Behind The Basket Power Rankings 1.7

Look which team is hanging around near the top of the East, even as their "leader" keeps griping about his situation.The NBA’s Profits>Product season has quickly devolved into endless injuries and some complete nonsense results, making the Power Rankings very fluid and difficult to pinpoint. Here's my best stab at it this week.

Looking Great

1. Miami Heat (25-7): Even with the Bulls’ record, there’s really no debate who the cream of the East is and will continue to be for some time.
2. San Antonio Spurs (22-9): The Spurs were going to move up to #1, but the new injuries to Ginobili and Splitter make me think we’re going to see a SanAn L sometime in their next 4 games (@Utah, @Port, @Denv, Chi) - if not, they're up.

Looking Good

3. Oklahoma City Thunder (24-7): Just so we’re all clear here, OKC is not playing like a contender, but everyone is so far behind the Heat and Spurs right now, think of OKC as the NBA’s 3^rd best team in the same way the Suns are the 3^rd best team in the Pacific Division.
4. Chicago Bulls (25-8): The Bulls did two things this week they haven’t done in over a month, and both took place without Rose: they beat an over-.500 team (Boston) and lost to a sub-.500 one (New Jersey). Then Boston fell to 15-15 a few days later, so it’s now been 45 days since Chicago’s topped a club that currently has a winning record (Orlando, Jan. 6); are they anything more than just an average team that’s extraordinarily consistent?
5. Dallas Mavericks (20-12): For the first time during Cuban’s ownership, the Mavericks are having to win games with defense, and for the most part they’re doing it – but they’d still love to have Tyson Chandler back.
6. Los Angeles Clippers (19-10): Losing to the Spurs by 3 in OT and in Dallas by 4 aren’t the worst losses you can have when you’re trying to figure out how this Randy Foye/Mo Williams duo (which is much worse than it sounds) is supposed to now play 65
contributing minutes a night in Billups’ absence.
7. Orlando Magic (20-12): The Heat paid them back big-time, but the remainder of Orlando’s roadtrip is pretty easy (Mil, NJ, Atl, Was) so their record should move firmly into 3^rd in the East very soon.

Looking Average

8. Los Angeles Lakers (18-13): I can’t be the only one who’s noticed the disturbing Kobe trend where he plays exclusively in one of two modes: 1) full-on gunner with an eye solely fixated on MJ’s career scoring mark, and 2) completely detached sulker who does nothing because he’s upset that Mike Brown implored the team to play some team ball during the last break. Bryant should watch the Heat and see that it’s possible to have a strong impact on a game from the wing even while taking only 12-15 shots every once in a while.
9. Philadelphia 76ers (20-12): Are probably the only Eastern team that’s shown they can give the Heat problems, but not while their centers are hurt. Whenever Hawes and Vucevic are both back in full form, look for a very quick and steep rise up the rankings (Philly is 12-0 when both play at least 10 minutes, including wins over Indy, LAL, and Atl).
10. Houston Rockets (18-14): I’m not sure how one gets plastered by the Warriors after two days rest and then shows guts in a 4^th quarter battle with a win over the Thunder on the back end of a back-to-back a few days later, but that’s the type of season we’re in.
11. Portland Trail Blazers (17-15): Mixing talent with internal strife and a disjointed clubhouse creates this kind of a season.
12. Minnesota Timberwolves (16-16): It took a totally bogus star call for Love with 0.1 seconds remaining to beat the Hawes-less Sixers, so I’m not real impressed by their second 3-game win streak this month.
13. Memphis Grizzlies (18-14): A few recent good games by their offense will soon get overshadowed by a likely bad showing in a Houston-Philly-Dallas back-to-back-to-back leading up to ASG weekend.
14. Atlanta Hawks (19-12): Have been rather underwhelming in their recent group of games against good opponents.
15. Denver Nuggets (17-15): Badly missing Galinari and Nene, but super-close losses at the Grizzlies (by 1) and Thunder (in OT) aren’t the worst thing that can happen. Having to play the Spurs right before and after the ASG – that’s more like it.
16. Indiana Pacers (19-12): I will now quote part of last week’s message about the Pacers: “…as I continue to point out that their record is deceiving and their schedule has been easy.” Their record is deceiving and they take a beating whenever their schedule is not easy.
17. New York Knicks (16-16): Linsanity continues. When does Carmelo return and screw it up? Or will a 2-week stretch with Atlanta, Miami, Boston, Dallas, and San Antonio (with Philly, Chicago, Portland, and Indy the next week) do the trick?
18. Boston Celtics (15-15): I just got done saying how important KG has been to the Celtics’ resurgence, and on cue they go and lose to the Pistons twice this week in the only two games he’s missed all season.
19. Utah Jazz (15-15): Remember when they had won 8 of 9 early in the season? Well they just lost 8 of their last 11, including to New Orleans and Golden State.

Looking Bad

20. Cleveland Cavaliers (12-17): Kyrie Irving came back from his concussion on fire, scoring 21 ppg over 3 contests, but he’s also taking some bad shots and has almost as many turnovers as assists. No one will ever say it, but he needs to be tutored in the ways of running an efficient offense by back-up Ramon Sessions.
21. Detroit Pistons (11-22): Winners of 7 of their last 9, including 2 over Boston sans Garnett. Could keep it going with Cleveland, Toronto, and Charlotte making up 3 of their next 4, but don’t expect sustained success beyond that.
22. Milwaukee Bucks (13-18): Wins this month: by 7 over NJ (who cares), by 1 over Cleveland in OT (yawn), by 6 over Toronto (whoop dee doo), and Miami…?!?
23. Phoenix Suns (13-19): Just beat the Lakers by the exact same 12-point margin they lost to them by only two days prior. In case you missed it, Steve Nash is working on completing the first ever 55-40-90 season (currently .543 FG, .407 3FG, .871 FT).
24. Golden State Warriors (11-17): 3-point shooters all over the place, but still an extreme lack of this defense Mark Jackson talked about installing before the season started. They were 10-18 at this point last year.
25. New Orleans Hornets (7-23): They lost 23 of their previous 25 contests, but the Hornets won 3 straight this week behind great defense, including putting the breaks on Linsanity’s ride – all without Eric Gordon, Carl Landry, and Emeka Okafor.  
26. Washington Wizards (7-24): It’s cute that regressing egomaniac John Wall thought he deserved to be a higher pick than 12^th in the Rising Stars Challenge. Try not making the Wizards’ offense worse year after year before you complain about such things.
27. Sacramento Kings (10-21): It wasn’t long ago that Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins were declared the team cornerstones that would lead Sacramento upward. Kings’ winning percentages the last 3 seasons: .323, .293, .305

Looking Terrible

28. New Jersey Nets (9-24): Because this season is one of the worst and nonsensical ever (remember this when we go trashing David Stern after he retires), the Nets just killed the Bulls and then lost to the Bucks in Brook Lopez’s return.
29. Toronto Raptors (9-23): How about this idea? Give Bargnani some pre-season MVP love next year since the club that’s 6-7 when he plays is now 3-16 without him, including a rather damning loss to the Bobcats. If that’s not value, I’m not sure what is.
30. Charlotte Bobcats (4-27): One losing streak ends so that another can begin.

Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About…

With Nikola Pekovic (right) muscling his way to 17 ppg and 10 rpg in his last 13 contests, the Timberwolves certainly have more than just one youngster who should be playing in the Rising Stars Challenge next weekend.…Minnesota center Nikola Pekovic, and how obvious it is that he should have been the late addition to the Rising Stars Challenge instead of Norris Cole? Jeremy Lin was rightfully added late because of his recent spurt (and Cole was the B-side to keep the teams even), yet check out what the Timberwolves’ second-year center has done in his last 13 games: 17 ppg, 10 rpg (5 offensive!), 1.0 bpg, 0.9 spg, 61% FG%. Pekovic has been starting in Darko’s absence, and he’s putting up those amazing numbers against 9 teams with winning records (keeping in mind Lin’s run has come against 1 winning team in 8 contests). Pekovic is all muscle and hustle, and for him to be recording those sort of scoring and rebounding stats next to Kevin Love every night is simply amazing. It’s not like the big Montenegrin is coming out of nowhere, either: After crushing all comers in the EuroLeague and the Adriatic League for years, he was a shoe-in to be a top-10 pick in the 2008 Draft…except he was already locked up in one of those long-term, high-paying European contracts, so he dropped to the first pick of the 2^nd round (if not for that, he was a guaranteed top-10 pick in the draft featuring Rose, Beasley, Westbrook, Love, Gallinari, Mayo, Gordon, Lopez, Ibaka, Augustin, Hibbert, etc. – that’s how dominant he had been overseas). So instead of including someone in the Rising Stars Challenge who’s obviously one of the top up-and-coming talents in the league, Kenny Smith chose to add Miami’s Norris Cole to the pool that already included 6 point guards. Cole had a couple really good games off the bench early in the season, and since then he’s generally been an unimpressive shooter (42% FG, 30% 3FG) with bad turnover numbers who every once in a blue moon has a game worth mentioning (and don’t forget his first career start last week in which the Heat got killed). Give Petrovic some love because he’s certainly going to be one of the few youngsters from this season who will be worth mentioning in a couple years.

…the steadily improving game of Charlotte rookie Bismack Biyombo, who many people couldn’t wait to label as a future-bust when he was chosen with the 7^th pick in last June’s Draft? Not even the most hard-core NBA fans had any clue who Biyombo was as recently as 11 months ago. His shot blocking and rebounding were all the rave after last Spring’s Nike Hoops Summit, though, but pundits wondered if this extremely raw player with almost no offensive game or professional experience (plus one of those pain-in-the-ass European contracts and a questionable age) could really come into the league and provide anything to a club other than end-of-the-bench fouls. He started out the season slowly, coming off the bench here and there, usually getting into quick foul trouble (he’s unsettlingly aggressive for someone with so little experience) and making almost no shots except the occasional put-back dunk or lay-up. But he also showed an awareness of his limitations, generally just taking shots he could reasonably make (49% FG), and he kept racking up some ridiculous blocks numbers: 2 in 13 minutes against the Heat, 3 in 13 minutes against the Hawks, 5 in 12 minutes against the Pistons, 4 in 21 minutes against Orlando, 4 in 18 minutes against the Nets. His rebounding was inconsistent but sporadically great. So finally the Bobcats figured it was worth trying Biyombo in the starting lineup two weeks ago since nothing else was working, and he’s done pretty well since. Outside of one frustrating contest in Boston on Feb. 7, he’s scoring 7 ppg on a very heady 64% shooting, grabbing 9 rpg (3.0 offensive), and has blocked at least one shot every game on his way to 2.2 bpg—with an amazing 7 against Toronto Friday night. All of this has been in only 27 minutes per game, quite an accomplishment for someone who had never made an appearance in any league worth knowing before joining the Spanish ACB last January. He still needs a lot of work creating shots for himself, but he’s playing within himself and is currently 4^th in the league in Block%, plus he’s top-30 in Rebound%. Charlotte will likely start Biyombo the rest of the season in order to get him that all-important experience, which might be all he needs to become the next Ben Wallace.

Why The Lakers Almost Didn't Pick Magic Johnson, and Why That Wouldn't Have Been That Bad

Jeff Pearlman just published a great piece on Sports Illustrated’s site explaining how close Magic Johnson was to not being the Lakers’ #1 overall selection in the 1979 Draft. Who was LA considering instead? Sidney Moncrief.

Today this sounds like a joke, but a closer look at the two players reveals how close of a debate this really was and should have been.

1. Magic didn’t exactly have the best reputation early in his career. He was known for being terrible in the clutch (absolutely bombed in the ’81 playoffs and in the final minutes of each loss in the ’84 Finals), got the 1980 Championship-winning coach fired only 11 games into 1981-82 by refusing to play for him (they were 7-4 at the time), his teammates thought he was egotistical, and Sports Illustrated called him “greedy, petulant, and obnoxious” during his third season. All this changed down the road, but you have to think the Lakers did their due diligence and knew this might be the player they were getting, which had to make them nervous going into the draft.

2. Whereas Magic was an above-average shooter at best, Moncrief was a phenomenal shooter who could therefore play in any type of system, against any type of defense, with or without the ball in his hands. Not only that, Moncrief would have benefited greatly by playing in a later era with everyone practicing and shooting 3-pointers their whole lives, much much more so than Magic whose career FG% benefited greatly by playing on a fastbreak club with tons of surrounding talent.

3. Monrief was without question the best defensive guard of the 80’s, winning the league’s first two Defensive Player of the Year awards in 1983 and 1984. He was one of the 3 best defensive guards ever, clearly overshadowing Boston’s Dennis Johnson whose defense was a major reason he made the Hall of Fame. Magic was a poor defender who racked up steals by playing “centerfield” in front of Kareem who covered up Magic’s obvious deficiencies on that side of the ball.

4. Magic’s surrounding talent was amazing from Day 1 until he retired, while Moncrief’s best teammates in his prime were Terry Cummings and an over-the-hill Marques Johnson. The Bucks still ended up with the league’s 3^rd-best winning percentage for the 80’s, only behind the super loaded Celtics and the super loaded Lakers. The Bucks actually won their division the first 7 years of Moncrief’s career over teams like the Pistons with Isiah/Laimbeer and the Hawks with Dominique/Willis.

5. Here’s the biggie: Moncrief was on track to be one of the best 2 to 3 guards of the era before a series of knee injuries wiped him out in the late-80’s. If arthroscopic surgery existed, we’re talking about a guy who averaged a very efficient 23 ppg, 7 rpg, and 5 apg for years while doubling as the best backcourt defender in between Walt Frazier and Gary Payton -- tell me how many guards in NBA history could do it all to that degree (Michael Jordan, Jerry West, end of list).

