RK LAST WK
1 (1) HEAT 27-7
The Miami Heat were on a tear going into the all-star break, winning eight straight by 12 or more points in each game. Wade has played well as of late, but Lebron was clearly the MVP of the first half of the season.
2 (2) THUNDERS 27-7
I expect Lebron to win the MVP Award this year, but Kevin Durant will definitely be his biggest challenger, just like he was during the all-star game. Durant's 36-point performance looked effortless on 14 of 25 shooting. His teammate Russell Westbrook is now being called "little big man," because of how he attacks the rim with reckless abandonment. Westbrook is perhaps the most ferocious dunker under 6"4'and when you add that to Durant's silky smooth shooting, it's easy to see why most people expects the Thunder to represent the West in the NBA Finals.
3 (3) BULLS 27-8
Even with Derrick Rose and Luol Deng missing ten and seven games respectively, the Bulls are only .5 games behind the Heat for the best record in the league. I'm really curious to see how Rose' back will hold up in the second half of the season, but for now, he's riding on "cloud 9" thanks to his 13-year $185 million deal with Addidas.
4 (4) SPURS 24-10
Matchup is everything in basketball and the Spurs is the one team that can beat both the Thunder and the Heat. Fortunately for those teams, they may not have to face the Spurs. In my opinion, the Spurs are the most dangerous team in the Western Conference and once Ginobili gets back, they could be a handful for anyone.
5 (11) PACERS 21-12
The Pacers are riding on 4-game winning steak and are looking to continue their winning ways after the all-star break. After coming so close to winning the Slam Dunk Contest, I expect Paul George to have a huge second half of the season. I also expect the Pacers to re-visit their failed trade with the Hornets for Chris Kaman before the deadline.
6 (5) CLIPPERS 20-11
I expect the Clippers to finish with one of the top four seeds in the Western Conference and I expect CP3 to be the driving force behind it all. CP3 averaged 19.2ppg and 8.6apg in the first half of the season, those numbers will definitely increase in the second half, which is why I expect Paul to join Lebron and Durant in the MVP race.
7 (6) MAGIC 22-13
If this was his last all-star game in an Orlando uniform, Dwight Howard sure did not give the fans anything to remember. Maybe he was exhausted from hosting the all-star in Orlando, but Howard played very lackadaisical. With only 2 weeks left before the deadline, you can expect trade rumors to be very rampant out of Orlando. Is he going, is he staying? Those two questions will rule the day. Personally, it would shocked me if Howard was in an Orlando Magic uniform on March 16th.
8 (7) DALLAS 21-13
The Mavericks have the fourth best defense in the league, holding their opponents to only 90.8ppg. Defensively, they are better across the board than last season, which is very surprising even after losing Tyson Chandler. Despite having adjusted to losing Chandler - their defensive anchor from last season - I think the playoff is when he will truly be missed.
9 (10) ROCKETS 20-14
I'm expecting the Rockets to trade Kevin Martin by the deadline and I would be very surprised if he's still in Houston after the deadline. I think the Rockets really want to add a scoring big man, so I expect the team to be very active over the next few weeks.
10 (9) LAKERS 20-14
Despite the rumors that surfaced over the all-star break, the Lakers will not trade Bynum and Gasol to Orlando for Dwight, Jameer Nelson and Hedo. Now if the Magic were to throw in Ryan Anderson instead of Hedo, the Lakers might pull the trigger, because they would have every position covered with the only hole at small forward, a position currently played by Ron Artest.
11 (8) MEMPHIS 19-15
The Grizzlies are currently the seventh seed in the Western Conference and if they can hold on for a few more weeks, Z-Bo could be returning to help ensure his team a playoff berth. The good news is seven of their next ten games are against opponents with sub .500 record.
12 (14) HAWKS 20-14
Joe Johnson did not play in the all-star game due to left knee tendinitis and rather than have his teammate Josh Smith replace him, the league opted for the Celtic's Rondo. If Josh Smith is not traded, I expect for him to use his all-star snubbing as a motivation in the second half of the season.
13 (13) KNICKS 17-18
Lin-sanity got a rude awaken against the Heat. For the first time in his 10-game rise to fame, he was matched up against a real stifling defense. Lin shot 1-of-11 for only 8 points to go with his 8 Turnovers. I think that game was a blessing in disguise, because it made people realize that even though Lin may have a promising future, the Knicks will only go as far as Carmelo and Amare will take them.
14 (15) TRAIL BLAZERS 18-16
Jamal Crawford was inserted into the starting lineup and hopefully that will make a difference, at least that's what coach Nate McMillan is hoping. The Blazers are barely holding on the the eighth seed and if they don't make the playoff, McMillan will more than likely lose his job.
15 (12) 76ERS 20-14
The Sixers went through a rough patch leading into the all-star break, losing five straight, with four of those games being on the road. Overall, I think the team's 20-14 record is exactly where I expected they would be. Unless this team adds a post scorer, they stand no chance against the Bulls and definitely not the Heat.
