Bulls 83-80 in Atlanta.
13 (14) HORNETS 37-28
The entire city of New Orleans was holding their breath after Chris Paul suffered a concussion when he collided with the Cavaliers Ramon Sessions in Cleveland on Sunday. Fortunately, the good news out of New Orleans is that CP3 is listed day-to-day. Obviously, the Hornets are a lottery team without him in the lineup.
14 (14) KNICKS 32-29
The Knicks Chauncey Billups has been out for three games because of a bruise thigh, but the Knicks have not missed a beat. In the team’s three games without Billups, the Knicks only loss came against the Cavaliers. Surprisingly though, the Knicks are 0-3 against the Cavaliers this season.
15 (13) 76ERS 32-30
The more I watch the Sixers the more I like what I see. Head coach Doug Collins has his team clicking on all cylinders especially on the defensive end. I expect this to continue and this team is definitely my sleeper team and I predict they could do some damage in the playoff.
16 (16) SUNS 32-29
The Suns are 6-4 over their last 10 games and are doing everything to make the playoff race interesting in the bottom of the Western Conference. I must point out that 3 of their wins were by 2 points or less, which could be a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it, because all three of those wins could have been losses, just ask the Heat.
17 (18) ROCKETS 32-32
The Rockets management must have been high on Kyle Lowry, which was one of the main reason the team decided to trade their starting point guard Aaron Brook and so far, Lowry has not disappointed. Over the Rockets last five games, Lowry averaged 18.2ppg and 6.5apg in 35.6 minutes per game to lead the team to a 4-1 record.
18 (17) JAZZ 33-30
I guess in an effort to create stability, the Jazz management signed new head coach Tyrone Corbin to a multi-year contract. Over the last month the team lost Jerry Sloan, their coach of 23 years who abruptly resigned and then traded Deron Williams, their all-star point guard, so it was only fitting that the struggling Jazz signed Corbin.
19 (19) PACERS 27-35
The excitement of their new head coach may be wearing out or maybe this team wasn’t really that good to begin with. Over their last 6 games, the Pacers have a 1-5 record with most of their losses coming against teams with .500 or better record. Luckily for them, the Bobcats were not able to gain any ground in the standings.
20 (20) WARRIORS 27-35
After starting the month of February with a 6-2 record, the Warriors have fallen into another funk recently. Over their last six games, the team has gone 1-5. In their defense, two of those losses came against the Celtics, the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference.
21 (21) BOBCATS 26-36
The Bobcats only win since trading Gerald Wallace came against the Sacramento Kings, which doesn’t really count for much considering the Kings have a 15-45 record. Since then, the Bobcats have gone on to lose 4 straight and are lucky to be only one game behind the Pacers for the eighth and final playoffs spot in the East.
22 (24) CLIPPERS 23-40
The Clippers were elated to have their leading scorer Ben Gordon back. The team posted a 4-14 record without Gordon in the lineup. Unfortunately, their excitement was short- lived because Gordon reinjured his wrist after only two games back.
23(22) BUCKS 23-38
The Bucks may not be completely out of the playoff race as I reported a few weeks ago. They are currently only 3.5 games out of the eighth spot even though they are 16 games below the .500 mark. Only in the Eastern Conference is such as thing possible.
24 (23) PISTONS 23-41
Detroit head coach John Kuester has a new player in his dog house and his name is Tracy McGrady. For almost a month, Rip Hamilton was in Kuester’s dog house, now the coach has turn his dislike to Tracy McGrady. I expect Kuester to keep his job through the end of the season, but he will be relieved of his duties by season’s end, I am sure of it.
25 (25) NETS 19-43
The Nets enjoyed their mini vacation in London by posting back-to-back wins over the Raptors including a 137-136 triple overtime thriller in the second game. I am not going to proclaim that the Nets are back, but I will say Brook Lopez has benefited greatly since the arrival of all-star point guard Deron Williams. Over his last 5 games, Lopez averaged 24.2ppg and 8.2rpg.
26 (26) RAPTORS 17-46
The Raptors were on the shorter end of the stick with back-to-back losses to the Nets in London. The one thing I took from that game is that Andre Bargnani lives and dies by the jump shot. He has absolutely no interest in attacking the rim. You could see that his teammates were not excited about his lack of aggressiveness down the stretch and in overtime.
27 (27) WIZARDS 16-46
In exactly two years Nick Young and John Wall will form the best backcourt in the entire NBA. Nick is already an excellent shooter while Wall is as quick as they come. As they improve and develop together, the Wizards could become a scary team very quickly.
28 (29) KINGS 15-45
The only way the Kings stay in Sacramento is if negotiations between the Maloofs and Anaheim fails, at least that’s according to Sacramento’s mayor and former NBA all-star Kevin Johnson. Well, that is all hopeful thinking because the Kings are Anaheim-bound.
29 (28) TIMBERWOLVES 15-49
Kevin Love posted his 50th straight double-double, tying hall-of-famer Moses Malone for the most consecutive double-double since the NBA/ABA merger. The funny thing is I don’t see his streak ending anytime soon. I think he is on his way to breaking the all time record in NBA history, which stands at 58 games.
30 (30) CAVALIERS 12-50
The Cavaliers are 3-0 against the New York Knicks and 9-50 against the rest of the league. It may be early but Baron Davis seems to be fitting in well and putting behind the notion that he would have a problem coexisting with his former head coach and Cavs current coach Byron Scott. Then again how could they not get along on a team with a 12-50 record?
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