Considering he was one of the very best defensive guards in NBA history, a great shooter (not at all a volume scorer), a very good passer for a SG with low turnovers, and one of the top offensive rebounding guards ever, it’s clear Moncrief would have been an all-time great if he could have gotten the surgery that existed just one decade later. Throw in a giant “what could have been?” had he been surrounded by the type of talent Magic had his entire career, and who’s not to say the Lakers didn’t nearly make the wrong decision in the summer of 1979.

What the Statistics Tell Us About Jeremy Lin’s Eventual Fall Back to Earth

Enjoy it while it lasts because the stats say the only part of Lin's game that will remain the same is his poor assist/turnover ratio.There’s no need to rehash exactly how Jeremy Lin has risen to superstardom in the past 10 days. Basically the Knicks PG recently known to most fans as “that Asian kid from Harvard” has blown up five games in a row, going for the incredible averages of 27 ppg, 8 apg, and 2.0 spg, all while shooting a stellar 52% from the field and using his innate aggression to get to the free throw line 8.4 times a night. With team “superstars” Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire sidelined, the Knicks have reeled off five consecutive victories in the only five games that Lin has played meaningful minutes. The many similarities between Lincanity and Tebow-mania are obvious, so the question we all asked a couple months ago that needs to be asked now is: Can this last?

Beyond the common sense answer of “Of course not since Anthony and Stoudemire have their own agendas that often detract from team success,” let’s look at some places where the statistics indicate that Lin, and by extension the Knicks, will come crashing back to reality soon.

1. His turnover totals are really high. Over the past 5 games, Lin has turned the ball over 23 times, with 20 of those coming in 3 of the contests (6, 6, and 8). Those are a terrible amount of turnovers, and those three games happen to be the ones in which New York didn’t face the horrendous Wizards or Nets (so we’re talking about the Jazz, Lakers, and T-Wolves). Those 3 clubs are a combined 43-41 and none of them are very good at forcing turnovers; they’re simply the better three overall defenders of those five clubs, and Lin had a disastrous 23-to-20 assist-to-turnover ratio against them. As fun as it is to watch him fly into the paint after curling off a high screen, it’s clear he often isn’t sure who he’s passing it to by the time he gets near the basket if it’s being defended well (regularly trying to find a teammate after he’s already jumped). Considering even I can spot this problem, you can bet every teams’ scouts know this as well and will force him into poor passing decisions in traffic as much as possible. And it’s not like he has a history of strong decision-making with the ball. Over his junior and senior seasons in the severely underwhelming Ivy League, Lin racked up 250 assists and 196 turnovers, a very poor 1.28 ast/to ratio. Last season when he played regularly in 20 contests for the Reno Bighorns in the D-League, Lin’s 1.61 ratio (87 assists to 54 turnovers) was far worse than those of Aaron Miles (3.31) and Donald Sloan (2.68), the club’s other two point guards.

2. Lin’s mid-range jumper has been hitting at an astronomically high rate, and we know that won’t last. On the season, he is attempting 4.4 shots per 40 minutes between the 3-point line and 10 feet from the rim (sorry, don’t have the data just for the last 5 games). That’s one-quarter of all his shots—a percentage that is abnormally low and will only increase as teams start to close off the rim to him—and he’s currently hitting 56% of his shots between 10-15 feet out (league average: 40%) and 63% of shots 16-23 feet from the hoop (league average: 38%). There is no way those numbers stay anywhere near that high over the long run. How do we know? Most of the very best shooters in the league are in the low- to mid-40’s from those distances, and Lin is not a great shooter. His free throw percentage isn’t particularly good for a guard (77%), his 3-point shooting is terrible (17%), he’s shooting poorly from 3-9 feet (32%), and his 2010-11 numbers from those two particular distances were far worse (25% and 27%). As defenses cut off his lay-up opportunities and force him to take more jumpers, the mid-range numbers will get worse, deflating his overall shooting stats to something fairly mediocre that we all expected.

3. There is no way he’ll continue to get to the rim at will. Lin is currently attempting half of his two-point shots at the rim, a really high percentage usually inhabited only by centers. His aggression and shiftiness look good, but keep in mind he’s faced defenses that rank 11^th (LAL), 12^th (Min), 20^th (Utah), 25^th (Was), and 30^th (NJ) in the league during his stretch. Lin has gotten this extraordinarily high rate of shots at the rim on nothing but his own dribble-drives (something better defenses usually prevent); we know this because he’s been assisted on only 7% of those attempts. To put this in obviously-won’t-continue perspective, basket-attacking point guards like Derrick Rose, Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, and John Wall are all assisted on 20-25% of their shots at the rim. Once Lin plays some better defenses (and teams that have had time to actually scout him) and is no longer living off easy dunks and lay-ups, he’ll be forced to either throw up more shots from the mid-range—which won't be good—or to pass out of the paint, which he’s already bad at.

Behind The Basket Power Rankings 1.6

 Tim Duncan's recent double-doubles and stellar defense (while still playing far less minutes than most stars) are putting the Western Conference firmly behind the Spurs.The NBA’s Profits>Product season has quickly devolved into endless injuries and some complete nonsense results, making the Power Rankings very fluid and difficult to pinpoint. Here's my best stab at it this week.

Looking Great

1. Miami Heat (21-7): Sometimes you get your ass kicked by 17 3-pointers and a 24-rebound Dwight Howard performance – no shame in that.
2. San Antonio Spurs (19-9): Any more questions about how amazing Tim Duncan still is? They start a tough stretch next weekend (@LAC, @Utah, @Port, @Denv, Chi), but they just got Ginobili back so everyone’s about to have problems.

Looking Good

3. Oklahoma City Thunder (21-6): Do wins over Utah, Golden State, and Portland (which was bad-reffing ish) make up for a loss to the Kings and an absolute slaughtering at the hands of the Spurs? No, they do not, but no one else is stepping up to take OKC’s weak hold near the top. Westbrook has 59 turnovers in his last 10 games. 5.9 to/gm would destroy the NBA record if he keeps it up.
4. Dallas Mavericks (17-11): Have been very streaky this year (already had 6 runs of 3+ wins or 3+ losses in a row). Offensive rebounding has been dreadful against clubs with decent rebounders, so I’m calling the method of their eventual playoffs downfall right now.
5. Philadelphia 76ers (19-9): Haven’t had healthy centers in forever, which really hurts a team whose next biggest big man is 6-feet-9 and plays below the rim (Brand). Also, it’s only 6 years late, but Andre Iguodala finally made an All-Star team.
6. Orlando Magic (17-11): I’d be impressed if Howard could stop throwing his team under the bus while acting like other people are pushing him out of Orlando. #GrowUpAndShowSomeLeadership
7. Los Angeles Clippers (17-8): If the Clips finish as a top-2 seed in the West without Billups, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin deserve co-MVP Awards (or at least the co-runner-up award behind LeBron James). Will the bad replacement options for Billups push them down further?
8. Boston Celtics (15-12): Their turnaround that began 3.5 weeks ago lines up perfectly with Garnett’s resurgence. Make no mistake about it, Boston’s success still hinges on KG.
9. Chicago Bulls (23-7): With or without Rose, the Bulls continue to beat all the sub-.500 teams and lose to all the over-.500 teams (the Bobcats are the only team with more time than Chicago's 31 days between now and their last W over a winning club - think about that). Not a good sign come playoffs, and the reason they’re this low.
10. Atlanta Hawks (18-10): Josh Smith is the second-best all-around forward in the East behind LeBron James, so he may have a point with his “there is a lot of politics involved in the All-Star selection” comment.

