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Isaiah Thomas and the Boston Celtics are one of the teams on the outside looking in at the power rankings.The NBA is humming along, and as more and more games are played, it is becoming easier to put teams in distinct categories. After a slow start, the Clippers are slowly trying to but themselves into the list of title contenders, as they are riding a 10 game winning streak and building their statistical profile in the process.The West is looking as top heavy as ever, with teams 5-15 looking farther away from the pack than we have seen over their run of dominance in the league. Meanwhile, the East seems to have a bunch of slightly above average teams all fighting to show they have the chops to eventually challenge the Caveliers in the conference finals come May.If one of these six or seven teams can find a way to get hot and string some dominant performances together, they will become the East’s second best team, but as it stands, everyone in this group can’t get it together for more than a few games. As we push towards the All Star break, the league picture will become more and more clear.All stats via NBA.com
#10 Miami Heat
Last Week: 1-3
The Miami Heat bit the dust hard this week as trugged through the middle part of a six game, West Coast road trip. After getting a win at lowly Phoenix, they lost three straight by double digits vs Western Conference playoff teams.
They are still stuggling to score consistently highlighted by the play of Goran Dragic and Dwyane Wade, their two lead guards who have failed to mesh since last season’s midseason trade. For the Heat to challenge the Cavs in the Eastern Conference, they need these two guards to figure out the best way to play with each other or else the offense will never be able to function in the playoffs.
Next Week: Four games are up on the docket as they finish up their West Coast road trip before playing one quick game at home before embarking on another five game roadie. Their game on Sunday vs Oklahoma City stands out, as this will push their top defense to the limit as they work to contain the 1-2 punch of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. A win here could show the Heat have the ability to lock down top defenses while also scoring enough to come out with a win.
#9 Atlanta Hawks
Last Week: 1-1
Atlanta had a great win against the Chicago Bulls, 120-105, as Al Horford dominated the game posting 33 points and 10 rebounds. The Hawks have failed to find the consistency of last season, with no bigger example being Kyle Korver who is only shooting 36% from three this season.
The Hawks hope he can turn the corner and will no doubt look to him shooting 50% from three this past week as a good sign. However, the Hawks will also need to turn the corner as a whole, something they didn’t go when they got destroyed by the slumping Charlotte Hornets by 23 points.
Next Week: A full week is up next for the Hawks, as they play four games, two home games sandwhiched by two road games.
What’s good news for the Hawks is there is only one game against a current playoff team from either conference, a home battle against the Orlando Magic. If they can get a split of their back to back on Friday and Saturday, they have a good shot at going 3-1 in the week and getting back on track, while also moving up in the standings.
#8 Indiana Pacers
Last Week: 2-2
The Pacers have fallen into being a team of inconsistencies, looking much like a .500 team for awhile now with their scoring margin dropping off by almost two points over the last month.
They can still rain threes at times, but even their marksmen, Paul George and C.J. Miles have not been putting them in the hoop with the same consistency as earlier in the year. Wednesday saw them take a tough loss to the Boston Celtics, a team chasing them in the standing as they shot a ghastly 5-30 from three, highlighted by Miles going 0-9.
With Monta Ellis not proving to be the offseason aquisition the team hoped he would be, they can’t see Miles shooting this poorly.
Next Week: Three games coming up including a big one against the Washington Wizards on Friday night. The Pacers can’t afford to drop a game to a team looking to break into the East playoff picture, especially one as potentially dangerous as the Wizards.
They follow that up with two of the lesser lights of the Western Conference, Phoenix and Denver, on the road. Games against teams of this caliber are must wins for the Pacers.
#7 Chicago Bulls
Last Week: 1-3
Chicago is continuing its trend to play inconsistent ball as they had a rough time this week despite having multiple below .500 teams on the schedule. The biggest loss of the week was against Atlanta, who was on the second night of a back to back but still managed to beat the Bulls by double digits.
Chicago has had their fair share of injuries, most notable Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, but if they don’t get consistent play they will be looking at another slightly above average season and playoff disappointment. The lone bright spot has been Jimmy Butler, who scored 53 in their lone win of the week Thursday vs the Philadelphia 76ers.
Next Week: A three game week in up next, highlighted by a visit from the defending champ Golden State Warriors. The Bulls do not look like a team that wants to face the Warriors high flying offense and top shelf defense, and another heroic performance might be needed by Butler to win that game.
Of more importance, however, is a trip to Detroit on Monday to face a fellow Eastern Confernce playoff team. The Bulls must get wins vs the teams that are chasing them in the standings.
#6 Toronto Raptors
Last week: 3-0
A light week for the Raptors as they had extra travel time due to their game in London. In that game, they were able to knock off the eighth place Orlando Magic in overtime after a furious rally by the Magic forced the game into overtime.
The Raptors suffered through a particulalry poor shooting game from both of their potential all stars, but Kyle Lowry was able to find his stroke from the free throw line and played great in all other aspects making their trip across the pond a successful one.
The Raptors have been slowly looking like the team who could separate themselves from the rest of the pack in the East and be the chief challenger to the Cavs.
Next Week: Another light week for the Raptors, with only three games again this week, but after a contest with the lowly Brooklyn Nets, they have two pivotal matchups vs potetial Eastern Confernce playoff teams.
First they play division rival Boston, a team that is looking to finally string together some good performances, before playing Miami, a team looking to build a resume as the second best in the conference along with Toronto.
#5 Los Angeles Clippers
Last Week: 3-0
The Clippers finished up a light week by going undefeated, part of a greater 10 game winning streak that is currently tops in the league. They have won nine of these games while seeing Blake Griffin rehab from a quad injury, but this isn’t the best 10 game win streak you have seen, as they have only faced one team with a winning record.
The Clippers are desparately trying to show they belong in the upper echelon in the West with the Thunder, Golden State, and San Antonio, but until they start beating the top teams in either conference (currently 0-6 vs the top four in both confernces) it is going to be tough to put them in title contender category.
Next Week: The Clippers start next week against the Sacramento Kings, a team they absolutely own of late, but then have two big games for them when they take on the Houston Rockets at home before travelling to Cleveland to take on the East leading Cavs.
With Griffin still expected to be out, the Clippers would be more than happy with a win vs the Rockets and a competitive loss on the road to Cleveland.
#4 Oklahoma City Thunder
Last Week: 3-1
Before blowing the doors off of the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, they Thunder had a tougher than expected week, narrowly squeaking out wins vs the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, while succumbing to Damian Lillard’s shooting exploits in another game.
Kevin Durant came out and said that the team is able to just flip a switch like the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs this week and he was spot on. Teams are elite that also have elite defense are able to flip that switch, and right now the Thunder are ranked 11th in defensive efficiency, the chief thing holding them back from being on par with the beasts of the West.
Next Week: The Thunder have a rather full week, playing four games until next Friday, but it is not overly daunting, as the Miami Heat are the only team over .500 that they face and that game is at home.
It could be tricky when they play at Denver before heading home to play the Charlotte Hornets the next night, but with Charlotte playing underwhelming ball the last few weeks, the Thunder should be able to pull the win out.
#3 Cleveland Cavaliers
Last Week: 3-1
The Cleveland Cavaliers are continuing to show they are the class of the East ripping off an eight game winning streak before it seeing come to an end in the land of death know as San Antonio. While the Cavs weren’t able to break the Spurs season long unbeaten streak at home, they did come about as close as any team has this season, losing 99-95.
They also scored the most points any team has in a quarter vs the Spurs, dropping 32 on them in the first quarter. They are still fully working Kyrie Irving back into the lineup and game shape, but they are looking almost as good as they did last year when they turned on the jets in the second half of the season.
Next Week: The second Finals rematch of the season, as they get the Golden State Warriors at home this time. It should be a fun, challenging week for them as they play the Houston Rockets on the road, as well as getting the Los Angeles Clippers at home.
Going 2-1 vs these Western Conference playoff teams, and getting an easy victory against the Brooklyn Nets will only bolster their standing.
#2 Golden State Warriors
Last Week: 4-1
The Warriors have finally fallen from the top spot in the rankings, after occupying the spot every week of the season so far. Their loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, coupled with a certain team from Texas streaking and blowing out opponents, the Warriors weren’t able to stay in the top spot.
The loss to Denver saw Draymond Green sit out and it showed just how valuable he is to the Warriors, as nobody on their team can replicate was he does both defensively and offensively, serving as the Dubs Swiss Army knife.
His return on Thursday helped free up Stephen Curry to shoot a mind numbing 8/16 from three in their relatively easy victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Next Week: The Warriors have a quick three game road trip vs Eastern Conference playoff teams, including a Finals rematch vs the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. It will be interesting to see how the two teams match up, but I expect both to not overly game plan for the game and only pull out something unexpected in a tight game late. The Warriors match up against the Detroit Pistons will be interesting to see how they look to stop human rebounding machine Andre Drummond.
#1 San Antonio Spurs
Last Week: 4-0
There is a new team atop the power rankings, and while the Spurs still trail the Golden State Warriors by 2.5 games in the standings, they are currently outscoring teams by a higher margin and leading the league in net efficiency rating. Last week’s 4-0 record is part of a greater 10 game winning streak, as the Spurs haven’t lost since they dropped a close game to the Houston Rockets on Christmas.
Their past week included a gutsy win vs the Cleveland Cavaliers in which the Spurs allowed their most points in a quarter during the first (32) before locking up and allowing 63 points the rest of the way. This team is rolling and are on a collision course for their first game against the Warriors in 10 days.
Next Week: The Spurs have a lighter week, with only three games. Two are on the road, but they are against the two of the three worst teams in the West in the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Dallas Mavericks, their other opponent, always provides a tough game for the Spurs, but with it being at home they will be heavily favored.
Guess the Lakers players!
