2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 22

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Three teams have double-digit winning streaks this season -- Atlanta Hawks (19), Golden State Warriors (16) and Cleveland Cavaliers (12).

Both the Hawks and Warriors have had nine-game winning streaks as well, but the Warriors' nine-game winning streak is currently active as we head into Week 22.

In Steve Kerr's first year as head coach, he has already set a franchise record with 60 wins (and counting), which breaks the previous record of Al Attles and the 1975-76 Warriors that finished with a 59-23 record. Of those 60 wins, 43 of them have been by double digits, which leads the NBA by a wide margin.

Despite playing less than 33 minutes per game, Stephen Curry is having a career season.

Curry is averaging 26.0 points, 8.6 assists and 4.0 rebounds with 2.3 steals per 36 minutes, all of which are career highs for him. Leading the league in free-throw percentage (91.6 percent), Curry is shooting 43.1 percent from three-point range and a career-high 52.9 percent on two-point attempts.

While Houston's James Harden leads the NBA in Win Shares (14.6) -- Curry is second (14.2), no player has more Win Shares Per 48 Minutes than Curry (.292). Harden (.265) is third as he trails both Curry and Anthony Davis (.278).

Meanwhile, Draymond Green currently leads the NBA in Defensive Win Shares (4.9).

Green is averaging nearly 10 minutes more per game this year (31.6/G) than last season (21.9/G) and stuffs the stat sheet across the board -- 11.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. On a per-36 basis, he's averaging a career high in all of those categories except for steals.

Clips continue to beat up East; real test vs. dubs next

The Clippers have the league's second-longest active winning streak of seven games.

Many of those wins have been against the league's bottom-feeder Eastern Conference teams with the three most recent wins against the Knicks, 76ers and Celtics last night.

The Clippers face the Warriors and Blazers on back-to-back nights (Tuesday and Wednesday), but then four of their final six games will be against the Lakers (twice) and Nuggets (twice).

Based on Western Conference seeding, the Clippers are currently the No. 4 seed, but they are within 1.5 games of the No. 2 seed (Rockets). On the other hand, they are only 1.5 games within the No. 6 seed (Spurs).

KD out 4-6 months

It's been a lost season for Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant.

With Jones fracture surgery in his right foot delaying the start of his season by 17 games, Durant will now miss the next four to six months as he recovers from a bone-graft procedure.

Playing a total of only 27 games this season, Durant has also missed multiple games three different times between Game 1 and 27 for him this season.

Only five of those 27 games were in February, but the Thunder have won 19 of their 26 games in February and March.

Of course, Russell Westbrook has carried the team by averaging more than 30 points and 10 assists in both February and March.

Here are Westbrook's monthly per-game splits (since December -- played only three games before then):

• December: 28. 3 points, 7.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals
• January: 21.1 points, 7.6 assists, 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 steals
• February: 31.2 points, 10.3 assists, 9.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals
• March: 30.9 points, 10.2 assists, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals

Since February, Westbrook has eight triple-doubles. The rest of the league combined has a total of 12 triple-doubles during that span.

NYK: From Worse to Worst

Obviously, the New York Knicks have struggled all season and Carmelo Anthony was shut down following the All-Star Game.

As bad as things have been, things are getting even worse with the potentially season-ending rib injury to Alexey Schved. Excluding his final game this season when he played only 17 minutes, Schved averaged 19.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals in previous eight games.

In the three games he has missed since the injury, the Knicks have lost all three games by a combined margin of 56 points. The Knicks now have four losses by 30-plus points; only the Sixers have more (five).

With eight games to go, the Knicks have just 14 wins and currently own the league's worst record. The team has never won fewer than 21 games in a season and both of those seasons were in the early sixties, but there is no chance that they win seven of eight games to avoid setting a franchise-low for wins.

