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2008-09 Power Rankings: Week 2
RANK (LAST WK) TEAM REC. COMMENT
1 (2) Celtics 6-1 Seriously. Go back and look closely at what the champs did in Houston and then in Detroit, then tell me how this committee (of one) could ignore the quality of those wins, even when the Lakers are blasting everybody.
2 (1) Lakers 5-0 Two more dominating displays, including a 29-point beatdown of the Ron Artest-fueled Rockets, have hiked the Lakers' average margin of victory to a whopping 22.4 points per game. Next in line: Atlanta at a mere 10.2 ppg.
3 (9) Cavaliers 5-2 You have to go all the way back to 1975-76 for the Cavs' first and only division title. Tell us: Do you like them to win the Central Division more or less now that the Pistons have swapped Billups for Iverson?
4 (8) Suns 5-2 Hard to argue with the insistence of the Suns' brass to impose occasional nights off on Shaq when he follows up a DNP-CD in Chicago with his biggest scoring game in more than a year (29 points) at Milwaukee.
5 (12) Hawks 5-0 The loss of Josh Smith for two to four weeks has to dampen the mood somewhat, but we insist on letting these -- get this -- defense-first Hawks enjoy their moment, now 2-for-2 as the U.S. Army Team of the Week.
6 (2) Hornets 4-2 Peja and Chandler weren't out of the lineup long ... and these days a home loss to Atlanta doesn't look nearly as bad as it sounds. Yet you get the sense that Coach Scott isn't thrilled with what he's seen so far.
7 (6) Raptors 4-2 Have you noticed Bosh is getting mentioned as a 2010 free-agent target almost as often as LeBron lately? Perhaps that's because there are maybe two guys in the East (LeBron and Joe Johnson) who can match him lately.
8 (7) Jazz 5-1 Has to be scary for Jazz fans to hear that D-Will is going to be out longer than expected. That said, Utah can't be too cautious with that guy, no matter what this news does to the rest of Jerry Sloan's November.
9 (5) Pistons 4-2 I'm sure the second-guessing is well underway in Motown after an 0-2 launch to the Iverson Era, but how do you pass on a deal in which you get the best player and the most payroll flexibility? Right. You don't.
10 (16) Magic 4-2 Anyone else out there think our scathing critique of the Magic in this space, just one Monday ago, is what woke them up and led to (mostly) comfortable wins over Chicago, Philly and Washington at home? Us, too.
11 (4) Rockets 4-3 You pretty much have to live with that heave Brandon Roy tossed in at the buzzer. Losing to Boston and the road no-show against the Lakers, in the Rockets' first two big games of the season, were the real letdowns.
12 (18) Nuggets 3-3 Back when the Nuggets acquired Iverson, AI couldn't get to Denver right away because of a blizzard that shut down the whole city. In the Billups Era, at a quick 2-0, things have started a bit more smoothly.
13 (14) Pacers 2-3 Not the easiest four opponents to start with: Detroit, Boston, Phoenix and Cleveland. Vulnerable as the Pacers' defense remains, let's see whether they can build on thumping Boston and hanging with the other three.
14 (17) Trail Blazers 3-3 Deflated as Blazermaniacs must be about the Oden situation, they're still seeing serious entertainment. All of Portland's home games have gone down to the final seconds and the local kids pulled out all three wins.
15 (15) Bulls 3-4 Injuries to Hinrich and Hughes should make it easier for the Bulls to find playing time for all their guards ... but tougher to assemble the trade package they'd need to address those well-chronicled size issues.
16 (25) Knicks 4-2 Three-game win streak? Two games over .500 for the first time since (gulp) Jan. 1, 2005? First team to beat Utah? D'Antoni knows what's bound to happen next: ''Knick fans ... they'll think we're in the playoffs.''
17 (26) Heat 3-3 The Heat barely have what NBA teams like to refer to as a bench. They don't have a starter taller than 6-9, either. Yet they've hit Week 3 with something -- a .500 record -- they never came close to last season.
18 (13) 76ers 2-4 It worked with the Magic last week, so now every Sixers-loving friend of ours is begging us to brand Philly, in writing, as the league's Most Disappointing Team so far. Not that they had to lobby us very hard.
19 (24) Bobcats 2-4 Would the Bobs be better off if His Airness had complete control of the franchise? Question we have to ask (and keep asking) now that MJ has publicly stated his desire to buy the team from Bob Johnson someday.
