We are approaching April, and are down to one month of regular season basketball. It is at this point in the season where we take stock of the brackets on a daily basis, we keep a weathered eye out for gems, and we wish so hard that the playoffs would just get here already.
NBA Power Rankings: Thunder Storm Castle, But Bulls Retain Throne
The Thunder sure made a claim to the top spot with a whooping of the Heat on Sunday, but the Bulls remain untarnished, even without the services of Derrick Rose.
This week, the Bulls maintain their throne, but the Thunder have entered the castle and are like, “Sup? Can we sit there?” The Bulls deny permission. The Heat are laying in a ditch somewhere. The audience quivers in fear.
Records include Sunday’s action.
| Rank | Team | Record | Last Week | SB Nation Blog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chicago Bulls | 40-10 | W: ORL, TOR x 2 | Blog-a-Bull |
| The Bulls continue to rack up wins even with Derrick Rose bouncing in and out of the lineup. As long as Rose joins the postseason healthy, there's a strong chance Chicago enters an inevitable Eastern finals against Miami as a favorite. | ||||
| 2. | Oklahoma City Thunder | 37-12 | W: POR, LAC, MIN, MIA; L: UTA | Welcome To Loud City |
| Well, that was quite a haymaker thrown by the Thunder on Sunday! The most frightening part of it for everyone watching was that Russell Westbrook was out of sorts. The question is whether the OKC defense can actually handle Miami's offense -- I remain skeptical -- or whether the Heat were just out of sync on the road. | ||||
| 3. | San Antonio Spurs | 33-14 | W: MIN, NO, DAL, PHI | Pounding The Rock |
| When we discard the 2012 Spurs because of the playoff flame-out of the 2011 Spurs, we need to remember that Manu Ginobili was broken in that series against Memphis. He seems OK these days. | ||||
| 4. | Miami Heat | 35-12 | W: PHX, DET; L: OKC | Peninsula Is Mightier |
| Welp. That was not a great performance. | ||||
| 5. | Orlando Magic | 31-18 | W: PHX, CLE; L: CHI | Orlando Pinstriped Post |
| The only thing making Orlando's season look so good is how awful the Nets' season has been. | ||||
| 6. | Memphis Grizzlies | 26-21 | W: LAL; L: SAC, POR, LAC | Straight Outta Vancouver |
| I have no idea what to do with Memphis. They got beaten by the Kings and Blazers and crushed by the Clippers ... and then accomplished one of the tougher tasks in the league: beating the Lakers in L.A. I'll err on the side of assuming they just needed time to reintegrate Zach Randolph. He killed the Lakers on Sunday. | ||||
| 7. | L.A. Lakers | 30-19 | W: DAL, POR; L: HOU, MEM | Silver Screen And Roll |
| The Lakers are still much better than they were before the trade deadline. Even if they have thrown themselves into crisis mode. I am so excited about this development. | ||||
| 8. | Dallas Mavericks | 28-22 | W: DEN, HOU; L: LAL, SA | Mavs Moneyball |
| Dallas continues to do enough to remain safely in the playoff bracket. Oddly enough, the incredible Lamar Odom saga continues to largely get ignored nationally. That's probably for the best. | ||||
| 9. | Atlanta Hawks | 30-20 | W: CLE, NJ, WAS, UTA; L: BOS | Peachtree Hoops |
| Unfortunately, Sunday's 4OT victory is still only worth one game in the win column. It's looking more likely every day, though, that the Hawks or Pacers will have first-round home court against the Atlantic champion. That's an important target, even though Atlanta is comfortable drawing No. 3 Orlando. | ||||
| 10. | Indiana Pacers | 28-19 | W: LAC, WAS, MIL; L: PHX | Indy Cornrows |
| Another good week for Indiana with wins over the Clips and Bucks and just a narrow loss to the Suns. Might the Pacers be rooting for the Celtics to eclipse the Sixers setting up Indiana-Boston in the first round? | ||||
| 11. | Utah Jazz | 26-23 | W: OKC, SAC, DEN; L: ATL | SLC Dunk |
| The Jazz aren't going anywhere but up. And four of their players are 2010 or 2011 lottery picks. Plus, they might have another lottery pick in 2012. Kevin O'Connor is getting it done. | ||||
| 12. | L.A. Clippers | 27-21 | W: MEM; L: IND, OKC, NO | Clips Nation |
| That win over Memphis was solid, but it doesn't answer any questions about L.A.'s porous defense or unimaginative scheme. Is there a West team you'd definitely favor the Clippers over in a playoff series? I'm struggling to pick one. | ||||
| 13. | Philadelphia 76ers | 27-22 | W: CHA, BOS; L: NY, SA | Liberty Ballers |
