Top Ten Power Rankings 2/23/13

It has been an interesting week of basketball in the NBA. Losing teams winning and winning teams losing, and then, well.... Miami continues to do their thing. Check out this weeks top ten teams in the NBA.

1. San Antonio (41-13)
San Antonio remains at the top spot for this weeks power rankings despite taking an overtime loss last night to Golden State. Losing to Detroit and Golden State in the past two weeks seems pretty bad, but this team is still and outstanding 25-5 since December 21. With the majority of their games remaining this season being at home, the Spurs are in no shape to drop any spots in the rankings considering their home record of 22-2.

2. Miami (38-14)
Miami moves up to the number two spot after defeating Oklahoma City for the sixth time in a row. The game was played just days after they passed the Thunder for the most efficient offense in the NBA. Miami currently has the NBA's longest winning streak with 9 games. They now have the most comfortable lead in the East that they have had all season. If they keep their streak going, they could pass San Antonio for the number one spot as the season comes to an end.

3. Oklahoma City (40-15)
Oklahoma City finally hit 40 wins with a 127-111 victory over Minnesota last night. The Thunder will not have to worry about Miami again until it comes to the Finals. I have to disagree with what the analyst are saying, this is Kevin Durant's year. He will win the MVP along with the scoring title, and lead his team to a championship. Oklahoma City has put themselves in a tough position to get the one seed, but it is not too far out of reach.

4. LA Clippers (39-18)
The LA Clippers take the number four spot even after a coming off of a loss. Chris Paul is healthy, and Blake Griffin is performing on a different level than he ever has before. Putting themselves at best the third team in the Western Conference, it will be interesting to see how things play out when the playoffs come around. The Clips have put themselves in a great position to make a run for the Finals, and will keep getting better if their offense can continue to perform like it is now.

5. Memphis (36-18)
Memphis comes all the way up to make the top five in this weeks power rankings. Memphis is a team that is very capable of sneaking up on some teams when the playoffs roll around. Picking up Austin Daye and his ability to score from beyond the arc, is providing the best offense of the season for Memphis. Over their last four games Memphis is averaging 108.5 points per 100 possessions.

6. New York (32-20)
New York is led on the defensive side of the ball by no other than Tyson Chandler. Chandler said that defense has to be their main focus after the all-star break. New York has been giving up an average of 110.5 points per 100 possessions in the last four games, two of which were teams ranked in the bottom ten in offense. If New York wants to have any shot of beating out the Heat in the playoffs, defense is definitely going to have to be a main focus.

7. Indiana (34-21)
Indiana is the team that I picked at the beginning of the season to beat out Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals. Here they find themselves ranked number seven in the power rankings and two games ahead in the Central division. Thus far into the season, the Pacers have had the NBA's eighth ranked offense. With the return of Danny Granger, they are bound to improve on both offense and defense even more.

8. Brooklyn (33-23)
Brooklyn moves up to the number eight spot in this weeks rankings after beating both Indiana and Denver before the break. Both of those games were won without their star guard Deron Williams. Brooklyn is in second place in the Atlantic Division, however they are only one game back. The Nets need Deron Williams to return 100% healthy from his ankle injury as they make a push for first place.

9. Chicago (32-23)
Despite having their best player out with an ACL tear, Chicago still finds their selves in second place in the Central Division behind Indiana. The Bulls are being very cautious with the return of Derick Rose, as they should be. Rose is the future of this franchise, and letting him return early would only jeopardize their future. Even without Rose, the Bulls are a legitimate contender in the playoffs this year.

10. Golden State (32-23)
Golden State is a team with a lot of talent that is often taken very lightly. They have shown some really bad performances, and some outstanding ones such as the overtime victory against San Antonio last night. The Warriors are currently on a two game winning streak as they head into their five game road trip. Golden State has an opportunity to finish strong having 16 out of their last 22 games at home.

Thunder Update 5: Eric Maynor Trade

The Oklahoma City Thunder are now on a three game losing streak. The Thunder lost in Utah last Tuesday by a score of 109-94. After flying back home to the "Peake" the next Thursday, they suffered a 110-100 loss to the Miami Heat. Kevin Durant did out score LeBron with 40 points, but it wasn't enough to push through the rest of the Heat and their explosive defense. OKC had almost an entire week off due to the all-star break until they played in Houston last night. Oklahoma City got off to a slow start trailing 36-29 at the end of the first quarter. The Thunder rallied a come back and headed into halftime with the 62-57 lead. Oklahoma City would lead for the entire third quarter and until the 1:11 mark of the fourth quarter. The Thunder had a 12 point lead with 4:30 minutes remaining in the game. With Nick Collison fouling out and Kevin Durant not being able to through a rock into the ocean, OKC just couldn't hold on to the lead. The Thunder lost a heartbreaker with the final score being 122-119. In spite of the tough loss, Kevin Durant recorded his second career triple double. He finished with the stat line of: 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. Thabo Sefolosha was the performer of the game with 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assist.

