All-Star break - NBA Power Rankings

Russell Westbrook dunked his way to MVP of the All-Star gameWith the NBA now descending on Toronto for their mid-season All Star game, let’s see how the teams look in our Power Rankings. As no surprise to anyone, the Golden State Warriors are once again atop the standings, finishing up with the best record ever heading into the All-Star break at 48-4.They have sucked in every casual basketball fan, but, maybe more importantly, have all the talking head seemingly convinced that it is going to take an upset to knock them off in the playoffs, that’s how good this team has been. As for the rest of the league, you just have another team on pace for the highest scoring margin ever and another looking like a surefire title favorite in almost any other year. And you also have the best player of his generation biding his time until the playoffs when he kicks his game into full gear.Then there are the teams that aren’t quite title contenders, but are still very good, Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers, and even some interesting teams that could make some playoff series fun.As we get into the true dog days of the NBA season from February to mid-March, find one of these teams and learn to love them as they prepare for the playoffs.

#10 Utah Jazz

Rodney Hood looks to be developing into a nice shooting guard

Last Week: 3-1

The Utah Jazz were oh so close to closing the first half as the hottest team outside of Oakland, but alas they couldn’t finish off the New Orleans Pelicans on the second night of a back to back. Since they got Derrick Favors back, they have been playing closer to the level that many expected from them before the season.

In addition to Favors playing very strongly, second-year shooting guard Rodney Hood seems to be a fast rising player who would give the Jazz a fourth above average starter.

Second Half: The Jazz are in the midst of a winning seven of eight, and finally playing like people expected them to after closing out the season last year with the best defense after the All-Star break and one of the best records in the Western Conference.

There have been rumblings that they would look to get in on the Jeff Teague sweepstakes, but it doesn’t look like those will come to fruition. As is, the Jazz can realistically grab the fifth or sixth seed as they have a very strong team despite not having an All-Star. The Jazz are coming and the West should be on notice.

#9 Miami Heat

Once again Chris Bosh is getting sidelined with an illness coming out of the All-Star break

Last Week: 1-2

Not how the Heat wanted to go into the All-Star break, even if they were playing two of the four tops seeds from the West. You would have liked to see the Heat at least split their games vs the LA Clippers and San Antonio Spurs last week, considering they were both at home.

While they were at least competitive against the Clippers, they showed little offensive punch against the Spurs, something that has plagued them all season long.

Second Half: Find some consistency, anywhere, from anyone. That’s almost all I have for the Heat, who have been maddeningly inconsistent all season, especially on the offensive end where they can’t seem to find anything approaching a rhythm.

While Chris Bosh has been good, they have to, I repeat have to get better synergy from Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic. This team fancies themselves a top tier Eastern Conference team, but they will do nothing but score 90 points a game in the playoffs if they don’t get these two guys going together.

And now with Chris Bosh out for an extended period of time with a blood clot, this could be all she wrote for the Heat

#8 Atlanta Hawks

It is unclear if Jeff Teague will be on the Hawks to finish the season

Last Week: 2-2

I think I finally have a read on the Hawks this year after their close to the first half of the season and that read is, expect anything. Two playoff teams were on the schedule and the Hawks took care of both of them, including a 23 point win on the road in Chicago.

As for the two games against non-playoff teams, they lost a home and home back to back against the Orlando Magic, further frustrating their fans.

Second Half: We will know a lot more how their second half will shape up by the trade deadline, as they have made it known that both Jeff Teague and Al Horford are on the trading block. With that, I have no idea how the team will look, so I am operating under the assumption nothing happens. Can the Hawks find any of their mojo from last season, where they combined beautiful offense with a very good defense?

They need to get more from everyone on the defensive end, as that is where they are faltering, but without the positional versatility of DeMarre Carroll, I’m not sure Kent Bazemore is up to that big a challenge.

#7 Boston Celtics

Avery Bradley hit a buzzer beater to beat the Cavs last week

Last Week: 3-1

The Celtics were so close to having a fabulous closing week before the All-Star break, a one-point loss on the road to the Milwaukee Bucks holding them back. What was impressive about the week, besides a comeback win against the Cleveland Cavaliers where Avery Bradley hit a buzzer beater to win, was their bounce back overtime win against the LA Clippers.

To fly back into Boston after losing a tough game on the road then gutting out an overtime win says a lot about where Brad Stevens has his team right now.

Second Half: Look forward to being involved with every trade rumor from now until the trade deadline on February 18th. That’s what you get when you have a treasure chest of draft picks, a GM always willing to look for a trade, and no true number one player.

On the court, the Celtics have been the third-best team in the East and their play over the past three weeks is finally matching their statistical profile. Can they get improved play from Marcus Smart on the offensive side of the ball (he’s already a beast on defense) to make a push to the Conference Finals? That’s my big question.

#6 Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers have to get Blake back as soon as possible

Last Week: 3-1

The Clippers played up and down last week without Blake Griffin, notching two nice wins over the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic on the road, but it was their trip up to the Northeast that saw them show cracks in the ship without Griffin. First they needed a big comeback just to force overtime against the league’s worst Philadelphia 76ers before pulling out a win in overtime, before falling in overtime to the Boston Celtics two nights later.

I know they are short handed right now, with a still subpar bench and no Griffin, but giving up 139 points, including 122 in regulation is not the look the team wanted heading into the break.