20 (29) Kings 3-4 Even if the three teams it just swept at home are a combined 6-14, Sacramento's response to that disastrous road trip does pass the "scrappy" test, since wins at Arco ain't automatic like they used to be.
21 (20) Bucks 3-4 Dare we say that the Bucks have missed our favorite lefty bomber more than his detractors might have imagined? Coincidence or not, Milwaukee's three best defensive games so far were the last three Redd played.
22 (21) Grizzlies 3-4 If you're claiming you expected Memphis to be peering down at the Mavericks and the Spurs in the Southwest standings at any point this season, you are invited to attach yourself to the nearest lie-detector.
23 (22) Nets 2-3 If you play the point, normally you'd kill to be in the same sentence as Tony Parker and Deron Williams. Not these days. The link for Devin Harris, fresh off his 38-point eruption, is that all three are carrying ankle injuries.
24 (11) Mavericks 2-4 Far more frightening than this stunning (but necessary) drop is the fact that the new coach (Carlisle) and the old reliable (Nowitzki) already have felt the need to make a public plea for more effort and urgency.
25 (10) Spurs 1-4 The truly painful part of all these new lows for the battered Spurs, now that Parker will be in street clothes for a month, is that he and TD were looking as good as ever individually while waiting for Manu to heal.
26 (29) Clippers 1-6 Even with his new team still getting to know each other after all those injuries -- and faced with his second straight 0-6 start to a season -- Baron Davis just showed us he hasn't lost his knack for torturing Dallas.
27 (19) Warriors 2-5 The only positive aspect of all the negative coverage generated by Golden State's front-office tension? It takes some focus away from a dispiriting, Monta-less start that already includes two losses to Memphis.
28 (23) Wizards 0-5 The good news: No one knows more about digging out of an 0-5 hole than the Wiz, who had to do the exact same thing last season. The bad news: This Wiz team looks way shakier than last season's Wiz did.
29 (27) Thunder 1-5 The discipline Durant showed late in his rookie season continues. He averaged 3.4 3-pointers per game before the All-Star break and 1.2 after the break, and has attempted just six 3s in six games this season.
30 (28) Timberwolves 1-5 Looks like pulling out a two-point win over the Kings on opening night wasn't exactly an omen. The Wolves are 0-5 since and showing their youth, with three of those losses coming by four points or fewer.
RANK (LAST WK) TEAM REC. COMMENT
1 (2) Celtics 6-1 Seriously. Go back and look closely at what the champs did in Houston and then in Detroit, then tell me how this committee (of one) could ignore the quality of those wins, even when the Lakers are blasting everybody.
2 (1) Lakers 5-0 Two more dominating displays, including a 29-point beatdown of the Ron Artest-fueled Rockets, have hiked the Lakers' average margin of victory to a whopping 22.4 points per game. Next in line: Atlanta at a mere 10.2 ppg.
3 (9) Cavaliers 5-2 You have to go all the way back to 1975-76 for the Cavs' first and only division title. Tell us: Do you like them to win the Central Division more or less now that the Pistons have swapped Billups for Iverson?
4 (8) Suns 5-2 Hard to argue with the insistence of the Suns' brass to impose occasional nights off on Shaq when he follows up a DNP-CD in Chicago with his biggest scoring game in more than a year (29 points) at Milwaukee.
5 (12) Hawks 5-0 The loss of Josh Smith for two to four weeks has to dampen the mood somewhat, but we insist on letting these -- get this -- defense-first Hawks enjoy their moment, now 2-for-2 as the U.S. Army Team of the Week.
6 (2) Hornets 4-2 Peja and Chandler weren't out of the lineup long ... and these days a home loss to Atlanta doesn't look nearly as bad as it sounds. Yet you get the sense that Coach Scott isn't thrilled with what he's seen so far.
7 (6) Raptors 4-2 Have you noticed Bosh is getting mentioned as a 2010 free-agent target almost as often as LeBron lately? Perhaps that's because there are maybe two guys in the East (LeBron and Joe Johnson) who can match him lately.
8 (7) Jazz 5-1 Has to be scary for Jazz fans to hear that D-Will is going to be out longer than expected. That said, Utah can't be too cautious with that guy, no matter what this news does to the rest of Jerry Sloan's November.
9 (5) Pistons 4-2 I'm sure the second-guessing is well underway in Motown after an 0-2 launch to the Iverson Era, but how do you pass on a deal in which you get the best player and the most payroll flexibility? Right. You don't.
