The Western Conference is beginning to shape up like how I see it ending up in late April. The top nine teams will battle the rest of the season for eight playoff spots, while the other six teams are playing for their spot in the lottery. The Eastern Conference isn't shaping up like I thought it would, but it doesn't appear that the standings will finish the way they are right now. Indiana is playing better than anyone had expected, and if the playoffs started today they'd be the seventh seed. It's up for grabs after that -- heck, the Knicks are thick in a playoff hunt (wow, that sounds funny). At the end of the day, the elite teams rest in the West, but the East is starting to show they aren't far behind. Each week I'm ranking all 30 teams regardless of conference, and this week the West out-numbers the East, six to four in my top 10.
BIGGEST RISE: Indiana Pacers from 25th to 16th.
BIGGEST FALL: Charlotte Bobcats from 17th to 24th.
(Editor's note: "LW" indicates each team's ranking from CheChe23's previous week. —RTW)
| CheChe23's Power Rankings: December 5, 2007 | |||
| TEAM | RK (LW) | W-L | COMMENT |
 | 1 (2) | 14-2 | Boston is back on top. The Celtics are showing they are for real and it doesn't appear they'll be slowing down anytime soon. Through Tuesday, Boston leads the NBA in total defense (holding teams to 87.4 poins per game), total point differential (+13.5), rebound differential (+4.8), steal differential (+3.0), field goal percentage differential (+7.2%) and are second to Utah in assist differential (+6.9, Utah +7.1). Maybe the teams that Boston has played aren't that good or maybe they are making them look that way -- I choose the latter. |
 | 2 (1) | 15-3 | I moved the Spurs down after personally witnessing them toy with the Timberwolves for three and a half quarters before destroying them with a 32-11 fourth quarter beat down. Duncan's injury doesn't mean much, but because I didn't see anyone besides the big three do much during the game, I had to pick Boston. |
 | 3 (4) | 16-4 | Orlando is Marc Stein's sexy No. 1 this week, but I could only boost them to No. 3. The starting five is averaging double figures and Dwight Howard is showing he's a frontrunner for MVP -- and he's only 21 (OK, 22 on Dec. 8). Howard is second in the NBA in field goal percentage and first in rebounding. The Magic have avoided the radar, but I think Stein's No. 1 ranking might have changed things. |
 | 4 (3) | 14-4 | Phoenix is on a three game win streak which includes a win over Orlando, and they beat Orlando previously already, yet they move down to fourth and the Magic move up? What's that about!? Well, the Suns may have the Magic's number, but the Magic have been playing better basketball. Without the three point threat that Phoenix has exploited over the last few years with players like Tim Thomas, Quentin Richardson, James Jones, Eddie House or Joe Johnson -- the Suns are relying more this season on their interior production. Last season the Suns averaged a league best 9.6 makes (out of 24.0 attempts) from three and are shooting 8.7/23.2 this season. They led the league in FGs made in '06-'07, and are doing the same this year. But with fewer shots counting for three points, the Suns might not be able to outgun like they used to. |
 | 5 (5) | 13-6 | Utah is pass-happy and converts more assists than any team (27.2 -- 9.1 from DWill alone), but they need to be more conscious of their turnovers (15.8). The Jazz take their four game win streak into Texas for games against San Antonio Friday and Dallas Saturday. How they play in that back to back will make or break whether or not they remain a top five team. |
 | 6 (9) | 12-5 | The Pistons are winners of four in a row and have already tallied three wins in December. Detroit is playing great defense again this season, giving up 92.7 points per game, third best in the NBA behind Boston and San Antonio. The Pistons are sharing the responsibilities this year better than ever. |
 | 7 (6) | 12-6 | The Mavs are getting surprise production from Brandon Bass. The former prep star has been productive every night this season after playing two dismal seasons for the Hornets. Bass is playing more than 21 minutes per game and averaging 10.2 points and 4.7 rebounds. Dallas has the potential to go either way in the rankings over the next seven games -- six of their opponents are in my top 13 including San Antonio tonight, Denver tomorrow and Utah on Saturday. |
 | 8 (8) | 12-6 | New Orleans stays at the eighth spot for the third straight week. New Orleans is ranked one spot behind Dallas despite beating them on Saturday, the reason is because both teams are a little overrated and Dallas has played a tougher schedule through the first month of the season. The Hornets are getting a little closer to gatting what they had hoped for when they acquired Peja Stojakovic -- He's averaging a career best from behind the arc (45.8%). His days of averaging 20 points per game are over, but Stojakovic's veteran experience is what the Hornets need more. |
 | 9 (10) | 11-7 | Kenyon Martin looked great Sunday scoring 20 and grabbing eight rebounds in a win over Miami. Martin, who has started almost every game this season, could be a key factor in the success of the Nuggets. If Martin is able to up his averages and match Camby on the defensive end, Denver could creep up the rankings. |
 | 10 (7) | 9-10 | LeBron can't be sitting for too many more games because without him the Cavs arn't very good. I do like that Daniel Gibson is doing his best B.J. Armstrong impression and Zydrunas Ilgauskas is playing some of the best ball of his career. But come on, no one takes this team seriously without LeBron in the line-up. |
OUTSIDE THE TOP 10:
11. Golden State Warriors (9-8): Losing to Orlando in OT on Monday is a good sign -- the Warriors are sailing in the right direction with Captain Jack steering the ship. Before losing to the Magic (No. 3), the Warriors rattled off nine out of ten, only losing to Boston (No. 1).