Here are my Week 22 NBA Power Rankings:

Rank	Team	Record	Last Week	Change
1	Golden State Warriors	60-13	1	-
2	Atlanta Hawks	55-18	2	-
3	Cleveland Cavaliers	48-27	3	-
4	Houston Rockets	50-23	5	+1
5	Memphis Grizzlies	50-24	4	-1
6	Los Angeles Clippers	49-25	7	+1
7	San Antonio Spurs	47-26	6	-1
8	Portland Trail Blazers	47-25	8	-
9	Chicago Bulls	45-29	12	+3
10	Dallas Mavericks	45-29	9	-1
11	Washington Wizards	41-33	10	-1
12	Oklahoma City Thunder	42-32	11	-1
13	Toronto Raptors	43-30	13	-
14	New Orleans Pelicans	39-34	15	+1
15	Phoenix Suns	38-36	14	-1
16	Utah Jazz	32-41	17	+1
17	Indiana Pacers	32-41	16	-1
18	Charlotte Hornets	31-41	18	-
19	Miami Heat	34-39	19	-
20	Milwaukee Bucks	36-37	20	-
21	Boston Celtics	32-41	21	-
22	Brooklyn Nets	32-40	22	-
23	Detroit Pistons	28-45	26	+3
24	Denver Nuggets	28-46	23	-1
25	Sacramento Kings	26-46	24	-1
26	Orlando Magic	22-52	25	-1
27	Philadelphia 76ers	18-56	27	-
28	Los Angeles Lakers	19-53	28	-
29	Minnesota Timberwolves	16-57	29	-
30	New York Knicks	14-60	30	-

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2014-15 NBA Power Rankings Week 16

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The up-and-down season for the Cleveland Cavaliers has been mostly "up" over the past month.

Starting with a win in the middle of last month over the Lakers, the Cavs ran off 12 consecutive wins before finally losing to the Pacers on Feb. 6th.

With a 15-point win over the Lakers on Sunday, however, perhaps the Cavs will begin another long winning streak. Before the All-Star break, the Cavs will host the Heat on Wednesday and visit the Bulls on Thursday.

Adding some drama to things in Cleveland, LeBron James recently tweeted the following directed at Kevin Love (without explicitly stating so initially but he conceeded so yesterday):

Stop trying to find a way to FIT-OUT and just FIT-IN. Be apart of something special! Just my thoughts
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 8, 2015

If you remember, Love had said back in the preseason (via ESPN):

"I'm comfortable and just not trying to, I guess, fit in so much," Love said after the game. "I had a talk with the guys on the plane ride over (to Brazil) and also at different practices off the floor and they told me to fit out. Just be myself.

"I kind of laughed and smirked at that. Off the court, I never have any problems with that. But on the court, it's just us having so many weapons and being able to fit together out there on the floor ... You always say check your egos at the door but we also need to bring our egos with us because that's what makes us so great. We wouldn't be here without them."

And here's what Love said when asked about LeBron's tweet:

"I feel like I’ve done all the right things. I haven’t got upset or been down," Love said (per Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal). "There’s moments when I hope I would’ve played better but it’s a long, long season. I don’t know really what he’s talking about. I feel like I’ve sacrificed and I think everyone knows that. I’m not trying to downplay what he said, but I think I’ve done a pretty good job of trying to help this team."

LeBron took to Twitter again this morning, however, to make it clear that he doesn't have a "problem" with Love.

I like u guys a lot(Media) but don't try and make a story cause it looks good. If I have a problem with a teammate or anyone I'll say to....
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 9, 2015

Either way, I'm sure it's not the last we'll hear about this.

Meanwhile, the Cavs are once again the "favorite" to win the NBA Championship (via odds from Sportsbook.ag).



Clippers PF Blake Forward out up to six weeks, possibly much less

Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin is scheduled to have elbow surgery for a staph infection on Monday and will miss up to six weeks, but he will be reevaluated after the All-Star break.

At the moment, the Clippers are 33-19 and one-half game ahead of the Spurs for the sixth seed in the Western Conference.

Even with Griffin in the lineup for three of their four games last week, the Clippers have lost four games in a row.

To make matters worse, the schedule gets tougher for the Clippers.

