(4) Dallas (29-8). A staggering 29-4 since their 0-4 start. All four losses have come on the road. The Mavericks are also playing better defense — holding the Suns, Nuggets and Jazz under 100 points in recent wins.
(1) Phoenix (27-8). Steve Nash’s 21 assists with just one turnover against Cleveland is one of the most impressive lines I’ve seen all season. An even more telling stat about the Suns: Against Cleveland, they did not have a 20-point scorer, but still scored 110 points.
(2) San Antonio (26-11). Both Phoenix and Dallas appear to be the better teams at this point, but the Spurs still have a shot at 60 wins and you won’t want to see them in the playoffs.
(3) Utah (24-11). Holding on after their strong start. Jazz look like they will stay in the top half of the West for the entire season. They lost three out of seven against San Antonio, Dallas and Houston, but Deron Williams led them to a big win over Denver.
(6) L.A. Lakers (23-13).Kobe Bryant has held the team above water without Odom, but back-to-back blowout losses on the road in Memphis and Houston are troubling.
(11) Cleveland (22-13). Cavs are in the middle of a brutal seven-game west coast road trip. A few wins could give LeBron James and company a comfortable advantage in the East.
(10) Orlando (22-14). Dwight Howard’s 30 and 25 the other night was about as impressive as Nash’s 21 assists last night. As long as Grant Hill stays healthy, the Magic have enough to stay at the top of the East.
(5) Detroit (20-13). They’re 2-3 without Billups, and just 2-5 in their last seven games. The Pistons will be fine when he returns, but they are not very good with Carlos Delfino and Will Blalock running the point.
(12) Washington (20-14). An amazing 11-3 in their last 14 with all three losses coming on the road. In the Eastern Conference, that is a huge run.
(9) Denver (17-16). Struggling at 1-6 in their last seven with Allen Iverson. That’s even more proof that Carmelo Anthony is one of the five best players in the NBA and A.I. is not.
(15) Minnesota (17-16). Kevin Garnett is playing like an MVP. He is one of only three players averaging 20 and 10 and he is the only one averaging at least 22/12.
(8) Houston (23-13). Rockets are 7-3 since Yao Ming’s injury. How long can they keep it up? Will he return? Both are doubtful.
(7) Chicago (20-17). Still an up and down team. They’ve lost five out of six, with their only win in that stretch coming against Detroit.
(13) Indiana (20-16). Uninspiring team that will hover around .500 all season. They won three in a row against bottom of the barrel teams (Atlanta, New Orleans/Oklahoma City and Boston).
(15) Golden State (18-19). Matt Barnes has been great. Every player they have picked up off the scrap heap has played well.
(20) L.A. Clippers (17-19). It’s amazing how average this team is, but they are still just 5-13 on the road. They are playing better of late, but the Clips need road wins to get back in to the West race.
(21) Milwaukee (16-19). I told you all five Central Division teams would make the playoffs, but the loss of Michael Redd will hurt the Bucks’ chances.
(23) Toronto (16-20). A month ago I told you this was the team to watch in the Atlantic Division. The loss to New Jersey was tough, but wins over Washington and Milwaukee will help their playoff chase.
(22) New Jersey (16-19). I’m not convinced the Nets will hold off the Raptors or the Knicks… or even the Celtics if they decide to make a push when Paul Pierce returns.
(17) Miami (15-19). The Heat are getting just what they need with Shaq out. They are only a half game out of the final playoff spot with no need to rush the big fella back.
(27) New York (16-21). They are winning a few games as of late, but don’t get too excited, they’ll soon lose 9 of 10 and the complaining will resume.
(19) Sacramento (14-18). Did you know Ron Artest leads the league in steals? Yeah, I didn’t care either. Bad mistake by ESPN the Magazine for putting him on the cover. He should just go away.
(18) Portland (14-23). Zach Randolph… blah, blah, blah. Randolph… blah, blah, blah. At least some of the young guys are getting some time for next year.
(24) Seattle (13-25). Just three wins in their last 17 games. Good luck getting Rashard Lewis to return next year.
(16) Boston (12-22). When we last submitted these power rankings, the Celtics were coming off of a 48-minute domination of Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets, Al Jefferson looked like an All-Star and Tony Allen was finally becoming a star. Since then, Paul Pierce has not played, Allen destroyed an ACL and Jefferson’s scoring has slowed a bit. Jefferson still looks like a star and Gerald Green is a scoring machine, but Greg Oden and Kevin Durant are looking more and more like they should get used to wearing green.
(28) Charlotte (10-23). Nothing new from the Bobcats. They are still Giant-Killers with wins against playoff-bound teams every week (Detroit and LAL are the latest), but they still struggle with consistency from their young stars on a nightly basis.
(30) Philadelphia (9-26). They were energized for about a week and then they remembered they did not want to win games. Their four-game slide is better for their future… so is paying Chris Webber to go away.
(25) New Orleans / Oklahoma City (13-22). They’re just 5-19 since an 8-3 start. No Chris Paul, No Peja, No David West, No Bobby Jackson and No chance this season.
(29) Memphis (9-27). I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why Hakim Warrick is not playing more than 20 minutes per game now that Pau Gasol is back. Warrick led the team in scoring 10 times. He went from 32 minutes and 15 points per game down to 13 minutes and 7 points per game. I don’t understand what he did to lost that much time. I would think the Grizzlies would find more time for Warrick and less time for Dahntay Jones.
(26) Atlanta (10-23). Remember the optimism surrounding their 4-1 start? Yeah, that faded faster than Mike Vick and the Atlanta Falcons.
"I think Willie did a good job. I think that the results the last, say, 14 months were not up to what we thought it had to be. What Omar finally decided was that he had to make that change." - Mets Owner Frde Wilpon on Wille Randolph firing
(4) Dallas (29-8). A staggering 29-4 since their 0-4 start. All four losses have come on the road. The Mavericks are also playing better defense — holding the Suns, Nuggets and Jazz under 100 points in recent wins.
