Weekly NBA Power Rankings 04/12/10

It's the last few days of the regular season and the playoffs will be upon us shortly.




I just want to point out that when I do these rankings, I don't neccessarily do them on a "season as a whole" basis but more of a week by week basis.

There will be some major reshuffling in my rankings this week based on performance the past week. This does not mean I think a team is better than another. This is not 100% about overall record. This is about play as of late.



With that being said, here are my rankings for this week:



1. Magic-

Now I know there are plenty of you who are going to let out a collective "WHAT!!?" but bear with me here for a minute. The Magic's win on Sunday gives them a 1 game home court advantage over the Lakers should they meet in the Finals again. The Magic are a league best 21-5 since the All-Star break and have been playing well (boy is that ever an understatement). The Cavs and the Lakers are not even in the top five of that list. And yes, I know the Cavs were without King James when the Magic beat them, but they still beat them.



2. Cavs-

Life sure is good in Cleveland right now. Hopefully LeBron sticks around after the season. The Cavs have been playing so well that they have allowed James to get a 4 game rest before the playoffs. The first few games of the playoffs will also allow Shaq to get back into playing shape before the next series and beyond starts.



3. Suns-

Behind the Magic, no other team has had a better record since the All-Star break. And they still keep finding a way to win without Robin Lopez. Home-Court advantage does not mean more to any team more than the Suns. The Suns are just 2-9 on the road against the other playoff teams. They are almost 9 points better at home than on the road. The games against Utah and Denver are key this week.



4. Lakers-

I could easily drop the defending champs further on the list based on their play of late. I don't think anyone saw the "Champs" finishing so far down the list as it is but their record of 15-11 since the All-Star break leaves a lot to be desired. Sure, they may be saving themselves for the playoffs, but it is often hard to get back on track when you've gotten off. And if the Lakers are truely saving themselves for the playoffs, I don't think we would have seen Kobe in uniform like we have been.



5. Jazz-

Utah has been better off offensively than defensively since Kirilenko has been out the past month. Just a side note I found interesting...the Timberwolves have only beaten three teams more than once this season...The Nets, the Kings, and...the Jazz. If Utah does not finish the season in the second seed in the West I am sure they will be kicking themselves pretty hard.



6. Spurs-

San Antonnio is tied for second in the West for average point margin, just set an NBA record by finishing with a winning ROAD record for the 13th straight season, and they are the only WESTERN team to be ranked in the top 10 both OFFENSIVELY and DEFENSIVELY. Don't sleep sleep on the Spurs come playoff time saturday, even if they are facing the Lakers.



7. Mavs-

Dallas has the LOWEST point differential than any other West team, and history has shown that this in fact a big deal. However, if holding both the Grizzlies and Blazers to a combined 161 points the Mavs had one of their best defensive showings yet. Even more impressive was they did it without their best defensive player Shawn Marion.



8. Blazers-

Portland should be celebrating thier win against the Lakers on the Lakers home court, however with Brandon Roy out with an bruised knee, the celebration was short lived if even that. They have a critical game against the Thunder later tonight, with Roy expected to sit the Blazers could end up as the 8th seed in the West.



9. Thunder-

OKC is simply not playing their best basketball of late. The good news is that Durant only needs 26 ppg is LeBron stays sitting to win the scoring title. The bad news is with the collapse against Golden State, the Thunder could have easily set themselves up for a baptism by playoff fire against the Lakers.



10. Hawks-

Atlanta had a shot at thier first winning road record in 11 years but lost to both Charlotte and Detroit. They have had a trend of getting worse defensively each month and April did not see that trend stopping. The Hawks are also 1-6 against the East's top 2 teams. Will this make a differnce when they face the cavs without LeBron? Will that number be more important than winning 50 games for the first time since 1997-1998?