Bet NBA Basketball – NBA Power Rankings: February 3rd
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. Stick with us when you’re ready to Bet NBA Basketball.
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With the All-Star weekend approaching, we’re entering the NBA’s dog days. A few bottom dwellers can’t buy a win and a few flash-in-the-pan teams crash back to Earth in this week’s instalment of the power rankings.
(Previous rankings in brackets)
1. (1) San Antonio Spurs (40-8): One loss to the Blazers isn’t enough to knock them out of the top spot. The Spurs’ record is still ridiculous.
2. (5) Chicago Bulls (34-14): Joakim Noah expects to return from his thumb injury right after the All-Star break. The Bulls are already the league’s hottest team without him. It’s time for Boston, Miami and Orlando to realize the Bulls have caught up to them.
3. (3) Boston Celtics (37-11): Is Shaq settling into a bench role? That’s a pretty good reserve to have come playoff time.
4. (12) Dallas Mavericks (33-15): Six straight wins? Dirk healthy again? Carmelo Anthony trade rumors? The Mavs are back.
5. (4) Los Angeles Lakers (34-15): Chugging along but the rumors of turmoil won’t go away. As Magic Johnson suggested, it may be time for a roster shakeup.
6. (6) Orlando Magic (31-18): They’ve cooled off but they’ll stay in the hunt as long as D12 is on the court every night.
7. (8) Miami Heat (34-14): A three-game winning streak. Are the Heat about to go on one of their runs again?
8. (2) New Orleans Hornets (32-19): They’ve lost three of four after their dominant run. That should surprise no one. This team is still more pretender than contender.
9. (7) Oklahoma City Thunder (31-17): Assuming Carmelo Anthony gets traded, we have to believe Oklahoma City will eventually pull away and win the Northwest, right?
10. (9) Denver Nuggets (29-20): Maybe they should do what New Jersey did with Troy Murphy and bench Carmelo Anthony. If they know he’s leaving they may as well improve their draft status.
11. (10) Atlanta Hawks (31-18): They fall into the same category as New Orleans. Had a hot streak, nice story, but no one takes them seriously in the championship picture.
12. (18) Memphis Grizzlies (26-14): Here come the Grizz! Give them four straight wins and seven of 10. In case you’re wondering, that makes them 4-0 since O.J. Mayo’s suspension.
13. (20) Phoenix Suns (23-24): The surge is nice but their lack of defense will kill them if they sneak into the playoffs and draw the No. 1 seed.
14. (13) Philadelphia 76ers (22-26): Here’s another team joining the attack of the bottom dwellers. The 76ers’ surge is difficult to understand, though. Who do they have on that team? 
15. (16) Los Angeles Clippers (19-29): Make or break time for the Clippers’ season. They’re about to embark on an 11-game road trip that starts with trips to Atlanta, Miami, Orlando and New York. What the hell, scheduler?
16. (11) Portland Trail Blazers (26-23): There’s still a surprising amount of fight left in this banged-up team. Who saw the win over San Antonio coming? Maybe they can stay afloat until Brandon Roy returns after all.
17. (14) New York Knicks (25-23): You get the feeling they took their eye off the ball and got distracted by visions of home court in the playoffs and Carmelo Anthony in a Knicks uniform.
18. (15) Utah Jazz (29-21): The bleeding won’t stop. How long before the Jazz turn from buyers to sellers?
19. (19) Charlotte Bobcats (21-27): Stephen Jackson is starting to elevate his play and the Bobcats are winning games as a result.
20. (21) Golden State Warriors (20-27): Making progress but they won’t become a playoff team until they develop “D” to match the “O.’ They’re 29th in the Association with 106.5 points allowed per game.
21. (24) New Jersey Nets (15-35)
22. (27) Indiana Pacers (19-27)
23. (23) Milwaukee Bucks (19-28)
24. (17) Houston Rockets (23-28)
25. (26) Sacramento Kings (12-34)
26. (28) Minnesota Timberwolves (11-37)
27. (22) Detroit Pistons (17-32)
28. (25) Washington Wizards (13-35)
29. (29) Toronto Raptors (13-37)
30. (30) Cleveland Cavaliers (8-41)