Looking Average

11. Houston Rockets (16-12): 13-5 over the past month, but not an impressive resume overall.
12. Portland Trail Blazers (15-13): OT losses to OKC and Dallas that both smacked of referee incompetence aren’t that bad. The injury issues with Camby are far more troubling.
13. Los Angeles Lakers (16-12): Since the first week of the season, the Lakers have only 2 definitive wins (over Phoenix and Charlotte), and their biggest victory over a contender was by 5 against the Clippers in a one-sided free throw contest.
14. Indiana Pacers (17-10): Only went 2-4 on recent stretch vs. decent teams. Keep this in mind as I continue to point out that their record is deceiving and their schedule has been easy.
15. Denver Nuggets (16-12): String of good opponents + string of injuries to big men = string of losses and bad defense
16. Minnesota Timberwolves (13-15): That loss to Lin’s resurgent Knicks was their first to a non-winning team in over a month. But they’re also only 5-8 against winning teams during that stretch.
17. Utah Jazz (14-12): The inconsistent club we’re seeing now is probably a better representation of who the Jazz are than what the early-January string of victories over middling-to-awful opponents lead us to believe.
18. Memphis Grizzlies (14-14): Don’t get too excited about a few recent wins over some good teams; they’re only 5-12 against winning clubs and have numerous offensive issues that offset most of what their very good D sets up.
19. Milwaukee Bucks (12-15): Hard to get on a roll with Bogut’s injury record. Can they continue to own the Heat when they visit Milwaukee Monday tonight?
20. Phoenix Suns (12-15): Have been better lately, but nothing to wow anybody.
21. New York Knicks (13-15): Who wants to bet New York’s good fortune ends once Carmelo and Amar’e return? Plenty of nicknames for Lin already, so here’s my contribution: the Taiwanese Tebow. 

Looking Bad

22. Golden State Warriors (10-14): Are able to get some surprising wins, but they need to avoid losses to teams like the Kings in order to move up. Still waiting for Mark Jackson’s attention to defense to kick in.
23. Sacramento Kings (10-17): Winning some games with their occasionally great energy level and offense. Losing more games because of their defense.
24. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-16): You’re kinda screwed when your two best players are out with a concussion (Irving) and a broken wrist (Varejao).
25. Detroit Pistons (8-21): Won four in a row over nobody, then got killed by Washington. Either Monroe and Jerebko need to get out of there, or everyone else does.
26. Toronto Raptors (9-20): 3-13 without Bargnani, 6-7 with him; they’ll be without him for a while.
27. Washington Wizards (6-22): John Wall has regressed from his rookie campaign in virtually every department (assists down, turnovers up, shooting down, horrendous defense left intact). Can we please stop talking about him like he’s a future superstar in anything other than the decathlon?

Looking Terrible

28. New Orleans Hornets (4-23): When virtually all of your half-decent players are injured, your offense will suck.
29. New Jersey Nets (8-21): Current 6-game losing streak includes 2 in a row to the Pistons. Upcoming 2 to 3 weeks could be an absolute season buster.
30. Charlotte Bobcats (3-24): Michael Jordan with complete control, everybody!

All-Star Selections: Same Names, Same Mistakes

One of these two is having a phenomenally well-rounded season (18 ppg, 6 rpg, 8 apg, 2 spg) that's spurring his team ahead like an MVP, and the other is having a real stinker on a bad club that actually improves when he's not in the lineup. Too bad ASG rosters don't reflect this.The NBA announced the full rosters for the All-Star Game on Thursday and, as usual, most of the names on there were pretty familiar. A lot of the time, guys are named to the team simply because they’re perennial All-Stars. It’s sort of an entitlement thing—once you’ve been to four or five games, the fans and players automatically assume that you deserve to be there every year. But why does that have to be the case? The All-Star Game is a reward for performance during the 2011-12 regular season. I know that only amounts to about 27 games, but this isn’t the All-Star Game for the best players of the last decade. It’s the All-Star Game for the 2011-12 season. So, based on that criteria, here’s a look at some guys who made it based on reputation (because that’s how it always works) and some guys who missed (even though they shouldn’t have) because they lack that same name recognition.

They Made It Because They Always Make It

Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo is one of the most talented players in the NBA. He’s a fantastic scorer, especially at the end of games. These are facts. So are these:

1. The Knicks are 12-15 this season (9th in the East).
2. The Knicks are 10-12 when Carmelo plays.
3. New York is a worse team this year even though they added a great defensive center who leads the league in FG% at over 70%.
4. Carmelo is averaging 22 ppg, his lowest output since 2004-05.
5. He’s averaging 6 rpg, his lowest output since 2005-06.
6. He’s shooting 40% from the field, by far his lowest ever.
7. He ranks 100th out of 107 qualified players in FG%.
8. He attempts four three-pointers a game despite shooting just 30% on them (100th out of 114).

So why is Carmelo starting his third consecutive All-Star Game? Because of this fact:

1. Carmelo started the past two All-Star Games.

If you’re an established star in a big market, this is simply the way things work. As far as making it to the All-Star Game is concerned, helping your team win games is secondary to number of previous ASG appearances and name recognition.

Dirk Nowitzki

In June, 2011, Dirk was the best player in basketball. That’s the main reason Dirk will be in Orlando on February 26—not anything he’s done on the court this season. His stats, for Dirk, are terrible: 18 ppg, 6 rpg, 47% FG and an atrocious 25% 3FG. There are a bunch of reasons for that, some more valid than others. On the one hand, Dirk is 33 and is coming off a long, grueling postseason in which he played a lot of minutes at a very high level. He followed that up with an appearance for Germany at the EuroBasket tournament in September. Dirk knows that the Mavs are going to make the playoffs and he’s doesn’t want to overextend himself now, leaving him unable to peak in May and June. On the other hand, Dirk got much more rest for this season than usual, since the season started two months late. Kobe’s also 33 and is still managing to play at a high level even with a bum wrist. And Dallas isn’t exactly locked in to a playoff spot in the uber-competitive West; only two games separate 4th-place Dallas and 10th-place Memphis. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter who’s at fault for Dirk’s sub-par season; we just have to admit that, to this point, Dirk hasn’t been Dirk. And that means that, no matter what he did in last year’s Finals, he shouldn’t be playing in the All-Star Game.

