NBA WIZARD 2013-2014 POWER RANKING: WEEK 3

RK LAST WK

1 (1) INDIANA  9-1
The Pacers are still number one, because they have the best defense in the league led by Roy Hibbert, the leading candidate for the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award.  If you have to nitpick one thing, it would be the Pacers 95.7ppg season average, which ranks at 21st overall in the league.

2 (2) SAN ANTONIO  9-1
Year in and year out the Spurs always seems to be at the top of the Western Conference, so the fact that they are tied for the best record after ten games doesn't surprise me one bit.  The good news is Spurs defense are allowing their opponents only 89.3ppg, which is the second best in the league.  The bad news is Tim Duncan's age may finally be catching up with him.  Timmy is averaging career lows in points, rebounds and field goal percentage with 12ppg, 7.1rpg and .394 respectively.

3 (4) MIAMI  7-3
After two subpar weeks, the Heat finally played with some consistency led by Lebron James, who averaged 34ppg on .7017 percent shooting from the field.  After a 3-and-0 week, it's fair to say that Lebron is once again the leading candidate for the NBA's MVP award.  The bad news out of Miami though, has to be the health of D-Wade, who averaged only 9.6ppg on .4285 percent shooting last week.

4 (11) PORTLAND  8-2
The Portland Trail Blazers are definitely the surprise team of the NBA early on this season.  The Blazers are one of the hottest team in the league and are currently sporting a 6-game winning streak.  LaMarcus Aldridge prediction that his team will make the playoffs, seems to be intact, because if the season ended today, the Blazers would be the second seeded team in the Western Conference.

5 (6) LA CLIPPERS  7-3
After of sluggish 3-3 start, the Clippers have been on a nice little roll, winning their last four games.  During the streak, Blake Griffin has led the way with 24.75ppg and 10.3rpg and seems to be clearly benefiting from the tutelage of new head coach Doc Rivers.  As I mention before, the Clippers will go as far as Griffin can take them.

6 (8) GOLDEN STATE  7-3
The Warriors are sporting a 3-game winning streak thanks to wins over the underachieving Pistons and the Jazz, the NBA's worst team.  So basically, the winning streak is somewhat tainted however, a 116-115 win over the Thunder give the win streak some credence. Newcomer Andre Iguodala stole the show by hitting a game winning 20-footer as the buzzer expired against the Thunder.  The shot was the fourth game winner of Iguodala's career.

7 (3) OKLAHOMA CITY  6-3
The Thunder came into last week riding a 4-game winning streak, but were brought down to earth with back-to-back losses on the road against the Clippers and GSW.  A win against the lottery bound Milwaukee Bucks helped them get back on track to finish the week with a 1-2 record.

8 (13) CHICAGO  5-3
After starting the season 1-and-3, the Bulls have quietly gone on a 4-game winning streak.  The Bulls extended the streak by handing the Pacers their first lost in a very impressive 110-94 win in Chicago. The bad news out of Chicago had to do with Rose hamstring injury, but fortunately for the Bulls, Derrick was only out for one game.

9 (7) HOUSTON  7-4
The Rockets are at the end of both spectrum as far as points goes, in terms of scoring and points allowed.  They are the second highest scoring team in the league at 108.8ppg, but they are 29th in points allowed, giving up 106.3ppg to their opponents.  The good news is as a team, they lead the league in rebounds with 47.5 a game, but if this team expects to pose a serious challenge in the Western Conference, they must improve defensively.

10 (5) MINNESOTA  7-4
The Timberwolves are obviously led by Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, but there's a new kid on the block and his name is Kevin Martin.  After a short stint with the Thunder last season, where he was pretty much a none factor, Martin has emerged as a major factor with the Wolves this season.  He is the team's second leading scorer with a very impressive 24.4ppg.

11 (9) DALLAS  6-4
Monte Ellis is sure glad to be out of Milwaukee and the Dallas Mavericks are ecstatic to have him on board. Ellis is leading the Mavs in scoring with 22.1ppg and is a major reason why his team is in playoff contention.

