Just another week in the NBA. Boston keeps winning, and the Spurs, Pistons, Suns and Mavericks are familiar faces in the top five. But following the NBA's fab five there is a drop off in team talent. Teams six through 10 do not have the fire power that the top five teams seem to possess. There is a clear tier of top teams (SAS, DET, PHX, DAL, BOS) and then a somewhat larger second tier of teams who will try to pull an upset in order to capture NBA glory (ORL, LAL, DEN, UTAH, TOR, HOU, NOR, GS). The tier of bottom feeding contenders (CLE, WASH, POR, ATL, IND, CHI) is where Cleveland, last year's Eastern Conference Champions, stands as of today. The playoff wishful thinkers of the NBA (NJ, LAC, SAC, MIA, PHI, MIL) need to put together a strong run to make a case to move up a tier. And the rest of the NBA (MEM, CHA, NY, SEA, MIN) is playing for next year already. Here are my rankings for mid-December, as always feel free to comment with where I've gone wrong.
BIGGEST RISE: Portland Trail Blazers from 18th to 13th.
BIGGEST FALL: Miami Heat from 20th to 25th.
(Editor's note: "LW" indicates each team's ranking from CheChe23's previous week. —RTW)
| CheChe23's Power Rankings: December 19, 2007 | |||
| TEAM | RK (LW) | W-L | COMMENT |
 | 1 (1) | 20-2 | Boston is unbeaten at home and in December (nine straight wins). Besides the Boston Three Party, the Celtics have formed a formidable four to fill in off the bench. Rajon Rondo, Eddie House, James Posey and Kendrick Perkins have helped to keep Boston at the top of my power rankings. |
 | 2 (3) | 17-7 | Who wants to bet that Primoz Brezec becomes effective when playing with a quality supporting cast? Well, I don't know what the odds would be for that bet, but I like what Brezec could do as a role player. I'm getting my popcorn ready for tonight's Pistons/Celtics showdown. If the Pistons win, we might be seeing a new No. 1 next Wednesday. |
 | 3 (6) | 18-7 | Nash & Co. knocked off San Antonio on Monday night and move to third overall this week. If the Suns beat Dallas tonight, Toronto on Saturday and the Lakers next Tuesday -- I won't be able to move them high enough. |
 | 4 (5) | 17-9 | The Mavericks have won five of their last six and are starting to look like the team that made it to the NBA Finals two years ago and the team that had the most wins in the NBA last year. In order to settle the debate over which team should be ranked higher, the Mavericks face the Suns tonight. |
 | 5 (2) | 18-6 | In Tim Duncan's second game back after missing four with a sprained ankle he recorded season-highs in both points (36) and rebounds (17), but his effort wasn't enough to top Amare Stoudamire and the Phoenix Suns. The Spurs have dropped three of their last four games and move to their lowest ranking (No. 5) of the season. I assume a climb back to the top will only come with time. |
 | 6 (4) | 17-9 | Orlando moved down again and could drop even more after this week with tough match-ups against Houston, Utah and Boston. Dwight Howard is still rebounding and shooting amazingly and is an MVP wanna-be. Freaky stat: Hedo Turkoglu (19.0) averages more points per game than Rashard Lewis (18.8). |
 | 7 (11) | 15-9 | Phil Jackson's Lakers have won six of their last seven and find themselves back in the top 10. The Lakers were able to take advantage of the Spurs when they didn't have Tony Parker or Tim Duncan -- but a win over San Antonio is a win over San Antonio. Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum have consistently played great, it's now time for Luke Walton and Jordan Farmar to start doing the same. |
 | 8 (9) | 14-10 | The Nuggets move up again and again it is by default. Utah and New Orleans didn't have a great week while the Warriors, Raptors and Rockets are still a tier below Denver (within the tier listed in my intro). Role players Linas Kleiza, Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith all average more than 10 points per game. Anthony Carter has found a nice role as back-up to A.I. -- he's scored 8.7 points per game and added 5.0 assists per game since see his first action on November 23. |
 | 9 (10) | 14-11 | Baron Davis came through on his promise Friday when he said that Golden State would end its nine game losing streak to Los Angeles. Davis put on his usual late-game cape and knocked down a game deciding 3-pointer with 16.8 seconds to play dropping the Lakers and at the same time vaulting himself into MVP discussions. Davis has had a great season, a typical Davis-like season, which is good and bad. B-Diddy can be the NBA's most valuable player if he plays every game this season. But injury-prone, Davis hasn't played all 82 since his days in Charlotte. What else is new for Golden State? The more you take, the more you make -- The Warriors are making the most three point field goals in the NBA (9.5) because they are attempting the most shots from deep (27.3). |
 | 10 (8) | 15-10 | The Hornets have gone 4-4 in December. Quality wins over Phoenix and Dallas and quality losses over Detroit, Dallas and Denver. The next four games come against winable opponents: Seattle, Minnesota, Memphis and Charlotte. |
OUTSIDE THE TOP 10:
11. Utah Jazz (14-12): Utah is 2-6 this month and has only beat Miami and Seattle (dropping two of the six to Portland). I said last week that Utah has a roster talented enough to keep them in the top 10 all season. But the Jazz are 11th this week and will only find their way back in when they start to play as a team again.