Paul Pierce

Like Dirk, Pierce looked old and slow coming out of the lockout. Unlike Dirk, who only started to resemble the old Dirk recently, Pierce has played well over the past couple weeks, keying a stretch in which the Celtics won 9 of 10 (all but the last three came without Rajon Rondo). His stats (apart from his 42% FG) are in line with what he’s averaged over the past couple seasons, but what it comes down to is that, in previous seasons, the Celtics and Pierce have started really strongly out of the gate whereas this season, both the player and the team stuttered. Electing Pierce based on what he’s done over a 10-15 game stretch isn’t really fair to someone like Paul Millsap, but since 10-15 games amounts to about half the season so far, it is a little bit more justified than usual. Pierce probably doesn’t deserve to be going, but I have a lot less qualms over his selection compared to that of Anthony or Nowitzki.

They Missed It Because They Always Miss It

Paul Millsap

Millsap had a great season last year that went unrecognized, and he seems destined to be the kind of player that everyone admits is underrated/helps a team win but that no one is willing to really recognize as a very, very good player. He’s averaging 16 ppg, 10 rpg (remember, he’s 6-foot-8), 1.4 steals per game, 51% FG and 81% FT and is the best player on a Jazz team that no one predicted to do anything this year (they’re 13-12, one game out of the six-seed). Seriously, C.J. Miles and Gordon Hayward are Utah’s #3 and #4 scorers. And this is a potential playoff team! Because Millsap is a second-rounder and a guy everyone’s always pegged as underrated, he’s never gotten his due as an elite rebounder and efficient scorer. This season, Millsap’s best in the league so far, deserves to be rewarded with a trip to the All-Star Game.

Ty Lawson

Like Millsap, Lawson has been the key to the surprising Nuggets’ success. The 5-foot-11 point guard, quite possibly the league’s fastest man, averages 15 ppg, 7 apg, 4 rpg, 1.5 steals per game and shoots 46%. What the stats don’t account for, though, Lawson’s ability to run the break and turn Denver into the league’s highest-scoring team at 104 ppg. Without someone as fast and well-conditioned as Lawson, the Nuggets couldn’t run their up-tempo offense every night, especially in a season as condensed as this one. Lawson’s speed and playmaking ability, however, leads to better opportunities for Danilo Gallinari, Al Harrington and Nene, a huge reason why Denver started the season so strongly. It’s hard to tell who the Nuggets will be for the rest of the season: the team that’s dropped seven of its last eight or the team that won eight of nine immediately preceding that run, including a 13-point victory over the Heat and five straight on the road. Lawson’s been fantastic for the majority of the season (and it would be hard for voters to fully incorporate Denver’s recent slide since the full rosters were released on Thursday), which should outweigh his team’s less-than-stellar recent play.

Kyle Lowry

Lowry’s been one of the league’s best points this season, but, like Lawson, a recent poor stretch of form (Lowry’s came in the second half of January), derailed any sleeper All-Star potential Lowry may have had. The Rockets have exceeded expectations this season (noticing a trend among these snubbed players?) and are on a 13-4 run after a slow start out of the gates. Lowry only shoots 41% from the field, though that figure is deceiving because of a few horrible performances (including a 4-for-29 three-game stretch vs. Milwaukee, Washington and New York on Jan. 25-28). The bottom line is that Lowry (15 ppg, 8 apg, 6 rpg, 2.0 steals per game) is a quality defender, fills up the stat sheet and a key reason a shallow Houston squad is fifth in a deep Western Conference right now. Is that any less impressive than what Steve Nash or Tony Parker have been doing? No, but because they’ve been doing it for longer, Lowry misses out.

Best 3-Game Stretch For Each Contender

The Heat don't have the league's best record, but they do have the best 3-game peak, which included a nationally televised thrashing of the Lakers a few weeks ago..We know which teams have earned the best records so far, but how have they looked at their sustained peaks? This is definitely something we need to consider when thinking about each contenders' chances at winning it all in this mixed-up season. Here's a look at the top contenders' best 3-game stretches to date, plus some other relevant information (Strength of Opponents refers to the entire season, Overal Impression refers to the 3-game stretch).

Chicago Bulls

Record: 22-6
Home/Road: 9-1, 13-5
Strength of Opponents: Very Weak
Best 3-Game Stretch:

• Dec 30, @LA Clippers, W 114-101
• Jan 01, Mem Grizzlies, W 104-64
• Jan 03, Atlanta Hawks, W 76-74

Overall Impression: The big one here is actually the Hawks game, since the Bulls were behind 42-56 going into the 4^th and outscored them 34-18 to win it. This stretch was very early in the season (plus the Clippers were playing without Billups), and since then their best stretch was 3 recent blowouts over the Bucks, Nets, and Hornets. Considering how long ago the first stretch was and how unimpressive their opponents were in their most recent one, I’m calling this stretch nothing special.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Record: 20-6
Home/Road: 9-1, 11-5
Strength of Opponents: Average
Best 3-Game Stretch:

• Jan 7, @Houston Rockets, W 98-95
• Jan 8, San Antonio Spurs, W 108-96
• Jan 10, @Mem Grizzlies, W 100-95

Overall Impression: Durant came up with a jumper and some free throws late to pull out the back-and-forth affair with Houston. Their W over SA made the Thunder the first team to win a back-to-back-to-back this season, but the Spurs bench played considerably more minutes than the starters, and that included with Ginobili already out. Z-Bo didn’t play for the Grizzlies. This stretch has the nicety of the SA win to end a 3-games-in-3-days grinder, but there are enough other elements in play here (including the fact they have no decent streaks worth talking about since early-January) to say it’s merely decent at best.

Miami Heat

Record: 19-7
Home/Road: 12-2, 7-5
Strength of Opponents: Below-Average
Best 3-Game Stretch:

• Jan 17, San Antonio Spurs, W 120-98
• Jan 19, Los Angeles Lakers, W 98-87
• Jan 21, Philadelphia 76ers, W 113-92

Overall Impression: Obviously this is a very strong string of victories, but keep in mind that the Spurs were without Ginobili and the Sixers were without their centers (Vucevic got hurt in the game after starting for Hawes). Other than that, the Heat impressively took over in the 3^rd against SanAn to force Popovich to sit his starters, and they were up 77-56 over the Lakers to start the 4th, so that score is deceivingly close.

Philadelphia 76ers

Record: 18-8
Home/Road: 13-4, 5-4
Strength of Opponents: Weak to Very Weak
Best 3-Game Stretch:

• Jan 30, Orlando Magic, W 74-69
• Feb 1, Chicago Bulls, W 98-82
• Feb 3, Maimi Heat, L 79-99

Overall Impression: A few things need to be pointed out about this stretch. 1) They lead the Magic by 16 after 3, so it was actually a big win. 2) The Bulls were without Deng. 3) Philly’s two good centers were both out for the Heat game, but they still were within 4 early in the final period. Considering they blew out two of the top teams in the East and hung with the other without a real center, I’d call this stretch impressive.

