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http://www.insidehoops.com/pr-122505.shtml
NBA power rankings, rating the entire league from top to bottom. The season is still pretty early, so plenty of teams have a chance to turn their seasons around in the next few weeks. The InsideHoops.com NBA Power rankings mostly focus on how good we think teams really are, while taking their recent performances into partial consideration.
Through Games of December 24, 2005 | By Larry Fleisher
1) Detroit (21-3) Hard to believe anyone picked the Pacers or the Heat in the East over these guys. Re-united with Flip Saunders, Chauncey Billups is even better than before.
2) San Antonio (21-6) Not bad for a team whose coach feels is still middle of the pack defensively. Good luck stopping Tony Parker in the paint or anywhere else on the court.
3) Dallas (20-7) Looks like a new big three (Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jason Terry) is developing as chemistry continues to grow.
4) Cleveland (16-9) Showed they can win even when LeBron James has a rough night. Have won five in a row following rough start to the month.
5) Memphis (16-9) Went toe-to-toe with Detroit and playing great defensively. In the last 10 regulation games have allowed only 72.4 points.
6) LA Clippers (16-10) The bandwagon is growing as Elton Brand continues to be an MVP candidate. The loss of Corey Maggette for the next month hurts.
7) Miami (15-12) With Shaquille O'Neal back, they're a whole new team.
8) Phoenix (15-10) Have lost five of seven since opening the month with five straight wins.
9) Milwaukee (15-9) Potential for improvement has translated into 8-3 record in December. Three-point ability continues to be a big weapon.
10) LA Lakers (15-11) Good luck stopping Kobe. On pace for 47 wins, which is pretty good for a team picked to miss the playoffs.
11) Indiana (15-9) Meet Ron Artest's replacement - Danny Granger. Not quite the defender Artest is but teammates haven't been suprised at his recent impact on both ends.
12) New Jersey (14-12) Starting to get hot again and just in time to beat their favorite opponent - the Knicks.
13) Philadelphia (14-13) Iverson scores 53, team loses and now is there trouble with team unity in the "City of Brotherly Love?"
14) Minnesota (13-11) Falling back to earth with five losses in the last six. Luckily for them the rest of the division is pretty mediocre.
15) Golden State (14-13) Have lost seven of the last nine. But Ike Diogu's pretty good so far.
16) Denver (13-14) Still trying to find the magic that was 32-8 in the final 40 games of last season. Perhaps Friday's blowout of Houston will help.
17) Chicago (12-14) Time to get their act together, maybe player's only practice will help with tough week looming.
18) Washington (11-14) Averaging 114 points in last two games. Maybe last two wins will help them improve on their 6-13 record since the 5-1 start.
19) Seattle (11-14) Executing on both ends have been an issue in the fourth quarter in recent games.
20) NO/Oklahoma City (11-15) Impressive resume of wins and that includes holding the Spurs to 76 points.
21) Sacramento (10-16) Injuries to Peja Stojakovic and Bonzi Wells further expose depth problems.
22) Boston (11-14) This is how far under .500 they might hang around all year. Went 2-3 on earlier five-game road trip and face another one next week that's all against Western Conference teams.
23) Houston (10-15) Tracy McGrady's healthy but needs support as evidenced by Friday's blowout loss to Denver. Not having Yao Ming for the next few weeks hurts a lot.
24) Orlando (9-15) Great to see Grant Hill back. But things could get worse if Dwight Howard's sprained right ankle is more serious than diagnosed.
25) Utah (11-16) They're 2-8 without Andrei Kirilenko. But he could be returning sooner than believed.
26) Charlotte (8-19) A little better than last year. But injuries to Emeka Okafor and Sean May combined with poor production from replacements could lead to a lenghty slide.
27) Atlanta (7-18) Have won three of four behind the hot play of Joe Johnson and Al Harrington.
28) New York (7-18) Finally won a game after two-plus weeks of mostly ugly losses. Good luck with that "rebuilding movement".
29) Portland (8-18) Don't let Friday's win in Minnesota fool you. Losers of 11 of the last 14, this team figures to be around this position most of the year.
30) Toronto (6-21) Despite winning at Orlando and Houston and hanging around in San Antonio, this group isn't any good beyond Chris Bosh and Charlie Villanueva.
Man they think that we are the 2nd best team in the east conf and that is just great. I hope we continue our winning streak.
