Fathead Blog

The shortened NBA season is nearing its midpoint and shaping up as one of the most “on any given night” seasons I can remember, largely because of the jam-packed schedule. Here’s how I see the teams stacking up so far.

1. Chicago Bulls (23-7) – The Bulls are on top of the East, even with Derrick Rose missing seven games. This ranking is assuming he returns to full strength.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (21-6) – Oklahoma City has a chance to pad its lead in the West with six of the next eight at home.

3. Miami Heat (22-7) – The “Big Three” look as good as ever. It’s championship or bust after their Finals collapse against Dallas.

4. San Antonio Spurs (19-9) – They are off to a great start, even with Ginobili missing most of the season. He’s back, but how much does this veteran team have left in its tank for this condensed season?

5. Philadelphia 76ers (20-9) – Philly is second in the league in points allowed and point differential. That’s a good sign they aren’t a pretender.

6. Dallas Mavericks (18-11) – After a rough start, the defending champs have won 9 of 13 and four straight.

7. Los Angeles Clippers (17-9) – These guys will be very dangerous come playoff time. Especially if Chris Paul gets his wish and they sign J.R. Smith.

8. Orlando Magic (18-11) – It should be time for the Dwight Howard sweepstakes to start heating up. Can they convince him to stay?

9. Atlanta Hawks (18-10) – The loss to the Heat was big with a tough five-game road trip starting in Los Angeles.

10. Los Angeles Lakers (16-12) – 5-10 on the road is not good enough to hang with the other top teams.

11. Indiana Pacers (17-10) – Indiana has lost four of five, but has a stretch coming up of seven straight against teams at the bottom of the standings. That should get them back on track.

12. Boston Celtics (15-12) – 7-3 in the last 10 seems to have quieted the talk of blowing this team up.

13. Houston Rockets (16-12) – The bad news…the Rockets are just 6-9 on the road. The good news…..a six-game home stand starts this week.

14. New York Knicks (13-15) – Jeremy Lin and five straight wins have the Knicks back in playoff position.

15. Denver Nuggets (16-12) – The Nuggets have suffered through a rash of injuries and are 2-7 in their last nine. It doesn’t get any easier either with a bunch of tough teams on the schedule in February.

16. Memphis Grizzlies (14-14) – The Grizzlies need to hang around long enough for Zach Randolph to return. If they make the playoffs, they will be a tough out.

17. Portland Trail Blazers (15-13) – The Blazers need to beat Washington and Golden State before beginning a difficult stretch of games.

18. Utah Jazz (14-13) – They are just 3-8 on the road and just 2-6 in February. Utah must turn things around before they fall too far back.

19. Golden State Warriors (11-14) – Three straight wins have the Warriors within shouting distance of the last playoff berth.

20. Milwaukee Bucks (12-16) – Currently a game back of the last playoff spot in the East. Losing Andrew Bogut hurts.

21. Minnesota Timberwolves (13-16) – Having the best record of all the teams who are in last in their divisions isn’t much to brag about, but it’s actually improvement for the T-wolves.

22. Phoenix Suns (12-16) – The Suns aren’t terrible, but they aren’t going anywhere either. Do they decide to rebuild and trade Steve Nash?

23. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-16) – The Cavs are improved, but need to capitalize on their next 6 games being at home to really make a push.

24. Sacramento Kings (10-17) – A 7-5 record at home, they have a winning record in Sacramento. Hopefully the team stays there.

25. Toronto Raptors (9-20) – The average fan probably can’t name one player on this team.

26. Detroit Pistons (8-21) – At least there hasn’t been a mutiny so far.

27. New Jersey Nets (8-21) – They have lost six in a row and could lose Deron Williams after the season if they don’t find a way to trade for Dwight Howard. 

28. New Orleans (5-23) – The future looks pretty bleak for this team. The way the league handled the Chris Paul trade could make it tough to find an owner.

29. Washington Wizards (6-22) – Wizards are 2-2 in their last four. How long can they keep that up?

30. Charlotte Bobcats (3-25) – This has got to be killing Michael Jordan. They are last in points scored and last in points allowed per game. Ouch