If the Spurs' strong stretch that included a recent win over the Thunder means anything, OKC needs to move behind San Antonio in the Western Conference hierarchy.

San Antonio Spurs

Record: 18-9
Home/Road: 13-1, 5-8
Strength of Opponents: Very Strong
Best 3-Game Stretch:

• Feb 4, OKC Thunder, W 107-96
• Feb 6, @Mem Grizzlies, W 89-84
• Feb 8, @Philly 76ers, W 100-90

Overall Impression: It goes without saying that this streak was played without Ginobili. The Thunder game was actually a huge blowout; SA was up 88-70 after 3 quarters. The Spurs then came back from a 67-73 hole at the end the 3rd in Memphis to pretty much own the entire final period. Philly was playing without their two centers of note. Considering the Spurs have had a very ho-hum approach to this season without Ginobili and are still firmly in 2^nd place in the West, it takes a very impressive stretch like this where they dominate the West’s “top” team and the East’s #2 or #3 club to really show you how good they can be.  

Los Angeles Clippers

Record: 15-8
Home/Road: 10-3, 5-5
Strength of Opponents: Strong to Very Strong
Best 3-Game Stretch:

• Jan 29, @Denv Nuggets, W 109-105
• Jan 30, OKCity Thunder, W 112-100
• Feb 1, @Utah Jazz, W 107-105

Overall Impression: The Clippers had to pull out tight victories in both Denver and Utah during this stretch, plus they obliterated the Thunder in between (entered the 4^th up 90-70). LA certainly made a case that they would still be winning their division even if they were in the much tougher Northwest with this rather impressive streak.

Orlando Magic

Record: 16-10
Home/Road: 9-5, 7-5
Strength of Opponents: Weak
Best 3-Game Stretch:

• Feb 4, @Ind Pacers, W 85-81
• Feb 6, LA Clippers, L 107-102 (OT)
• Feb 8, Miami Heat, @ 102-89

Overall Impression: Handing the Heat a loss at home is obviously good. And the Magic had to come back from down 9 in the 4^th to force overtime with the Clippers. Overall, the stretch is pretty good, but an overtime spanking at home hurts.

Los Angeles Lakers

Record: 15-11
Home/Road: 11-2, 4-9
Strength of Opponents: Strong
Best 3-Game Stretch:

• Jan 8, Mem Grizzlies, W 90-82
• Jan 10, Phoenix Suns, W 99-83
• Jan 11, @Utah Jazz, W 90-87 (OT)

Overall Impression: The stretch is a little old, but LA is only 7-7 since then so it’s the best we have to look at. The Lakers had to fight in the 4^th to win each of these games (at least early in the 4th), and it should be mentioned that Z-Bo didn’t play on the 8^th and that Kobe’s string of 40+ points games started against Phoenix. Considering these three teams are a combined 2 games under .500 and the stretch isn’t very recent, it’s fair to say it’s a bit underwhelming.

Dallas Mavericks

Record: 15-11
Home/Road: 9-5, 6-6
Strength of Opponents: Above-Average
Best 3-Game Stretch:

• Jan 27, Utah Jazz, W 116-101
• Jan 29, SA Spurs, W 101-100 (OT)
• Jan 30, @Phoenix, W 122-99

Overall Impression: Two of these wins come with big asterisks on them: The Spurs went with their reserves for most of the 3^rd and the entirety of the 4^th and overtime, and it still took an amazing endgame by Jason Terry to pull this one out. Also, Phoenix was playing without Steve Nash, which has been historically disastrous for them. Against Utah, Dallas had to make things work without Dirk or Kidd, so that's impressive. The Mavs started the year 1-4, so even though this stretch is only OK to decent-ish, fans should just be happy they’re 15-11 and in the hunt at this point.

Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About…

The return of Ginobili will certainly present quite a roadblock for Kevin Durant and the Thunder on their path to the Finals.…How the San Antonio Spurs are the West’s only hope of topping the Heat in the Finals? I know everyone loves the Thunder, who are sitting a rather comfortable 3 games ahead of SA right now, but OKC has essentially given the league their best punch, and in a lot of cases it hasn’t looked that great (recent problems with Golden State, recent blowout losses to LAC and SA, the inexcusable L to Washington). Whereas Oklahoma City’s injuries are almost afterthoughts that many fans aren’t even aware of (Sefolosha has missed the last two weeks, Maynor has missed a bunch of time), the Spurs have been going without Manu Ginobili since January 2. They started slow while again re-inventing themselves, are missing possibly their best player, have played a much harder schedule than the Thunder, and have been resting what seems like the whole frickin’ team by simply rolling over and giving up games that look like probable losses in order to keep the stress and pounding off their starters’ bodies (which creates a record that’s deceivingly worse than it should be). After the Thunder topped the Spurs in early-January in a contest in which SanAn sat their starters down in the middle of the third quarter, the Spurs starters actually played something resembling starter minutes on Saturday and they blew the Thunder out of the building. Just last night they topped the 18-7 Sixers in Philadelphia to extend their win streak to 6, not too bad for a club that supposedly can’t win on the road. The Thunder have certainly looked very good at times, but we’re seeing them go all out for this season as the Spurs are content to do the bare minimum to sit in second place as the Clippers, Nuggets, Mavericks, Blazers, Lakers, Jazz, and Houston keep playing musical chairs with the other playoff positions, none of whom looks serious as a contender. Barring consecutive seasons of multiple massive injuries to San Antonio in the playoffs, it’s the Thunder or Spurs going up against the Heat in late-June. And if fans would pay attention to what’s been going on this season, they’d know the Spurs are by far the more prepared team to handle that task.

…How great the top of the 2013 Draft is shaping up to be, especially the big men? The glut of talent that will be drafted this summer has been known and discussed for quite some time (for the millionth time, Perry Jones is way overrated – don’t take the bait), but 2013 to most fans is nothing more than the next draft. Well the top high school center in the nation just reclassified as a senior last week, so Nerlens Noel is now the projected #1 pick in two years. Who? Noel is considered by virtually every pundit to be a better shot-blocker and all around defender than Kentucky’s Anthony Davis, who will be this year's top pick and who just broke Shaq’s SEC record for blocks by a freshman. Throw in Noel’s springy rebounding (as opposed to bruising) and quickly emerging offense, and you have a great #1 pick in 2013. You’ll also have Steven Adams, a giant New Zealand product headed to Pitt next fall with the size, strength, and mobility to own the paint at both ends in the pros, something he put on display the last two summers in the adidas Nations event where he was clearly the dominant big-man over all of the USA’s best upcoming centers (Andre Drummond, Isaiah Austin, Dajuan Coleman, Kaleb Tarczewski, etc.). This pair of players alone will give two franchises a cornerstone center to build their futures around starting in two summers. Two other big men who will also likely be top picks in 2013 are current college freshmen Cody Zeller (Indiana) and James McAdoo (UNC). McAdoo’s work ethic and base skill level guarantees he makes a giant leap next year toward becoming an elite PF, and Zeller has already shown extended flashes of being an outstanding scorer and very good defender. Another year in college will make both Zeller and McAdoo very intriguing picks. Throw in the other current high school seniors who might be good enough to do the one-and-done thing (Shabazz Muhammad – possibly the best scoring instincts and skills of any SG prospect in the last 10 years; Isaiah Austin – insane combination of freakish size and athleticism; Dajuan Coleman – think a larger and more skilled Paul Millsap), big-time underclassmen talents like freshman PG Myck Kabongo (Texas) and sophomore SF Andre Roberson (Colorado), plus International shot-blocker/rebounder extraordinaire Rudy Gobert (France), and the 2013 Lottery might be just as strong as this year’s, which is saying quite a bit.

