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NBA Power Rankings Week Four

Posted By Eric Pincus On January 23, 2012 @ 4:00 pm In All,NBA | No Comments

1/23/12 – It’s still not quite a full month since opening day on Christmas but already the playoff battles are forming in this lockout-shortened season. The Eastern Conference now has six power teams along with four bubble teams. The surprise? The Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers look like playoff locks while the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks are fighting for scraps. Meanwhile in the West, 10 teams are above .500. Even the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns believe they’re in the playoff mix (but then so does Coach Mark Jackson of the Golden State Warriors). The NBA, four weeks in . . .

NBA Power Rankings Week Four

Rank	Last	Standing	Comments
1	1	15-3	The Bulls survive a toe injury to Derrick Rose without missing much of a beat. Best record in the league and yet they’ve played more road games than any other team.
2	2	13-3	The Thunder lock in cornerstone piece Russell Westbrook for a long, long time.
3	3	11-4	The Pacers win in Los Angeles vs. Lakers, but then Indiana is winning most games in general.
4	8	12-5	The Nuggets are easily the highest scoring team in the West at 105.5 a game. No other team in the conference is even at 100.
5	9	11-5	Playing without Dwyane Wade (sprained ankle), LeBron James and Chris Bosh carried the load well until the team saw the Bucks
6	11	11-4	Dwight Howard badly outplayed both Andrew Bynum and Paul Gasol combined.
7	4	11-5	The Sixers dip a bit but are still among the Eastern elite.
8	10	12-5	The Hawks play their next five on the road but face just one team above .500.
9	12	10-5	The Jazz have benefited from a home-heavy schedule which doesn’t really change with four of the next five in Utah.
10	6	9-5	The Clippers drop a bit because of a Kevin Love three. Chris Paul is expected back this week from a hamstring strain.
11	16	9-6	A minute ago the Grizzlies were 3-6 and yet despite injuries to Zach Randolph and Darrell Arthur.
12	7	10-8	This may be high for the Lakers at this point, given how badly they look on the road (1-6). While they’re 9-2 at home, the recent performances haven’t been especially noteworthy.
13	13	10-7	The Mavericks are greatly improved from the start of the season but Dirk Nowitzki is going to sit out most of the coming week to work on conditioning.
14	5	10-7	The Spurs are a good example of an older, veteran team struggling to deal with the heavy workload and injuries.
15	17	9-7	The Rockets are one of the hottest teams in the league, winning six straight to climb from obscurity to a top eight slot in the West.
16	14	9-7	Portland gets a bit of a break with seven of the next 10 at home after a five-game road trip. This is a team that needs to regroup.
17	21	7-9	The Wolves won three straight and while this may be high in the rankings, last year they won just 17 all year.
18	23	6-9	Wins in New York and Boston finally stops an ugly five-game losing streak. Poor start and all, the Suns are only 2 1/2 games behind the Rockets.
19	19	6-9	The Celtics are struggling to stay healthy but if they can get their four stars on the floor and clicking at full strength, they’ll climb quickly.
20	20	6-9	Andrew Bogut is back in action after some personal matters/concussion-like symptoms. The Bucks expect to make the playoffs (with or without Stephen Jackson).
21	18	6-9	The Cavs have hit a lull after a solid .500 start and the schedule over the next couple of weeks may not help.
22	15	6-10	The Knicks should be better than they’ve shown but then they need at least a point guard. Coach Mike D’Antoni may end up the easy scapegoat.
23	26	6-11	The Kings aren’t going to be great this year but they seem to be playing with better purpose under Coach Keith Smart.
24	22	5-10	Steph Curry is making his way back after an ankle injury. The Warriors have been hit hard from the jump but a healthy Curry could change things.
25	25	4-13	Tayshaun Prince woke up after a very, very slow start to the season.
26	29	5-12	The Nets aren’t winning much but they’re but they’re slowly climbing in the East.
27	30	2-14	The Wizards jump from 30 to 27 but have just two wins on the season. What does that say about the teams below?
28	27	3-14	The Bobcats are outscored by an Eastern Conference-worst 10.4 points a night.
29	24	4-13	The Raptors are in straight-up free-fall, losing eight straight.
30	28	3-13	The Hornets just aren’t winning games, which may be somewhat by design.

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