NBA power rankings, rating the entire league from top to bottom. The season is still pretty early, so plenty of teams have a chance to turn their seasons around in the next few weeks. The InsideHoops.com NBA Power rankings mostly focus on how good we think teams really are, while taking their recent performances into partial consideration.
Through Games of December 24, 2005 | By Larry Fleisher
1) Detroit (21-3) Hard to believe anyone picked the Pacers or the Heat in the East over these guys. Re-united with Flip Saunders, Chauncey Billups is even better than before.
2) San Antonio (21-6) Not bad for a team whose coach feels is still middle of the pack defensively. Good luck stopping Tony Parker in the paint or anywhere else on the court.
3) Dallas (20-7) Looks like a new big three (Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jason Terry) is developing as chemistry continues to grow.
4) Cleveland (16-9) Showed they can win even when LeBron James has a rough night. Have won five in a row following rough start to the month.
5) Memphis (16-9) Went toe-to-toe with Detroit and playing great defensively. In the last 10 regulation games have allowed only 72.4 points.
6) LA Clippers (16-10) The bandwagon is growing as Elton Brand continues to be an MVP candidate. The loss of Corey Maggette for the next month hurts.
7) Miami (15-12) With Shaquille O'Neal back, they're a whole new team.
8) Phoenix (15-10) Have lost five of seven since opening the month with five straight wins.
9) Milwaukee (15-9) Potential for improvement has translated into 8-3 record in December. Three-point ability continues to be a big weapon.
10) LA Lakers (15-11) Good luck stopping Kobe. On pace for 47 wins, which is pretty good for a team picked to miss the playoffs.
11) Indiana (15-9) Meet Ron Artest's replacement - Danny Granger. Not quite the defender Artest is but teammates haven't been suprised at his recent impact on both ends.
12) New Jersey (14-12) Starting to get hot again and just in time to beat their favorite opponent - the Knicks.
13) Philadelphia (14-13) Iverson scores 53, team loses and now is there trouble with team unity in the "City of Brotherly Love?"
14) Minnesota (13-11) Falling back to earth with five losses in the last six. Luckily for them the rest of the division is pretty mediocre.
15) Golden State (14-13) Have lost seven of the last nine. But Ike Diogu's pretty good so far.
16) Denver (13-14) Still trying to find the magic that was 32-8 in the final 40 games of last season. Perhaps Friday's blowout of Houston will help.
17) Chicago (12-14) Time to get their act together, maybe player's only practice will help with tough week looming.
18) Washington (11-14) Averaging 114 points in last two games. Maybe last two wins will help them improve on their 6-13 record since the 5-1 start.
19) Seattle (11-14) Executing on both ends have been an issue in the fourth quarter in recent games.
20) NO/Oklahoma City (11-15) Impressive resume of wins and that includes holding the Spurs to 76 points.
21) Sacramento (10-16) Injuries to Peja Stojakovic and Bonzi Wells further expose depth problems.
22) Boston (11-14) This is how far under .500 they might hang around all year. Went 2-3 on earlier five-game road trip and face another one next week that's all against Western Conference teams.
23) Houston (10-15) Tracy McGrady's healthy but needs support as evidenced by Friday's blowout loss to Denver. Not having Yao Ming for the next few weeks hurts a lot.
24) Orlando (9-15) Great to see Grant Hill back. But things could get worse if Dwight Howard's sprained right ankle is more serious than diagnosed.
25) Utah (11-16) They're 2-8 without Andrei Kirilenko. But he could be returning sooner than believed.
26) Charlotte (8-19) A little better than last year. But injuries to Emeka Okafor and Sean May combined with poor production from replacements could lead to a lenghty slide.
27) Atlanta (7-18) Have won three of four behind the hot play of Joe Johnson and Al Harrington.
28) New York (7-18) Finally won a game after two-plus weeks of mostly ugly losses. Good luck with that "rebuilding movement".
29) Portland (8-18) Don't let Friday's win in Minnesota fool you. Losers of 11 of the last 14, this team figures to be around this position most of the year.
30) Toronto (6-21) Despite winning at Orlando and Houston and hanging around in San Antonio, this group isn't any good beyond Chris Bosh and Charlie Villanueva.
Man they think that we are the 2nd best team in the east conf and that is just great. I hope we continue our winning streak.
