2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 12

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Since moving into the No. 2 spot of our NBA Power Rankings last week, the Atlanta Hawks have continued to play great basketball as they finished the week with a 4-0 record despite some difficult matchups.

Three of their four wins were against teams that are more than 10 games above .500 -- Clippers, Grizzlies and Wizards. The other win was against the Pistons, who have played much better since releasing Josh Smith. In fact, the Pistons have won eight of nine games without Smith with the loss to the Hawks being the exception.

Since November 28th, the Hawks have posted a 22-2 record.

The Hawks will begin a four-game road trip starting on Tuesday against a couple of beatable Eastern Conference teams (Philadelphia and Boston) and then a couple of matchups (Toronto and Chicago) against two fellow teams in the top-three of Eastern Conference standings.

Although they may lack well-known superstars, they have played efficient, team-first basketball.

Not only does Atlanta rank third in three-point percentage (.383) and fifth in shooting percentage (.467), but they also rank eighth in opponent's three-point percentage (.339) and sixth in opponent's shooting percentage (.438).

In addition, the Hawks rank third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.89) behind only the Clippers and Mavericks.

The final All-Star ballots will be announced on January 22nd, but the Hawks don't have any players in the top 10 and Paul Millsap currently ranks 13th in voting among Eastern Conference forwards.

Who's the worst: Sixers, Knicks and Celtics?

The Sixers opened the 2014-15 NBA season with 17 consecutive losses and it seemed as though they wouldn't win any games this season.

For the second time this season, however, the Sixers have a two-game winning streak with wins over the Nets and Pacers this past weekend and they have now won three of their past four games.

While their competition for the most lottery ping-pong balls is increasing within the division, the Sixers will host the 29-8 Hawks on Tuesday so it's highly unlikely that they get their first three-game winning streak of the season.

Perhaps the Knicks will shut down Carmelo Anthony for the season, but they have now lost a franchise-worst 15 consecutive games and currently own the league's worst record (5-35, .125). In addition, they have won only one of their past 26 games.

Aside from Anthony's injury, the Knicks have traded J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cavaliers and released Samuel Dalembert as they try to improve their salary-cap situation going forward.

Earlier in the season, the Celtics traded away point guard Rajon Rondo to the Mavericks. One of the players acquired in that trade, Brandan Wright, has since been traded away as the Celtics work to stockpile draft picks.

The next player on the move will be the team's leading scorer, Jeff Green, in a trade that is expected to be completed on Monday.

Sources: Boston, Memphis and New Orleans agree on five-player trade sending Jeff Green to Grizzlies. Trade call Monday.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 11, 2015

In a race to not be mediocre, but instead to be as bad as you can, which one of these Atlantic Division teams is the worst?

Cavs on five-game losing streak, lost eight of nine games

It takes time for a new trio of superstars playing for a first-year head coach to gel. Making the situation more challenging is the fact that LeBron James has missed the past eight games with a knee injury.

The injury isn't too serious and he should be back soon. In fact, he has noted that he would have played if it were the playoffs.

That said, the Cleveland Cavaliers have now lost five consecutive games and eight of their past nine.

With the Cavs ranking in the bottom half of the league in team defense, they have made some moves that should help bolster their defense. Not only is newly-acquired Iman Shumpert one of the league's more talented perimeter defenders, but they acquired Timofey Mozgov from the Nuggets. Mozgov played for coach Blatt on the Russian National Team.

Despite dropping to .500 as we near the midpoint of the season, Vegas still has the Cavs installed as the favorite to win the 2015 NBA Finals at 5/1 odds. (The Warriors are a close second at 11/2 odds.)

Turnaround coming for the Hornets?

Expectations were high in the preseason for the Charlotte Hornets, who were coming off their second playoff appearance in the past decade.

Despite starting the season with a 10-24 record, the team is now on a five-game winning streak.

If the season were to end today, the Hornets would be tied with the Pacers at the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference, but both teams are only two games behind the Heat and Nets for the eighth seed.

Not only has Lance Stephenson been out since last playing on December 17th, but Al Jefferson has now missed seven consecutive games. With Stephenson and Jefferson out, Kemba Walker has put the team on his back.

