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Cappers Picks NBA Power Rankings – Dec 24th, 2012

Larry’s NBA Power Ratings

Thinking (way) ahead here.

Let’s say the Clippers are for real and let’s say they go deep into the playoffs.

Let’s say that they actually win the championship.

Besides having to take sharp objects away from Kobe Bryant, that means that sometime in mid-June David Stern will have to award the championship trophy to Clips owner Donald Sterling, one of the all-time goofball owners in any sport. Awkward to the nth.

Stern says he plans to retire in the middle of the 2013-14 season. If the Clippers win a few playoff series, he might want to move up that date . . . to like late-May 2013.

To the rankings:

1. CLIPPERS (21-6) – Clips Nation blog (yes, there actually is one) says that the LAC deserve to be ranked No. 1 because they win their games by a tenth of a point more than Oklahoma City does. It also points out that of all the top teams in the league, only the Clippers have played them all.

2. HEAT (18-6) – Four straight wins, four straight covers. And Heat games are trending under, which means the defense is stepping up. Miami hasn’t given up 100 in a game since the Dec. 6 debacle against the Knicks.

3. THUNDER (21-5) – It’s not like they didn’t go after the Timberwolves in that loss. Every starter except Kendrick Perkins played at least 40 minutes. Should be a fun game at Miami on Christmas with both teams rested and preening on national TV.

4. SPURS (21-8) – Gregg Popovich seems to have righted the ship after a rough stretch in which the Spurs went 1-4. SA hit 20 3-pointers in 30 attempts in that 38-point win over the depleted Mavericks.
5. KNICKS (20-7) – Not sure what NY will be able to get out of Marcus Camby at this point in his career, but the skinny vet says he’ll be back when the Knicks face the Lakers on Christmas.
6. GRIZZLIES (18-7) – Caution flags are out. Memphis is dynamite at home, but starting on New Year’s Eve the Griz play five of six on the road in a stretch that starts in Boston and finishes at Golden State.
7. HAWKS (16-9) – OK, that win over the Bulls was in Atlanta, but the Hawks were playing with tired legs (fourth game in five nights) and still held a pretty good Chicago team to 75 points.
8. WARRIORS (18-10) – Warriors are scratching their heads today after giving up 131 points to the Sacramento freaking Kings last week. They also crashed and burned late against the Lakers at home, raising defensive concerns.
9. PACERS (16-12) – The Pacers are keeping their heads above water despite playing the second-fewest home games in the league. They’re also 16-12 ATS, under the radar as usual.
10. ROCKETS (14-12) – Kevin McHale’s personal tragedy has obscured the fact that he’s doing a solid job with a team built around a few good men (Harden, Lin) and a bunch of guys half the league has never heard of.
11. TIMBERWOLVES (13-12) – The Wolves survived a brutal three-game stretch (Heat, Thunder, Knicks) intact. Now the worry is about Kevin Love’s eye injury (he didn’t travel to New York).
12. BULLS (15-11) – Chicago Sun-Times reports that with Derrick Rose starting to participate in drills, Nate Robinson may be the odd man out. Robinson’s contract is guaranteed for the year if he’s still suiting up on Jan. 10.
13. NUGGETS (15-13) – Overall the Nuggets are a solid 17-11 ATS, but the more-interesting stat is that they are 7-1 SU at home and 7-12 SU on the road. [ad-6571516]
14. JAZZ (15-14) – Next man up at the point, where Mo Williams (thumb injury) could be out for a long time. Jamaal Tinsley is OK, but Williams had been having a good season.
15. LAKERS (13-14) – The arrow is trending up now – they can’t be as bad as they were in the first six weeks, and now Steve Nash is back.

16. NETS (14-12)
17. BUCKS (14-12)
18. CELTICS (13-13)
19. TRAIL BLAZERS (13-13)
20. 76ERS (13-15)
21. MAGIC (12-15)
22. SUNS (11-17)
23. MAVERICKS (12-16)
24. KINGS (9-18)
25. PISTONS (9-21)
26. RAPTORS (9-19)
27. BOBCATS (7-20)
28. HORNETS (5-22)
29. CAVALIERS (6-23)
30. WIZARDS (3-22)

By Lawrence Paul

Lawrence Paul is back in the saddle as a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog. He's got an AMAZING knack for predicting when a team will have a letdown! Stick with our resident gambling experts sports betting tips all season long!