When I picked the Nuggets to win the NBA championship at the beginning of the season I imagined that I would see Allen Iverson playing like he is. But what I didn't imagine is the number of injuries the team has experienced. If I had to do it over again, I'd put Dallas or San Antonio slightly ahead of Boston and Phoenix as my choice for the next NBA champ. Meanwhile, New Orleans has the best record in the West and is the hottest team in the NBA. It's hard to deny what the Hornets have done lately, which is why I've moved them ahead of Boston to the No. 1 spot. Here are my NBA power rankings for the final week in January.
BIGGEST RISE: Minnesota Timberwolves 29th to 24th.
BIGGEST FALL: New Jersey Nets from 18th to 25th.
(Editor's note: "LW" indicates each team's ranking from CheChe23's previous week. —RTW)
| CheChe23's Power Rankings: January 30, 2008 | |||
| TEAM | RK (LW) | W-L | COMMENT |
 | 1 (2) | 32-12 | New Orleans has been destroying teams recently -- they've won back-to-back games by 24 points. David West has helped lead the Hornets to 12 wins in their last 13 games (only one loss in January). With the All-Star game in New Orleans, get ready to hear about how great Chris Paul and his Hornets are for the next few weeks. |
 | 2 (4) | 31-13 | Dallas has won four in a row and faces Boston on Thursday. With Devin Harris set to take a seat for the next few weeks, that Jason Kidd-to-Dallas trade has suddenly become a possibility (see my most recent NBA Rumor Mill). |
 | 3 (2) | 35-8 | Kevin Garnett might have strained his abs during the Timberwolves game when he was overly exaggerating his celebration or maybe it was when he was showing his neck vain after every Boston basket. Boston is 6-4 in their last 10 and played last night without KG and Ray Allen and won easily (they played Miami). KG will enjoy his two day vacation and should be back to work on Thursday for his TNT match-up with Dirk Nowitzki. Boston is shoulders above any East contender, but I can't rank them as the best in the NBA anymore. |
 | 4 (3) | 25-12 | How can Phoenix beat the Timberwolves by 20 on Friday and lose to them by 10 on Wednesday? I think that Phoenix freezes when they come to Minnesota (they also lost @ MIN on Dec 8). Steve Nash (leading the NBA with 11.9 assists per game) keeps the Phoenix offense scoring the leagues most points per game (109.5). |
 | 5 (6) | 32-13 | Detroit remains behind only Boston for both best point differential and average points allowed. The Pistons play the Lakers on Thursday and the Mavericks on Sunday. Richard Hamilton has led the Pistons in scoring in 8/13 games this month. |
 | 6 (8) | 27-15 | The Jazz have won nine of their last ten including convincing wins against Houston and San Antonio this week. Since trading for Kyle Korver the Jazz are 11-2. A date with New Orleans comes Monday. |
 | 7 (5) | 28-15 | During the Lakers last six games (four losses) it is slowly being exposed that Andrew Bynum might be the true L.A. MVP. Losses to Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas and Cleveland could be followed by losses to Detroit, Toronto and Washington if the Lakers are unable to compensate for losing their big man during their upcoming nine game road trip. |
 | 8 (7) | 28-16 | Portland's last quality win was Jan. 9 against Golden State. The clock might be striking midnight for this Cinderella story. Cleveland and Portland is on ESPN tonight which will sure up the bottom of the top 10. |
 | 9 (10) | 26-18 | San Antonio will only go up in the rankings from here on out. It can't get much worse than three losses in a row topped with a Sonic burn. Thursday's double header on TNT shows KG vs Dirk in the first game and Duncan vs Amare in the second. It doesn't look like being an early season MVP gets you a ticket to the All-Star game. Manu Ginobili is looking like a serious snub (as are Tim Duncan and Tony Parker). |
 | 10 (12) | 24-19 | Cleveland is 10-2 in 2008. LeBron showed that he's better than clutch in the fourth quarter of his head-to-head showdown with Kobe on Sunday. If LeBron is on the roster, an NBA title is possible. |
OUTSIDE THE TOP 10:
11. Orlando Magic (28-18): The Magic avoided losing back-to-back games Sunday thanks to a heroic time expiring three by Hedo Turkoglu. Orlando has winnable games over the next three.
12. Golden State Warriors (27-18): The Warriors are second in the NBA in scoring and still bombing the most threes in the league. Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington average a combined 18.6 attempts from downtown (68% of the team's 27.7 total).
