NBA Power Rankings

This is the second installment of my NBA Power Rankings. We've gotten through just about 3 weeks of great NBA action and I continue to be thoroughly impressed by two things. 1) The unbelievable influx of young talent in this league and 2) The Boston Celtics. (Obviously, much documented on this site, so I won't spend any more time on them.) It's the weekend soon, so let's just get right into it.

1) LOS ANGELES LAKERS -
They have lost twice so far, to Denver and Phoenix. Both are formidable Western Conference foes and Phoenix had a ridiculous shooting night, so I won't hold too much against them. The scary thing is that Bynum hasn't even played yet, which begs the question, do they even need him? Probably not a bad guy to have around in case Poopface goes down.


2) BOSTON CELTICS -
I think they've played better basketball than anyone in the league so far. Only concern is the amount of minutes the Big 3 is playing early on this season. Maybe their approach will be to get off to a really big lead in the East and then coast until playoff time. Not sure, but this team is deep and everyone is contributing. West's return is only going to make the 2nd unit more dangerous.


3) NEW ORLEANS HORNETS -
New Orleans continues their great start. They lost this week on the road against Dallas after leading the whole game (that sounds familiar), but then avenged that loss with a home win two days later. CP3 is balling and they're getting a lot out of surprising places - like Emeka Okafor's 12 points and 9 boards a game.


4) SAN ANTONIO SPURS -
Despite off-court troubles for Tony Parker this team is off to a surprisingly great start. They've done a nice job of infusing the veteran core with young talent like DeJuan Blair and James Anderson, and Manu is having a terrific season averaging over 20 points a game and nailing almost 3 three pointers per contest.


5) UTAH JAZZ -
This has been the most resilient team so far this season, with multiple wins after trailing by double digits. All their losses are against good teams, but the bad news is they're also against Western Conference opponents. One key to their nice start has been the play of Andre Kirilenko who should be in consideration for comeback player of the year if he keeps it up.


6) ORLANDO MAGIC - +6
Right now, this is the 2nd best team in the conference, a slight tick above Chicago - at least until Boozer returns healthy. I saw a scary thing last night on ESPN...Dwight Howard knocking down a 12-15 foot jumper off the glass with the confidence of Tim Duncan. If he can make that a legitimate part of his arsenal this team just got a lot better. The jury's still out on that, though.


7) DALLAS MAVERICKS - +7
They're a bit banged up with Caron Butler dealing with some back issues, as they ease him back into the lineup. Dirk, JET, and Kidd carried this team to a nice win to snap New Orleans' unbeaten streak, and all 3 have been playing well this season. They seem to have a sense of urgency this year which is a good thing for them as the window is closing in a hurry.


8) CHICAGO BULLS -
A steady recipe of Derrick Rose, Derrick Rose, Derrick Rose and a little Loul Deng has this team off to a nice start without their top-flight FA signing Carlos Boozer. Noah is a rebounding machine and a defensive force. This team needs to improve their road record, as they're 1-3 away from home.


9) MIAMI HEAT - -3
This team won twice and dropped in my rankings. That can happen when your two wins are against Toronto and a Steve Nash-less Phoenix Suns team. Everyone wants to talk about Bosh's big game against Phoenix and how they've figured it out now. Not so fast. Phoenix was running Turkoglu and Channing Frye at him and was giving him open J's all night which plays right into his game. Then he dropped this quote after the game. “[Heat coach Erik Spoelstra] knows he has to meet us halfway. He wants to work, we wanna chill, but we’re going to have to work to get everything down, to get our timing down, and to get our chemistry down.” Huh? He's gonna be begging for Spoelstra's practice when Riley comes down from the suite to coach the team.


10) ATLANTA HAWKS - -1
I will give the edge to ATL over Golden State for this week, though I think I like Golden State better over the long run. I really think Atlanta should try to make a run at Steve Nash. Joe Johnson played great with him in Phoenix and can you imagine Josh Smith finishing the break with Nash? Wow. All of ATL's losses are against likely playoff teams, so again, they are who we thought they were.

Once again, I'll just list the next 20 with a very brief comment on each team.

11) GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS - -1
They should be getting David Lee back from his nasty elbow infection which was caused when a piece of Wilson Chandler's tooth was lodged in his flesh. Steph Curry and Monta Ellis continue to put up shots like there is an 8 second shot clock, and yet drain buckets like they're on fire in NBA JAM. Love watching this team!

12) OKLAHOMA CITY - +2
Still don't think this team has hit their stride, though they may be starting to. KD35 needs to make some better shot selection. James Harden looks like a huge whiff as the #3 overall pick.

13) PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS - -6
You're telling me Greg Oden wasn't already out for the season? Huh. Brandon Roy's knee should have a running ticker health update on the bottom of ESPN, as POR playoff hopes rest solely on his bum leg.

14) PHOENIX SUNS - +2
Nash day-today with a groin injury. We see what happens when he doesn't play. Not. Good.

15) DENVER NUGGETS - -4
Last of the good West teams right now, but still better than the bottom of the East's decent teams. New George Karl < Old George Karl. Seems much less fiery, which I guess is understandable. Have we begun the 'Melo watch?

16) CLEVELAND CAVALIERS - +3
It seems weird to be typing that name this high up post-LBJ, but this team is .500 right now with a couple good scrappy wins under their belt. I think the could finish around .500 and make playoffs. Mo Williams yet to play healthy.

17) MILWAUKEE BUCKS - -2
Another fun team to watch. Need to get Delfino healthy. He's a poor man's Ginobili.

18) MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES - -1
Took a hit this week. 3-7 last 10 games. Guess they are who we thought they were. Rudy Gay is still awesome though.

19) INDIANA PACERS - +4
Brandon Rush returns. Will probably make playoffs which makes me want to vomit.

20) NEW JERSEY NETS - +6
Kris Humphries, everyone!

21) CHARLOTTE BOBCATS - -1
Irrelevant. Augustin playing pretty well.

22) NEW YORK KNICKS - -4
What a mess. They compete most nights, but you have no faith coming down the stretch. D'Antoni starting to feel some heat locally.

23) SACRAMENTO KINGS - -1
West gives them the edge over their Eastern conference counterparts. Young nucleus still very much developing.

24) DETROIT PISTONS - +5
What happened to this squad? Lots of bad moves, compounded by more bad moves. At least Gordon looks a bit better this year. Austin Daye might also have some potential as a Tayshaun Prince replacement.

25) MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES - +3
B-Easy and Kevin Love have folks up in the great north dreaming of Ricky Rubio. Did GM Kahn really make the steal of the season in acquiring Beasely???

26) WASHINGTON WIZARDS - -2
Without John Wall this team resembles a D-league roster with the exception of maybe Heinrich and Arenas if you haven't watched basketball in a couple years.

27) PHILADELPHIA 76ers - -6
This team's two best players play the same position right now. Lou Williams and Jrue Holliday are both good score-first PG's but this team doesn't have much else, and really misses Dalembert's shot-blocking.

28) HOUSTON ROCKETS - -2
They should probably sign Hakeem. He looked good in that video with Dwight Howard. Scola is nice, but not as a primary scorer.

29) TORONTO RAPTORS - +1
Only moved up because LAC has been so bad. Some inspired play by Sonny Weems and Andrea Bargnani has this team on the up-and-up. Nah. Not really.

30) LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS - -3
Eek. This is getting ugly. Is Baron Davis tradeable? He lacks motivation as much as just about anyone. I doubt there are any teams banging down the door to get him. Though, if he could find some old form a package of Kaman/Davis would intrigue a lot of teams.