15. Indiana Pacers (20): When ex-Head Coach Jim O’Brien was fired on Jan. 31, the Pacers were 10 games below .500 and looked like they had a better shot at the No. 1 pick than the No. 8 seed. However, since Pete Vogel became the Pacers’ interim head coach, Indiana has won seven of its last eight, and is looking to lock up the eighth seed in the playoffs. Firing your head coach isn’t the best way to spread the love, but winning 87.5 percent of your games sure is.
14. Philadelphia 76ers (17): With each passing game, the Sixers are looking more and more like the team that their talented rosted is capable of playing like. This past week was big for them, as they went 3-1, knocking off Atlanta, San Antonio and Minnesota. They won’t pull off any upsets in the playoffs, but they are definitely a team to watch out for during the final stretch of regular season play.
13. New Orleans Hornets (11): The Hornets were able to knock off Orlando on the road this week, but their only other victory this month was on the first against Washington, who at the time, was in the middle of their 25-game road losing streak. By no means are the Hornets a bad team, they just don’t have much quality depth past their fourth best player – not a good formula for success in the West.
12. Portland Trail Blazers (14): With the exception of their win over Chicago, recent victories against Cleveland, Toronto and Detroit might not sound overly impressive, but for a team that’s been battling injuries all season long, they are doing exactly what they should be if they want to remain in playoff contention – which is win the easy games as often as possible.
11. Denver Nuggets (10): Carmelo Anthony’s relationship status on Facebook: “Married to LaLa but it’s complicated with the Denver Nuggets.” Until that switches to “single” or “in a relationship,” the Nuggets are going to struggle mentally in picking up wins.
NEXT: 10-6
