NBA Power Rankings: January 3
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.
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.
NBA Power Rankings will be updated by Friday every week. Be sure to visit our home page for more articles and NBA analysis.
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Two months ago, the NBA power rankings might’ve looked surprising. As we start the New Year, they look a lot more like what we expected.
(Previous rankings in brackets)
1. San Antonio Spurs (29-4): The ultimate team keeps getting it done under the radar. No Spur player averages even 19 points per game.
2. Miami Heat (26-9): Nicely settled into their roles now. LeBron James and Dwayne Wade trade big games and Chris Bosh backs them up. And how about being the league’s top defensive team? Who knew?
3. Boston Celtics (25-7): Even if Kevin Garnett’s injury didn’t turn out to be serious, it’s a concern. We’ve seen this movie before and the ending doesn’t work out for Boston.
4. Orlando Magic (21-12): Dwight Howard has been as good as anyone in the league this year and new support from Hedo Turkoglu and Gilbert Arenas helps. Make it five straight wins for Orlando.
5. Chicago Bulls (22-10): The popular sleeper team is living up to the hype, winning eight of 10 and four straight. Carlos Boozer is on a mission and things should only get better when Joakim Noah returns.
6. Dallas Mavericks (25-8): Injuries to Caron Butler and Dirk Nowitzki are pretty disastrous. Dirk looks like he’ll be OK but Dallas can’t afford to slip up in the competitive West.
7. Los Angeles Lakers (23-11): For all the talk of trouble in paradise with the Lakers, they’re still playing .676 basketball and eight games up in their division. Am I missing something? I’m not worried.
8. Utah Jazz (23-11): Deron Williams is once again the man but he’s had great support from Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson and even Andrei Kirilenko.
9. Oklahoma City (23-12): Here’s another sexy 2010-11 sleeper team delivering on its promise. Russell Westbrook has come back to Earth a bit but Kevin Durant is back looking healthy and sharp just in time. 
10. Atlanta Hawks (22-14): The Hawks have heated up since Joe Johnson’s return but still seem to have a low ceiling. Is there hope for anything more than, say, a second-round playoff exit?
11. New York Knicks (19-14): Don’t worry about their recent skid; their schedule has been absolutely devastating of late. Before beating the Pacers the last time out, they faced Boston, Miami, Oklahoma City, Miami and Orlando. Wow. Things don’t get much better in the short term with San Antonio and the Lakers still on tap this week.
12. New Orleans Hornets (20-14): Getting by with solid depth (and Chris Paul) but, like the Hawks, the Hornets are a competitive team a step behind the powerhouses.
13. Denver Nuggets (19-13): With the Nuggets’ grip on a playoff spot still shaky, I’d still bet on Carmelo Anthony getting traded within a month.
14. Houston Rockets (16-17): Could the plucky Rockets sneak into the big dance? It’s almost like knowing their time with Yao is over has lifted a weight off their collective shoulder.
15. Portland Trail Blazers (18-16): Hard to see the Blazers hanging around much longer if Brandon Roy will miss as much time as Portland claims he will. Damn those knees of his.
16. Milwaukee Bucks (13-18): Recent wins over the Lakers and Mavs suggest there’s still hope for the Bucks but facing Miami/Orlando/Miami over four nights this week should tell us a lot.
17. Philadelphia 76ers (13-20): Remember when some people labelled Andre Iguodala a superstar in the making?
18. Memphis Grizzlies (15-19): Something tells me their dominant win over the Lakers will go down as the high point of their season.
19. Golden State Warriors (13-20): Why are people still hyping Monta Ellis for MVP? It’ll never happen on a non-playoff team.
20. Phoenix Suns (14-18): With the Suns fading in obscurity, why aren’t the Steve Nash trade rumors more rampant?
21. Indiana Pacers (14-18)
22. Detroit Pistons (11-22)
23. Los Angeles Clippers (10-24)
24. Toronto Raptors (11-22)
25. Charlotte Bobcats (11-20)
26. Minnesota Timberwolves (9-25)
27. New Jersey Nets (9-25)
28. Sacramento Kings (7-24)
29. Washington Wizards (8-24)
30. Cleveland Cavaliers (8-26)