During their five-game winning streak, Walker has averaged 30.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Here are my NBA Power Rankings heading into Week 12:

1. Golden State Warriors (Record 29-5, Last Week 1)
2. Atlanta Hawks (Record 29-8, Last Week 2)
3. Portland Trail Blazers (Record 30-8, Last Week 3)
4. Memphis Grizzlies (Record 26-11, Last Week 4)
5. Chicago Bulls (Record 26-12, Last Week 5)
6. Houston Rockets (Record 26-11, Last Week 7)
7. Toronto Raptors (Record 25-11, Last Week 8)
8. Dallas Mavericks (Record 26-12, Last Week 6)
9. San Antonio Spurs (Record 23-15, Last Week 13)
10. Washington Wizards (Record 25-12, Last Week 9)
11. Los Angeles Clippers (Record 25-13, Last Week 10)
12. Phoenix Suns (Record 22-18, Last Week 12)
13. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record 18-19, Last Week 11)
14. New Orleans Pelicans (Record 18-18, Last Week 14)
15. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record 19-19, Last Week 15)
16. Brooklyn Nets (Record 16-21, Last Week 16)
17. Milwaukee Bucks (Record 20-19, Last Week 17)
18. Denver Nuggets (Record 17-20, Last Week 19)
19. Miami Heat (Record 16-21, Last Week 18)
20. Charlotte Hornets (Record 15-24, Last Week 26)
21. Sacramento Kings (Record 16-21, Last Week 20)
22. Indiana Pacers (Record 15-24, Last Week 21)
23. Orlando Magic (Record 13-27, Last Week 22)
24. Detroit Pistons (Record 13-24, Last Week 23)
25. Boston Celtics (Record 12-23, Last Week 24)
26. Utah Jazz (Record 13-25, Last Week 25)
27. Los Angeles Lakers (Record 12-26, Last Week 27)
28. Philadelphia 76ers (Record 7-29, Last Week 29)
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record 5-31, Last Week 28)
30. New York Knicks (Record 5-35, Last Week 30)

Also, check out our Fantasy Basketball Rest-of-Season Rankings

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Consensus NBA Power Rankings, Week 24

The Bobcats finished six games above .500 in the 2009-10 season, but they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Orlando Magic that year.

More recently, the Bobcats have been the laughing stock of the NBA. In the past two seasons combined, they have compiled a 28-120 record.

By clinching a playoff berth with a win over the Cavs on Friday, the Charlotte Bobcats will make their second postseason appearance in franchise history.

Charlotte is currently just one game above .500 with five games to go. If the season were to end today, the Bobcats would be the 7th seed and face the Pacers in the first round.

That said, the Bobcats have won 16 of 24 games since the All-Star break.

In his first season with the Bobcats, Al Jefferson is averaging a double-double: 21.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, both of which are five-year highs. Since the break, Jefferson is averaging 24.7 points and 10.7 boards per game.

Along with Kevin Love, DeMarcus Cousins, LaMarcus Aldridge and Anthony Davis, Jefferson is one of only five players to average 20/10 this season.

In our updated consensus power rankings, the Bobcats are ranked 16th.

- Check out our 2013-14 NBA Power Rankings for Week 24

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LeBron James scores career-high 61 points on Monday

This just in: LeBron James is good.

Of course, he's more than just "good," but King James scored a career-high (and franchise-record) 61 points against the Bobcats on Monday night.

Coincidentally, the Bobcats have allowed both games this season where a player has scored 60-plus points.  New York's Carmelo Anthony scored 62 against them in January.

While James took 33 shots, he was incredibly efficient as he converted on 22 of them.  In addition, he connected on eight of his 10 three-point attempts.

In addition to scoring 61, LeBron added seven rebounds and five assists.  (If you remember, Melo had no assists in his 62-point game.)

It was the 10th time that James has scored at least 50 points in a game, but it was only the second time that he has done so as a member of the Miami Heat.

On the season, James is averaging 27.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game and is shooting 58.3 percent from the field.

2012 NBA Mock Drafts and Mock Draft Database Updated

The 2012 NBA Draft will be held in New York City on June 28th, which is exactly two months after Day 3 of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Not only did we update our 2012 NBA Mock Draft Database this morning, but we also released our first two NBA Mock Drafts for 2012.

For draft order, we used the inverse of our NBA Consensus Power Rankings.

Brendan Donahue's top five picks are:

1. Charlotte Bobcats: Anthony Davis, PF, Kentucky
2. New Orleans Hornets: Harrison Barnes, SF, North Carolina
3. Washington Wizards: Michael Gilchrist, SF, Kentucky
4. Detroit Pistons: Thomas Robinson, PF, Kansas
5. Toronto Raptors: Andre Drummond, C, Connecticut

See all of his first-round mock here.

