30. Charlotte Bobcats (7-20, Last Week: 30): The Bobcats have lost 15 games in a row. It doesn’t get much worse than that. The Bobcats also give up an average of 105.0 points per game.
29. New Orleans Hornets (5-22, Last Week: 28): The Hornets have lost 11 games in a row. However, at least rookie star Anthony Davis has been relatively consistent as of late.
28. Washington Wizards (3-22, Last Week: 29): The Wizards are still the worst team in the league record-wise, and have lost seven games in a row.
27. Cleveland Cavaliers (6-23, Last Week: 27): The Cavs ended a six-game skid by beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. Kyrie Irving has been solid, however.
26. Detroit Pistons (9-21, Last Week: 25): The Pistons snapped a six-game losing streak by defeating the Washington Wizards in back-to-back games. Unfortunately, the Wizards are a worse teams than the Pistons, so the wins don’t hold much weight.
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25. Sacramento Kings (9-18, Last Week: 26): The Kings have lost six of their last eight games. Additionally, DeMarcus Cousins has been suspended indefinitely by the team.
24. Dallas Mavericks (12-16, Last Week: 22): The Mavs have lost three in a row, and six of their last seven. After waiving point guard Derek Fisher at his request, the Mavs remain with an uncertainty at the point guard position.
23. Phoenix Suns (11-17, Last Week: 19): The Suns went on a four-game winning streak last week, but have subsequently lost their last two; the most recent loss being a 103-77 blowout at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday evening.
22. Philadelphia 76ers (13-15, Last Week: 20): The Sixers have lost six of their last seven games. Jrue Holiday, however, has looked solid since his return to the lineup after missing four games.
21. Orlando Magic (12-15, Last Week: 23): The Magic have won four of their last six games including victories over the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Next Page: Middle of the pack
20. Toronto Raptors (9-19, Last Week: 24): The Raptors are hot right now–winning five games straight. Jose Calderon has been an intricate part of that–averaging 15.0 points, 9.8 assists, and 5.0 rebounds per game during the stretch.
19. Boston Celtics (13-13, Last Week: 18): Despite solid individuals performances, the Celtics have lost four of their last five games–their only win coming against the lowly Cavaliers. It feels good to watch the Celtics suffer, even if it’s just a little bit.
18. Utah Jazz (15-14, Last Week: 16): Balanced scoring and solid bench play has been the Jazz’s mainstay this season. Their strength–as it has been in the past–is their play at home as they boast a 9-2 record at EnergySolutions Arena. Starting point guard Mo Williams has been listed as “out indefinitely” due to a right thumb energy, however.
17. Denver Nuggets (15-13, Last Week: 17): The Nuggets defeated the San Antonio Spurs last week, and have won four of their last five games.
16. Minnesota Timberwolves (13-12, Last Week: 10): After a four game winning-streak, the T-Wolves have faltered a bit; losing three of their past four, although they managed to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder between losses to the Miami Heat and New York Knicks. A tough schedule could be responsible for their skid.
15. Brooklyn Nets (14-12, Last Week: 11): Three consecutive losses coming against the Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz, and New York Knicks before a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, along with an ailing Deron Williams drop the Nets a bit here.
14. Portland Trail Blazers (13-12, Last Week: 13): The Blazers had won five consecutive games, before losing to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday. Rookie Damian Lillard has played exceptionally well.
13. Milwaukee Bucks (14-12, Last Week: 14): The Bucks have been up-and-down as of late. Monta Ellis has come alive over the last couple of games, however.
12. Los Angeles Lakers (13-14, Last Week: 17): The Lakers continue to get better–winning four games in a row. Steve Nash’s return provided a huge boost offensively on Saturday night versus the Golden State Warriors, and helped the Lakers earn a quality road victory. A bigger test will be the Christmas Day game against the New York Knicks, which could be a turning-point for the Lakers should they win.
11. Chicago Bulls (15-11, Last Week: 9): The Bulls have defeated some tough teams this season–including the Knicks on Friday. However, losses against solid teams such as the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks indicate that perhaps they aren’t quite a top-echelon team just yet. Maybe a Derrick Rose return in a couple months will propel them into that category.
Next Page: Who takes number one this week?
10. Indiana Pacers (16-12, Last Week: 12): The Pacers continue to climb without Danny Granger; winning six of seven games recently.
9. Houston Rockets (14-12, Last Week: 21): The Rockets made a huge jump this week, largely due to victories over the New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies recently. Jeremy Lin is playing well, and James Harden is averaging 30.0 points over his last eight games.
8. Atlanta Hawks (16-9, Last Week: 8): The Hawks lost to Oklahoma City and Philadelphia last week, but finished off the week with a victory over the Chicago Bulls.
7. Golden State Warriors (18-10, Last Week: 5): The Warriors have slid a little bit; losing to the Kings and Lakers last week. However, they remain an excellent road team with a 10-6 record.
6. Memphis Grizzlies (18-7, Last Week: 7): The Grizzlies won four games in a row before losing to the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
5. New York Knicks (20-7, Last Week: 3): The Knicks went 2-2 last week. With Amar’e Stoudemire set to return soon, it will be interesting to see how the Knicks utilize him and how well they play with him in the lineup.
4. San Antonio Spurs (21-8, Last Week: 4): Losses against the Thunder and Nuggets last week could be seen as a sign the Spurs are slowing down. Or, it could simply be that the Spurs are taking it easy at this point in the season. While the starters did play big minutes in Denver, no player played more than 28 minutes against the Oklahoma City Thunder. It appears as though Greg Popovich is simply focused on the “big picture,” and has no interest in putting any emphasis on “marquee” matchups–much like when he benched his starters against the Miami Heat.
3. Miami Heat (18-6, Last Week: 6): Speaking of the Miami Heat, the Heat are currently on a four-game winning streak.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (21-5, Last Week: 1): The Thunder capped off a 12-game winning streak by losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Make no mistake about it, the Thunder are still one of the best teams and look poised to remain that way for the remainder of the season.
1. Los Angeles Clippers (21-6, Last Week: 2): Who would’ve thunk it? I knew the Clippers were going to be extremely solid this season when they seriously upgraded their bench over the summer, but I didn’t know they would be this good! The Clippers currently boast a 13-game winning streak and are absolutely steamrolling over teams. If Clippers are the Lakers’ younger brother, they’re the younger brother that grew up and is now in his prime while the Lakers are the older brother who is now past his prime. However, with age comes wisdom, so anything could happen in a matchup between the two.