Make it three consecutive Mondays atop weekly NBA Power Rankings for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavs are the only team in the top 10 these days that can claim reasonably good health and on-the-court consistency, making them an automatic choice to retain the top spot in spite of a Friday slip-up at Denver with the Nuggets missing Carmelo Anthony.
Orlando normally would have fallen further than No. 4 after its recent 0-4 skid — and Dallas and Phoenix likewise moved up more than usual after so-so weeks — because so many teams in the top 10 have hit slumps or been derailed by injuries.
Another interesting jumble can be found in the middle of the pack, where No. 16 Memphis and No. 17 Utah certainly can make cases to be placed a little higher but got shoved down because of the recent surges seen from No. 13 Miami, No. 14 New Orleans and No. 15 Toronto.
Click here to rank the teams yourself, or click here to comment on these rankings.
| 2009-10 Power Rankings: Week 12 | ||||
| RANK (LAST WK) | TEAM | REC. | COMMENT | |
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1 (1) | Cavaliers | 29-10 | Not going to grade them down too much for Friday’s slip at Melo-less Denver. Not when the Cavs have won six of their past seven roadies and when none of their closest pursuers is healthy enough to push ‘em. |
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2 (2) | Lakers | 29-8 | Kobe’s, Pau’s and Artest’s injuries have been legit disruptions, but defensive slippage isn’t so easily dismissed. Not when L.A. allows 100-plus points in eight of 11 after doing so just eight times in its first 26 games. |
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3 (4) | Celtics | 26-9 | An angry KG is ordered to rest his knee and you inevitably wonder whether Boston will ever be healthy enough to make a real run … but also whether the Lakers will wish they did the same with Kobe and his finger. |
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4 (3) | Magic | 25-12 | As the 41-game midpoint approaches and we reflect on the Magic’s recent four-game skid as well as Vince Carter’s latest injury, perhaps it’s a wise time to say that their perfect 8-0 preseason didn’t mean a whole lot. |
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5 (6) | Mavericks | 25-12 | Mike Bacsik isn’t just the lefty who surrendered Barry Bonds’ 756th homer. He’s a rabid Mavs fan who tweeted late Saturday: “It’s the ’90′s all over again. The Cowboys win a playoff game by 20 and the Mavs lose by 20.” |
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6 (10) | Suns | 23-14 | Such are the ups and downs we’re seeing throughout the top 10 that Miami can deal Phoenix its fourth home defeat in eight games — after Phoenix started 10-0 at home — yet the Suns still rise in the rankings. |
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7 (5) | Trail Blazers | 23-16 | The Blazers are tied with Cleveland and Dallas for the most wins in the league — eight — against the rest of the teams residing in our top 11. Which explains why they’re still so high in spite of all those injuries. |
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8 (9) | Spurs | 22-13 | We all know second-half runs are the Spurs’ specialty, but they’re looking at more ground to make up than normal having played just 13 games on the road and sporting a 3-11 record against teams at or above .500. |
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9 (7) | Hawks | 23-13 | Hope this isn’t our fault. Ever since we asked America whether it was time to officially proclaim that the East is home to four elite teams — back when the Hawks were a sparkly 8-2 — Atlanta is an underwhelming 15-11. |
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10 (11) | Nuggets | 23-14 | He’ll never muscle his way to the top of MVP contention, but Friday’s W over our No. 1 team in his comeback game — without Melo — is yet another example of why Denver Chauncey always has to be in the conversation. |
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11 (8) | Rockets | 21-16 | These Rockets have been so good at ignoring injury obstacles that you naturally expect them to grind through the trade rumors, too. Knowing that an easier second-half schedule is forthcoming should help the mood. |
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12 (12) | Thunder | 20-16 | The word for Durant’s past 10 games is ridiculous: 32.7 ppg on 57.4 percent shooting and 47.1 percent on 3s. In related news, OKC has quadrupled its win total from last season’s 5-31 mark at the same point. |
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13 (18) | Heat | 18-17 | Ran up an early 25-point lead on the Hawks. Stole one in Phoenix to improve to 6-2 in games decided by five or fewer points. And found a way to pilfer Rafer Alston from the Nets. Best week of the Heat’s season. |