With seven games remaining in February, the Clippers face six teams with a record above .625: Grizzlies (.745) and Rockets (.686) twice each and Mavs (.660) and Spurs (.627) once along with the Kings.

Here are my NBA Power Rankings heading into Week 16:

1. Atlanta Hawks (Record 42-10, Last Week 1)
2. Golden State Warriors (Record 40-9, Last Week 2)
3. Memphis Grizzlies (Record 38-13, Last Week 3)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (Record 32-21, Last Week 5)
5. San Antonio Spurs (Record 32-19, Last Week 6)
6. Portland Trail Blazers (Record 35-17, Last Week 4)
7. Toronto Raptors (Record 35-17, Last Week 8)
8. Houston Rockets (Record 35-16, Last Week 9)
9. Dallas Mavericks (Record 35-18, Last Week 10)
10. Los Angeles Clippers (Record 33-19, Last Week 7)
11. Chicago Bulls (Record 32-20, Last Week 11)
12. Washington Wizards (Record 32-20, Last Week 13)
13. New Orleans Pelicans (Record 27-24, Last Week 14)
14. Phoenix Suns (Record 29-24, Last Week 12)
15. Oklahoma City Thunder (Record 26-25, Last Week 15)
16. Milwaukee Bucks (Record 28-23, Last Week 17)
17. Charlotte Hornets (Record 22-29, Last Week 16)
18. Detroit Pistons (Record 20-32, Last Week 18)
19. Indiana Pacers (Record 20-32, Last Week 22)
20. Miami Heat (Record 21-29, Last Week 19)
21. Brooklyn Nets (Record 21-29, Last Week 24)
22. Utah Jazz (Record 18-33, Last Week 20)
23. Sacramento Kings (Record 18-32, Last Week 21)
24. Boston Celtics (Record 19-31, Last Week 26)
25. New York Knicks (Record 10-41, Last Week 23)
26. Denver Nuggets (Record 19-32, Last Week 25)
27. Orlando Magic (Record 16-38, Last Week 29)
28. Philadelphia 76ers (Record 12-40, Last Week 27)
29. Los Angeles Lakers (Record 13-38, Last Week 28)
30. Minnesota Timberwolves (Record 11-40, Last Week 30)

[Note: With the six-day NBA All-Star Break hiatus beginning on Friday, our next NBA Power Rankings update will be in two weeks (Feb. 23rd.).] More of our content:

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Chris Paul (shoulder) to miss 3-5 weeks

The good news is that the Clippers got the win in Dallas on Friday, but the bad news far outweighs the good news.

Despite getting the win, the team lost its star point guard Chris Paul to a separated shoulder and coach Doc Rivers has estimated that CP3 will miss at least three to five weeks with the shoulder injury.

Paul will be examined in L.A. on Sunday and Monday, but it's possible that Paul could miss more than the 3-5 weeks that Rivers estimates depending on the results of additional tests.

Not only is Paul leading the league in assists (11.2 per game), but he is averaging 19.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as well.  In addition, power forward Blake Griffin is actually second on the team in assists with only 3.0 per game.

With Paul out, Darren Collison will get the start at the point.  In 35 minutes on Friday, Collison scored 20 points and added four assists.

Collison is currently available in 23 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

James Harden (ankle) to miss Clippers game?

After stepping on Golden State's David Lee's foot last night, Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden (ankle) left the game but later returned.

Harden finished the game with 27 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.  In six games this month, one of which includes a triple-double, Harden is averaging 27.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

Per Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, "Harden will miss Wednesday's game at Clippers with ankle injury but will be ready for Sunday's All-Star Game."

That said, Harden has not yet ruled himself out for Wednesday night's matchup against the Clippers, according to  Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

“I’m tough enough,” Harden said. “My main focus is on tomorrow, getting the right treatment, icing as much as possible, try to get my ankle ready and my knee ready. My whole body hurts.”

