Power Rankings: Mavs on top, Cavs make move, Celts going nowhere
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerr...n=2007&week=15 by Marc Stein from February 12, 2007 ESPN.com
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
It's re-Dirk-ulous, as they say in Big D. The Mavericks could go on a 31-game losing streak and still finish over .500 for the season.
No surprise, then, that the Mavs sit in the top spot in the ESPN.com NBA Power Rankings for the sixth time in seven Mondays in 2007. They've suddenly opened up a three-game lead over injury-hit Phoenix in the race for the league's best record and a stunning nine-game lead in the Southwest Division over their longtime rivals from San Antonio.
As a result, you have to scan down to Nos. 7 and 8 for the newsy moves of the week, with Toronto rising to what must rank as its highest placing ever, followed closely by Cleveland.
Read on to see where your team ranks and click here to send in your feedback.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerr...n=2007&week=15 by Marc Stein from February 12, 2007 ESPN.com
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
No surprise, then, that the Mavs sit in the top spot in the ESPN.com NBA Power Rankings for the sixth time in seven Mondays in 2007. They've suddenly opened up a three-game lead over injury-hit Phoenix in the race for the league's best record and a stunning nine-game lead in the Southwest Division over their longtime rivals from San Antonio.
As a result, you have to scan down to Nos. 7 and 8 for the newsy moves of the week, with Toronto rising to what must rank as its highest placing ever, followed closely by Cleveland.
Read on to see where your team ranks and click here to send in your feedback.
2006-07 Power Rankings: Week 15 | ||||
RANK (LAST WK) | TEAM | REC. | COMMENT | |
1 (1) | Mavericks | 42-9 | As you'd imagine, Mavs are the toast of their town. But you can safely assume they weren't consulted on Cowboys' coaching hire when it goes to a guy named Wade. | |
2 (2) | Suns | 39-12 | Has everyone seen enough in the past week to forever bury that ridiculous ''Nash can't be the MVP because he plays with too many All-Stars'' argument? Thanks. | |
3 (3) | Jazz | 33-17 | As if their season wasn't sufficiently storybook until now, Okur-led Jazz have won four in a row without Boozer and have knocked Spurs down to fourth in the West. | |
4 (5) | Rockets | 32-18 | How can Rockets be 16-11 with Yao and 16-7 without him? T-Mac is still scorching and their defense is No. 1 in ppg allowed (90.4) and defensive FG pct. (42.2). | |
5 (7) | Pistons | 31-18 | With Webber, Pistons are 10-3 and look like top-five material again. Best of all, Sheed looks happier than he was partnering any of Big Ben's previous replacements. | |
6 (4) | Spurs | 33-18 | It's going to take wins in Jersey and Detroit -- on a back-to-back -- just for Spurs to finish .500 on the Rodeo Road Trip they always use as their annual springboard. | |
7 (12) | Raptors | 27-24 | So they didn't win their road showdown with Detroit. So what? Raps are 14-6 in 2007 and rank as the Titanic's first team over .500 since New Jersey was 5-4. | |
8 (15) | Cavaliers | 30-21 | Good timing. Amid strong signs LeBron and his coach are clashing over offensive philosophy, Cavs run off three quality home wins: Clips, Heat, Lakers. | |
9 (6) | Lakers | 30-22 | It was Lakers' longest trip since 1989 and it didn't start or end well. The bookends on this 3-5 jaunt: Kobe's one-game suspension and a three-game losing streak. | |
10 (8) | Bulls | 29-23 | Compared to their last seven-game trip, during which they went 1-6 -- and 0-6 against West teams -- Bulls will get a pass from Skiles for going 3-4 on this one. Maybe. | |