12 (12) MEMPHIS  5-5
The Grizzlies are led by point  guard Mike Conley, but this team will go as far as Z-Bo takes them. Last week for instance, the Grizzlies lost their first two games with Z-Bo averaging 11ppg and won their last two with him averaging 25ppg.  For the Grizz to really make a playoff push, the team will need him to average 20-and-11, as in points and rebounds.

13 (15) ATLANTA  6-4
As a team, the Hawks assists totals have dipped a bit, but they are still the league's top assist team with 26.3 a game.  Leading the way is point Jeff Teague who is averaging 19.4ppg, a team high 9apg and looks to be on his way to his first all star appearance.

14 (10) PHOENIX  5-4
The Suns had a light week playing two games and though they lost both, it was by a combined total of only three points, including a 90-89 nail biter against red hot Trail Blazers in Portland.  My early season prediction was that the Suns would miss the playoffs and though I still don't see them making it, it's clear that this team will be competitive under new head coach Jeff Hornacek.

15 (28) DENVER  4-5
For a minute there I was worried about new head coach Brian Shaw as the Nuggets got off to a 1-4 start, but then they went on to win three straight before losing to the Rockets in Houston to finish the week with a 3-1 record.  From here on out I think the Nuggets will be competitive, but I must admit I'm not as high on the Nuggets as I was when the season started.  This team must improve defensively if they expect to be competitive, but with starting center Javale McGee out indefinitely, I simply don't see this happening without a trade.

16 (20) LA LAKERS  5-7
The good new out of L.A is that Kobe Bryant has been cleared by doctors, so I expect him to be back with the team before Christmas.  The bad news is even if and when Kobe return, the Lakers will not make the playoffs with Paul Gasol averaging 13ppg on less than 40 percent shooting from the field.

17 (19) CHARLOTTE  5-5
Wins over sub .500 teams like the Cavs and Celtics and losses to playoff teams like the Bulls and Hawks, is a clear indication of where the Bobcats are at early on this season and that is at the top of the bottom half of the league.  If the season ended today, the Bobcats would be in the playoffs, but there's still 72 more games to go, with the Knicks, and Nets lurking.  I still have them missing the playoff and their only chance of making it would be if Al Jefferson, the team's $14 million a year investment turns into a 20-and-10 player.  So far, he's only played in 3 of the team's 10 games this season due to nagging injuries.

18 (14) PHILADELPHIA  5-6
The Sixers are the worst defensive team in the league, which is probably why many pundits had them ranked at as the worst team entering the season.  Overall they are not the worst team obviously, but unless their defense improve, they will definitely be lottery bound. After a very impressive 3-and-0 start, the Sixers have lost six of their last eight games.

19 (21) BROOKLYN  3-6
The Nets are the perfect example of just how disappointing the Eastern Conference is right now. Entering the season, the Eastern Conference was considered to be better than the West and the new and improved Brooklyn Nets was one of the main reasons for this claim.  So far, this team has been a complete disappointment! I mean, how else do you explain a 107-86 loss to the Sacramento Kings. It's still early and I still expect this team to make the playoffs, but something needs to change in a hurry.

20 (16) NEW ORLEANS  4-6
After starting the season with losses against the Lakers and the Jazz, the NBA's worst team, the Pelicans ended the week with an impressive 135-98 win against the slumping Sixers.  Power forward Ryan Anderson who had been out all season with a toe injury, returned and provided some much needed scoring off the bench with 26 points in 27 minutes.  Now that Anderson is back, his outside shooting should help open up the middle for Anthony Davis.

21 (26) NEW YORK  3-6
Things have been so bad in New York, that Knicks owner Dolan had to come out a guarantee a win against the Hawks.  The Knicks did win that game, but followed it up with two straight losses.  Melo has been taking a lot of heat for shooting too much; 25.4ppg on 21.9 shot attempts, but if he wasn't shooting, who would? The Knicks have only 3 other players averaging double figures, so Melo has no choice.  The Knicks are rumored to be trying to move Iman Shumpert to Denver for the Nuggets super energetic power forward Kenneth Faried.  If I were the Knicks, I would make that trade in heartbeat if Faried is really available.

