1. Miami Heat (PR=1, 23-7)…I said this week would be an interesting test, as they played 2 good teams (Atlanta and Indy) and a team responsible for 2 of their 7 losses this year (Milwaukee). How does becoming the 1st team in 3+ decades to win 3 straight road games by 15 or more sound? They’ve won 7 of 8 overall since these rankings began, and they look to be on a mission as of right now.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (PR=2, 22-7)…Only went 2-2 this week, and they seem to be in the process of figuring out how to play with a target on their backs every night. Still, they are helped by Chicago not making a move this week either. Doesn’t it just seem like they are on a collision course with Miami in the Finals this year?
3. Chicago Bulls (PR=3, 24-7)…You could make an argument for them at least leapfrogging OKC in the rankings. They went 2-1 this week, and finished a 9 game road trip at a very respectable 6-3, most of which they didn’t have the services of D-Rose…but that’s just the problem. It’s hard to rip them for being deep and resilient enough to chug along without their reigning MVP, but this team isn’t going anywhere long-term as long as Rose continues to be on the shelf.
4. San Antonio Spurs (PR=4, 21-9)…They might be doing it with smoke and mirrors, but hard to drop a team that has won 9 in a row overall and their 1st 5 games on a 9 game road trip. Tony Parker has been playing great and (along with LeBron) carrying my fantasy team, but we’ll find out more about the Spurs leading up to the All-Star break as they finish their road trip at the Clippers, Jazz, Blazers, and Nuggets.
5. LA Clippers (PR=5, 18-9)…How boring can I be? No movement at all among my top 5, but they went 3-1 this week to finish 4-2 on their road trip along the way. Losing Chauncey for the year was tough, but K-Mart (and possible J.R. Smith later on) should help shoulder that burden. The Clips look to be here for the long haul.
Oui, oui!
26. Washington Wizards (PR=28, 7-23)…Went a surprising 2-2 this week and have won 3 of 6 overall. In light of that coupled with a win over Detroit, I had a notion to move them ahead of the Pistons and out of the bottom 5, but that seemed a little premature. That was probably the right move, as Nick Young and Jordan Crawford followed a stellar combined 21 for 33 shooting night in Portland by shooting 10 for 33 the following night in LA.
27. Toronto Raptors (PR=27, 9-22)…I wanted to drop Toronto further down the list, but there are some truly bad basketball teams below them right now. However, even though the Raptors went 1-3 since last week’s rankings and are 2-8 in their last 10, they followed a win against Boston with back-to-back heartbreakers delivered by Kobe and Linsanity. I guess they get a pass for now.
28. New Orleans Hornets (PR=29, 6-23)…Hold everything, the Hornets won 2 in a row! We’ve had a Chris Kaman sighting, as Kaman averaged 22.5 ppg during those 2 games…just in time for nice road trip with stops in NY, OKC, Indy, and Chicago.
29. New Jersey Nets (PR=26, 8-22)…The Nets are definitely trending downwards. They have gone from not even being in the bottom 5 in week #1 of the power rankings to 26th in week 2 to 29th this week. They extended their losing streak to 7 and have lost 9 of 10. A new arena in Brooklyn and a Russian billionaire owner with access to G-5’s are nice, but it’s going to be hard to attract any big-time free agents to a team that stinks this bad.
30. Charlotte Bobcats (PR=30, 3-26)...They haven’t won a game since these weekly power rankings began. Need I say more? I’m not even going to mention the 16 game losing streak…oops, I just did. How do those Tyson Chandler and Gerald Wallace trades look now?
Rising: New York (have gone from a laughing stock to being in the playoff mix with 7 W’s in a row), Orlando (winners of 3 straight, but this team’s Jekyll and Hyde act is wearing thin), and Dallas (the champs might be hitting their stride)
Falling: Indiana (after getting a lot of love as one of the East’s up-and-coming teams, have lost 5 straight)
No comments:
Post a Comment