Writing the Pine

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

I know I missed last week’s power rankings but stupid life got in the way as I had to take my CPA exam.  I think I passed but we’ll see I guess.  Anyway, nobody wants to hear about that.  Let’s get right into it.

1. LOS ANGELES LAKERS (8), 13-3 – The Lakers currently hold the league’s longest winning streak and with Pau Gasol back, they regain the top spot in the power rankings.  Now they just need Lamar Odom to stop being so Hollywood and play harder.

2. PHOENIX SUNS (3), 14-3 – The loss to a Chris Paulus I mean Paul-less Hornets team (that apparently ran their TNT losing streak to 16 games) was their first “bad” loss of the season and they ripped off four wins since then.  It’s a big week coming up for Phoenix though with marquee road matchups against Cleveland and the Lakers.

3. ORLANDO MAGIC (4), 14-4 – Rashard Lewis has been struggling since his debut this season shooting only 13-43 from the field in his first three games, but has stepped it up with back-to-back 50%+ shooting performances.  He finally broke the 20-point mark against the Knicks on Sunday which tells us, there’s no better way to get out of a shooting slump then to play the Knicks.

4. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (5), 12-5 – Impressive victory over the Mavericks in the back end of a back-to-back following a loss to the (new and improved) Charlotte Bobcats.

5. BOSTON CELTICS (6), 13-4 – Sadly, I think it’s more impressive lose to the new (new and improved) Charlotte Bobcats by seven than to need overtime to beat the Knicks by two.

6. DENVER NUGGETS (2), 12-5 – Melo goes for a career-high 50 against the Knicks and then the Nuggets lose their first home game to the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves!

7. DALLAS MAVERICKS (10), 12-5 – The second tier of teams starts with the Mavericks and they showed why they don’t belong with the elite with a 16-point loss at Cleveland.

8. ATLANTA HAWKS (1), 12-5 – Honestly, I wasn’t really sure who to put here.  The Hawks are finally coming back down to earth with three bad losses in their last four games.  I can’t punish them too much though for a bad week.  Let’s see how they bounce back.  They have a game against the Knicks on Friday so we know they’ll win at least one.

9. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (14), 9-8 - Kevin Durant and co. took full advantage of their national television appearance on Friday night, drubbing the Bucks by 18. Russell Westbrook domianted rookie sensation Brandon Jennings in one of the more intriguing head-to-head matchups the league has to offer.

10. UTAH JAZZ (NR), 9-7 – After an awful start, the Jazz all of a sudden have won five of their last six games and can run that streak to eight of nine until they run into possibly the toughest week of anybody’s schedule.  The week of December 7th the Jazz play San Antonio, then the Lakers at Staples Center, the come back home to face the Magic and the Lakers in a rematch.

11. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (7), 12-7 – The Blazers fall behind the Jazz by way of their head-to-head loss (which followed a bad loss to the Grizzlies).

12. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (15), 9-6 – I’m not sure the Spurs will ever be fully healthy this year.  But they’re playing well right now without Manu.  Looks like Parker is the more essential piece to the team.  Will it be bye bye San Antonio for Ginobili in the offseason?

13. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS (NR), 7-9 – I’m jumping on the Bobcats bandwagon and I’m going to say they will upset the Boston Celtics on Tuesday to win their fifth game in a row.

14. MIAMI HEAT (9), 9-7 – After starting the season 6-1, the Heat dropped six of their next nine.  A handful of teams could have occupied the 14 spot as the next crop of teams have all been pretty terrible, but the Heat have the most impressive victory of the bunch (road win against Orlando).

15. HOUSTON ROCKETS (13), 9-8 – The Rockets have been consistently average all year long.  They don’t go on streaks and beat the good teams while losing to the bad ones.  The only exception?  They always play the Lakers tough.

16. MILWAUKEE BUCKS (11), 8-7 – In eight Milwaukee victories, Brandon Jennings has averaged 26.4 ppg and 50.6% shooting.  In seven losses, he has averaged 17.6 ppg and 34.6% shooting.  It’s safe to say they need him to play well.

MVP/ROY WATCH

MVP
1. KOBE BRYANT (1) – Like Jennings, any Lakers loss could be tied with Kobe’s terrible play that night.  He averages 19 ppg on 32.1% shooting in Lakers losses.  Fortunately, they don’t lose often.
2. CARMELO ANTHONY (4) – Everybody says the Nuggets are a terrible road team but maybe they’re just an amazing home team.  Carmelo’s road numbers aren’t bad (28.8 ppg, 6 rpg, 2.8 apg, 43% FG) but his home numbers are off the charts (33.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 4.7 apg, 57.1% FG).
3. LEBRON JAMES (5) – LeBron is the model of consistency.  His numbers are pretty much the same no matter how you break them down.  The stat that stands out the most?  He averages almost five turnovers a game in Cleveland losses (3.3 in wins).
4. STEVE NASH (NR) – Might as well keep going with the split stats.  Nash is averaging only 6.3 apg in Phoenix losses (13.1 in wins).  But he’s 100% on his free throws at home this year!
5. KEVIN DURANT (NR) – KD has made his way into the NBA elite.  I hope his 3-point shooting gets better though.  He is too good a shooter to be shooting only 25% from long-distance.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
I’m lazy.  Just know that Brandon Jennings is still on top.

SHOT OF THE (LAST TWO) WEEK(S)