10 (16) Magic 4-2 Anyone else out there think our scathing critique of the Magic in this space, just one Monday ago, is what woke them up and led to (mostly) comfortable wins over Chicago, Philly and Washington at home? Us, too.
11 (4) Rockets 4-3 You pretty much have to live with that heave Brandon Roy tossed in at the buzzer. Losing to Boston and the road no-show against the Lakers, in the Rockets' first two big games of the season, were the real letdowns.
12 (18) Nuggets 3-3 Back when the Nuggets acquired Iverson, AI couldn't get to Denver right away because of a blizzard that shut down the whole city. In the Billups Era, at a quick 2-0, things have started a bit more smoothly.
13 (14) Pacers 2-3 Not the easiest four opponents to start with: Detroit, Boston, Phoenix and Cleveland. Vulnerable as the Pacers' defense remains, let's see whether they can build on thumping Boston and hanging with the other three.
14 (17) Trail Blazers 3-3 Deflated as Blazermaniacs must be about the Oden situation, they're still seeing serious entertainment. All of Portland's home games have gone down to the final seconds and the local kids pulled out all three wins.
15 (15) Bulls 3-4 Injuries to Hinrich and Hughes should make it easier for the Bulls to find playing time for all their guards ... but tougher to assemble the trade package they'd need to address those well-chronicled size issues.
16 (25) Knicks 4-2 Three-game win streak? Two games over .500 for the first time since (gulp) Jan. 1, 2005? First team to beat Utah? D'Antoni knows what's bound to happen next: ''Knick fans ... they'll think we're in the playoffs.''
17 (26) Heat 3-3 The Heat barely have what NBA teams like to refer to as a bench. They don't have a starter taller than 6-9, either. Yet they've hit Week 3 with something -- a .500 record -- they never came close to last season.
18 (13) 76ers 2-4 It worked with the Magic last week, so now every Sixers-loving friend of ours is begging us to brand Philly, in writing, as the league's Most Disappointing Team so far. Not that they had to lobby us very hard.
19 (24) Bobcats 2-4 Would the Bobs be better off if His Airness had complete control of the franchise? Question we have to ask (and keep asking) now that MJ has publicly stated his desire to buy the team from Bob Johnson someday.
20 (29) Kings 3-4 Even if the three teams it just swept at home are a combined 6-14, Sacramento's response to that disastrous road trip does pass the "scrappy" test, since wins at Arco ain't automatic like they used to be.
21 (20) Bucks 3-4 Dare we say that the Bucks have missed our favorite lefty bomber more than his detractors might have imagined? Coincidence or not, Milwaukee's three best defensive games so far were the last three Redd played.
22 (21) Grizzlies 3-4 If you're claiming you expected Memphis to be peering down at the Mavericks and the Spurs in the Southwest standings at any point this season, you are invited to attach yourself to the nearest lie-detector.
23 (22) Nets 2-3 If you play the point, normally you'd kill to be in the same sentence as Tony Parker and Deron Williams. Not these days. The link for Devin Harris, fresh off his 38-point eruption, is that all three are carrying ankle injuries.
24 (11) Mavericks 2-4 Far more frightening than this stunning (but necessary) drop is the fact that the new coach (Carlisle) and the old reliable (Nowitzki) already have felt the need to make a public plea for more effort and urgency.
25 (10) Spurs 1-4 The truly painful part of all these new lows for the battered Spurs, now that Parker will be in street clothes for a month, is that he and TD were looking as good as ever individually while waiting for Manu to heal.
26 (29) Clippers 1-6 Even with his new team still getting to know each other after all those injuries -- and faced with his second straight 0-6 start to a season -- Baron Davis just showed us he hasn't lost his knack for torturing Dallas.
27 (19) Warriors 2-5 The only positive aspect of all the negative coverage generated by Golden State's front-office tension? It takes some focus away from a dispiriting, Monta-less start that already includes two losses to Memphis.
28 (23) Wizards 0-5 The good news: No one knows more about digging out of an 0-5 hole than the Wiz, who had to do the exact same thing last season. The bad news: This Wiz team looks way shakier than last season's Wiz did.
29 (27) Thunder 1-5 The discipline Durant showed late in his rookie season continues. He averaged 3.4 3-pointers per game before the All-Star break and 1.2 after the break, and has attempted just six 3s in six games this season.
30 (28) Timberwolves 1-5 Looks like pulling out a two-point win over the Kings on opening night wasn't exactly an omen. The Wolves are 0-5 since and showing their youth, with three of those losses coming by four points or fewer.