The NBA's 4 Most Underappreciated Second Units

Players like Tiago Splitter are allowing certain teams to rest their starters during this grueling season.Winning basketball games is a lot easier when you have a good bench. A look at recent NBA history makes that quite clear. In the 2011 Finals, the Mavericks’ bench consistently outplayed the Heat’s, a key reason as to why Dallas was able to pull the upset. The Celtics won a title in 2008 with a great bench led by James Posey and P.J. Brown. While many attribute their inability to repeat to injuries to Kevin Garnett (missed entire postseason in ‘09) and Kendrick Perkins (missed Game 7 of the Finals in ‘10), those injuries revealed a lack of depth, especially in the frontcourt, that the Celtics’ opponents were able to feast on. It’s incredibly difficult to win when guys like Brian Scalabrine are playing over 20 minutes per game (as he did in the ’09 playoffs). Having a strong bench has become even more important in 2011-12—with so many games and so little time to rest, teams can’t afford to stick their top guys out there for 40 minutes a night. Only one player, Kevin Love, averages more than 38.4 minutes per game this season. Seven guys did that in 2010-11.

So which benches are getting it done this season? Everyone knows about Oklahoma City and what guys like James Harden, Nick Collison, and Daequan Cook bring to the table (not to mention Eric Maynor when he's healthy). But what about those other units that don’t get nearly the same hype? Here’s a look at some of the league’s most underappreciated second units.

Chicago Bulls

“Wait a minute,” you’re probably thinking. “Chicago’s bench gets plenty of hype!” That may be true, but as far as underrated benches go, the Bulls’ group still ranks right up there. Among players who’ve played at least 200 minutes for Chicago this season, the Bulls’ top four in Defensive Rating differential (number of points per 100 possessions the team surrenders when they’re on the floor – number of points per 100 possessions the team surrenders when they’re off the floor) are reserves—Taj Gibson (-16.1), John Lucas III (-9.9), Luol Deng (-7.3), and Omer Asik (-5.5). Their bottom three? Carlos Boozer (+12.0), Joakim Noah (+8.3) and Richard Hamilton (+6.1), all of whom start for Chicago. Obviously, there’s a trade-off here—the Bulls do perform better offensively with their starters on the floor. But for a team constructed around defense, it’s telling that the team’s best defenders all come off the bench. Also worth noting: Lucas has played more than 20 minutes in one game this season, January 11 against Washington. Lucas played 45 minutes that night and Chicago allowed 64 points, tying its season low (though, again, it was against the Wizards).

Philadelphia 76ers

Philly is the rarest of teams: it’s managed to find success without a superstar and without stockpiling high draft choices. Instead, the Sixers under Doug Collins have been built around a couple established veterans, Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala, and a slew of mid-first round and second round picks, all between 21 and 25 years old who compete like hell and play defense. Whether this formula can win in the playoffs is yet to be seen, but right now Philly’s sitting pretty at 18-7, third in the East after a 16-point win over the Bulls on Wednesday. Much of the Sixers’ young talent comes off the bench, including guys like Louis Williams (the team’s leading scorer at 15 ppg), Thaddeus Young, Nikola Vucevic (just returning from injury), and Evan Turner (finally showing some of the potential he flashed at Ohio State). Among players who haven’t started a game this season, Williams and Young rank 1-2 in win shares (have earned 2.6 on the season). Another way of determining how much a player is impacting his team is by noting how well they do when he’s on the floor. Right now, Young’s total +/- of +180 ranks fifth in the league. If you go by +/- per minute on the court, he’s first in the league by a considerable margin, as the Sixers outscore their opponents by .28 points per minute with Young on the floor. What’s more, if you look at Philly’s top three- and four-man units, in terms of +/- per minute, you see that the Sixers perform just as well (and in many cases, better) with some of their key reserves on the floor. Among Philly’s top 8 three-man units, Young is included in every one of them. So are guys like Williams (two) and Vucevic (three), both of whom compare well to starters such as Iguodala (two) and Jrue Holiday (three). Elton Brand and Jodie Meeks appear a combined three times. The message? Play Thaddeus Young more. A lot more!

Portland Trail Blazers

When it comes to assigning success to the Blazers, most of the credit is heaped upon the team’s efficient starting unit of Raymond Felton, Wesley Matthews, LaMarcus Aldridge, Gerald Wallace, and Marcus Camby. And they deserve it—the stats back them up as one of the league’s best starting units. But lost in the shuffle are the contributions of bench players such as Nicolas Batum, Kurt Thomas, and Jamal Crawford, all of whom bring a specific skill set off the bench. Batum is an athletic defender, Thomas is the ageless, physical banger down low, and Crawford can immediately ignite an offense in need of a spark. Looking at some of their five-man units, many of the Blazers’ most successful units include two or more of their three key reserves. In order of +/- per minute, Portland’s best five-man units are: 1. Felton-Batum-Wallace-Aldridge-Camby; 2. Crawford-Matthews-Wallace-Aldridge-Camby; 3. Felton-Crawford-Batum-Aldridge-Thomas; 4. Felton-Crawford-Batum-Wallace-Aldridge; 5. Felton-Matthews-Wallace-Aldridge-Thomas. Obviously the starters are in there a lot too, but those lineups go to show that there isn’t a tremendous drop-off in production when one or more of the starters sit.

