The Sports Truth

Before we begin, some quick division updates:

Atlantic: The worst in the league, with Boston trying to take control from an aging New Jersey team. Central: This Pistons have taken control once again. The Bulls and Bucks are terrible and the Cavs and Pacers are hanging on. Southeast: Orlando has the largest lead in the NBA as the rest of the teams battle the Atlantic in the Greg Oden Sweepstakes.

In the West, we begin with the Northwest, where Utah is hitting its first tough stretch as Denver catches fire. Pacific: Probably the most competitive with the Lakers holding the top spot. Southwest: Spurs, Rockets and Mavericks will be in a dogfight all season.

On to this week’s Sports Truth Power Rankings…

[Current ranking, followed by last week’s ranking in parentheses, followed by team record]

1. (1) Utah (12-3). Only 153 points scored in back-to-back losses. They take on San Antonio tonight, and the L.A. Lakers tomorrow night. Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams have been very solid.
2. (2) San Antonio (11-4). They hit the road for Utah tonight. They’ll struggle without Manu Ginobli (right) for a few games.
3. (3) Dallas (10-4). Ten game winning streak and a reasonably soft schedule for the next few weeks.
4. (10) Detroit (9-5). Won six straight as Big Ben bickers in Chicago.
5. (6) Houston (10-4). Yao is playing great, Battier has been huge help and now McGrady gets hurt again.
6. (5) L.A. Lakers (9-5). Bad loss to Milwaukee, but this team is solid with Bynum and Odom playing so well. Can’t say the same for Kwame Brown.
7. (4) Cleveland (9-5). Overrated? Cavs have one “good” win against the Spurs… on November 3. They have feasted on bad teams.
8. (11) Orlando (11-4). The Magic are still being overlooked, but they have the largest division lead in the league. Their loss to Memphis was not as impressive as their win over Utah.
9. (12) Denver (8-5). Nugs looked unstoppable, then they lost to Memphis… at home! Dropped 140 on Golden State… scoring is not an issue.
10. (8) Golden State (9-6). Can’t play defense, but they get up for big games with wins over Utah, San Antonio, Dallas and Detroit already.
11. (13) Sacramento (8-5). Meet Kevin Martin (right). He is from Western Carolina, averages 23 points per game and shoots 53 percent from the field.
12. (14) Phoenix (7-6). 6-1 in their last seven. Still the worst defensive team in the league.
13. (9) LA Clippers (6-7). They’re 0-6 on the road - seriously, they really need to win a few road games.
14. (18) Indiana (8-7). Pacers have lost to Boston, Toronto, Washington, New Jersey and Chicago this year. Guess they are just trying to get the tiebreakers for the lottery.
15. (7) New Orleans/Oklahoma City (8-7). Four-game slide has Chris Paul and the rest of this young team thinking too much.
16. (25) Minnesota (6-8). Quick gambling tip: T-Wolves are 9-4-1 against the spread this year. Other than that, they need to move KG.
17. (23) Seattle (6-9). Rashard Lewis has been a monster. He’ll certainly be the most attractive free agent on the market next summer when he opts out of his contract.
18. (17) Boston (5-8). How do they lose by 24 at home against the Knicks? Just when you think they are taking control of the division, they go and do something like that. First place battle with the Nets tonight!!!
19. (15) New Jersey (5-9). Lost four straight and are fading faster than Jason Kidd’s scoring ability.
20. (16) Philadelphia (5-9). Sixers are 2-9 in their last 11. Philly is getting nothing from guys without the initials A.I.
21. (28) Toronto (5-9). Strange team… six losses against strong teams from the West, but three losses against Atlanta and New Jersey. Maybe this team isn’t that bad. We’ll see.
22. (22) Portland (6-10). Zach Randolph is been very impressive. He’s finally earning his cash.
23. (21) Miami (6-8). Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem are now getting help from Dorrell Wright, but will it be enough? The rest of this team has been terrible.
24. (19) Atlanta (5-7). 1-6 in last 7 and struggling to win games.
25. (20) Washington (5-9). 0-7 on the road. Just not a very good team.
26. (24) Chicago (5-9). Two wins over the Knicks keeps Bulls out of the bottom. Ben Wallace sold his heart for the money.
27. (26) Milwaukee (5-9). Big win over Lakers, but Michael Redd (right) can’t do it all.
28. (27) New York (5-11). Throttled the Celtics on the road, but this team is still a lost cause on defense.
29. (30) Memphis (4-10). Hakim Warrick can play, but he is not enough. Big wins over Denver and Orlando so far this season.
30. (29) Charlotte (4-10). Adam Morrison looks awesome, but he is still a bit inconsistent. Not many teams can say they defeated both San Antonio and Cleveland this season.

Posted in NBA