Week 13: NBA Power Rankings
By James Glenn
Jan 30, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich instructs his players during the second half against the Charlotte Bobcats at the AT
| Welcome to the week 13 Dunking with Wolves NBA Power Rankings. JJ Glenn breaks down every NBA team this week and throughout the NBA season. | |||
| This Week | Last Week | Team | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | San Antonio | The Spurs are this week’s new #1. Tim Duncan going down with ankle and knee injury, could make this a short lived stay at the top. The depth of the Spurs will keep them towards the top of the rankings, but how close to #1 will they be able to stay in Tim’s absence. |
| 2 | 1 | Oklahoma City | OKC is now 2 games back of the Spurs for best overall record in the NBA. The offense of the Thunder are still #1 in the league, but the defense has slipped as they are #2 in point difference. |
| 3 | 3 | Heat | The Heat are 11-11 on the road, and still have glaring issues on the inside. Miami is 22nd in rebounding, and their FG% has fallen off a little. They are still #1 in the NBA in FG%, but is that percentage continues to fall and the rebounding doesn’t pick up, that could lead to some serious issues for a team looking to repeat as champion. |
| 4 | 4 | L.A. Clippers | The Clippers have a lot of talent, there is no question about that. They are deep, they have shooters, and arguably the best point guard in the NBA. Problem is they have been without their point guard for over a week, and without their floor general, the Clippers just aren’t the same. Blake and DeAndre can’t get the same looks without him, and are forced to shoot, which is still “Iffy” at best for either of the big men. |
| 5 | 5 | Denver | The Nuggets are continuing to climb up the Western conference standings after such a tough start. George Karl has this year’s Nuggets team playing as a team. It took a little while to integrate Iggy into the flow of the offense, but they are 7th in point diff and 4th in points per game. |
| 6 | 6 | Memphis | The Grizzlies have been the most active team going into the trade deadline. Rudy Gay was officially sent to Toronto, and in all of the movement Taysuan Prince made his way to the Grizzlies. He is a great player to fit into the defense first mentality the Grizzlies have. There are still many questions as to how the team will get the offense, which has been the main issue all season. |
| 7 | 7 | New York Knicks | New York at one time this season was #1 in fg%, now they are 15, they were #1 in 3pt% & now they are down to #3. The Knicks have really missed Raymond Felton, and now that he is back, the Knicks could be poised to start getting back to the form we saw early in the season. |
| 8 | 8 | Chicago | The Bulls weren’t supposed to be this good without Rose. Well they are 3rd in the East. They are closer and closer to getting Rose back. This team has done through defense and ball movement. The Bulls are #1 in the NBA in Assist diff, and 3rd in points allowed. |
| 9 | 11 | Golden State | If Golden State wasn’t tough enough the way it was, having Bogut back is a great addition. David Lee has put together a great season, one worthy of an All-Star nod. Throw in Curry, Thompson, Barnes and Bogut and that is a nice starting 5. |
| 10 | 9 | Indiana | Paul George has shown to ready to take over for the Pacers when Granger went down. The defense is #2, and a combo of David West and Danny Granger is proving to be a nice combo. Hibbert has been playing better, and when Granger does come back, the question will be how he will fit back into a lineup that has been playing good basketball without him. |
| 11 | 10 | Brooklyn | After getting out to such a great start with PJ as the head coach, things have cooled off just a bit. They are 6-4 over their last 10, and their point diff per game has fallen to +1.24, which is 13th in the league. |
| 12 | 12 | Utah | The Jazz continue to hold onto a playoff spot in the West, and after such a great January they are up to 7th. The Jazz are 7-3 in their last 10. The Jazz are a -.92 in point diff, which is a little concerning as they are 1 of 2 Western Conference teams in the playoff hunt, that have a negative point diff. |
| 13 | 14 | Milwaukee | The Bucks are 1 of 2 Eastern Conference teams in the playoff hunt that have a negative point diff at -.35. The Bucks also have a -.39 assists per game and -2.17 in rebounds per game. This team seems to go as far as their back court will take them. |
| 14 | 13 | Atlanta | Atlanta has fallen to 6th in the East. The Hawks have had to deal with injuries, and yet have managed to maintain a +.33 point diff, and are 5th with a +1.74 assists per game. |
| 15 | 15 | Houston | The Rockets continue to put up points, but they are still giving up the 4th most points in the NBA. James Harden has been great, but he’s been great mostly at home. The Rockets have been solid at moving the ball with +.72 assist per game. The Rockets are still mentioned to many trade rumors, primarily for a 4, like Josh Smith. Depending on what they would have to give up that would give this team a solid starting 5. |
