Here are my Power Rankings for December 26, 2014. Enjoy!
1. Portland Trail Blazers (23-7): I'm loving the Trail Blazers right now. They have won six of their last seven games with two wins over the Spurs and one win over the Thunder. They have a very nice seven-game home stand starting tonight against the 76ers. They should continue to rack up the wins.
2. Atlanta Hawks (21-7): Wins against the Bulls, Cavaliers, Rockets, Mavericks, and Clippers all in a row is very impressive.
3. Golden State Warriors (23-5): They are starting to come back down to earth a bit. It'll be interesting to see how Steve Kerr handles the small adversity.
4. Memphis Grizzlies (21-7): They are currently on a three game losing skid. Hopefully the skid can end tonight against the Rockets. It's going to be tough without Zach Randolph.
5. Houston Rockets (20-7): In addition to Corey Brewer, they've also added Josh Smith who was waived by the Pistons this week. The Rockets are going for it.
6. Toronto Raptors (22-7): They're staying afloat while DeMar DeRozan remains out. Very impressive.
7. Chicago Bulls (20-9): Derrick Rose continues to get better and he appears to have all the pieces around him to win a championship. Right now, the Bulls are my pick to win the East.
8. Washington Wizards (20-8): Paul Pierce has so far been a nice fit. He's averaging 12.7 points and 1.3 threes per game. He's doing exactly what they hoped he would do.
9. Dallas Mavericks (20-10): J.J. Barea can still play and with Rajon Rondo, Raymond Felton, and Devin Harris also playing the point guard position, look for the Mavericks to make another move. Odds are good Barea is gone.
10. Los Angeles Clippers (20-10): People are sleeping on the Clippers right now due to the success of the teams ahead of them in the West. But the reality is that if you take the Spurs and Thunder out of the equation for the sake of argument, the Clippers are just as much of a contender as any other team in the West.
11. Cleveland Cavaliers (17-11): People are acting like these guys aren't contenders which I find to be insane. A team with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love can absolutely contend in the Eastern Conference even with Anderson Varejao out for the year.
12. San Antonio Spurs (18-12): They keep plugging away without Kawhi Leonard, but his hand injury is a big concern.
13. Phoenix Suns (16-14): Until they trade Goran Dragic, Isaiah Thomas, or Eric Bledsoe, this team will stay right where they are at.
14. Oklahoma City Thunder (14-16): So long as they have either Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant healthy, they play just fine. Not up to a championship level, but they are fine as in they can make the playoffs. One does have to wonder whether or not it's smart for them to keep Durant and Westbrook together when both guys essentially do the same thing.
15. New Orleans Pelicans (14-14): Nobody is talking about the Pelicans and yet they are only one game out of the #8 spot in the West.
16. Milwaukee Bucks (14-15): Jason Kidd is keeping the ship afloat without Jabari Parker. I have to say I'm impressed.
17. Miami Heat (14-16): Luckily for them, the East is garbage because otherwise the absence of Chris Bosh would really be a concern.
18. Brooklyn Nets (13-15): The emergence of Mason Plumlee has been fun to watch. Especially for those of us who have him on our fantasy team.
19. Sacramento Kings (12-16): The ship appears to be sinking in Sacramento which is sad given the optimism they had at the beginning of the season.
20. Denver Nuggets (12-17): Danilo Gallinari is out for three weeks due to a knee injury. The injury bug keeps affecting this team.
21. Boston Celtics (10-17): Looking at this roster, it's not clear what move needs to be made next to get this team back into championship contention. Danny Ainge has his work cut out for him.
22. Orlando Magic (11-20): Losing by 8 points to the 76ers at home is pretty bad.
23. Charlotte Hornets (10-19): They need to get this Lance Stephenson situation resolved quickly. Either trade him, waive him, or come out and support him. They've done none of those three things which is why they continue to flounder.
24. Indiana Pacers (10-19): It's hard for them to tank when the whole conference is so bad. They could make the playoffs.
25. Los Angeles Lakers (9-20): 55% of people polled on ESPN's Sports Nation said the Lakers are better off without Kobe Bryant. That means 55% of the people who voted on that poll are stupid.
26. Utah Jazz (9-20): A key problem for this team is they have a log jam at point guard with Dante Exum and Trey Burke and they also have a log jam at center with Enes Kanter and Rudy Gobert. They need to make a move.
27. Minnesota Timberwolves (5-22): Ricky Rubio should be back soon.
28. Detroit Pistons (5-23): Waiving Josh Smith was equally shocking as it was stupid.
29. New York Knicks (5-26): Phil Jackson isn't happy and he promises change. We'll see.
30. Philadelphia 76ers (4-23): If they actually get Andrei Kirilenko to play for them, he might be able to bring them something.
---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord
No comments:
Post a Comment