16 (16) TIMBERWOLVES 17-17
Fresh of winning the the 3-point competition during the all-star break, Kevin Love believes his team has good chance of making the playoffs, or "P" as he called it and I agree with him. Currently, the Wolves are only a 1/2 game behind the Blazers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
17 (18) NUGGETS 18-17
The Nuggets were already without Nene and Gallinari before losing Ty Lawson for the last two games leading into the all-star break. The good news is Lawson (knee) is listed as day-to-day. The injury bug has really plagued the Nuggets as of late and the recent play of Nuggets' center Timofey Mozgov hasn't help the Nuggets cause either. After a very promising start to the season, Mozgov play has been miserable as of late.
18 (17) CELTICS 15-17
Only in the Eastern Conference can a team with a 5-game losing streak still have a playoff seed and that is exactly the case of the Celtics. I doubt if Celtics' general manager Danny Ainge will make a move before the deadline, because at the very worst, he believes the Celtics will at least make the playoffs. Once there, anything can happen. After this season, the Celtics will have around $30 million coming off the books, that is when I expect Ainge to start his rebuilding process.
19 (24) WARRIORS 13-17
The Warriors are 4-9 this season in games decided by 3-points with 30 seconds remaining. If you are a Warrior fan, the future looks very bright, but I think unless the Warriors add Chris Kaman - the only available center with low-post scoring potential - they may fall short of making the playoff. To make this happen, the Warriors will have to trade Klay Thompson, Kwame Brown and a protected draft pick. Currently, the team is 3 games behind the struggling Trail Blazers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
20 (22) CAVALIERS 13-18
The Cavs are only 1.5 games behind the struggling Celtics for the last playoff spot in the East, but I really don't see them overtaking the Celtics for that spot. Kyrie Irving was definitely the ROY during the first half of the season and I expect him to continue his excellent play in the second half.
21 (19) JAZZ 15-17
There's not too much to be excited about these days in Utah, but Jeremy Evans sure changed that during the slam dunk contest. Evans first dunk was embarrassingly simply, but he ended up winning the contest because he dunked two ball almost simultaneously after flying over his teammate, who had passed him both balls while sitting in a chair.
22 (20) SUNS 14-20
Word out of Orlando is that the Magic plan on making one last push to appease Howard in an attempt to keep him, by trading for the Suns Steve Nash. A part of me want to see Nash play for a contender, but I really don't think Orlando is the answer for him, because I don't expect Dwight to return to the Magic next season.
23 (21) BUCKS 13-20
Word out of Milwaukee is that starting center Andrew Bogut ankle will not required surgery, but he is still expected to be out for 8-to-12 weeks, which means he will not be returning this season. It wouldn't surprise me the see the Bucks make a trade before the deadline and Brandon Jennings could be the guy, because he is their best trade chip.
24 (27) KINGS 11-22
For the first time in over a year, it appears that the Kings might be staying in Sacramento. Mayor Johnson and the Maloofs brothers worked feverishly over the weekend to get a new arena deal done and are expected to reconvene today. Signs are looking promising though nothing is imminent as of yet.
25 (23) PISTONS 11-24
After winning 7 of their previous 9 games, the Pistons stumble into the all-star breaking with two straight losses. The Pistons should have a better second half, but it's obvious this team is not going to make the playoffs.
BOTTOM FEEDERS
26 (27) RAPTORS 10-23
Trade rumors are rampant and are expected to go into high gear over the next two weeks, but I can tell you one thing, the Raptors are not going to gift Jose Calderon to the Magic or anyone for that matter. They are relegated to the fact that they are not going to make the playoffs this year and will probably end up with a high draft pick, so there is absolutely no reason for them to trade Calderon.
27 (29) NETS 10-25
Brooklyn is Dwight Howard's preferred destination and the Nets Billy King is probably the most active general manager right now. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Nets involve two other team, in order to trade for Dwight Howard. If I were a betting man, my money would be on Howard going to New Jersey.
28 (25) HORNETS 8-25
Over the last two weeks, the Hornets are looking much better than the team we saw for most of the season and with Gordon out, Kaman has become their first option on offense. Ironically, just a few weeks ago Kaman was kept off the team while management tried trading him. Despite the recent turn of events, I expect Kaman to be traded by the deadline, or have his contract bought out shortly after.
29 (28) WIZARDS 7-26
After starting their road trip with two straight impressive wins, the Wizards went on to lose their next four games, including three straight on the road. I know the Wizards are not that good, but a 7-26 first half record was very disappointing to say the least.
30 (30) BOBCATS 4-28
Bobcats president Rod Higgins declared that the team will not make any panic moves before the trade deadline and why should he? The Bobcats are not going to make the playoffs, so in my opinion, it's better if they just play out the season and hope they get lucky and draft and franchise changer like Kentucky's Anthony Davis.
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