Second Half: Bide their time until Blake Griffin returns from injury, whenever that may be. Doc Rivers has already come out and said they aren’t going to trade anyone from their core during the season, and with pressure little wiggle room, they can’t do anything on the edges either.

For a team that fancied itself as a title contender this year, the outlook for them seems pretty bleak, as it looks like the top three teams in the West have put a distance between themselves and the Clippers. Unless Blake comes back and is unstoppable, a second round playoff exit (again) seems inevitable.

#5 Toronto Raptors

Kyle Lowry had a great close to the first half

Last Week: 2-1

Ugh, what would have been a fabulous close to the first half was marred by a loss to the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves in their last game. All said, they still won 14 of their last 16 games and have seen their All-Star guards take control of the team and push them into another level of contention.

Like usual, it seemed like Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan were taking turns dominating this week and putting their imprint on each game.

Second Half: Keep building on the improved defense and try and suss out as many threes as possible. Some people might bring up that they could look to move DeMar DeRozan if they don’t plan on resigning him in the future, but I am not buying this at all.

This is the second best team in the East and I don’t see any reason to look into the future where you have a chance to make the Finals. I am a little worried about how much they rely on free throws, especially DeRozan, but sometimes you just have to play to your identity and we will see if it carries over into the playoffs.

#4 Cleveland Cavaliers

Tyronn Lue has two months to make his mark on the Cavs before the playoffs begin

Last Week: 3-1

The Cavs had another week of relatively easy blowouts, knocking off the imploding Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers at home right before the All-Star break. The game that was head scratching though was the one point loss to the Boston Celtics, a team that they have been handling pretty easy since LeBron came back to town.

None of the big three for the Cavs played particularly well, but what was more concerning was the 39 points and last second three they gave up to lose. The Cavs are the toast of the East but it is their sometimes lack of concentration that is the scariest thing about them.

Second Half: Find their consistency with coach Tyronn Lue and the offensive and defensive schemes he wants to run. Even if they were doing what he wanted when David Blatt was the coach (only the guys who are around the team all the time knows if this is true), having Lue make the calls takes an adjustment period.

Lue has made the swap of putting Tristian Thompson as the starting center, and him and Kevin Love need to develop chemistry together. If the Cavs can finally figure out a way to get close to the most out of Love, the East might already be won.

#3 Oklahoma City Thunder

Kevin Durant is once again the Slim Reaper, looking once again like a top three player

Last Week: 2-1

The lone loss is nothing to scoff at, as it was the much anticipated first matchup with the Golden State Warriors in Oakland. After starting slow and finding themselves down by as many as 20 points, the Thunder came roaring back to tie the game in the fourth quarter and make it a back and forth affair down the stretch.

The Thunder still seem to be a step behind the Warriors, as their defense isn’t top notch, but I cannot get the image of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook posing the biggest threat to a Warriors repeat.

Second Half: Settle on who their 5-9 rotation spots are. The Thunder have four guys they know they can count on when the game is on the line, but it will be paramount to their playoff success to get their secondary role players rolling if they want a shot at these top two teams.

They also need to continue to work their defense, which has slipped in the past month, something that goes hand in hand with settling on their rotation spots. I still have to say, I’m not convinced you can rely on Dion Waiters, Enes Kanter, Anthony Morrow, Kyle Singler, and others when it comes to defense or playoffs.

#2 San Antonio Spurs

Kawhi Leonard had a clutch bucket to beat the Magic

Last Week: 4-0

The Spurs cruised into the All-Star break as one of only four teams to win 45 games before the All-Star break and are still sporting their league-leading defense. While having a couple beatdowns in the week, they also had a scare against Orlando that needed a fourth quarter comeback and a shot by Kawhi Leonard with .9 seconds to provide the winning margin.

The Spurs almost had an uncharacteristic brain fart that cost them the game though where they failed to find a streaking Elfrid Payton who missed a wide-open layup as time expired.

Second Half: While the Warriors are chasing an easily known record, the Spurs are chasing something that might be more dominating in the point differential record. The Spurs are sporting one of the best defenses we have ever seen but have taken a noticeable dip in production since Tim Duncan has been sidelined with a knee injury and getting Duncan back should be priority number one for the Spurs.

As we work into the second half, it will be interesting to see how Popovich works with his lineups and rotations in gearing up for the playoffs. Oh, they also need Tony Parker to continue bringing what is now his B+ game.

#1 Golden State Warriors

Harrison Barnes had a huge fourth quarter to help secure the win vs the Rockets

Last Week: 3-0

The Warriors finished the first half off in style with an undefeated week as part of a larger, 11 game winning streak that they are currently sporting. The Warriors played two very entertaining games, as they had their first battle against OKC and might have found the team physical and with the two singular talents on one team who can push them to their limit.

The other game was against the up and down Houston Rockets, and after they jumped on Houston early, the Rockets stormed back and made it an entertaining game. But alas, the Warriors do what they seem to always do and came out on top.

Second Half: For the Warriors to finish with the best record in history, they need to lose five or less games over the course of their final 30 games of the season. Shouldn’t be too hard since they only lost four games in their first 52 right? The Warriors need to focus on staying healthy and rested first and foremost.

If they break the record, it will be all for naught if they don’t combine it with winning the title as well. The Warriors seem to know this, but they also desparately want the best record if their quotes are any indication. The last 30 should be fun to watch.

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