Bet NBA Basketball – NBA Power Rankings: March 24
Each week during the heart of the NBA season, and once or twice during the NBA Preseason, we’ll gather the troops around the roundtable and hash out the NBA Power rankings.
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We check out the stats, looks at the records, and, most importantly, we take a close, close look at the heart of each team. We encourage you to come back each week and see how the nba Power Rankings have changed. Stick with us when you’re ready to Bet NBA Basketball.
A few top NBA contenders are starting to tire as teams hit the 70-game mark of the 2010-11 season but two noteworthy squads at the top of the power rankings seem to be peaking at the right time.
(Previous rankings in brackets)
1. (3) Chicago Bulls (51-19): Derrick Rose may be the MVP favorite now and the Bulls’ tremendous trio of big men, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng, makes them extremely tough to play against.
2. (2) Los Angeles Lakers (51-20): Now that Andrew Bynum has really hit his stride along with the whole team, the Lakers look like NBA Championship favorites again.
3. (5) Miami Heat (49-22): They’re stringing wins together again. But don’t let that fool you for a second into thinking this team is ready to best the other contenders in the playoffs.
4. (8) Oklahoma City Thunder (46-24): Even though Kevin Durant has slowed, the Thunder are playing better. The difference? They’ve started defending. Only one of their last nine opponents has hit the century mark. Maybe Kendrick Perkins is rubbing off in the locker room.
5. (6) San Antonio Spurs (57-14): Tim Duncan’s injury isn’t the end of the world. Maybe it’ll leave him rested for the playoffs. And it will lead to increased minutes for guys like Tiago Splitter and DeJuan Blair.
6. (4) Boston Celtics (50-20): Playing .500 ball over their last 10. Normally, you can attribute that to late-season complacency for a team with a huge division lead, but the Celtics are an old team, so we have to worry every time they slow down late in a season.
7. (7) Orlando Magic (46-26): The Magic have the experience to knock off, say, the Heat in the playoffs. But I think their lack of a star behind Dwight Howard will hold them back if they eventually run into Boston or Chicago.
8. (1) Dallas Mavericks (49-21): The Mavs have been a mediocre team over their last 10 or so games but it’s nothing to really worry about. They were simply playing over their heads and the basketball gods had to make a correction.
9. (16) Denver Nuggets (43-29): The Nuggets are quickly becoming one of the NBA’s more inspiring stories this season. They’ve significantly outplayed the Knicks since the Carmelo Anthony trade.
10. (14) New Orleans Hornets (40-31): Save for the egg he laid against Boston, Chris Paul is heating up. That means the Hornets could be a pesky low seed in the opening round of the playoffs.
11. (12) Portland Trail Blazers (41-30): He’ll never get consideration, but should LaMarcus Aldridge be a darkhorse MVP candidate if Portland makes the playoffs? Thanks to him, the Blazers hardly missed a beat without Brandon Roy. Now that Roy is struggling badly after his return, Portland still needs Aldridge to be the man.
12. (11) Memphis Grizzlies (40-32): Could’ve been a top-10 team in the power rankings but the Grizz have to slide down a few slots with the news that Rudy Gay will miss the rest of the season.
13. (13) Houston Rockets (38-34): Speaking of Gay’s injury, could it open the door for Houston? The pesky Rockets, riding their underrated scoring, are within two games of eighth in the West.
14. (17) Philadelphia 76ers (37-34): Philly’s surprisingly good season has distracted fans from how disappointing Evan Turner’s rookie campaign is.
15. (10) Phoenix Suns (36-34): It would be kind of neat to see Steve Nash and Vince Carter turn back the clock to make magic as a No. 8 seed in the playoffs. Unlikely, though. 
16. Atlanta Hawks (40-32): If in doubt, just blame Joe Johnson. That’s what I do. Mr. Big money averages just 15.9 points since the All-Star break.
17. New York Knicks (35-36): With the Knicks struggling to gel just like the Heat have at times, perhaps other teams will think twice about trying the “super team” strategy this offseason.
18. Indiana Pacers (32-40): The prototypical vanilla team. Indiana should make the playoffs but won’t accomplish a thing.
19. Los Angeles Clippers (28-44): 7-4 over their last 11 games. Starting another fun surge but it’s probably too late for L.A. to make the playoffs this season. Actually, I just checked. It’s mathematically too late.
20. New Jersey Nets (23-47): Deron Williams isn’t scoring much with the Nets but he’s never dished the rock this well, averaging 13.1assists in eight games since arriving in the swamp.
21. Milwaukee Bucks (28-42)
22. Utah Jazz (36-36)
23. Golden State Warriors (30-42)
24. Charlotte Bobcats (28-42)
25. Detroit Pistons (25-46)
26. Sacramento Kings (18-52)
27. Toronto Raptors (20-51)
28. Washington Wizards (17-53)
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (17-54)
30. Cleveland Cavaliers (13-57)
