1. Miami Heat (36-14, previous ranking = 4)…We’ve spent much of the 1st half of the year thinking that the Heat are probably the favorites to win it all, but that they also may have been suffering from a slight championship hangover. Well, in the last couple of weeks they have gone from just turning it on when they wanted to being blisteringly hot (7 straight W’s). LeBron has been historically efficient over that span of time, but let’s not overlook Wade and Bosh, who have both shot way over 50% from the field during this stretch as well.
The King has been scary-good the past few weeks.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (39-14, previous ranking = 3)…Count me as 1 of the people that doesn’t think James Harden’s departure hurt them that much, and last night’s home loss to Miami may have been somewhat of an aberration, but it just plain seems like the Thunder aren’t quite as good as the Heat again this year. And even with the 2nd best player in the world and the best team in the West, that’s probably going to still only be good enough for 2nd place in June.
3. San Antonio Spurs (42-12, previous ranking = unranked)…Even though San Antonio is more often than not close to the top of these rankings, I hardly ever have any superlatives to write about them. And I feel bad about that actually, I really do. But they are so boringly good (if that’s possible) that they aren’t much fun to write about. They have the league’s best record. They sometimes sit their big 3 all at once and have a starting 5 of Kawhi Leonard, Boris Diaw, Tiago Splitter, Nando de Colo, and Danny Green, and they still beat good teams like the Bulls on the road with relative ease. So, there you go, Spurs. Don’t say I never said anything nice about you.
4. LA Clippers (39-17, previous ranking = 1)…The Clippers have had their great depth tested with CP3 and Griffin nursing injuries lately, but their returns as well as Chauncey Billups’ ability to play himself back into shape make this a scary roster. I’m still not sure if they can beat the Spurs or Thunder in a 7 game series. If you play smart, disciplined, and together, you can make them look pretty ho-hum. If you don’t do those things and they start to smell blood (like they did last night against the increasingly feeble looking Lakers), they can make you look really, really, really bad.
5. (Tie) New York Knicks (32-18, previous ranking = 2)…They have cooled slightly since their torrid start. That’s partly been due to injuries and partly because you can’t shoot 70% (not really, but it seemed like it) from the 3-point line forever. If Felton can stay healthy, they still match up well with Miami though, which at least gives them a (albeit slight) chance in the East.
The Knicks' money may be tied up in their frontcourt, but their fate may lie in the hands of the littlest guy on the floor.
5. (Tie) Memphis Grizzlies (33-18, previous ranking = 5)…Still very good. Still have Gasol and Randolph inside. Still play that grindhouse style of D. Still a team that nobody will want to play a 7 game series with this spring. But realistically, I’m not sure how big of a threat they are to OKC, Lob City, and San Antonio with all of their recent budget cuts. Since the end of last year, they have seen their instant-offense off-the-bench guy leave (Mayo), traded away 2 valuable role players for basically just cap relief in return (Ellington and Speights), and gotten rid of their only real wing athlete (Gay). Sad, but not sure what other options a small market team facing a huge luxury tax hit has.
No comments:
Post a Comment