Kevin Hanson's top five picks are:

1. Charlotte Bobcats: Anthony Davis, PF, Kentucky
2. New Orleans Hornets: Andre Drummond, C, Connecticut
3. Washington Wizards: Harrison Barnes, SF, North Carolina
4. Detroit Pistons: Michael Gilchrist, SF, Kentucky
5. Toronto Raptors: Perry Jones, PF, Baylor

See all of my first-round mock here.

NBA Power Rankings, Week 5

Not only is there a new No. 1 team, but there is also a new No. 30 team in our NBA Consensus Power Rankings.

The Oklahoma City Thunder moved up to No. 1 this week from No. 2 last week. The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat keep the top three unchanged in terms of teams at the top.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte Bobcats have been absolutely horrible. How horrible?

They got a triple-double out of rookie Kemba Walker this weekend and still lost to the Wizards, who were the 30th-ranked team in rankings last week.

Here are some more stats about this week's NBA Consensus Power Rankings:

- Biggest jump from last week: Indiana Pacers (+4.00)
- Biggest drop from last week: Orlando Magic (-6.25)
- Team with widest difference between high and low ranker: Pacers, Mavericks Clippers (6)

[See our full NBA Consensus Power Rankings.]

Each week, we respond to one roundtable question and here's this week's question: Will the New York Knicks make the playoffs?

John (follow on Twitter): While I no longer have any confidence that the Knicks will win the division, I do still believe they will make the playoffs. About a week ago, it was looking as though the Celtics would be a sub-500 team and that they may miss the playoffs. Right now, they've won four in a row and leveled their record at 9-9. It is still plenty early, but with the talent that they have, I expect them to make the playoffs. The Knicks have been awful of late, just 1-9 in their last 10 games. However, like the Celtics, I expect the Knicks to figure a few things out and make the playoffs. Right now, the Knicks are in tenth in the East, but are in the mix with Milwaukee, Cleveland, New Jersey, and Toronto for the last seed. Each of those teams are within 2.5 games of one another, and it is far too early to pronounce the Knicks dead. They have been disappointing, for sure, but there is still too much talent on that team to not make the playoffs in the East, where the bottom of the conference is less than impressive to put it kindly. I think the Knicks and Celtics will be the 7/8 seeds come playoff time.

Sean (follow on Twitter): The Knicks will make the playoffs this year, just because the Eastern Conference is filled with garbage teams. I think D'Antoni should be fired, and will be soon and then the new regime will straighten this team out and they will finish with the 7th or 8th seed this year. Melo/Amare combo is not working. I think they will need to split the duo to compete with the big boys in the East.

Dan (follow on Twitter): The Knicks will make the playoffs this year, as per usual the East is a weak field from teams 5-8. The Knicks have not been playing well as of late, but they just have too much talent to be on a prolonged losing streak. Right now the Knicks would be in a dogfight for the 8th and final spot, but I know that Boston and New York will make the playoffs over these reamaining teams, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Cleveland, and Toronto.

Kevin (follow on Twitter): While I do think the Knicks will ultimately make the playoffs, I think they sneak in with a .500 (to slightly sub-.500) record. Not only are the Knicks off to a horrible start, but their only win against a team with a winning record was at home against a Spencer Hawes-less 76ers team. Five of their other six wins this year have come against teams ranked 25-30 in our Power Rankings: Sacramento, Washington, Detroit and Charlotte twice. Baron Davis can't return too soon for these woeful Knicks.

To see where all 30 teams fall in our power rankings going through Week 5, click here.

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Related: Our End-of-season NFL Consensus Power Rankings

Kemba Walker has triple-double in loss

Earlier tonight, Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala had a triple-double, the third of the NBA season.

Now Charlotte rookie Kemba Walker has had the fourth.

In tonight's loss to the Wizards, Walker finished with 20 points (on 8-of-18 shooting), 10 rebounds and 11 assists. It was the first time this season that Walker had double-digit rebounds or double-digit assists.

Walker becomes the third Bobcats player to ever record a triple-double. The other two were Stephen Jackson (11/20/2010) and Boris Diaw (01/17/2011).

NBA Consensus Power Rankings Through Week 3

While the same three teams are in the top three spots of our NBA Consensus Power Rankings, they are in reverse order from last week: (1) Chicago Bulls, (2) Oklahoma City Thunder and (3) Miami Heat.