Houston is hosting this weekend's All-Star game and activities. After tonight's game against the Clippers, the Rockets won't play a regular-season game again until February 20th when they host Harden's former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Trifone: A Look at the NBA Odds (Futures)

A little over a week ago, I was reviewing some of the odds to win the Western Conference, and saw the Spurs at 12-1. At the time, I think they had won six in a row, and were right in the mix with the Clippers for the No. 2 seed. I thought it was a fantastic bet.

Since then, the Spurs have won another four in a row, including a road win at the aforementioned Clippers. Tony Parker is quietly, or maybe not so quietly, having an MVP season, putting up another 30-point game to go along with 10 assists, while Chris Paul had 21 points and 6 assists. Many, including myself, had written off the Spurs going into the season, as a team that was just too old to be a factor in the shortened season.

It also appeared as though their window to win another title had passed.

The last time the Spurs won the Championship was 2007, and Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili haven't gotten any younger. The Lakers and the Celtics had once again become the class of the league, and then when Lebron went to Miami and Durant and Westbrook started to emerge as the most athletic team in the league, the Spurs seemed to be falling out of contention. And yet, it would seem that they are poised to prove everyone wrong.

They are currently on a 10-game winning streak, with Tony Parker playing as well as he ever has. The Spurs will be able to limit the minutes of their aging players down the stretch, and their experience, combined with their infusion of youth (with guys like DeJuan Blair and Gary Neal making an impact), make San Antonio a dangerous team.

If the Lakers fail to acquire Dwight Howard by the trade deadline, I think this year's Western Conference Finals will come down to the Spurs and Thunder. The West is certainly more wide open than the East, which seems destined to come down to the Bulls and Heat, but the Spurs are showing they may have one more championship run in them.

Win the streak aside, they are playing better ball this year than anticipated, and they have put themselves in a great position. They can certainly lock up home court against all but the Thunder, but even if they fail to do so, they have shown that they have the experience to win on the road in the past. Even this year, they are above .500 away from home, and have some impressive road wins against the likes of Memphis, Philadelphia, and the Clippers.

Current odds on the Spurs to win the West are 5-1 (on Sportsbook.com), which I feel is a decent bet. I loved them at 12-1; I think 5-1 is a more accurate number, but still a solid bet on a team that's playing great basketball. San Antonio is 15-1 to win the title, but truth be told, I don't think any of the listed odds for the NBA Championship are great. The Heat are going to be huge favorites, and justifiably so, as I see LeBron getting his first ring at season's end.

I think the real money to be made here is being able to pick the Western Conference Champ, and the Spurs at 5-1 look to have the most attractive odds.

(FYI: the Thunder are 1.6-1 or +160, and with a league as deep as it is, I don't like the bet on a team that hasn't been there before. While the Thunder may be the most likely to go, the odds to bet it just aren't good enough. I'd take a flyer on the Lakers or Clippers at 4.5-1 before putting money on OKC to win the West.)

As far as the Eastern Conference goes, I really don't see a lot of good value. The Heat are 1-2 to win the conference (-200), meaning you have to give odds if you want to take them to make the Finals. After Miami, the Bulls are 2-1 to get there, and Chicago really seems to be the only other realistic option. The next closest team is 12-1. The Heat and Bulls are such heavy favorites that it makes taking one of those long shots a pretty foolish bet, and given that the odds reflect this, I don't really care for the bet on Miami or Chicago either. I could see a team like the Knicks or Sixers potentially upsetting Chicago, but I can't see them beating the Heat as well. Because of this, I'm not a fan of any of the bets in the Eastern Conference.

For my thoughts on the futures' bets in college basketball, click here.

[Editor's note: This post is by John Trifone (@JohnnyT0122), who also contributes at our NFL site: Eat, Drink and Sleep Football (see John's archives).]

Mo Williams scores 25-plus in 3rd straight game

After missing three games with a foot injury, Clippers guard Mo Williams scored 25-plus points in three consecutive games.

In today's game against the Raptors, Williams came off the bench to score 26 points in just over 26 minutes.

Over his past three games, Williams has shot 29 for 45 from the field (64.4 percent), seven for 13 from three-point range (53.8 percent) and 11 for 11 from the line.