| The Sixers lost their "showdown" with the Knicks but aced their "showdown" with the Celtics. Next up: a "showdown" with the Hawks on Saturday. | ||||
| 14. | Boston Celtics | 26-22 | W: ATL, MIL, WAS; L: PHI | CelticsBlog |
| Boston had a strong week with big wins over Atlanta and Milwaukee, but that loss to the Sixers stings. Given the low likelihood of an Eastern banner, one more Atlantic title with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen would be nice. | ||||
| 15. | Phoenix Suns | 25-24 | W: IND, CLE; L: MIA, ORL | Bright Side of the Sun |
| The Suns are truly hovering on the outside of the West playoff race. They are the only team who hasn't spent a cup of coffee or longer in the No. 8 spot. They are just waiting ... and waiting ... | ||||
| 16. | Denver Nuggets | 26-23 | W: DET; L: DAL, UTA, MIN | Denver Stiffs |
| Denver may have finally reached the point where the injuries can no longer be dealt with, as Danilo Gallinari is back on the shelf and Rudy Fernandez has been lost for the season. How unfortunate that a team with amazing depth would be put out of the race by depletion of talent. | ||||
| 17. | Houston Rockets | 26-23 | W: LAL, GS; L: DAL | The Dream Shake |
| Given how set on the playoffs the Rockets' front office and coach Kevin McHale have been, it'd be too bad for untimely illness to Kyle Lowry and a bizarre little Kevin Martin subplot ruined the run. This team is a bit mystical in its creation, and just weird enough to be something to look forward to seeing in May. | ||||
| 18. | Minnesota Timberwolves | 24-26 | W: GS, DEN; L: SA, OKC | Canis Hoopus |
| Kevin Love has apparently responded to injuries to Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic by waging war on the NBA. Fine by me. | ||||
| 19. | New York Knicks | 24-25 | W: TOR, PHI, DET; L: TOR | Posting And Toasting |
| Just when the Knicks make it seem like it's all clicking, they do something like "lose to the Raptors." It's just the Knick way. | ||||
| 20. | Milwaukee Bucks | 22-26 | W: POR, CHA; L: BOS, IND | Brew Hoop |
| Milwaukee's momentum dissipated quickly, but Monday's match against the Knicks -- who the Bucks have owned in recent years -- can make everyone forget about the pain. Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings in Madison Square Garden? Sounds good to me. | ||||
| 21. | Portland Trail Blazers | 23-26 | W: MEM, GS; L: MIL, LAL | Blazer's Edge |
| Portland, you are awful at tanking. Just awful. Sunday's game against the Warriors was must-lose. Way to show up. | ||||
| 22. | Cleveland Cavaliers | 17-29 | W: NJ; L: ATL, ORL, PHX | Fear the Sword |
| Cleveland is reportedly talking about bringing Antawn Jamison back next season. I'm definitely of the mind that it makes sense to pair your 20-year-old centerpiece point guard with a 35-year-old big man whose shoulder always looks one swing from popping out for the long-term. | ||||
| 23. | Detroit Pistons | 16-32 | L: DEN, MIA, NY | Detroit Bad Boys |
| Rodney Stuckey gets injured, and Detroit looks awful again. I'm starting to think that maybe he's good at basketball. | ||||
| 24. | Toronto Raptors | 16-33 | W: NY; L: NY, CHI x 2 | Raptors HQ |
| The Toronto Raptors are a true spoiler in the best kind of way. | ||||
| 25. | Golden State Warriors | 20-27 | W: NO, SAC; L: MIN, HOU, POR | Golden State of Mind |
| Cleveland, Detroit and New Jersey aren't exactly helping the Warriors out with their tank job of destiny here ... isn't at least one of these teams going to go on some stupid run? | ||||
| 26. | Sacramento Kings | 17-31 | W: MEM; L: UTA, GS | Sactown Royalty |
| It has been decreed that all Kings games for the rest of the season will be decided by foosball. | ||||
| 27. | New Jersey Nets | 16-34 | W: CHA; L: CLE, WAS, ATL | NetsDaily |
| But they beat the Bobcats! (Oh, god.) | ||||
| 28. | Washington Wizards | 11-37 | W: NJ; L: IND, ATL, BOS | Bullets Forever |
| Nene has already missed a game due to injury (Washington's Sunday loss at Boston). That's not at all foreboding. | ||||
| 29. | New Orleans Hornets | 12-36 | W: LAC; L: GS, SA | At The Hive |
| Rebuilding teams do not sock money into aging centers. This is a ruse to cover up why the NBA didn't release Chris Kaman to go sign with the Heat. | ||||
| 30. | Charlotte Bobcats | 7-39 | L: PHI, MIL, NJ | Rufus On Fire |
| <whistles the Happy Days theme> | ||||
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