12. Houston Rockets (9-9): The Rockets play three out of their next four on the road and need to come away with three of four wins. With Steve Francis sidelined, look for Rafer Alston to start outshining Mike James at point guard. Crazy stat: Mutombo has one block this season.
13. Toronto Raptors (10-8): Even with Ford, Bosh and Bargnani on the bench, Toronto was able to use their deep and talented bench to put the Bobcats away by nearly 20 points. The Raptors 15 man roster is so deep that David Stern could send half the team to Vancouver to try again. I wonder what practice is like, those scrimmages must be heated competition.
14. Los Angeles Lakers (10-8): Jordan Farmar is better than you think he is and does more than you think he would. It's too bad the Lakers can't say the same about Vlad Radmanovic or Sasha Vujacic.
15. Indiana Pacers (9-10): A close loss to Phoenix last night will give the Pacers confidence going into a big test against Orlando this Friday. But starting Friday, eight games in 11 days might bring this team back to earth.
16. New Jersey Nets (9-9): A win over a LeBron-less Cavs is a gimmie, but the Nets are still a win-one lose-one team.
17. Atlanta Hawks (7-10): You might underestimate the desire to win from this bunch, but the playoffs are expected.
18. Washington Wizards (8-9): Games against Cleveland tonight and Phoenix on Friday might reveal weaknesses. Caron Butler is playing out of his mind and taking full advantage of the void left from Gilbert Arenas's 17 shots per game. 23 points a night is the best of Butler's career and it doesn't appear he's reached his cap.
19. Chicago Bulls (4-11): The Bulls started slow again this season (3-10) which brings their record to 26-93 in November since '98 when the Jordan era ended. It's only up from here right? Not quite. Back to back games against Detroit and Boston this weekend probably won't help to start a win streak.
20. Memphis Grizzlies (6-11): Last week I said that Kyle Lowry would pick up his pace with Mike Conley sidelined, but it was Juan Carlos Navarro who stepped up instead. Navarro has put up six games of 14 points or better and is averaging 11.0 points per game, second for rookies behind Durant.
21. Milwaukee Bucks (8-8): Before overcoming the Clippers last night, the Bucks lost three straight against three mediocre teams which isn't going to move them up in the rankings.
22. Miami Heat (4-13): Believe it or not, Daequan Cook is averaging 10 points and has played a big role off the bench in the past four games. Cook is stealing Dorell Wright's minutes, because Wright has missed nine out of the last 10 games from a wrist injury.
23. Charlotte Bobcats (6-10): Just like Miami is using Daequan Cook, the Bobcats are using their late first round rookie Jared Dudley to take minutes from injured or under producing players. Dudley's produced double figures in three of the last five games, including 10 rebounds Monday night. Primoz Brezec has been a huge bum this season averaging less than 2 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, a far cry from when he averaged 13 points and 7.4 rebounds during his first season with the Bobcats in '04-'05 -- maybe if Brezec had been more productive Charlotte wouldn't have had to sign Anderson Varejao.
24. New York Knicks (5-11): Back to back games against Philadelphia this weekend means someone is adding to their win total.
25. Portland Trail Blazers (6-12): A win over Memphis on Monday showed just how good Brandon Roy is, his 26 points gave him his eighth 20-point game of the season and his 15th game in double figures.
26. Sacramento Kings (7-10): The Kings don't play defense, allowing the fourth most points per game in the NBA (103.8).
27. Los Angeles Clippers (6-10): I almost put Cuttino Mobley as one of my NOT's for the week, but another Clipper was just as NOT. Mobley needs to step up his game before people start calling for him to retire. His last six games he's 17/60 (28.3%) from the floor.
28. Philadelphia 76ers (5-12): Andre Iguodala is averaging the third most turnovers per game this season (4.0), 0.1 away from the league leader.
29. Seattle Sonics (3-15): Chris Wilcox is picking up the slack on offense reaching double figures in 10 straight and averaging 15.3 points per game to go along with 7.4 rebounds.
30. Minnesota Timberwolves (2-14): As a Minnesota native, I'm loving the idea of Michael Beasley in a Wolves uniform.
HOT HOT HOT
1. Dwight Howard - Over the past week DH recorded two games with 23 rebounds and he's shooting 61.1% from the floor.
2. Andris Biedrins - Dwight Howard second to Biedrins in FG percentage and Andris is averaging a double double per game (11.2 points, 10.4 rebounds).
3. Jamaal Tinsley - Tinsley has been the Pacers floor leader, scoring (14.3 ppg), finding the open man and producing. His up-tempo style and his basketball I.Q. lead to the best assist per game average in his career (8.4).
NOT NOT NOT
2. Brevin Knight - Just two years ago Knight was averaging nearly nine assists per game, but this season he is averaging just 4.2. The Clippers might be without Sam Cassell for a while, so it's time to see better numbers from an NBA vet -- 8 assists, 9 points last night is what we expect to see consistently.
3. Kirk Hinrich - Hinrich's points are down from 16.6 points per game last season to 10.7 -- Monday's 18 points is more like what he should be dropping every game.
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