1. Indiana Pacers (32-7; last week's ranking: 3): Indiana begins a five-game Western Conference road trip at Golden State on Monday. The Pacers have won four straight and eight of past 10.
2. Portland Trail Blazers (31-9; last week's ranking: 6): The Blazers' five-game winning streak will be tested with back-to-back road tilts against Houston and Oklahoma City.
3. San Antonio Spurs (32-9; last week's ranking: 1):
Tony Parker missed Sunday's game against Milwaukee with a right shin contusion. He also sat out two games earlier this season with the same injury. .
4. Oklahoma City Thunder (31-10; last week's ranking: 4): With All-Star balloting ending Monday, Kevin Durant has a starting West frontcourt spot locked up while Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love are in a close battle for the other two positions.
5. Los Angeles Clippers (28-14; last week's ranking: 7): Point guard Darren Collison, who has a player option for next season, is averaging 15 points and 6.1 assists as a starter this season.
6. Golden State Warriors (26-16; last week's ranking: 3): New Warriors combo guard Jordan Crawford has averaged nine points and 1.5 assists in 14.2 minutes per game in two contests.
7. Miami Heat (29-11; last week's ranking: 5): Center Greg Oden is playing limited minutes, averaging 3.5 points and one rebound in two games. He didn't play Friday at Philadelphia.
8. Houston Rockets (27-15; last week's ranking: 8): Terrence Jones has averaged 25.6 points and 10.6 rebounds over the past three games, including 36 points against Milwaukee on Saturday.
9. Memphis Grizzlies (20-19; last week's ranking: 15): The Grizzlies have won five straight games and seven of their past 10 with center Marc Gasol back and healthy.
10. Dallas Mavericks (24-18; last week's ranking: 10): Ex-North Carolina guard P.J. Hairston had 22 points and six steals in his debut for the Mavs' D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, on Saturday.
11. Phoenix Suns (23-17; last week's ranking: 10): Need a fantasy basketball sleeper? Gerald Green averaged 15.3 points and 2.5 made 3-pointers as a starter entering Sunday's game at Denver.
12. Denver Nuggets (20-20; last week's ranking: 12): Forward Danilo Gallinari, who is recovering from a left ACL tear, told Yahoo Sports he is still uncertain about when he will begin practicing again.
13. Atlanta Hawks (20-19; last week's ranking: 11): The Hawks who play host to Miami on Monday, currently have a nine-game losing streak against the Heat and have dropped seven straight against them in Atlanta.
14. Toronto Raptors (20-19; last week's ranking: 13): Toronto's recent momentum has taken a hit after losing to the struggling Celtics and Lakers. Pride test Monday at Charlotte.
15. Minnesota Timberwolves (19-21; last week's ranking: 14): Center Nikola Pekovic has averaged 21.6 points and 9.8 rebounds during the past 14 games.
16. Washington Wizards (19-20; last week's ranking: 20): Rookie forward Otto Porter, the third overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft, has yet to reach double figures in scoring this season.
17. Chicago Bulls (19-20; last week's ranking: 16): The Bulls will be reunited with forward Luol Deng, who was traded on Jan. 7, when they visit Cleveland on Wednesday.
18. Detroit Pistons (17-23; last week's ranking: 18): The Pistons have won three of their last four games after dropping eight of nine. Detroit has the NBA's youngest starting lineup at 23 years and 17 days.
19. Brooklyn Nets (16-22; last week's ranking: 17): The Nets go to Manhattan to visit their rival Knicks during a Martin Luther King Day matinee. Deron Williams (ankle) is a game-time decision.
20. New York Knicks (15-25; last week's ranking: 19): Monday's "inter-borough" meeting is the second of four this season. New York won in Brooklyn 113-83 on Dec. 5.
21. Los Angeles Lakers (16-25; last week's ranking: 22): There might not be a player with a better knack of drawing fouls on jumpers than Nick Young, who is averaging 4.3 free-throw attempts per game.
22. Sacramento Kings (14-25; last week's ranking: 21): The improving Kings received a nice addition on Sunday when forward Carl Landry finally made his season debut at Oklahoma City. Landry had been sidelined with a hip flexor injury.
23. Charlotte Bobcats (17-25; last week's ranking: 24): Guard Kemba Walker, the team's leader in scoring and assists, is expected to miss the next 10-14 days with an ankle sprain.
24. Cleveland Cavaliers (15-25; last week's ranking: 26): Before meeting his old Bulls, Deng will play his first game with the Cavaliers in Cleveland on Monday against the Mavericks.
25. Utah Jazz (14-28; last week's ranking: 27): Trey Burke won Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors for December. The only other Jazz player to win the honor was Karl Malone in December 1985.
26. New Orleans Pelicans (15-24; last week's ranking: 23): The struggling Pelicans are interested in a trade for a big man after losing forwards Ryan Anderson and Jason Smith to injury, sources said.
27. Philadelphia 76ers (13-27, last week's ranking: 28): New center Dewayne Dedmon is paying dividends. He's already averaging five points, seven rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 17.1 minutes per game.
28. Orlando Magic (11-31; last week's ranking: 29): The Magic snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 93-91 victory over Boston on Sunday. It was Orlando's first win since Dec. 29 over Atlanta.
29. Boston Celtics (14-28; last week's ranking: 25): After being traded to Boston last week, center Joel Anthony gets a quick return to Miami to play his old team Tuesday.
30. Milwaukee Bucks (7-33; last week's ranking: 30): NBA free-agent forward Drew Gooden, who the Bucks used the amnesty provision on, is working out in Orlando waiting for a call from an NBA team, a source said.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment