Week 17 NBA Rankings

1. Los Angeles Lakers (40-17) (4) Make that 10-1 and counting since the Gasol trade and the offense has put up over 110 points in 5 straight games during that stretch.
2. Boston Celtics (44-12) (1) Maybe PJ and Sam are just the veterans Boston needs to give them that edge in the postseason.
3. Detroit Pistons (42-16) (2) Lost in all the hoopla about LA, Boston and Phoenix, people forget these guys are pretty good, and they proved it by spanking the Suns by 30.
4. San Antonio Spurs (38-17) (6) Just when you think they're washed up, the Spurs go on another hot streak, winning ten of their last eleven with Ginobili leading the charge.
5. Houston Rockets (37-20) (8) Foreshadowing the 13-game surge are the looming questions of what impact Yao's foot surgery will have on the Rockets down the stretch.
6. New Orleans Hornets (38-18) (3) The Hornets rolled the dice with the Wells trade, but so far, the result has been snake eyes.
7. Dallas Mavericks (38-19) (10) Not convinced. Lets see them do against San Antonio what they did against those bottom feeders.
8. Utah Jazz (37-21) (7) You just can't get a read on this team. How does the same team that lost to the Clippers and Wolves in the last week find a way to beat the Pistons?
9. Phoenix Suns (39-19) (5) The Shaq buzz is over and now we begin to see the lingering problems the Suns are having with depth and slow-footed halfcourt defense.
10. Orlando Magic (37-23) (11) Amazingly, Lewis has yet to have a 30-point outburst this year, but his impact has been felt in the way Turkoglu's been getting freed up for shots.
11. Golden State Warriors (34-22) (12) You see how valuable Stephen Jackson is to this team when you consider they went 0-6 without him to start the year and their most recent listless home loss to the Hawks.
12. Denver Nuggets (34-23) (9) I liked this team a lot better when Bzdelik was the coach. At least they played defense.
13. Toronto Raptors (32-24) (14) This team is so ridiculously deep at forward, Kapono doesn't even get any burn, and as you saw in the 3-point shootout, he is deadly from range.
14. Cleveland Cavaliers (32-26) (13) Wallace and Varejao together can't replace Gooden's scoring, and we're only talking 10 ppg.
15. Philadelphia 76ers (26-32) (18) They're gaining confidence the longer they stay in the playoff crawl...errr...race in the Eastern Conference.
16. Portland Trail Blazers (30-28) (15) Is it just me or does Oden look like one of those 40-year-old dads trying to stay hip with the mohawk?
17. Washington Wizards (27-30) (19) 23 points in one half? With Arenas and Butler, didn't that used to be Washington's point total in half a quarter?
18. New Jersey Nets (25-32) (17) If you're playing Fantasy, I'd invest in Harris right now. I get a feeling his value is about to SHOOT UP!
19. Sacramento Kings (26-31) (16) It's past the trading deadline and Artest is still there. Hopefully the Kings remember to take cover in case Hurricane Ron has another outburst.
20. Chicago Bulls (23-34) (20) So who's contract is worse? Larry Hughes or Ben Wallace? Shouldn't Paxson and Ferry be investigated for money laundering?
21. Atlanta Hawks (23-32) (21) On paper, this looks like a playoff team next year, possibly this year too if the Hawks can get consistent production from their front line.
22. Milwaukee Bucks (22-35) (23) Lately the Bucks have been playing the spoiler role as their shooters have found their touch again.
23. Indiana Pacers (22-36) (22) Wow, another criminal investigation involving a Pacer. And we thought Bird traded away all the problems when he dealt Artest and Jackson. How wrong we were.
24. Los Angeles Clippers (19-36) (24) And the most talked-about contract buyout has finally happened as Cassell is no longer a Clipper.
25. New York Knicks (18-39) (26) Lee and Robinson are like roses growing out of a gigantic pile of garbage.
26. Charlotte Bobcats (19-38) (25) Jordan should just stick to Nike, this is the second team he's completely run into the ground.
27. Seattle Supersonics (15-42) (27) The most exciting part of a bad team's season is about to begin. We get to find out how the Sonics survive the last 25 games with expiring contracts. Let the tanking begin!
28. Memphis Grizzlies (14-43) (28) Its a matter of time before Lowry finds a new address and a wonder he wasn't part of Memphis's garage sale.
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (12-44) (29) Big Al is no joke, he's one of only six players to average a double-double in points in rebounds.
30. Miami Heat (10-44) (30) At long last, the losing streak is over! On a sider, why is Riley playing scrubs like Quinn and Barron and not playing Ricky Davis?