1-Los Angeles Lakers (49-20) The Lakers have been awesome and have promptly climbed the ladder in the NBA as best teams, with a crack at top 3 seeding overall in the NBA. With a favorable schedule over next few weeks will be fun to watch.
2- Chicago Bulls (49-19); The Bulls have a big team; with Joakim Noah, Omer Asik, and when healthy, Carlos Boozer able to play together well at any given time is a dangerous threat. They are not scared to reduce speed for powerful inside game; this can be tough to contend with as we are looking at a strong playoff push coming from every team right now.
3- San Antonio Spurs (56-13); After getting bulldozed by the Miami Heat, 110-80 in Miami, San Antonio looks mortal again. Is it age? Are they resting their veteran legs? They need to get their defense back on track, or they get bounced earlier than expected.
4- Boston Celtics (49-19); Their 4.5 game lead over the Bulls has shrunk and they are looking over their shoulders at a starving young team. The C-men need to put it into next gear to try and seal home court.
5- Oklahoma City Thunder (45-23); The Thunder have gotten great help from Serge Ibaka getting more time on the court. The trades they made have positively helped this team tremendously, losing Jeff Green to be replaced with Serge, not too bad a change.
6- Miami Heat (48-22); If the Heat could catch the Celtics and the Bulls, and the Heat, who are a very good 22-12 on the road, would of course desire to have home court advantage come playoff time, where they are a 26-10.
7- Orlando Magic (44-26); Jameer Nelson is leading this team when it comes down to it. Howard is the monster inside, who we all have witnessed his improvement in the middle at center. But the Magic’s guard play is imperative. With J.J. Redick and Gilbert Arenas on injury watch, Jameer has stepped it up.
8- Portland Trailblazers (39-29); The Blazers are a team no one wants to match up against in the playoffs. They have power play from LaMarcus Aldridge, out side expertise in Wesley Matthews, who is hitting 41.5% of his three pointers this season. And a good defensive team, that ranks 8th in the NBA in points allowed. This team, when playing well is a team to watch with a wary eye.
9- Dallas Mavericks (48-21); The Mavs are sliding fast, losers of 5 of their last 8 games, by a margin of 3.2 points. They should be careful; negativity can drag a team down fast. They seriously need to make a run and grab some momentum.
10- Denver Nuggets (41-29); Who is the star on this team? Raymond Felton, J.R. Smith, Danilo Gallinari? Take your pick of anyone on the roster. They play good team ball, and score more than capably, but I do think at the end of the day, they need to find that guy who can carry the team on his back if need be to be a serious player in the playoff picture.
Big Baller of the Week (BBW)
Dwight Howard (C, Orlando Magic) 24 points per game, 18 rebounds per game, 2 assists per game, a spectacular 4 blocks per game, also making 2 steals a night as well, along with shooting 60% for the week. His 44-26 Orlando Magic went 3-1; but the especially gifted center had an outstanding week, including his best performance of the week in a 93-89 close shave win of the Milwaukee Bucks, scoring 31, while also shredding the boards for 22, along with 3 swats, and shooting 9-12 from the field.
Top performers of the week
Scoring; LeBron James (SF, Miami Heat); 43 points in a 106-85 win versus the Atlanta Hawks.
Rebounding; Dwight Howard (C, Orlando Magic); 22 rebounds in a 93-89 win versus the Milwaukee Bucks.
Assists; Chris Paul (PG, New Orleans Hornets); 15 dimes in an 89-85 loss versus the Boston Celtics.
Steals; Chris Paul (PG, New Orleans Hornets); 7 steals in a 114-103 loss versus the Denver Nuggets.
Blocks; JaVale McGee (C, Washington Wizards); 12 blocks in his 98-79 loss versus the Chicago Bulls.
X-factor- tri bomber of the week Wesley Matthews; (G, Portland Trailblazers) the 6-5, 1st year guard shot preposterously good all week as he buried 70% of his 3 point attempts he put up in the week, dropping the long ball from all over throughout the week, including going 6-9 vs the Philadelphia 76ers in a 110-101 victory, as he scored 28.
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