Provided Chris Paul is back on Wednesday, Williams will get a few less minutes. As well as he is playing, however, he shouldn't see a huge drop in playing time.

Chris Paul has a strained hamstring

Clippers point guard Chris Paul had 33 points, six assists and three steals in last night's eight-point win over the other team from Los Angeles last night.

That said, CP3 left last night's game with a strained hamstring.

"I don't know what happened; I thought it was a cramp," Paul said, per Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. "I've never had this before. I'll just have to wait to see tomorrow what exactly is going on."

Through nine games, Paul is averaging 18.0 points, 8.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game, which are all below his career averages. However, he is shooting 52.0 percent from the field and averaging 2.8 steals per game, which would be or tie a career high.

The Clippers are off today, but play three straight starting on Monday against the Nets, Jazz and Mavericks.

NBA Consensus Power Rankings, Week 2

One week into the regular season, it's time for the first edition of our NBA Consensus Power Rankings, which will have a similar format to our NFL version.

The same four of us (John Trifone, Dan Yanotchko, Sean Beazley and I) will rank all 30 NBA franchises from 1 to 30 to get to our consensus (average) ranking of the 30 NBA teams.

Since the NBA is a star-driven league, one of the most popular topics of conversation in the NBA offseason was what would happen with then-Hornets point guard Chris Paul and to Magic center Dwight Howard.

Initially CP3 was heading to Los Angeles to play for the Lakers, then Cavs owner Dan Gilbert got out his crayons to complain to the league and the league vetoed the deal. Ultimately, however, Paul ended up in L.A. But instead of landing with the Lakers, CP3 was traded to the Clippers.

With our power rankings, as you may know from our NFL version, we have one weekly roundtable topic and our first question involves the two L.A. franchises.

Which L.A. team will win more regular-season games this year: Lakers or Clippers?

John (follow John on Twitter): There has been an awful lot of hype surrounding the Clippers this season and the acquisition of Chris Paul. However, as of now, they are still the second best team in Los Angeles. The Lakers did lose Lamar Odom, and are certainly an aging group, but they still have a solid core of good players. I still think it's fairly likely that the Lakers will make a big move like getting Dwight Howard, but even if they don't, Andrew Bynum is an animal when healthy. And although the Lakers may not have enough to truly contend for a title, they still have enough to get farther than the Clippers, who still have to gel together and probably add a few more pieces themselves before they are a serious contender.

Sean (visit Sean's website): In my preseason selections, I have the Clippers not the Lakers representing the Western Conference in the NBA Finals, however, I do think the Lakers will end the regular season with more wins. I had the Lakers with the #2 seed and the Clippers with the #3 seed. I love CP3 and Blake Griffin, but they aren't Kobe Bryant. I think the difference in wins is going to be small, and its going to be those games where Kobe can close and CP3/Blake can't that make up those few games. It is also going to take the Clippers time to gel together as well. Come playoff time I think they are going to be scary if they are healthy.

Dan (follow Dan on Twitter): This year will be the year that the little brother finally fights back. The Clippers have landed the second best point guard in the league, and posess a much better core than the Lakers. The Lakers are aging with Kobe's injuries, and Andrew Bynum sure to go down soon, and Pau Gasol looking disinterested, and losing the 6th man in Lamar Odom. I forsee this finally being the year of the clippers, and will enjoy watching Blake Griffin play with Chris Paul.

Kevin (follow Kevin on Twitter): With no NFL franchise, Los Angeles has been an NBA (and Lakers) city. For a long time, the Clippers have long been the laughing stock of the league. Not only is the gap narrowing, but the future of the Clippers is as bright as that of the showtime Lakers. While I would agree with Sean that the Lakers will likely get more regular-season wins as the Clips learn to learn together, I think the Clippers are a more dangerous team in the playoffs and the team that non-L.A. teams don't want to face in May and June.

To see where the Lakers and Clippers (and other 28 teams) fall in our power rankings, click here.

Related: Our NFL Consensus Power Rankings