12. Toronto Raptors (15-11): Toronto takes shot selection very seriously, they are shooting the best percentage from three while attempting the NBA's 13th most overall.
13. Portland Trail Blazers (13-12): I couldn't put Portland into the top 10 like ESPN's Marc Stein did this week, but I'll agree it's easy to see that the Blazers are the hottest team in the NBA. Portland is again the biggest riser of the week and has won eight in a row including "show-me" wins versus Denver and New Orleans over the weekend.
14. Houston Rockets (12-12): The two headed monster of T-Mac and Yao have played as good as they can, but Houston needs a third head to help shoulder some of the load. Bonzi Wells, Shane Battier, Mike James or Rafer Alston are prime role players, but don't compare to what the best of the West are taking the floor with. So much for that Rudy Gay for Shane Battier trade.
15. Atlanta Hawks (12-12): Atlanta has been playing great and is staying in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Hawks are now entering the phase where they need to win against "non-playoff" teams -- starting tonight against Miami.
16. Cleveland Cavaliers (11-14): Cleveland is 2-6 this month and has only beat Indiana and Milwaukee (dropping two of the six to New Jersey) -- sound familiar? See: Utah Jazz.
17. Washington Wizards (13-10): DeShawn Stevenson is making life without Arenas a little easier in Washington. Stevenson was flirting with the HOT list after making an average of 5.0 three point shots per game over his last three. If Washington keeps winning I won't be able to avoid moving them up any longer.
18. Indiana Pacers (13-12): Mike Dunleavy has taken over as the Pacers go-to guy. Dunleavy is scoring 19.5 in December and scored a career high 36 points Monday.
19. Chicago Bulls (8-14): Chicago is slowly progressing back to .500, but with a trip to Boston on the schedule for Friday and a flight to San Antonio next Wednesday -- adding victories will not come easy.
20. Sacramento Kings (10-14): The Kings are getting over the Kevin Martin injury by getting outstanding play from Francisco Garcia and John Salmons. Quickly becoming the scoring replacement, Salmons poured in a career high 31 points last night and has notched double figures in his last nine games.
21. Philadelphia 76ers (10-14): Don't look now, but since losing to Boston two Wednesday's ago, the 76ers have won five of their last six. The Sixers are one of five NBA teams (Suns, Warriors, Pacers and Raptors) that get double figures in scoring from six players.
22. Los Angeles Clippers (9-15): Elton Brand has declared he's coming back ASAP regardless of the Clippers playoff potential. Los Angeles continues to get career numbers from Chris Kaman, who is starting to cement himself as one of the top centers in the league.
23. New Jersey Nets (10-15): New Jersey has lost focus and has dropped six of their last seven.
24. Milwaukee Bucks (10-14): The most underrated Big Three in the NBA is Michael Redd, Mo Williams and Andrew Bogut. Yi Jianlian is making his case for Rookie of the Year by averaging 10.4 points per game, scoring double figures in his last four games.
25. Miami Heat (7-17): Rumor is that the Heat are still interested in landing Ron Artest and Mike Bibby from Sacramento -- I might have to have that be Friday's Rumor Mill post.
26. Memphis Grizzlies (7-17): Memphis has lost seven of their past eight games. Pau Gasol has missed the last three games with a jammed big toe, his return from injury doesn't matter because Memphis is a lottery team with or without Gasol in the line-up.
27. Charlotte Bobcats (8-14): "Be Like Mike" -- Good message...good luck!
28. New York Knicks (7-17): The Knicks have dropped six of their last seven and the "Fire Isiah!" chants are getting louder.
29. Seattle Sonics (7-18): This team might be the best of the lousiest, but I'm holding Seattle at 29th again this week.
30. Minnesota Timberwolves (3-20): The Timberwolves do the same thing every game. It's three quarters of "How are we in this game?" and one quarter of "Here we go again". The Wolves can't add to the win column with "good efforts" and "good tries", the Timberpuppies need to grow up and stop accepting pats on the back just for "working hard". NBA's first to 20 losses, the Wolves are a tier below the lowest tier.
HOT HOT HOT
1. Dwyane Wade - Wade is scoring 22.9 points per game but has recently started showing his ability to put the ball in the bucket. After having three straight 30+ scoring outbursts last week, Wade had 30 again Monday when he lead the Heat past Minnesota.
2. Anthony Johnson - Atlanta may have found a shoe that fits with Anthony Johnson. After averaging 4.0 points and 3.8 assists per game in November, Johnson has taken advantage of increased playing time and has increased his production this month to 7.8 points and 6.0 assists per game.
3. Zach Randolph - The Knicks might stink, but Randolph has delivered since arriving from Portland. Over the past five games, Randolph has scored 20 or more points and has averaged 12.8 rebounds during that stretch.
NOT NOT NOT
2. Luke Walton - No one expected Luke to be anywhere near as good as his father, but his recent play needs a tie-dye. Walton's 7.7 points per game and 3.7 rebounds are down from 11.4 and 5.0 a year ago.
3. Al Harrington - The Warrior forward has the potential to average 20 points per game. Over the last six games, Harrington has scored single digits two times and has totaled seven assists. His 14.0 ppg is down from 17.0 last season.
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