And suddenly, some of the men separate from the boys this week – as usual, here is how we calculate this stuff, and here are the results:
| Rank | Team | W | L | Off | Def | Road | SOS | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtics | 13 | 4 | 102.629 (8) | 93.366 (3) | 1.441 | 1.889 (28) | 12.593 |
| 2 | Hawks | 12 | 4 | 104.922 (2) | 98.098 (13) | 1.969 | 3.648 (14) | 12.442 |
| 3 | Lakers | 13 | 3 | 99.679 (14) | 91.982 (1) | 0.875 | 3.763 (12) | 12.335 |
| 4 | Suns | 14 | 3 | 109.263 (1) | 101.532 (22) | 2.265 | 1.899 (27) | 11.895 |
| 5 | Mavericks | 13 | 5 | 102.647 (7) | 96.356 (6) | 1.944 | 3.221 (18) | 11.456 |
| 6 | Spurs | 9 | 6 | 103.366 (5) | 98.136 (14) | 1.167 | 4.178 (10) | 10.574 |
| 7 | Thunder | 9 | 8 | 97.863 (22) | 94.655 (4) | 1.853 | 5.114 (3) | 10.174 |
| 8 | Blazers | 12 | 7 | 102.238 (10) | 95.893 (5) | 1.658 | 2.106 (26) | 10.108 |
| 9 | Cavaliers | 12 | 5 | 102.18 (11) | 96.742 (9) | 1.853 | 2.118 (25) | 9.408 |
| 10 | Magic | 14 | 5 | 100.666 (12) | 96.48 (8) | 1.842 | 2.981 (22) | 9.009 |
| 11 | Jazz | 10 | 7 | 102.82 (6) | 100.336 (19) | 1.441 | 4.449 (8) | 8.374 |
| 12 | Nuggets | 12 | 5 | 104.625 (4) | 98.763 (15) | 1.853 | 0.646 (30) | 8.36 |
| 13 | Rockets | 9 | 8 | 100.04 (13) | 99.59 (18) | 1.853 | 6.012 (1) | 8.314 |
| 14 | Kings | 8 | 8 | 102.289 (9) | 100.794 (20) | 1.531 | 3.493 (17) | 6.52 |
| 15 | Heat | 9 | 7 | 98.831 (18) | 97.192 (10) | 1.094 | 3.181 (19) | 5.913 |
| 16 | Clippers | 8 | 10 | 98.028 (20) | 97.592 (11) | 1.556 | 2.588 (24) | 4.58 |
| 17 | Bobcats | 7 | 9 | 91.703 (28) | 92.071 (2) | 1.75 | 3.124 (20) | 4.505 |
| 18 | Bucks | 9 | 7 | 97.538 (23) | 96.457 (7) | 1.531 | 1.709 (29) | 4.321 |
| 19 | Raptors | 7 | 11 | 104.752 (3) | 108.399 (30) | 1.944 | 5.11 (4) | 3.407 |
| 20 | Pistons | 6 | 11 | 97.951 (21) | 101.627 (23) | 1.853 | 5.095 (5) | 3.272 |
| 21 | Hornets | 7 | 10 | 99.182 (17) | 104.172 (28) | 1.853 | 5.852 (2) | 2.715 |
| 22 | Bulls | 6 | 9 | 93.38 (27) | 98.943 (16) | 2.333 | 5.053 (6) | 1.823 |
| 23 | Pacers | 6 | 9 | 95.31 (26) | 97.755 (12) | 1.4 | 2.686 (23) | 1.64 |
| 24 | Warriors | 6 | 10 | 99.637 (16) | 103.985 (27) | 1.969 | 3.921 (11) | 1.542 |
| 25 | Wizards | 5 | 10 | 95.522 (25) | 101.274 (21) | 1.867 | 4.448 (9) | 0.562 |
| 26 | Sixers | 5 | 13 | 98.336 (19) | 103.909 (26) | 1.944 | 3.552 (15) | -0.077 |
| 27 | Grizzlies | 6 | 12 | 99.645 (15) | 106.304 (29) | 2.139 | 3.496 (16) | -1.024 |
| 28 | Knicks | 3 | 14 | 96.373 (24) | 103.349 (25) | 1.647 | 3.69 (13) | -1.639 |
| 29 | Timberwolves | 2 | 15 | 89.215 (29) | 102.324 (24) | 1.647 | 4.732 (7) | -6.729 |
| 30 | Nets | 0 | 17 | 86.603 (30) | 99.315 (17) | 2.265 | 3.067 (21) | -7.38 |
With this week of sudden change, some observations:
- Well, that was quick, wasn’t it? After a one week dash to #1, the Blazers with a 1-2 week highlighted by a disastrous loss at home to Memphis plunge to #8. To be fair, this is probably closer to the true reality of this team’s talent. Elite is not far away for them, but the rotation is still in flux.
- By contrast, the Lakers have suddenly vaulted in the #1 defensive spot, and are slowly charging up the list. On the other hand, with the league’s most home tilted schedule so far, their margin of victory is a LITTLE compromised.
- The big positive move of the week was Phoenix. They have had a hellacious road tilted schedule but suddenly this week they got their shooting shoes on, and have not just moved up to #1 in the league in offense, but #1 by 4.3 points over 2nd place. To put it in perspective, 4.3 points less than the #2 team is the 12th rated offense. It is hard to get the wipeout by LA out of one’s mind – but the team’s offense is playing very very confidently. The 22nd rank defense needs to perk up in the long run (contrary to popular thought, D’Antoni’s teams were not bad defensively) – maybe not #1 but certainly upper half – but no reason that this team can’t stay in some sort of hunt for the regular season.
- Seeing the Raptors last Friday against the Celtics on the TV – I can attest, their defense and effort is every bit worthy of their 30th ranking. Wow.
Meadow Muffins of the Mind 