16. Portland Trail BlazersThe Blazers are 5-2 without their star guard, Brandon Roy, but don’t expect to see them win at that rate for long. With heavy clouds of uncertainty surrounding their all-star guard’s status, a big trade might be looming in Portland.
17. Indiana Pacers – At 13-15, the Pacers remain an average team in the Eastern Conference. However, average is probably all they need to sneak into the playoffs in a conference that regular sports sub-.500 teams in the postseason. Hibbert’s making a case for Most Improved and Danny Granger is Danny Granger, but this team still is majorly lacking in the identity department.
18. Phoenix Suns – Out of their 29 games this season, the Suns have only scored under 100 points nine times. Can you guess how many of those nine contests have resulted in victories? Zero. The recent acquisition of Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus will undoubtedly help them defensively, but the lack of any offensive presence down low makes you really question Phoenix’s decision to use their cap space on Channing Frye (11.1 PGG), Hakim Warrick (11.1 PPG) and Josh Childress (5.6) instead of Luis Scola (20.3 PPG).
19. Milwaukee Bucks – No Brandon Jennings for four-to-six weeks is going to be tough to overcome for this Bucks team, who carried so much promise into this season. Bogut has established himself as one of the premiere centers in the NBA, but past him and without Jennings, this team doesn’t have much to offer heading into the new year. On the flip side, a 19-point win over the Lakers in Staples Center is a great momentum builder.
20. Memphis Grizzlies – At 13-17, the Grizzlies are about where most expected them to be: not a bad team, but not a playoff squad either. They’ve lost more games than they have won so far in December, and January doesn’t look any brighter, as their first five games are: at Utah, at Lakers, vs Oklahoma City, vs Utah and at Oklahoma City.
Next: 21-25