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NBA Power Rankings
By: Raymond Williams
1.
 Boston
Celtics (51-12)
First team to clinch a playoff spot and did so with over 20 games
left in the season. The Celtics are setting the pace and should come
out of the East come playoff time.
2.
 Los
Angeles Lakers (45-19)
Top team in the toughest Western Conference in recent memory.
Still not completely healthy and the scary thing is they could actually
improve when he returns. Tough road trip coming up but a familiar
feeling is in the air in LA. Another title could very easily be on the
way.
3.
 Houston
Rockets (44-20)
Over the past 2 seasons in the big stretches without Yao the
rockets are winning at a rate close to 70%. Extended their win streak
to a league high 20 games for the season and should add 1 more to that
total before things get much tougher with the Lakers, Celtics, and
Hornets coming up.
4.
 San
Antonio Spurs (44-20)
Battled through injuries all year but down the stretch the spurs
are right there in contention again. Could face a blow if the league
decides to suspend Bowen during their review of yet another Bruce Bowen
kicking incident.
5.
 New Orleans
Hornets (43-20)
Big win over SA recently and Chris Paul has been absolutely amazing
this year. Best road record in the Western Conference but need to
protect the home court as the Lakers, Rockets, and Celtics are coming to
town.
6.
 Utah
Jazz (43-23)
That road record is cause for concern since it looks like Utah
will not have home court advantage in any round of the playoffs this
year. Put together a nice stretch of impressive wins.
7.
 Detroit
Pistons (46-18)
The 2nd team to clinch a playoff spot. The pistons
are just 7-5 since the All star break and need to avoid getting to
comfortable again heading into the playoffs where they don’t feel like
they’ve lived up to their talent level the last few years.
8.
 Phoenix
Suns (43-22)
After a slow start post Shaq trade, the suns showed why they
traded for the big man with an impressive win over the Spurs. Shaq
helps their half court game tremendously and could be the difference in
a series with the spurs that the suns would play in the first round if
the playoffs started now.
9.
 Dallas
Mavericks (42-23)
Started the month out by losing to all 3 Western conference
playoff teams but have rebounded by picking on the East the last few
games. The Mavericks at 42-23 have fallen all the way down to 7th
place in the West and with a 14-19 road record if they don’t want
another first round exit something needs to change.
10.
 Orlando
Magic (42-24)
The Magic have an easy schedule to end the year which should help
them add wins to their record but could hurt them in preparing for the
playoffs. Magic are a very young team with little playoff experience
and are struggling to find a floor general, but with the most dominating
big man in the Conference the magic can’t be counted out.
11.
 Golden
State Warriors (40-24)
On pace for 51 wins but are still trying to fend off the nuggets for
the 8th seed. The warriors have continued to make strides
since their huge playoff upset last year but their just might be too
much talent in the West for the warriors to have a chance.
12.
 Cleveland
Cavaliers (37-29)
Different teammates same old story. It’s the LeBron James show
and his supporting cast goes in and out. With big Z still on the shelf
the Cavs started 2 offensive liabilities in Ben Wallace and Anderson
Varejao. This team needs to get healthy before the playoffs, but with
King James and how well the Cavs have competed with both Boston and the
Pistons no team wants to see the Cavs in the playoffs.
13.
 Denver
Nuggets (28-26)
The Nuggets have played .500 ball over the last 10 and are a
couple games out of the final playoff spot. Meanwhile if they were in
the East they’d have home court advantage in the first round. Good team
in a great conference.
14.
 Philadelphia
76ers (31-34)
Moving up the ranks in the East, 76er fans should be glad the
team decided to keep Andre Miller and Samuel Dalembert has been cleaning
up the glass.
15.
 Portland
Trailblazers (34-32)
The blazers have cooled down since their impressive win streak
earlier this season but look like a team built for the future with
another lottery pick coming up and their #1 pick from this year starting
to practice again and ready to make an impact.
16.
 Washington
Wizards (32-32)
Caron Butler has finally returned to the line up while the
Wizards have won 7 of their last 10. Gilbert arenas missing time has
allowed Butler to continue developing and it will be interesting how the
wizards gel if Arenas does ever return from injury this year.
17.
 Toronto
Raptors (34-30)
The Raptors are still holding on to 5th place in
the East but after a couple losses they are in a bad stretch with a West
road trip coming up and Chris Bosh unlikely to play.
18.
 Atlanta
Hawks (26-36)
The Hawks are only .5 games out of the final playoff spot in the
East and have a favorable schedule to end the season. Just wish they
didn’t have to play on the road.
19.
 Sacramento
Kings (29-35)
Impressive win over the Lakers recently but need to put together
some win streaks. Kings are playing for pride and embracing their
spoiler role as that is all that’s left for them this year.
20.
 Chicago
Bulls (26-38)
The Bulls have really taken a step back this year and you have
got to wonder why they were hesitant to pull the trigger on that off
season Kobe trade. The Bulls are giving up 6 more points a game on
defense this year than last year, but playing in the East if they get it
together to end the season they have a chance of maybe even winning a
series.
21.
 Indiana
Pacers (25-39)
The Pacers used to be penciled in for 60 wins a season and that
team has to want to make some kind of change in the off season. The
development of Danny Granger is a plus but everything else has gone
wrong.
22.
 New
Jersey Nets (27-38)
The Nets lost 6 in a row before finally winning a game to hold
onto the 8th seed in the East even though they are 11 games
under .500. With the 8 seed most likely going to be swept by the
Celtics in the first round, it makes you wonder if the Nets would rather
try their luck in the lottery as the Nets will have 2 first round picks
this year.
23.
 Los
Angeles Clippers (21-42)
Elton Brand should be returning this month or next. You have to
wonder if that is FA audition or if not, why he’d want to come back now.
24.
 Charlotte
Bobcats (24-40)
Above .500 at home is a good sign for a team this young. Gerald
Wallace made a good call asking to return to the small forward spot
after suffering multiple concussions playing against bigger players.
Bobcats are back in the lottery this year and hopefully they will draft
better this year.
25.
 Milwaukee
Bucks (23-42)
Losers of 4 in a row, the Bucks are surprisingly still in the
playoff race and any kind of run could push them over the top.
26.
 New
York Knicks (19-46)
The Knicks leadership is in shambles and might lose starting
Center Eddy Curry for the rest of the year. This might actually force
Isiah Thomas to play David Lee more like benching Marbury allowed him to
play Nate Robinson (who recently exploded for 45) more. The Knicks need
somebody to make a group of guys into a team and should probably unload
the cancers they’ve picked up over the years like Curry, Randolph, and
Marbury.
27.
 Minnesota
Timberwolves (14-49)
The Wolves recently won a couple in the first year of their
rebuilding process. Weak GM decisions have made this team that was in
the WCF only a few years ago back into a joke.
28.
 Seattle
Sonics (16-49)
The Sonics are playing so bad maybe the City of Seattle should
let them go. The Sonics have problems on both ends of the floor and
should be happy they have so many draft picks coming up as they need a
lot of help.
29.
 Memphis
Grizzlies (15-49)
They were bad before the Gasol trade and are much worse now. The
grizzlies will end the season auditioning which point guard will win
out, showcase their young players, and hope they get help out of the
draft.
30.
 Miami
Heat (11-52)
The official count down to the lottery has begun with the shut
down of Wade. As bad as the heat have been this year, Miami fans should
just keep repeating Beasley or Rose, Beasley or Rose.
Send Raymond Williams an email at
truthistold2u@yahoo.com
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