30. Phoenix Suns (13-28, Last Week: 27): The Suns have dropped seven of their last eight games. Additionally, the Suns and head coach Alvin Gentry have parted ways, leaving Phoenix in a state of disarray.
29. Charlotte Bobcats (10-30, Last Week: 30): Having lost six of their last seven, the Bobcats have been miserable as of late.
28. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-32, Last Week: 29): The Cavs won only one game of their five-game Western Conference road trip; the sole victory coming against the Portland Trail Blazers.
27. Orlando Magic (14-26, Last Week: 26): The Magic continue to struggle while going 1-3 last week, including losses to the Wizards and Bobcats.
26. Toronto Raptors (15-26, Last Week: 21): Despite a victory over the Lakers on Sunday, the Raptors have struggled as of late–coming off of a five-game skid.
25. Philadelphia 76ers (17-23, Last Week: 24): The Sixers have lost six of their last eight games.
24. Washington Wizards (8-30, Last Week: 25): The Wizards–now 3-2 since John Wall’s return–could have won five of their last six games had they not lost to the Sacramento Kings by one point on Wednesday. Additionally, the Wizards stayed close with the elite Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, before losing 94-87.
23. Sacramento Kings (16-25, Last Week: 28): The Kings won three of their four games last week, although the victories came against the Cavaliers, Wizards, and Bobcats. Nonetheless, DeMarcus Cousins has continued to play well–averaging 21.5 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists last week.
22. Detroit Pistons (15-25, Last Week: 23): The Pistons lost to the Knicks on Thursday by 15 points, before defeating the Celtics by the same margin on Sunday.
21. Houston Rockets (21-21, Last Week: 14): The Rockets drop big time here, due to a seven-game losing streak. Granted most of the games (six) have been on the road, the Rockets just can’t seem to buy a win these days.
Next Page: Middle Of The Pack
20. Portland Trail Blazers (20-20, Last Week: 15): A current five-game losing streaks drops the Blazers this week.
19. Minnesota Timberwolves (17-20, Last Week: 18): Having lost five of their last six games, the Wolves’ only victory came against the reeling Houston Rockets. Kevin Love’s injury has proven to be a huge hit to Minnesota.
18. Boston Celtics (20-20, Last Week: 13): It pleases me to say that the Celtics are struggling. They won against the Charlotte Bobcats at the beginning of last week before dropping three games in a row.
17. New Orleans Hornets (13-27, Last Week: 22): The Hornets have won six of their last eight games; Anthony Davis has shown flashes of All-Star level play during the stretch.
16. Los Angeles Lakers (17-23, Last Week: 19): The Lakers move up a few spots, but only because of some extremely poor play from teams in the same vicinity. The Lakers continue to be inconsistent, and every time they seemingly take a few steps forward, they take ten steps backwards. They had two consecutive victories against Cleveland and Milwaukee, had a solid effort against Miami, but then looked uninspired against Toronto on Sunday.
15. Dallas Mavericks (18-24, Last Week: 20): The Mavs jump up a bit here, due to winning five of their last six games with the sole loss coming against the reigning Western Conference Champion Oklahoma City Thunder, in overtime.
14. Atlanta Hawks (22-18, Last Week: 12): The Hawks continue to drop, having lost four of their last five games. Despite a solid start to the season, it’s only a matter of time before the Hawks are surrounded by trade talk once again.
13. Milwaukee Bucks (21-18, Last Week: 16): The Bucks won three of four games last week. Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis have played well, but Ersan Ilyasova had a monster game on Saturday night with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists against the Trail Blazers.
12. Utah Jazz (22-19, Last Week: 17): The Jazz have flown under the radar this season, but most recently have won five of their last six games–including a victory over the Miami Heat on Monday.
11. Golden State Warriors (24-15, Last Week: 10): The Warriors dropped three out of four games; albeit the three losses came against tough opponents.
Next Page: Clippers Regain Top Spot
10. Denver Nuggets (25-18, Last Week: 9): The Nuggets followed up a six-game winning streak with losses to the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder, and the league-worst (record-wise) Washington Wizards. However, the Nuggets avenged their loss against OKC by defeating the Thunder in overtime on Sunday.
9. Chicago Bulls (23-16, Last Week: 11): Three consecutive victories last week bump the Bulls up here, although they lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in overtime at home on Saturday. Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah have played exceptionally well, and face the up-and-down Lakers tonight.
8. Indiana Pacers (25-16, Last Week: 8): The Pacers have won six of their last eight games, but did lose two games (against Brooklyn and Orlando) last week. Danny Granger is eying a late January or early February return to the court.
7. Memphis Grizzlies (26-13, Last Week: 3): Three consecutive losses to Western Conference opponents (Mavericks, Clippers, and Spurs), before winning two games against the Kings and Bulls show that Memphis may not quite be ready to dominate the Western Conference just yet.
6. New York Knicks (25-13, Last Week: 5): The Knicks followed up three losses against Eastern Conference opponents with consecutive victories over the Hornets and Pistons. It is still unclear how the Knicks will incorporate Amar’e Stoudemire into their system. So far, Stoudemire has been unimpressive off the bench.
5. Brooklyn Nets (24-16, Last Week: 7): The Nets are about as streaky of a team as they come. Having won eight of nine, Brooklyn is still a dangerous team in the Eastern Conference. Deron Williams has picked up his level of play as well–averaging 19.3 points and 8.1 assists during the stretch compared with season averages of 17.0 points and 7.7 assists.
4. Miami Heat (26-12, Last Week: 6): Since our last rankings, the Heat lost to the Jazz, defeated the Warriors, and then beat the Lakers. They haven’t played since last Thursday and won’t play again until Wednesday, but their defense against the Lakers proved why they’re still the defending champs.
3. San Antonio Spurs (32-11, Last Week: 4): The Spurs dominated last week; going 4-0 against the T-Wolves, Grizzlies, Warriors, and Hawks. Tony Parker is playing exceptional basketball right now.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (32-9, Last Week: Tied for 1): Despite winning six games in a row, the Thunder lost against the Denver Nuggets in overtime on Sunday, which drops them to number two this week.
1. Los Angeles Clippers (32-9, Last Week: Tied for 1): The Clippers have won four in a row and are absolutely dominating their opponents. During the stretch, Jamal Crawford has played out of his mind while averaging 26.3 points, Lamar Odom has pulled down an average of 10.0 rebounds per game, and Chris Paul has only been a part of one of those games. The Clippers truly are the deepest team in the league, and it’s becoming unfair for the opposition.