Oklahoma City will play their next game on Friday night in the "Thunder Dome" against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The game will be played at 7:00pm. The Thunder have not lost four games in a row since Russel Westbrook joined the Thunder. OKC has beaten the Timberwolves in 13 out of their last 14 meetings. The Thunder are 2-0 this season against Minnesota. The first match up was a rather close game with the final score being 99-93. As for the second matchup, not so close, the Thunder won by a score of 106-84. Oklahoma has not lost four in a row since the 2008-2009 season. We have won sixteen straight home games against Western Conference teams. On top of all this, the defense will be greatly improved with the return of Kendrick Perkins from his knee injury. Oklahoma will have to stay focused after the departure of teammate Eric Maynor who was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.

On Thursday, February 21, just minutes before the trade deadline Eric Maynor was traded to the Portland Trailblazers. Maynor did lose his job as back up point guard to Reggie Jackson 25 games into the season. Maynor averaged less than 11 minutes per game in the 37 games he played for the Thunder this year. Eric Maynor was traded for for 2.2 million dollar trade exception and the draft rights of Giorgio Printezis. Giorgio Printezis was drafted in 2007 as the 58 overall pick. His draft rights have been tossed around from team to team until finally landing here in Oklahoma City. Giorgio Printezis is currently playing in Athens for the Olympiacos. Eric Maynor will have a better career in Portland and receive much better playing time. Also just before the trade deadline we were informed that Ronnie Brewer will be traded to Oklahoma City for a second round draft pick in the 2014 draft. Ronnie Brewer will bring to the table just as much defense as Thabo Sefolosha as well as a whopping 3.6 points per game. If your looking for Ronnie Brewer to bring the leadership and team chemistry that Dereck Fisher did last season, your not gonna find it. It will be interesting to see how the Thunder bring the new team together as they make a push to return to the NBA Finals again.

Giorgio Printezis left, Ronnie Brewer right.


Here are the current standings through 54 games:
*2/21/13 Note Worthy: Washington passes Orlando for third place in the Southeast division.
Eastern Conference Standings:

Atlantic:
New York(32-19)
Brooklyn(33-22)
Boston(28-26)
Philadelphia(22-30)
Toronto(22-33)

Central:
Indiana(33-21)
Chicago(31-22)
Milwaukee(26-27)
Detroit(22-34)
Cleveland(17-37)

Southeast:
Miami(37-14)
Atlanta(29-23)
Washington(15-37)
Orlando(15-39)
Charlotte(13-41)

Western Conference Standings:

Southwest:
San Antonio(43-12)
Memphis(35-18)
Houston(30-26)
Dallas(24-29)
New Orleans(19-36)

Northwest:
Oklahoma City(37-12)
Denver(32-18)
Utah(28-22)
Portland(25-24)
Minnesota(18-28)

Pacific:
LA Clippers(39-17)
Golden St.(31-23)
LA Lakers(26-29)
Sacramento(19-36)
Phoenix(18-37)

Thunder Update 4

The Oklahoma City Thunder are now on a game two game win streak heading into tonights game against the Suns. The Thunder still have the second best record in the NBA with a record of 37-12, behind the San Antonio Spurs who have a record of 39-11. Oklahoma City will play tonight in the Peake at 7:00PM. The Suns will come into the game with a 17-33 record. They are currently on a one game losing streak.

Oklahoma City won a big game against Golden State on Wednesday night. The Thunder have won two out of the three last games against the Warriors. The Thunder won the first meeting 119-109, and then lost the second meeting 104-99. The Thunder have won by a total of 30 points in the past two meetings against the Suns. The Thunder will be fighting the number one seed in the playoffs tonight and for the best record in the NBA. As for the Suns, well they are playing to stay out of last place in the West.

Kevin Durant is still the leading scorer in the NBA. He has the lead and it seems like it is growing every game. On my last Thunder Update, Durant was only is the by .2 points. Durant is now averaging 29.3 points per game, to Anthony's 28.5 points per game. Our other leaders are Serge Ibaka who is in second place in blocks with 2.9 blocks per game, and Russel Westbrook who is in fifth place with 8.2 assist per game. Russel Westbrook has hit the 400 mark in assists, to go along with Kevin Durant's outstanding 1436 points on the season. Serge Ibaka(or should I say Iblaka) has 137 blocks, and 382 rebounds.