With an ankle injury sidelining Dwyane Wade indefinitely, things may continue to get worse for the Heat before they get better. Miami has lost three straight games and their next three games are against teams in the top seven in our rankings: Spurs (9-4), Lakers (9-5) and Sixers (9-3).

"I've got to step it up a little more offensively and defensively," James said (via Chris Perkins of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel), "revert back to some of the ways when I was back in Cleveland, when I knew for the most part I had to be the No. 1 option offensively."

On the other hand, the bottom four teams in our rankings have remained exactly the same: (27) Charlotte Bobcats, (28) New Jersey Nets, (29) Detroit Pistons and (30) Washington Wizards.

Here are some stats about this week's NBA Consensus Power Rankings:

- Biggest jump from last week: Houston Rockets (+4.50)
- Biggest drop from last week: Portland Trail Blazers (-7.00)
- Team with widest difference between high and low ranker: Dallas Mavericks (9)

[See our full NBA Consensus Power Rankings.]

Over the past four seasons, the Celtics have finished first in the Atlantic Division and finished with at least 50 wins and a .610 winning percentage in each season. During that four-year span, the Celtics have a combined record of 234-94 (.713 winning percentage). This year has not gone nearly as well so far as the Celtics have lost seven of their first 11 games.

Each week, we respond to one roundtable question and here's this week's question: Will the Celtics finish above or below .500 this season?

John (follow on Twitter): The Celtics are off to a slow start, and I certainly found it amusing when Pacer fans started chanting "AARP" when they had the ball in a recent game in Indiana. The Celtics will get better, though. They don't look to be a real threat to win it this year, but they still have enough talent to be a playoff team. I won't put them much over .500, as they will likely only play hard enough to get into the playoffs. They are a team that will benefit more from resting than they would trying to move up a spot or two. Still, I have them finishing somewhere over the .500 mark, good enough for third in the division behind the Knicks and Sixers.

Sean (follow on Twitter): I believe Boston will finish above .500, but I am starting to think they will not finish as high as I thought they would originally. The Celtics are 4-7 this season, and the only four wins they have are versus the Wizards (twice), Nets and Pistons, who are the bottom three teams in my power rankings. The 4th-worst team in my rankings, the New Orleans Hornets, beat the Celtics this year. Jason Terry hit the nail right on the head during his halftime interview this week when he basically said Rondo is the only player playing with any energy. Later that game, Jeff Van Gundy was ripping the Celtics for the same thing. The Celtics have too much talent not to finish above .500 especially in the Eastern Conference where there are a lot of teams worse than them.

Dan (follow on Twitter): The Celtics will not finish this season above .500, as the compressed format goes against their age. The Celtics big three have all missed time this year, and they have no depth off of the bench to speak of. The Celtics starting rotation right now consists of (when healthy) Garnett, Allen, Pierce, Rondo, and Jermaine O'Neal, and they can only maybe go 7-8 deep with Bass, Wilcox, and Dooling. The Celtics are just too old to string back-to-back nights and three games in four nights trips into multiple wins. I do expect the Celtics to grab one of the final playoff spots, but they will need to add depth at the trade deadline.

Kevin (follow on Twitter): Through 11 games, all four of the Celtics wins have come against the bottom three teams in our Power Rankings. With the Thunder up next on their schedule (Monday), let's count that as a loss, which would drop the Celtics to 4-8. Their schedule in April is tough: only four of their 15 opponents have a losing record. In those four games against teams with a losing record, the Celtics are on the road in three of them. Let's say they go 6-9 in April (although you could argue that's optimistic). Assuming a loss to the Thunder on Monday and a 6-9 April record, that puts their record outside of January 17th to March 31st at 10-17. In other words, the Celtics need to win 24 of those 39 games to finish above .500. Long story short: Celtics will NOT finish above .500 this year.

To see where all 30 teams fall in our power rankings going through Week 3, click here.

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Related: Our End-of-season NFL Consensus Power Rankings

Tyrus Thomas to miss eight weeks with a torn meniscus

Before Thursday's game against the Sixers, Bobcats forward Tyrus Thomas was a last-minute scratch due to swelling in his knee.

The team sent Thomas for an MRI and the results aren't good.

Thomas, who has a torn meniscus, will miss up to the next eight weeks with the injury.

On the season, Thomas was averaging 11.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game this season.

With the injury to Thomas, both Kwame Brown and Nazr Mohammed should see their minutes expand.