30. Minnesota Timberwolves (Last week’s ranking: 27): After Kevin Love went down and out in yesterday’s game against Sacramento, the Timberwolves got a flash of what post-Love life will be like when he finally is able to take advantage of his free agent status and get the hell outta there.
29. Cleveland Cavaliers (29): 34 of the Cavs’ games have been decided by 10 points or more. Can you guess how many of those times have been wins for Cleveland? Yup, you got it – zero – they are 0-34 in such contests; and since their entire season has yet to provide them with any favorable scheduling – you best believe they will add to that total before their summer begins.
28. Sacramento Kings (30): Right now, the Kings are experiencing “young growing pains.” It’s going to hurt and their maturity levels are going to be tested. But, if Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins can get their acts together, the Kings have a strong enough foundation to become a very good team, very soon.
27. Washington Wizards (28): The Wizards just need to finish out the season, get John Wall and the rest of his motley crew some experience and hope they get a high pick in the draft. They are still a season or two away from being relevant, but with Wall at the helm, that era is not too far in the distance.
26. Toronto Raptors (26): As much as the Raptors might miss Chris Bosh, his absence has opened up the door for guys like Andrea Bargnani and Ed Davis to really grow and start making an impact on this young, rebuilding franchise.
Next: 25-21
25. Detroit Pistons (25): The Pistons are going to need a major overhaul this summer, and it needs to start with Dumars and Keuster getting the boot. I understand they don’t have a great deal of talent and skill to work with, but at the same time – Dumars is the one who has consistently been making the wrong moves since Nov. 2008, and Keuster has nothing going for him (he’s a bad coach and his players hate him).
24. New Jersey Nets (23): Just when it started to look like the Nets were going to go on a mini end of season run to possibly take a shot at the eighth seed, their newest superstar, Deron Williams, goes down with an injury. Those chances are gone, but with an early summer for the Nets, it’ll be interesting to see what moves they make in attempting to persuade Williams to sign an extension.
23. Charlotte Bobcats (21): This is what disgusts me about the Eastern Conference. Charlotte is 13 games below .500 and they still have a very realistic shot at the playoffs (they are only 1.5 games out of the eighth seed). But even if they were to make it, it’s not like it would matter, they’d be four and out quicker than you can say, “Eduardo Najera.”
22. Los Angeles Clippers (22): It’s been seven games since Blake Griffin recorded double-digits in the rebounding column; I’m surprised that EMTs haven’t been ordered to the Clippers’ practice facility in Playa Vista, Calif. to make sure he’s still alive.
21. Milwaukee Bucks (24): The Bucks might be the lone exception to the rule that “defense wins championships.” Currently, they allow the third fewest points of any NBA team, yet they sit outside of the playoffs and I think that Charlie Sheen has a better chance of becoming an elementary school teacher than the Bucks do at winning a title this year.
Next: 20-16
20. Golden State Warriors (17): The only trade that the Warriors need to make this offseason is for a dictionary, so that they can look up the word “defense,” and hopefully understand how to play it. Once that happens, they’ll move from an average team to a pretty good squad.
19. Indiana Pacers (20): Tyler Hansbrough is finally getting the minutes he proved he was worth during his four fantastic years at North Carolina. He might not be Kevin Love or Blake Griffin, but he’s effective (20.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in his last 10).
18. Utah Jazz (19): The Jazz are going to take their collection of lottery picks this summer and start rebuilding. They have some nice pieces in Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Derrick Favors already, but they are going to need some talent on the perimeter if they want to do this process right.
17. New York Knicks (15): Do the Knicks regret trading nearly everything they owned for Carmelo Anthony, when they could have waited until the offseason and gotten him for essentially nothing? Probably, but the trade is done and unfortunately for them, they are struggling. However, like Anthony said – it’s going to take some time for them to build the right chemistry.
16. Phoenix Suns (16): Marcin Gortat is no Amaré Stoudemire and Steve Nash is nowhere close to the player he was during his MVP run. But with not much to work with, and an early 2000s all-star lineup (Nash, Vince Carter and Grant Hill) the Suns are caught in the common late season predicament: “Do we take the lottery pick or fight so hard just to go four and done in the playoffs?”
Next: 15-11
15. Philadelphia 76ers (14): I know I picked Philly to make the playoffs prior to the season, however, I had no idea that they would be this good. They have a young, but talented roster to go along with very disciplined coaching – which means, they probably won’t pull any first round upsets, but you best believe that the Sixers will give a major scare to whoever their first round opponent ends up being.