Here are the current standings through 49 games:
*2/8/13 Note Worthy: Indiana passes Chicago for first place in the Central Division.
Eastern Conference Standings:

Atlantic:
New York(31-16)
Brooklyn(29-20)
Boston(26-23)
Philadelphia(21-27)
Toronto(17-32)

Central:
Indiana(31-19)
Chicago(29-20)
Milwaukee(25-23)
Detroit(18-32)
Cleveland(15-34)

Southeast:
Miami(32-14)
Atlanta(27-21)
Orlando(14-35)
Washington(13-35)
Charlotte(11-37)

Western Conference Standings:

Southwest:
San Antonio(39-11)
Memphis(30-18)
Houston(27-24)
Dallas(21-28)
New Orleans(16-33)

Northwest:
Oklahoma City(37-12)
Denver(32-18)
Utah(28-22)
Portland(25-24)
Minnesota(18-28)

Pacific:
LA Clippers(35-16)
Golden St.(30-19)
LA Lakers(23-27)
Phoenix(17-33)
Sacramento(17-33)

4000!!!

Just a quick little thank you post for all of your support! Just reached the 4000 mark for visits on my blog! I hope you have enjoyed the previous posts, and are looking forward to the many more in the future! From Buster's Best, Thank you! #ThunderUp #ThunderNation #BoomerSooner #Sooner4Life

Thunder Update 3

Oklahoma City will head into Saturday's game against Cleveland off of a decent win at home against Memphis. Kevin Durant played an outstanding game as usual, and Russel Westbrook got back into the swing of things shooting 75% from the field. Cleveland will come into the game on a two game losing streak, but ready to protect their home court.

Oklahoma City is in first place in the Northwest division, with a 6.5 game lead on the Denver Nuggets. They currently have the second best record in the NBA only behind San Antonio, who has won two more games than OKC. Oklahoma City is shooting 48% from the field this season. Nick Collison has the best shooting percentages at 62%, although he has taken almost 600 less shots than Kevin Durant. Serge Ibaka comes in second with a 56% average on 456 shots this season. Kevin Durant is shooting 52% this season on 848 attempts. When it comes to shooting from beyond the arc, no one is better than our sixth man, Kevin Martin. K Mart is shooting 44% this year so far on 228 attempts. Kevin Durant is our second leading shooter from the three. KD is shooting 41% from beyond the arc on 213 attempts. When it comes to the charity stripe, you can pretty much guess who has the best percentages. Kevin Durant tied an NBA record against the Mavericks making 22 in a row. This season KD is shooting 91% this season on 431 attempts. The next best free throw shooter is Kevin Martin. Martin is shooting 90% this year on just 167 attempts.

Durant leads all scorers with 1360 points, and it isn't even the all star break yet! Durant is currently the leading scorer in the NBA, averaging 29.6 points per game. Just like the point guard should, Russel leads the team in assist with 383. Russ is fifth in the NBA in assist, averaging 8.3 per game. Power forward Serge Ibaka leads the team in rebounds with 356 this far into the season. Serge is averaging 8.1 rebounds per game. Serge isn't just dominant on the boards, he is second in the league in blocked shots. Ibaka has 126 blocks this season, which adds up to an average of 2.86 per game.

Here are the current standings through 46 games:
*2/1/13 Note Worthy: Washington passes Charlotte to move into 4th place in the Central Division
Eastern Conference Standings:

Atlantic:
New York(28-15)
Brooklyn(27-19)
Boston(22-23)
Philadelphia(19-26)
Toronto(16-30)

Central:
Chicago(28-17)
Indiana(27-19)
Milwaukee(24-20)
Detroit(17-29)
Cleveland(13-33)

Southeast:
Miami(29-13)
Atlanta(26-19)
Orlando(14-31)
Washington(11-33)
Charlotte(11-34)

Western Conference Standings:

Southwest:
San Antonio(37-11)
Memphis(29-16)
Houston(25-23)
Dallas(19-27)
New Orleans(15-31)

Northwest:
Oklahoma City(35-11)
Denver(29-18)
Utah(25-21)
Portland(23-22)
Minnesota(17-25)

Pacific:
LA Clippers(34-13)
Golden St.(29-17)
LA Lakers(20-26)
Sacramento(17-30)
Phoenix(16-30)