Larry’s NBA Power Ratings
The NBA is weird enough without Carmelo Anthony.
With him it’s over the top times 8.
Anthony revealed Sunday night that one possible reason that he has been shooting so poorly of late is that over the past three weeks he had been fasting. Kind of. Just different food.
Anthony said that the fast – and annual exercise — was to help get toxins out of his body.
“I haven’t been eating, but I’m done with it,” said Anthony after the Knicks beat the Hornets. “I’m back eating. I usually do it to get clarity in my life. I’m done now. I can’t do it no more.’’
Perhaps his 6-for-26 shooting night in a loss to the Celtics convinced him.
Or maybe it was the 9-for-25 effort against the Hornets. Whatever. From now on it’s top-of-the-menu steak for Melo Drama.
To the rankings:
1. THUNDER (29-8) – Kevin Durant and the boys are a nice time-filler for the locals until the Sooners and Cowboys start spring football practice in a few months.
2. SPURS (29-11) – How about some love for Tony Parker, whose numbers are up across the board during this, his 10th season in the league?
3. CLIPPERS (28-9) – Clips are still trying to figure out how they managed to lose at home to a Magic team that entered the game with a 10-game losing streak.
4. Heat (24-11) – Ray Allen left the Celtics because he wasn’t starting. He’s not starting now in Miami. Just saying.
5. GRIZZLIES (24-11) – Would dealing Rudy Gay destroy the core of a team that is moving steadily toward elite status in the league, or would it give management financial flexibility to keep the rest of the core together?
6. KNICKS (24-13) – If Anthony had stayed in Denver, would Garnett have told Melo that Anthony’s wife tasted like a granola bar?
7. GOLDEN STATE (23-13) – Sad end for Richard Jefferson, whose career is coming to a close as a little-used sub on the end of the Warriors bench. And he’s only 32.
8. NUGGETS (23-16) – Don’t sleep on these guys. Five in a row. Two games against the Thunder in five days might cool them a bit, but schedule is very favorable over next three weeks.
9. NETS (22-15) – Brook Lopez’s play will never catch the attention of ESPN producers putting together Top 10 lists, but he’s been the main reason Brooklyn has righted the ship and will take a 6-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s game at home against the Raptors.
10. PACERS (23-15) – NY’s Anthony was out, but still . . . holding the Knicks to a season low in points (76) showed that the Pacers can go into lockdown mode when they put their minds to it.
11. HAWKS (21-15) – Hawks are back to their old tricks of late, losing to bad teams on the road. Josh Smith remains a puzzle, shooting 4 of 18 from the floor against Boston and 4 of 13 in a gruesome defeat at Washington.
12. CELTICS (19-17) – Totals of Celtic games should start to shrink now that Boston is ratcheting things up on defense with the return of starting SG Avery Bradley. [ad-6571516]
13. BULLS (20-15) –Chicago Trib points out that the Bulls have been unable to take full advantage of a home-friendly schedule in first half of the season – just 10-10 this year after going a combined (league-best) 62-12 in home games over the previous two season. Think Rose factors in to that?
14. ROCKETS (21-17) – Tough game at home against the Clippers Tuesday night before spending most of the rest of January in 5-star hotels.
15. TRAIL BLAZERS (21-17) – Two nights after Damian Lillard went off for 37 against the Warriors, the Clippers the Chris Paul brought the kid back to earth by holding him in single digits.
16. BUCKS (19-17)
17. JAZZ (20-19)
18. LAKERS (16-21)
19. TIMBERWOLVES (16-18)
20. 76ERS (16-22)
21. MAVERICKS (15-23)
22. MAGIC (13-23)
23. RAPTORS (14-23)
24. PISTONS (14-24)
25. KINGS (13-24)
26. SUNS (13-26)
27. HONETS (11-26)
28. BOBCATS (9-27)
29. CAVALIERS (9-30)
30. WIZARDS (6-28)