| 16 | 17 | Boston | The Celtics are being ravaged by the injury bug. First Rondo, and then Sullinger. Both of those players were key parts of the Celtics, but the C’s have responded without them. The Celts have won 3 straight without Rondo, and will be tested against the Clippers. |
| 17 | 16 | Portland | The Blazers have gone 4-6 over their last 10, and the Blazers are clinging to an 8th spot in the West. A glaring issue is, the Blazers are 9-17 away from the Rose Garden. The Blazers are also the 2nd of 2 teams in the West with a negative in point diff with -1.81. |
| 18 | 19 | L.A. Lakers | Maybe the Lakers are figuring it out. They have been 5-5 in their last 10, and are only 3 games out of the 8th seed. News of Dwight and his shoulder could be an issue for the Lakers long term. Dwight has given no indication he wants to stay long term and without him staying, the Lakers need Pau. |
| 19 | 20 | Minnesota | The Wolves have had a tough run over their last 10 going 2-8. A huge come back against the Lakers fell short, and the game was followed up with a huge win over New Orleans. During that game the Wolves moved the ball throughout 4 quarters for a franchise record 30 assists for the game, which resulted in a season high 115 points. Ricky looked more like the Ricky from last season for the first time since his return this year. |
| 20 | 23 | Dallas | The Mavs have gone 6-4 over their last 10. The Mavs are averaging 100.7 points a game, problem is they are giving up 102.9. The defense has not been there this year. And with no defense it is going to be tough to work their way back into the playoff picture. |
| 21 | 18 | Philadelphia | The Sixers are still without Bynum. They have won 2 straight, but they will need to play better than .500 if they are to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture. The biggest issue for the Sixers is they just aren’t scoring enough, and while Bynum could help, the question is still when he will be back. |
| 22 | 21 | Detroit | The Pistons have shown their future is with Monroe and Drummond. They got rid of Prince to bring in Jose Calderon, Jose will be a nice fit with those big guys. This team won’t be making any noise this year. Unless they do something in the off season, the question will be is can they put anything else around the 2 big’s to have a team that will make any noise in the future. |
| 23 | 22 | Toronto | Rudy Gay had a great showing in his first outing for the Raptors, and the decision has been made that Lowery will be the Point Guard of the team moving forward. This team is still looking at making some moves, and so far they are athletic and will be fun to watch. |
| 24 | 24 | Sacramento | The Kings went 2-8 over their last 10. The city is still working hard to keep them, and all along this team seems like they just have to keep staying course until whatever ownership group that buys them can finally point it in the direction they want to take. This team has some pieces, but where do they go or what do they do with the current roster. |
| 25 | 26 | Cleveland | Irving is good. That should be all that is needed. But the Cav’s have had great wins this season and have shown they can play with anyone in the NBA. The issue is they are still young, and with youth comes inconsistency. As they get more consistent, this team will continue to get better. |
| 26 | 25 | New Orleans | The Hornets lost a rout against Minnesota on their 5th game of a 5 game road trip. No Eric Gordon on back to backs is a piece this team can’t afford to go without. Until he is back in the line-up and we can see if that helps this young team play more consistent this team is still full of talent that is just trying to put it all together for 48 minutes every night. |
| 27 | 28 | Phoenix | The Suns with a new coach are 2-8 over their last 10. This team can make all of the coaching changes they want to, the issue is the front office. Until there are changes made there, this team will struggle to put a good roster on the court. |
| 28 | 29 | Washington D.C | John Wall has made the difference. Since the rest of the team is trying to get used to playing with Wall and Wall is trying to get used to playing with the rest of the team, things will take some time. The rest of the season will be a work in progress for the remainder of the season. |
| 29 | 27 | Orlando | The Magic were supposed to be in a rebuilding project, and then they shot out of the gates. For a couple months of the season people were asking will they add something to help them make the playoffs rather than start the rebuilding process. Well they are now in rebuilding mode, and with Big Baby breaking his foot this team is now 1-9 over their last 10, and slowly sinking in the Eastern Conference standings. |
| 30 | 30 | Charlotte | Michael Kidd Gilchrist has been a NBA level player, and after seeing him get carried off the court, you can only hope he doesn’t suffer long term effects from this. The Cats need him and he is a big part of the direction they are going. |