11. Atlanta Hawks – The Hawks play in the Eastern Conference’s toughest division but they still find ways to pull out wins. Barring an instrumental change, they won’t finish in the top four, but they will continue to be a tough opponent for every team in the league. They start 2011 with a relatively easy schedule, which will allow them to pick up speed heading into the half-way point.
12. New Orleans Hornets – Chris Paul and the rest of the Hornets’ starting five is very good. Their bench? Not so much. They are 7-11 since starting off the season 11-1, and things don’t appear to be getting easier for CP3 and co., who are scheduled to play the Lakers (twice), Boston, Orlando and Denver over their next nine games.
13. Houston Rockets They lost the face of their franchise – possibly forever – however, that might be for the best, as his presence early in the season only seemed to disrupt the Rockets’ chemistry. Brooks is back and they are riding a four-game winning streak, but a tough upcoming schedule to start 2011 will truly test this Houston team.
14. Philadelphia 76ers – Iggy Pop and the Sixers started the season off abysmally (just five wins heading into December), but they seem to have turned things around behind their nice trio of Iguodala, Elton Brand and Jrue Holiday are all having very solid seasons. They are in the middle of an eight-game road trip, but will have a favorable January schedule as they only play four definite playoff teams.
15. Denver Nuggets Melo is on indefinite leave while mourning the death of his sister and while the Nuggets continue to put up points in his absence, they continue to give them up as well, as they have allowed their opponents to score 105.2 PPG so far this season. Could a two-point win be the last the Nuggets see of their star forward, who has been in trade talks since before the season began?
Next: 16-20