11 (13) | Heat | 25-26 | Thanks to a 6-1 surge, Heat can actually reach .500 by the All-Star break -- for the first time since the champs were 3-3 -- if they win their only game this week. | |
12 (9) | Wizards | 28-21 | The coach is exactly right. Great as he is, Gil's obsession with hanging 50 on Portland was doubly inappropriate with Jamison out and teammates brawling anew. | |
13 (9) | Pacers | 27-24 | Artest is long gone. Stephen Jackson? Gone, too. Yet Indy still can't avoid trouble or its trademark inconsistency, dropping three straight at home after a 6-1 run. | |
14 (12) | Clippers | 25-26 | Attention, Clips: Just make sure that, at the very least, you get to 89 points. You're 0-13 when you score 88 points or less ... and 25-13 in all the other games. | |
15 (16) | Hornets | 24-27 | Thought I was kidding about Hornets rallying back into playoff contention? They were a gutty 8-10 with Chris Paul out injured and are now in the midst of an 8-2 surge. | |
16 (14) | Timberwolves | 24-27 | Just what Wolves needed: Hornets and Kings have rejoined a race that now has seven teams -- Nuggets, Clips, Warriors and even Blazers, too -- after two playoff spots. | |
17 (18) | Nets | 25-27 | Coach Frank, they say, is safe. Kidd and/or Vince? Sounds like we won't be able to say for sure for another 10 days. Until the trade deadline passes, in other words. | |
18 (19) | Nuggets | 25-24 | With Iverson ailing and the team dropping seven of eight before much-needed road wins at Indy and Milwaukee, Melo could barely celebrate his All-Star breakthrough. | |
19 (20) | Magic | 26-26 | Give them this much: Magic have only four W's since Jan. 10 but they've all been impressive, especially Friday's alley-oop knifing of Spurs at the buzzer. | |
20 (22) | Trail Blazers | 22-30 | Given that Blazers have 22 wins already after a 21-61 season -- and remembering what was expected of them -- maybe Randolph is more of an All-Star snubee than I once thought. | |
21 (21) | Warriors | 24-28 | Both starting guards are on the shelf and even Boston has two more road victories than Warriors do. My question, then: How are these guys still in the playoff hunt? | |
22 (24) | Knicks | 22-29 | You tell us, America. Knicks are five games out of the division lead and three games out of the No. 8 spot. Does that mean Isiah's playoff dream is still alive? | |
23 (23) | Hawks | 20-30 | Winning in Phoenix was sweet, even with Nash out, but don't forget that Suns will have the last laugh by inheriting Hawks' pick ... unless it's No. 1, 2 or 3. | |
24 (25) | Kings | 22-27 | With another Arco setback Sunday, Kings have the worst comparison of road wins to home losses (-5) of any team realistically in the playoff hunt. In either conference. | |
25 (17) | Bobcats | 18-33 | Figures. As soon as we praise and raise Bobcats all the way into the teens, they throw in an 0-4 week to turn an 11-8 record since that 7-21 start into 11-12. | |
26 (26) | SuperSonics | 19-32 | Rashard Lewis is back, Bob Hill is still feeling the heat ... and Nick Collison is overdue for a shout-out from the committee after averaging 15 and 11 in January. | |
27 (27) | 76ers | 17-35 | You'd have to say it's still AI's team. Since Sixers bottomed out at 10-29, Iguodala has led them in scoring 12 times in 13 games, with Philly going 7-6 in that span. | |
28 (28) | Bucks | 19-32 | Bucks are now 3-16 sans Redd, who criminally has no All-Star berth to rush back for. I'm still so mad about the snub that I don't blame him for taking extra time to heal. | |
29 (29) | Grizzlies | 13-39 | Full disclosure that the following is a reach brought on by a case of Comment Block: Grizz take a lifetime mark of 4-2 on Valentine's Day into Wednesday's visit to Indy. | |
30 (30) | Celtics | 12-38 | Uh-oh: 23 straight L's is the single-season record. If Celts don't beat Bucks on Wed., they'll take a 19-game skid into a five-game trip out West after the break. |