14. Memphis Grizzlies (13): After holding the reigns as the NBA’s hottest team for quite some time, the Grizzlies have come back to earth (5-5 over their last 10 games) but it doesn’t look like they will fall out of the playoff race. They don’t do one thing exceedingly well; rather, they simply are just a very well-rounded team with a decent amount of depth.
13. New Orleans Hornets (10): Considering Dwyane Wade’s history with connecting NBA problems to national disasters, if he was on the Hornets, he probably would have compared Paul’s injury scare to Hurricane Katrina. Luckily for himself, Wade isn’t on the Hornets and luckily for the Hornets, Chris Paul is back in action.
12. Atlanta Hawks (11): The top three teams in the East are just so good at this point that it really doesn’t matter which seed the Hawks finish. They are exciting and have definitely seen a lot of growth this season, but they haven’t risen to the levels of Chicago, Boston or Miami just yet.
11. Houston Rockets (18): Winners of four straight, Clutch City is making one final push for the eighth seed and a first round date with their division rival San Antonio Spurs. If the Rockets come into the playoffs with enough momentum and the Spurs are just slightly fatigued, it wouldn’t be surprising to see their series go the full seven games.
Next: 10-6
10. Portland Trail Blazers (12): Yes, Kobe Bryant closed them out in dramatic fashion last night, but the Blazers still have won seven of their previous 10 and don’t look to be slowing up despite the loss. For how thin they are up front, they have a team full of fighters, and aside from the Spurs and Lakers, they are as good as just about any other team in the West right now.
9. Orlando Magic (7): I still don’t understand how Gilbert Arenas isn’t playing a bigger role on the Magic. I understand he came in via trade midseason, but he’s got star power in his game that no one else on this team does. He’ll take and make big shots, he’ll get that last minute steal and he’ll cooly sink free throws when the pressure is on. Dwight Howard is finally becoming a monster down low, but he’s going to need a stud on the perimeter to keep the defense at bay.
8. Denver Nuggets (9): Who would have thought, that almost a month after trading Melo, that the Nuggets would be in better shape than the Knicks? I sure didn’t. The Nuggets are a unique blend of thug, tattoo and talent. They won’t win championships, but they will make you earn your victory and aren’t afraid to play a little dirty when making you do so.
7. Miami Heat (6): Anyone else think that LeBron James has looked considerably less happy this year in comparison to his first seven years in Cleveland? I don’t think I’ve seen LeBron dance on the court once since coming to Miami and with the tough about to really get going for the Heat, I don’t expect to see any smiles from “King” any time soon.
6. Boston Celtics (4): I get the feeling that Nenad Kristic doesn’t inspire the same fear in opponents that Kendrick Perkins did. Like he did with Perkins, I’m sure Kevin Garnett is still screaming in Kristic’s ear, but I’m not sold on the idea that Kristic can even understand him.
Next: Top Five
5. Dallas Mavericks (5): While Dallas is only one game behind the Lakers for second place, and they are playing some superb basketball this season – don’t be fooled. The Mavericks are regular season pretenders. Once the playoffs start, they will show their true colors when they are exposed by the Lakers, Spurs and Thunder.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder (8): Prior to All Star Weekend, the Thunder were allowing 101.1 points and were allowing their opponents to shoot around 46 percent. However, since the Perkins trade, and Serge Ibaka’s insertion into the starting lineup, the Thunder have allowed just 95.3 points per game on 43.5 percent shooting. For a team whose biggest hole used to lie on the defensive end, other teams must be getting scared of the powerhouse that is being constructed in Oklahoma City.
3. Chicago Bulls (1): They have the MVP (Derrick Rose), possibly the coach of the year (Tom Thibodeau) and a fantastic supporting cast (Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and Taj Gibson). Not only are they the best team that no one is talking about, but they are the clear-cut best team in the Eastern Conference. Their combination of youth, size and speed makes them matchup nightmares for nearly every other NBA team.
2. San Antonio Spurs (3): Gregg Poppovich has rested the Spurs for playoff perfection and Tim Duncan is going to be a killer in the playoffs, but this team has to start fizzling at some point – it’s just a question of when.
1. Los Angeles Lakers (2): Maybe the league issued Bynum’s two-game suspension because they were worried that his recent stretch of stellar defense (2.9 blocks and 14 rebounds per game) would be enough to stop Dwight Howard from three-peating as Defensive Player of the Year. Regardless, the Lakers are looking more and more like back-to-back champions and there’s no doubt that the rest of the league has taken notice. We’ve been waiting all year, questioning when they would finally flip the switch; and now it’s March and they are ready to go.