13. Denver Nuggets (26-18): The Nuggets missed Carmelo this week when they drop two in a row to Dallas and New Orleans. As the losses start to pile up you can look and see that Denver's defense has started to slack (they give up 104 points per game).
14. Houston Rockets (25-20): Houston has won five of their last six and was happy to have Tracy McGrady back before having to play without him again last night. McGrady played 30 plus minutes in the last three games before having to sit out Tuesday's game with flu-like symptoms.
15. Toronto Raptors (24-20): Toronto can get revenge with Washington tonight after losing to them last night. The Raptors are one of the best teams in the NBA in controlling the rock. Toronto averages just 11.0 turnovers per game -- a better average than every team but Detroit.
16. Washington Wizards (24-19): Washington has a tough stretch of games ahead. Over the next 12 days the Wizards will play seven potential playoff teams.
17. Atlanta Hawks (18-23): The Hawks have lost six of their last seven, but would still be a playoff if team if they started today. The next three games are against teams ranked lower on my power rankings than Atlanta (LAC, NJ, PHI).
18. Sacramento Kings (19-24): The Kings will start February with New Orleans on the schedule and with Bibby and Artest still on the roster.
19. Chicago Bulls (18-26): Chicago is 7-8 in 2008, yet they are still just one game out of the playoff race.
20. Charlotte Bobcats (18-27): Charlotte needs to win games against legit teams like they did earlier this month against Boston and Orlando before I consider the Bobcats a playoff contender.
21. Philadelphia 76ers (17-28): Philly has just three wins in January, a game against Milwaukee tonight could allow the Sixers to finish the month with their fourth.
22. Indiana Pacers (19-27): Indiana has fallen off the playoff pace and is looking more like a lottery team (and the team I predicted to finish last in the NBA) after losing four straight including a close one to Miami.
23. New York Knicks (14-30): Nate Robinson has played great filling the role as first guard off the bench for New York. Robinson has scored in double figures in 18 of the Knicks 19 games and has averaged 4.7 assists per game in January up from 1.1 per game in December.
24. Minnesota Timberwolves (8-36): After winning three of four last week, all the "worst team in NBA history" talk subsided and the KFAN radio waves blared talk of Al Jefferson being better than KG.
25. New Jersey Nets (18-26): The Nets ended a nine game losing streak Tuesday beating Milwaukee by three. Jason Kidd is all but out the door -- what will the Nets be able to do with whatever they get in return? Sadly or more than anything ironically, the Nets would be in the playoffs if they started today.
26. Milwaukee Bucks (18-28): The Bucks last quality win against a Western Conference opponent came Nov. 24 when they beat Dallas by two points.
27. Memphis Grizzlies (13-32): The Grizzlies last quality win was Dec. 19 vs San Antonio when they won by three points.
28. Los Angeles Clippers (13-28): Veteran leaders Tim Thomas (See: HOT HOT HOT) and Sam Cassell ("I think I'll go to Boston") are doing what they can, but it's just not enough.
29. Seattle Sonics (10-35): Seattle beat San Antonio to snap their losing streak, but it won't be long before they start another.
30. Miami Heat (9-34): Miami ended its 15 game losing streak, but could quickly started another after they lost to Boston by 30 last night they face Orlando tonight.
HOT HOT HOT
1. Al Jefferson - Jefferson's 20 points and 12 rebounds last night against Chicago is something average for Big Al. Jefferson had games of 39 pts and 15 rebs against Phoenix and 40 pts and 19 rebs against New Jersey this past week.
2. Tim Thomas - The Clippers sharpshooter has put in 23 baskets in his past two games. Thomas scored 23 points before fouling out Saturday and back that up with 29 points (zero coming from the three) and he added 13 rebounds and 5 assists.
3. Mark Blount - With Shaq riding the pine, Mark Blount has been a splinter in opponents sides lately. Blount has scored 23, 19 and 20 in his past three games all as a starter.
NOT NOT NOT
2. Ricky Davis - Ricky Davis has been struggling to find his shooting touch lately. Since Jan. 19, Davis has shot 8/34 (23.5%) from the floor.
3. John Salmons - Salmons is trying to get in where he can fit in. When he's playing, he's playing well, but with the abundance of talent in Sacramento, Salmons has seen a decrease in action. Salmons has averaged 6.4 ppg over the last seven after averaging more than 15 ppg on the season.
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