22 (23) ORLANDO  4-6
And so it begins, the Victor Oladipo era in Orlando.  The Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn opted to go with Oladipo over starting point guard Jameer Nelson, for the last 17-minutes of the Magic-Mavericks game.  The Magic eventually lost the game 108-100, but this could be the beginning of the Oladipo and the end of the Nelson era in Orlando.

23 (17) CLEVELAND  4-7
The Cavs have been a model of inconsistency this season, but in all fairness, you can't beat this team up for losing on the road to Minnesota and Chicago last week.  Kyrie Irving has been on a tear recently, averaging 26.8ppg over his last 5 games, but the kid needs help.  Andrew Bynum has played in only seven games this season and looks like his healthy days are far behind him and Anthony Bennett, the number one overall pick in the draft this summer is averaging a pathetic 1.4ppg in 11.7 minutes per game.  I know it's still very early, but as of now he's beating out Kwame Brown as the worst number one pick in the NBA's history.  Unfortunately these are the kind of help that Irving has to rely on.

24 (18) BOSTON  4-7
Danny Ainge emphatically denied that he's shopping Rondo, but if you know Ainge, you know he's trying to make moves to put the Celtics in position to hopefully land one of the top three picks in next year's draft.  The Celtics are not going to make the playoffs, so trading Rondo will ensure more draft picks in addition to having one of their own, due to having a terrible record.

25 (22) TORONTO  4-7
The Raptors are the worst passing team in the league.  The entire team is collectively averaging a depressing16.5 assist per game.  Hanging on to Rudy Gay; who is averaging a team leading 20.6ppg, should keep in Raptors in the playoff chase, but I doubt this team wants to make the playoff.  Their hopes are on drafting one of the top picks in next year's draft, which is why I fully expect Gay to be moved before the trading deadline.

BOTTOM FEEDERS

26 (24) DETROIT  3-6
Along with the Brooklyn Nets and the Washington Wizards, this team has to be one of the most disappointing early on this season.  Signing Brandon Jennings might have been a mistake that could end up costing the Pistons dearly for years to come.  Jennings is averaging 18.3ppg on 17.6 shot attempts with a terrible .382 shooting percentage.  The Pistons needs to develop their bigs, Drummond and Monroe, so a more prototypical point guard would have been a better fit for this group.

27 (27) WASHINGTON  2-7
Wrapping up the top three most disappointing teams of the early season is the Washington Wizards.  I predicted that this team would make the playoffs, but so far they have been a total disappointment.  John Wall continues to disappoint me.  He was averaging 20.3ppg on 44 percent shooting in his first 4 games of the season, but over the last five has averaged 12.8ppg on .290 percent shooting.  I understand he has an ailing back, but 16.1ppg on .365 percent shooting for the season is just atrocious.  The Wizards have absolutely no chance of making the playoffs if Wall continues playing horrible.

28 (29) SACRAMENTO
DeMarcus Cousins continues to lead his team in every statistical category except for assist, but outside of that the Kings only aspiration this season is to develop their young players and obviously tank the season in hopes of drafting a savior next summer.

29 (25) MILWAUKEE
Nothing new to report out of Milwaukee except the obvious, this team is lottery bound.  The Bucks had the hardest schedule last week with match ups against the Heat, Magic, Pacers and Thunder, which obviously led to an 0-and-4 week.

30 (30) UTAH
The Jazz finally ended their 8-game losing streak by beating the Pelicans 111-105, for their first win of the season.  If you are a Jazz fan, just forget about this season, but be very optimistic because next season compared to this one, could be like night and day.  If the Jazz land a top three pick in next year's draft, Jerry Sloan comes back and their bigs continue to improve, this team could be a playoff team by next season.