San Antonio Spurs

Want to know why San Antonio sits in third in the West despite Manu Ginobili playing just five games so far this season? A lot of it has to do with the bench Gregg Popovich and GM R.C. Buford have assembled. Though the Spurs’ Big Three of Tony Parker (29 years old), Manu Ginobili (34), and Tim Duncan (35) are a bit younger than the Celtics’ Big Three, the Spurs have shown how to remain competitive through smart drafting and free agent signings. Like the Celtics, the Spurs don’t usually get a high draft choice, but they’ve used the ones they have gotten on players who were overlooked or underrated for some reason, such as DeJuan Blair, Danny Green, and Tiago Splitter (Blair and Green were second-rounders; Splitter was taken 28th overall but stayed overseas for three seasons), not to mention Gary Neal (undrafted, signed as a free agent in 2010) or Matt Bonner (45th overall selection back in ’03). The Celtics’ bench consists mostly of free agent retreads (Keyon Dooling, Jermaine O’Neal, Chris Wilcox) or inexperienced youngsters (Avery Bradley, E’Twaun Moore)—there’s a reason why San An’s handled the lockout well and Boston hasn’t (until its recent hot streak). The Spurs’ most successful three-man unit in terms of overall +/- doesn’t contain any starters—it’s Green, Splitter, and Bonner, each of whom rank among the league’s top 15 in win shares for bench players (maximum one game started). Just look at San Antonio’s top three-man units: Splitter, Green, and Bonner are up there more than anyone else. That’s not to say that they’ll be playing the most minutes come playoff time, but in a regular season where depth is so important, the Spurs are again showing why they’ve been the NBA’s most successful franchise of the past 15 years.

Behind The Basket Power Rankings 1.5

Sixers centers Spencer Hawes (left, in suit) and Nikola Vucevic (8) are together again, but this time both are healthy. Could they possibly take the top spot from the Heat if they win out the week (LAL, SA, LAC, Clv)?The NBA’s Profits>Product season has quickly devolved into endless injuries and some complete nonsense results. To change things up a little bit due to the impossible mission of making meaningful Power Rankings in this busted season (thanks Stern), I’ll take a look at some of the highs and lows for each team over the last two weeks.

Looking Great 

1. Miami Heat (18-6): Highs: Stomped the Sixers twice with second-half runs, beat the Bulls. Lows: lost to the Bucks twice within 10 days
2. Philadelphia 76ers (17-7): Highs: just got Hawes and Vucevic back, crushed Chicago and Atlanta this past week. Lows: Got spanked by the Heat twice, lost to NJ in OT
3. San Antonio Spurs (16-9): Highs: blew up the Thunder, the back-ups nearly beat the Mavericks on the road, Duncan is way underrated and he likes it that way. Lows: lost to the Timberwolves down the stretch

Looking Good

4. Oklahoma City Thunder (18-5): High: won in Dallas (10 blocks for Ibaka). Low: surrendered the West to SanAn in a blowout loss
5. Chicago Bulls (20-6): Highs: gutted out the NY win on the road, nearly caught the Heat in Miami. Lows: Philly absolutely killed them, haven’t beaten a winning team since Jan. 6 (next chance is Feb. 20 vs Atl)
6. Portland Trail Blazers (14-10): High: ran the Nuggets right out of the gym 117-97. Lows: continue to lose games that make no sense (Sac, GS, Det)
7. Atlanta Hawks (16-8): Highs: 8-4 without Horford, good second half and overtime in Detroit. Low: got annihilated by really good teams (and Memphis)
8. Indiana Pacers (16-7): Highs: good defense pulled out wins vs Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, and LAL. Lows: bad offense caused losses to Boston and Orlando (twice)
9. Los Angeles Clippers (14-7): Highs: won 4 consecutive games vs winning teams (Mem, Denv, OKC, Utah), Griffin over Perkins.  Lows: have you seen their defense?, gave up 12 fourth-quarter FT’s to the Lakers in a game they should have won
10. Utah Jazz (13-9): Highs: payback against the Lakers, held on vs. Portland. Lows: shot their way out of a win over Toronto (lost in 2OT), gave up 71 second-half points in a big loss at Golden State
11. Los Angeles Lakers (14-10): Highs: gutted out wins against Denver and LAC, Bynum looking great in all facets of his game. Lows: lost to every other half-decent team they played, have to face Philly now that their centers are back
12. Minnesota Timberwolves (12-12): Highs: beat the Rockets twice to take the title of best over/under .500 team, topped Southwest’s Dallas and SanAn in consecutive games. Lows: couldn’t come through late against LAL or Indy
13. Orlando Magic (15-9): High: beat the Pacers twice. Lows: lost in all sorts of ways to pretty much every other team worth a damn, got killed 93-67 by the 4-20 Hornets, does Jameer Nelson have a concussion?
14. Dallas Mavericks (14-11): High: offense looked unstoppable in big wins over Utah and Phoenix (116 and 121 pts), Jason Terry’s clutch plays pushed them over division rivals San Antonio. Low: offense disappeared against OKC, Indy, and Clv
15. Boston Celtics (13-10): Highs: Rondo is back (C's went 6-2 without), won 8 of last 9, including 2 huge ones in a row over Orlando. Lows: let Cleveland end on a 12-0 run to beat them by 1
16. Denver Nuggets (15-9): High: got payback vs the Clippers, are done with this season’s most unnecessarily hard back-to-back-to-back (so should move up quickly). Lows: 4 L’s in a week to winning clubs
17. Houston Rockets (13-11): Highs: topped the Spurs and Wolves a little bit ago. Low: lost to T-Wolves twice this past week

Looking Bad 

18. Milwaukee Bucks (10-13): Highs: own the Heat, beat the Lakers without Bogut. Lows: Bogut broke his ankle and will be out 2-3 months, couldn’t hit shots vs the Pistons
19. Memphis Grizzlies (12-12): High: got contributions from everyone in OT win over Denver. Lows: lost 6 of last 8 with SA, Min, Ind, Uta, Hou on deck
20. Golden State Warriors (8-13): Highs: able to score in bunches to top Utah and Portland. Lows: able to give up points in bunches to lose to OKC and Sacramento
21. Phoenix Suns (9-14): High: topped the Grizz by holding them off down the stretch. Low: gave up 62 pts in the 2^nd and 3^rd to lose to Toronto
22. New York Knicks (9-15): High: Jeremy Lin looked like the real PG the Knicks need. Low: Lin will never look that good again
23. Cleveland Cavaliers (9-13): High: pulled out a miracle win vs Boston which included Irving’s biggest moment of the year. Low: too little offense too late against the Nets
24. Toronto Raptors (8-17): High: consecutive close wins when Bargnani returned. Low: Bargnani is out again (2-10 without him)
25. Sacramento Kings (8-15): Highs: won two squeakers in a row over Portland and Golden State, Jason Thompson has 4 recent double-doubles. Lows: lots of huge losses to good teams (including 128-95 in Memphis)

Looking Terrible

26. New Orleans Hornets (4-20): Highs: obliterated the Magic 93-67, hung with the Spurs. Lows: have lost 14 of their last 15 (although just about all of those teams have winning records)
27. New Jersey Nets (8-17): Highs: somehow beat Philly in OT, more people are starting to recognize what Anthony Morrow can do. Low: scored only 73 pts vs the Raptors
28. Detroit Pistons (6-20): High: played great D to beat the Blazers two weeks ago, have won 2 in a row with NJ (twice) and Washington coming up. Lows: recent setbacks in NY and NJ
29. Washington Wizards (4-20): Highs: beat the Bobcats twice. Low: everything else
30. Charlotte Bobcats (3-21): High: D.J. Augustin should return soon. Low: Lost 11 straight, including twice to the Wizards