Since there will be just one game between today and the 20th of February due to the All-Star break, I thought it would be somewhat foolish to do the usual preview of the week. The game is on Wednesday, at home against the horrid Los Angeles Lakers, and it’ll be on KGW and AM 620 radio at 7:00 PM.
If the Blazers were playing a decent team, I’d likely give the full breakdown, but the Lakers as of today are riding a 10-game road losing streak, tied for the worst in that franchise’s illustrious history. I’ll just say the Blazers win, and move on.
(Portland and I both went 3-1 the last week. The Trail Blazers’ record is 35-17, while I’m at 34-18.)
I’ll also say that the All-Star selection of Damian Lillard as an injury replacement for Blake Griffin registered as a “meh” with me, personally. I’m guessing Lillard will be equally ambivalent about going to New York as the West’s 14th man, but for the purposes of legacy and all that, he’ll be an official two-time All-Star. I can’t remember the last time the Blazers had two guys on the team with multiple trips to the Midseason Classic on their resumes.
Now, on to the real meat of this space, Power Rankings! Having done this sort of stuff for other sites before, I set two rules for myself when I came here: firstly, I won’t do this more than very occasionally, since I only do this to help shed light on the other 29 teams in the NBA. With Portland being a contending team this year, keeping tabs on the teams above, equal to, and below them in the playoff race is a essential exercise for fans.
Secondly, I’m aware that you can find ten weekly versions of Power Rankings on the Internet, and it’s not a priority for us at OSN to do one ourselves, being a local site and all. Speaking for myself, I already have a Monday preview column that my editor (and this site’s partners, including GoLocalPDX) are already very happy with…or so they tell me. They could be lying, I dunno.
Enough talk! Let’s go!
1. Atlanta Hawks: Despite taking one on the chin from Memphis last night, the ATL is still the top team in the league after defeating the Golden State Warriors in the most anticipated regular-season basketball game I can remember; I was very upset that I had to watch the Clippers whine their way to another loss on ESPN instead of seeing the Warriors and Hawks square off.
With the Four-Letter Network and its parent, ABC, showcasing the Lakers every damned Sunday, I wonder if this new TV deal will let ESPN and TNT “flex” in games that feature terrible teams; I can do without more Lakers and Knicks games, thanks. (As an aside, I’m too poor for League Pass this season, so I’m stuck with the national games and whatever NBATV features.)
2. Golden State Warriors: Steph Curry is a walking fireball.
3. Memphis Grizzlies: Clearly the third occupant on the NBA throne so far, and not just for beating the Hawks. These guys aren’t explosive in the manner that the Warriors or Hawks are, but they’re just steady and solid, with top ten rankings in both offensive rating and defensive rating. Out of those three teams, I’d bet on the Grizzlies to go farthest in the postseason.
4. Toronto Raptors: Disclaimer: you could put anybody from five all the way to 10 here, and I’d be cool with it. I wanted to put Cleveland, winners of 13 of their last 14 games, here, but they’re still just the fifth-place team in the East.
Portland and Houston are a wash, Dallas is below them, and Chicago and Washington have worse records than all the West playoff teams except Phoenix. The Raps are here by default, but I will say that beating the Spurs last night was impressive, even if Timmy Duncan made the worst inbounds pass I’ve ever seen, and gave the game away.
5. Portland Trail Blazers: They just beat the Rockets, so they go here.
I was heartened to see the Blazers recover like they did after getting their hearts ripped out by Dirk Nowitzki the night before. With all the fourth-quarter comebacks they’ve had this season, you knew they had some guts. Sunday night, though, they displayed another layer of fortitude.
6. Houston Rockets: On the other side of the coin, if you’re the Rockets, this was a wasted opportunity to create some space between you and the Blazers in the standings. Less than 20 hours ago, Portland choked a game away in horrific fashion, and you let them use you as a rebound game? Sad.
7. Los Angeles Clippers: On his podcast The Slant Thursday night, Brad Stein asked me if there was a “heel” team in the NBA. What he meant was whether there was a team in the league people loved to hate. Half-asleep and in serious back pain, the only team that came to mind was the Clippers.
After watching them get whiny technical fouls by the bushel, and after Chris Paul was overly critical of rookie referee Lauren Holtkamp, I’ll double down on my opinion: the Los Angeles Clippers are the heels of the NBA.
(Advertisement Break: Brad’s show is usually on OSN twice a week. Check it out, and laugh your butt off; I do at least two spit takes per show. It’s a good way to listen to national news with a local twist.)
(Brad, I expect my check in the mail by the end of the week.)
8. Dallas Mavericks: Before the weekend, Dallas was a team thought of as soft and defenseless. The defense is still meh (14th in D rating), but after erasing a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Portland, then blowing the doors off in overtime, the Mavericks may have finally found some spine.
9. Washington Wizards: My man crush on John Wall continues.
10. Chicago Bulls: Tom Thibodeau needs to find more minutes for Nikola Mirotic and Tony Snell. Reducing the minutes of Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol in favor of those guys will have two benefits: resting the starters (Butler, in particular, who’s leading the league with nearly 40 minutes per game), and giving the young folks valuable experience.
Considering the struggles the Bulls have had staying healthy the last few years, spreading out the playing time should be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, Thibs has no brain when it comes to playing time.
11.: Cleveland Cavaliers: Mowing down everything in their path, the Cavs have had their roster balanced by trading away Dion Waiters, and bringing in Timofey Mozgov and Iman Shumpert, two guys who don’t need the ball to succeed or be happy.
When J.R. Smith is making heady passes resulting in open Kevin Love threes, you know things are going good. We’ll see if Cleveland maintains after the boom times dissipate.
