NBA Power Rankings

Tony Karpinski offers his NBA power rankings for the week of 2/27/11 to 3/5/11 ordered from top to bottom.

1-San Antonio Spurs (51-11) The Spurs laid a beating on the hyped Miami Heat, establishing themselves again as the best team easily in the NBA right now. The Spurs hold an incredible 27-10 record vs .500 or better teams. They can lay it down every night on opponents.

2- Dallas Mavericks (45-16) The Mavericks have won 18 of their last 20 games. Anyone giving a thought to the Mavs, really? They score 100/gm, shoot 48% from the field, and have a first-rate bench. The Mavs are on a sweltering pace this season, looking at likely 60+ wins, the Mavs are the best team that no one is paying attention to besides, of course #1 on this list.

3- Los Angeles Lakers (44-19) Crashing the boards with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom help lead the lengthy Lakers grab 44 boards a night, leaving them 4th in the league. The Lakers crucial test is to see if they can keep their heads in the right direction.

4- Boston Celtics (45-15) This team just keeps winning, their starters are unyielding. KG, Pierce, Allen, Rondo and recently acquired, 7 footer Nenad Krstic as the starting center until Shaq finally plays, just win. Grabbing versatile sharpshooter and rebounder, Troy Murphy was an underrated move that will pay off in the playoffs, I promise.

5- Chicago Bulls (42-18) The Bulls were a middling team last season, winning 41 games. This year they have made such enormous improvements from last year, are a very strong team in the East.

6- Orlando Magic (40-23) Losing their All-Star center, Dwight Howard for a game for picking up his 16th technical foul of the season won’t hurt the team terribly, but he needs to keep himself under control. You’re a big strong dude in the paint, you’re gonna get knocked around; deal with it by putting points on the board, not throwing elbows.

7- Miami Heat (43-19) This team is spiraling quickly. Is it too early to panic? Is it just a bad streak? We will find out soon enough. And then, of course, who’s to blame for this? Head Coach Erik Spoelstra has a team; the majority of coaches would love to have. They can’t beat better ended teams and they can’t finish a game out, 2 troubling facts for Heat fans.

8- Denver Nuggets (37-27) Don’t look now, the Post-‘Melo Nuggets are 5-2. The Nuggets lead the NBA at 107/gm, and still putting up 105/gm without ‘Melo, through a balanced attack.

9- Oklahoma City Thunder (38-22) The big moves they made turned miserable currently, with big Perk and small Nate Robinson to injuries, ends up putting the Thunder in a bumpy position.

10- Portland Trailblazers (35-27) With an unusual and unexpectedly fine starting lineup. They are a team that plays quick. Also, my push of what LaMarcus Aldridge has done for the Blazers this season, he’s putting up 22/9 every night.

Here are some more great sources of NBA power rankings:

Comments

Got something to say?