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14 (17) | Hornets | 19-16 | See what happens when we throw some committee (of one) spotlight on the Hornets’ 2-13 road record? They win three roadies in the span of a week. Who would dare say these rankings don’t mean anything? |
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15 (15) | Raptors | 19-19 | Jim from Chicago wrote in to ask why we haven’t been trotting out our trusty Leastern Conference references. And he certainly has a point when the Raps needed an 8-2 surge just to give the East six .500 teams. |
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16 (13) | Grizzlies | 18-18 | The Griz are back in the Southwest Division basement and awoke Monday as the West’s No. 11 team, but read the fine print. They have to be right there with Houston and Sacramento at the top of the Cinderella Rankings. |
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17 (14) | Jazz | 20-17 | One road pounding of Dallas, impressive as it was, hasn’t stopped the masses from wondering whether Utah plans to keep Boozer and see what it can salvage from this season or keep trying to slice its luxury-tax bill. |
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18 (21) | Clippers | 17-18 | They’ll be patient with Blake Griffin’s debut and trading Marcus Camby in hopes of driving up Camby’s value between now and the trade deadline. Why rush when you’re nearly .500 and just beat the Lakers? |
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19 (16) | Bobcats | 16-19 | You know who’s nervous right now? The Houston Texans. They’ll be the only franchise in North America’s four major sports leagues that hasn’t yet tasted the playoffs if the Jackson-Wallace partnership keeps clicking. |
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20 (19) | Kings | 15-21 | We should probably focus on the recent five-game skid as opposed to our guy Casspi’s run of four straight 20-point games. Or we could just tell you Kevin Martin should be back soon to make the Kings really interesting. |
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21 (20) | Knicks | 15-21 | Grizzlies of the East? Sounds like a slam, but it’s not. The Knicks, you see, endured an even worse start than Memphis — 1-9 compared with 1-8 — but have rebounded with the East’s third-best record (12-7) since Dec. 1. |
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22 (22) | Bulls | 15-20 | For all the early fuss about the Bulls’ annual circus trip, Chicago’s January looks just as rough with eight of this month’s 10 remaining games on the road. (P.S. — We have a lot more to say about the Bulls here.) |
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23 (24) | 76ers | 11-25 | It hasn’t eased any pressure on Eddie Jordan or hushed any of the rampant trade speculation in Philly, but the Iverson reunion experiment is sure working for Iverson. Have you looked at All-Star voting lately? |
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24 (23) | Bucks | 15-19 | I had literally just looked up from a mound of rankings research and switched the channel from Cavs-Blazers to Bucks-Lakers right when Michael Redd planted on that left knee … and buckled. Evening ruined. |
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25 (26) | Warriors | 11-24 | The Monta Ellis Show has been in Oaktown for a league-low 14 home games. So maybe Don Nelson isn’t as far from the record for all-time coaching wins — currently 12 shy of Lenny Wilkens’ 1,332 — as it seems. |
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26 (29) | Wizards | 12-23 | The Wiz actually won two games last week, not that anyone noticed. There might be only one outcome that can transport the franchise out of this nightmare, which is winning the draft lottery and rights to John Wall. |
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27 (27) | Pacers | 11-25 | With Granger mercifully back from injury, T.J. Ford banished to the bench and the names of Jeff Foster and Troy Murphy coming up often in trade speculation, Indy is pretty newsy for a team stuck in the bottom five. |
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28 (28) | Timberwolves | 8-30 | Maybe Jefferson and Love can’t work long term as a tag team because neither provides shot-blocking or defensive athleticism. But breaking them up now, after basically a half-season under Rambis, is risky. Thoughts? |
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29 (25) | Pistons | 11-24 | Q: When does a dozen feel like a bigger number than 10 million? A: When Ben Gordon is credited with scoring the NBA’s 10 millionth point in a defeat to Philly that stretches Detroit’s losing streak to (yikes) 12 games. |
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30 (30) | Nets | 3-34 | Can’t be easy to lock in when your team is 0-15 against the West, stuck on a 7-75 pace and stuck waiting for the official arrival of a new owner and summer cap space. But Devin Harris could be doing more. Couldn’t he? |