12. San Antonio Spurs: That Toronto game was bad on all levels for the Spurs. Being held to the 80s by a Raptors defense that had struggled most of the year, then Duncan’s awful turnover with four seconds left, is a bad way to start off the dreaded Rodeo Trip.
13. New Orleans Pelicans: Anthony Davis landing awkwardly on that right shoulder against the Bulls Saturday was scary; I’m glad it was just a sprain, and that he’ll resume his galaxy-eating habits shortly.
14. Milwaukee Bucks: Look at these kids, all grown up! With a defense rated in the top five in every category you can dream up, it’s time to Fear the Deer indeed.
If Milwaukee can get any kind of consistent offense, they’ll be a stiff challenge for the East’s third seed (currently Chicago) come playoff time.
15. Oklahoma City Thunder: OKC can’t seem to gather any kind of momentum, even though Russell Westbrook is putting up insane numbers. With Kevin Durant in and out of the lineup, and nobody else stepping up, the Thunder haven’t been able to get their heads above water.
The shot Anthony Davis hit to beat them got all the attention, but the subplot of their second game of the week was Westbrook and Durant putting up huge numbers…and nobody else scoring more than 10. Story of their lives since James Harden was traded away.
16. Phoenix Suns: Although their schedule just got tougher, the Suns are still clinging to that eighth spot in the West’s playoff picture. To be honest, Phoenix being in this position had more to do with New Orleans’ lack of consistency and Oklahoma City’s lack of health than anything the Suns are doing.
17. Charlotte Hornets: Say hello to the NBA’s best defensive team since the New Year. The Hornets seem to have rediscovered their form from last season, when they rode a stingy defense into a rare playoff berth.
18. Detroit Pistons: Cutting Josh Smith loose has turned a 5-23 nightmare of a team into a feisty squad looking to make a surprise playoff appearance. Although their catalyst, Brandon Jennings, is gone for the season after an Achilles injury, D.J. Augustin is filling in admirably at the point guard position.
I hope these guys get hot and make the postseason. There’s nothing more depressing than a veteran-laden team like Brooklyn barely making the playoffs, especially in the pathetic East.
19. Miami Heat: The only redeeming features of this team are Chris Bosh being great again and Hassan Whiteside’s out-of-nowhere emergence into an unstoppable force. Whiteside, the center who’d played the world over after washing out of the NBA, has been hosting block parties since being signed to a minimum contract, even ringing up a triple-double with points, rebounds, and blocks.
With a potent 4-5 combo in the skilled Bosh and the double-double machine Whiteside, the Heat might make the playoffs despite Dwyane Wade’s balky knees and a total lack of punch in the backcourt outside of Wade.
20. Brooklyn Nets: Blah.
21. Indiana Pacers: Give this team credit for hanging in there, but they might be better off shutting it down for the year, getting Paul George healthy, than pairing him and Roy Hibbert with a high draft pick. That’s really the only way for Indiana to reload quickly; despite Larry Legend himself running the team, the Pacers never could lure decent free agents (other than David West, but he’s been an exception to many rules).
22. Utah Jazz: Your typical scrappy young team learning the hard way how hard it is to win NBA games. The Jazz have given the West’s top teams many tough games this year; despite the 18-33 record, nobody’s really looking forward to playing Utah.
With Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert, and the promise of their multiple young wings, all the Jazz need is a point guard that doesn’t shoot like a blind man, and they’ll be set.
23. Denver Nuggets: I’m disappointed. I had Brian Shaw as the next coach to be fired this year, and Orlando’s Jacque Vaughn had to suck just a little bit more! Dammit.
24. Boston Celtics: Somehow, this team is still within reach of a playoff spot. Definitely not what the C’s brass wants, with the lack of a sure-fire star player on the roster. With the roster as callow as it is, the draft is the only way Boston can realistically add top-shelf talent right now.
25. Sacramento Kings: DeMarcus Cousins is the only reason why this team could be redeemed. With the oddball decisions made by the Kings ownership this season, the confusion NBA observers sensed around this team has only increased. Just what the hell is this franchise up to?
I doubt even Vivek Ranadive knows.
26. Orlando Magic: After getting mired in a 10-game losing streak, and the team showing no progress or having no identity, their coach was predictably fired.
Here’s hoping the next guy will do more than stare blankly into the void as his team of puppies gets run over.
27. Philadelphia 76ers: The two hundred people that have read my columns since I started working for OSN know of the hatred I have for Sam Hinkie and his blatant tanking. The players themselves, however, are starting to grow on me a bit.
They’re just very bad, not horrifyingly bad like the three teams below them. Despite Hinkie’s best efforts, the Sixers are just your usual bad team, and that’s a step up from the start of the year, when they began 0-17.
28. Minnesota Timberwolves: The Wolves have the worst record in the league, but I put them above the Lakers and Knicks for one reason: Andrew Wiggins.
The kid is the sure-fire Rookie of the Year, just got his point guard back (who’s sporting an improved jumper himself…way to go, Rubio!), and will probably have a highly-touted big man joining him from the college ranks next season. Life might stink now, but there’s cause for hope in the Twin Cities.
29. Los Angeles Lakers: Julius Randle broke his leg opening night. Kobe Bryant tore his shoulder a couple weeks ago. Just like that, any reason for watching this joke of a team disappeared.
Note to ESPN: STOP PUTTING THEM ON NATIONAL TV!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
30. New York Knicks: This is a burning pile of basketball garbage. At least it’s burning; Phil Jackson’s going to tear this travesty apart come July. Thank God.
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