30. Washington Wizards (0-11): The Wizards remain winless and without their star point guard, John Wall. (Last Week’s Rank: 30)
29. Toronto Raptors (3-11): The Raptors failed to get a “W” this week and have lost four in a row. They were able to hang with San Antonio until a second overtime period on Sunday, before losing, however. (Last Week: 25)
28. Detroit Pistons (3-11): Since their victory over Boston last week, the Pistons managed to defeat the lowly Raptors, but suffered significant defeats to the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks. (Last Week: 27)
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27. New Orleans Hornets (3-9): The Hornets have lost seven games in a row, and their star rookie, Anthony Davis, suffered an injury on November 20 and has been sidelined since. (Last Week: 22)
26. Cleveland Cavaliers (3-10): The Cavs continue to struggle and give up 102.2 points a game to their opponents. (Last Week: 29)
25. Orlando Magic (5-8): The Orlando Magic went 2-2 last week, but the two victories came against Detroit and Cleveland. (Last Week: 26)
24. Sacramento Kings (4-9): The Kings, on the other hand, went 2-1 last week, but against much tougher opponents. DeMarcus Cousins, Marcus Thornton, Tyreke Evans, and Co. managed to take down the Los Angeles Lakers, and also split a back-t0-back matchup against the Utah Jazz. (Last Week: 28)
23. Minnesota Timberwolves (5-7): The Timberwolves dropped significantly from last week, and are currently on a five game losing streak. However, All-Star forward Kevin Love made his season debut last Wednesday after being sidelined, and is averaging an astounding 24.3 points and 14.0 rebounds–virtually picking up where he left off last season. (Last Week: 13)
22. Phoenix Suns (6-8): The Suns are still a run-and-gun team, averaging 100.4 points per game. However, they are also giving up the most points in the league at the same time; 103.3. (Last Week: 24)
21. Indiana Pacers (6-8): David West, Paul George, and George Hill have been holding down the fort in Danny Granger’s absence. They could definitely use their best player right about now, though. (Last Week: 23)
Next Page: Rankings 20-11
20. Portland Trail Blazers (6-7): The Trail Blazers have adequate scoring in the starting lineup with five players averaging double-digits, and four players averaging over 17 points per game, but their bench appears to be lacking in the scoring area. Not helping either is the fact that they’re giving up 101.9 points on average to the opposition. (Last Week: 14)
19. Chicago Bulls (6-6): The Bulls have played just two games since our last Power Rankings, and are still at .500 and finding their way without Derrick Rose due to injury and key role players that weren’t retained from last season. (Last Week: 15)
18. Houston Rockets (6-7): The James Harden led Rockets are continuing to get acclimated and are making some noise around the league. Harden has continued his prolific scoring and overall team game, and the Rockets appear to be relatively deep as well. They recently followed up a three game losing streak with victories over the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks (Last Week: 20)
17. Utah Jazz (7-7): The Jazz look like the Jazz usually look: Great at home (5-0) but not so great on the road (2-7). (Last Week: 19)
16. Dallas Mavericks (7-7): The Mavs beat the blazing-hot Knicks on Wednesday, but were absolutely clobbered by the Lakers on Saturday. (Last Week: 10)
15. Milwaukee Bucks (6-5):The Bucks, led by Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings, have lost three games in a row. (Last Week: 8)
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14. Philadelphia 76ers (8-6): The Sixers are averaging the lowest amount of points in the league (86.8), but are also holding their opponents to the lowest average points as well (86.7). The bad news for the Sixers has been Andrew Bynum’s injuries from the start of the season; the news hasn’t gotten any better as the January timetable has officially been changed to “out indefinitely.” (Last Week: 9)
13. Los Angeles Lakers (7-7): I might get killed by Lakers Nation for this, but I’m just trying to keep the team and the fans honest. The Lakers put together a terrible effort against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, looked lost for most of the game against Memphis on Friday, but finally put together a convincing victory against Dallas on Saturday.
The Lakers are still adjusting to newly hired head coach Mike D’Antoni’s system. The potential is there, now it’s just up to the Lakers to become more consistent and play as a cohesive unit–especially on the road where they’re currently 1-4. I don’t expect the Lakers to drop below this mark for the remainder of the season. (Last Week: 11)
12. Boston Celtics (8-6): As much as it pains me to do this, the Boston Celtics are playing decently well this season. A big victory over the Oklahoma Thunder gives the Celtics the edge here. (Last Week: 12)
11. Charlotte Bobcats (7-5): The Bobcats are actually doing alright so far. Don’t worry though everyone, it’s still early. (Last Week: 18)
Next Page: Rankings 10-1
10. Golden State Warriors (8-6): The Warriors went 3-1 last week, and Stephen Curry has been on fire for the most part. (Last Week: 16)
9. Denver Nuggets (8-6): Andre Iguodala, Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, and Ty Lawson appear to be leading the Nuggets, and have led them to four straight victories ignited by a big victory over Memphis. The Denver bench has been an intricate part of the win streak as well. (Last Week: 21)
8. Los Angeles Clippers (8-5): I stated last week that the Clippers had a chance to claim the number one spot with a solid stand against upcoming matches such as the Spurs, Thunder, and Nets. The Clippers started off well by beating the Spurs in San Antonio, but have lost their following three games, which came on the road as well against Oklahoma City, Brooklyn, and Atlanta, respectively. The Clippers will need to prove they can win on the road going forward. (Last Week: 3)
7. Brooklyn Nets (8-4): The Nets have a solid core in the form of Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, and Joe Johnson. It has showed thus far this season, especially at home, where the Nets are 6-1.(Last Week: 7)
6. Atlanta Hawks (8-4): The Hawks are definitely flying high with five straight victories. They’re getting it done by committee as it is not uncommon to see five players in double figures in the stat sheet on some nights, and balanced scoring from eight or nine players on other nights. (Last Week: 17)
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5. New York Knicks (9-3): The Knicks are still riding high, but went 2-2 last week. That could be due to playing five games in seven days, however. Carmelo Anthony’s new-found defense added to his already potent offense could make the Knicks a legitimate title contender this season. (Last Week: 2)
4. Oklahoma City Thunder (10-4): Kevin Durant is playing a solid all-around game, Russell Westbrook is performing like a true point guard (averaging 8.4 assists), and Kevin Martin is providing just about as much scoring as James Harden did for the Thunder last season and shooting 50 percent from behind the arc. Martin may not be as well-rounded as Harden, but the superstars on the team have adjusted their respective games and picked up the slack. (Last Week: 6)
3. Miami Heat (10-3): The Heat have won four straight. Despite Dwyane Wade sitting out two games and returning for two solid performances, his injuries are still a major concern for Miami. (Last Week: 5)
2. Memphis Grizzlies (9-2): The Grizzlies had their eight game winning streak snapped by the Nuggets, but picked up right where they left off and stopped the Lakers at home on Friday.
1. San Antonio Spurs (11-3): Well, this shouldn’t be a surprise. True to form, the Spurs are dominating in the regular season; Tony Parker and Tim Duncan have been having some huge games in the process as well. Over their current three game winning streak, Duncan is averaging 22.6 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while Tony Parker is averaging 30.3 points, 7.0 assists, and 3.3 rebounds.