SBN Blogger NBA Power Rankings, Week 5: Living With The Lakers

Team (First place votes)

Last Week

Movement

Record

Team Blog

Comment

Los Angeles Lakers (9)

1

-

13 - 3

Silver Screen and Roll

Blog A Bull - "By improving yet another facet to his game, Bryant gives the Lakers an unmatched variety of post-up weapons, and most team have only one (or none)."

Orlando Magic (3)

2

-

14 - 4

Third Quarter Collapse

3rd Quarter Collapse - "One point away from a 9-game winning streak, despite having no star players living up to their potential. They get the nod over Phoenix because they're a more balanced team, ranking 10th in offense and 7th in defense; the Suns are 1st in offense and 22nd in defense."

Phoenix Suns (3)

3

-

14 - 3

Bright Side Of The Sun

Bright Side of the Sun - "The Suns schedule might have been packed with cupcakes but those same pushovers just beat Portland and Denver and the Phoenix iced those 4 cupcakes by an average margin of victory of 23 points."

Boston Celtics

5

1

13 - 4

Celtics Blog

Straight Outta Vancouver - "Everytime they lose you'll read "Too Old?" but their age hasn't stopped Boston from being the 2nd best team defensively and even 6th best team on offense."

Cleveland Cavaliers

9

4

12 - 5

Fear The Sword

Clips Nation - "The Cavs are 3-4 when Shaq plays more than 24 minutes, 9-1 when he plays less than 24.  Coincidence?"

Denver Nuggets

7

1

12 - 5

Denver Stiffs

Clips Nation - "Probably deserve to be higher based on their body of work like 5 road wins against 1 home loss.  But that one home loss...  they have to suffer for losing at home to the T-Wolves."

Dallas Mavericks

6

(1)

13 - 5

Mavs Moneyball

The Dream Shake - "The Mavs are going to be even more dangerous once they find some consistency.  Until then, I'd appreciate it if they would stop saving up all of their firepower for the Rockets.  Really, these blowout losses are getting on my nerves."

Atlanta Hawks

4

(4)

12 - 5

Peachtree Hoops

3rd Quarter Collapse - "Blew a 14-point lead at home to the Magic on Thanksgiving, then got whacked in Detroit on Sunday by allowing the Pistons to rebound more than half of their own misses. In other words, the Hawks have looked more and more ordinary lately."

San Antonio Spurs

15

6

9 - 6

Pounding The Rock

Straight Outta Vancouver - "Always dangerous, but not as dangerous. Note to Boston, this is about what you'll look like next season."

Portland Trail Blazers

8

(2)

12 - 7

Blazersedge

Clips Nation - "Losers of back to back games this week, including at home to Memphis....  and frankly the schedule has been ridiculously soft.  They only have three wins all season against teams over .500 - and HOU and OKC are both 9-8 at week's end."

Utah Jazz

14

3

10 - 7

SLC Dunk

Bright Side of the Sun - "Can anyone explain this team? Perhaps a Council of Elders can be summoned to explain the mysteries of the Jazz"

Miami Heat

11

(1)

9 - 7

Peninsula Is Mightier

Raptor's HQ - "Schedule starting to toughen up and Heat feeling the results."

Houston Rockets

12

(1)

9 - 8

The Dream Shake

The Dream Shake - "A nice road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder capped a rough week for Houston that included a 31-point home loss to Dallas and a 12-point third quarter in a home loss to the Spurs.  Aaron Brooks MUST get his act together if this offense is going to keep it up."

Oklahoma City Thunder

13

(1)

9 - 8

Welcome to Loud City

Raptor's HQ - "We thought OKC would be improved this year, but not THIS much.  Great job by management to continue to bring in some very cohesive pieces."

Milwaukee Bucks

10

(5)

9 - 7

Brew Hoop

3rd Quarter Collapse - "A tough road trip and a heartbreaking loss to the Magic--they were up 17 points in the second half at home and blew it--has diminished their standing a bit here. Still, Scott Skiles has this team playing great ball, and they're darn near a lock to make the playoffs at this rate."

Sacramento Kings

21

5

8 - 8

Sactown Royalty

Clips Nation - "In a season of surprises, the Kings are by far the biggest one so far.  They had the worst record in the league last season, their best player is hurt, and their new coach's last head gig was driving a mid-major into the ground.  But they're 8-8 after winning three in a row, and they're 7-2 at Arco."

Charlotte Bobcats

25

8

7 - 9

Rufus on Fire

Raptor's HQ - "Stephen Jackson's acquisition has the Cats playing even tighter D, and showing signs of life on offense.  And now that things are going well, Larry's gotta want to trade someone right?"

New Orleans Hornets

20

2

7 - 10

At The Hive

Blog A Bull - "Most coaches are criticized for not trusting rookies more, but Byron Scott's burying of Collison and Thorton look more egregious by every game of the Bower era."

Chicago Bulls

16

(3)

6 - 9

Blog A Bull

Blog A Bull- "Not just average by design, but spectacularly boring."

Toronto Raptors

19

(1)

7 - 11

Raptors HQ

Bright Side of the Sun - "Jelly Doughnut Defense...soft and sweet in the middle and kind of powdery and sweet on the outside as well"

Los Angeles Clippers

22

1

8 - 10

Clips Nation

Clips Nation - "Winners of 4 out of 5, including a huge comeback Sunday that featured a 28 point swing in the fourth quarter, the Clippers have Eric Gordon back and expect Blake Griffin in another couple weeks.  I think the children are our future."

Indiana Pacers

18

(4)

6 - 9

Indy Cornrows

Bright Side of the Sun - "I always forget to rank the Pacers and have to go back and insert them somewhere and reshuffle everything else. This says far more about the Pacers than about me."

Detroit Pistons

17

(6)

6 - 11

Motown String Music

Clips Nation - "Tayshaun out, Rip out, Sheed gone, Chauncey gone.  Who are these guys?  Even that new guy, Little Ben, is hurt now.  But for Big Ben, it's 2002 all over again, among the league leaders in offensive boards at 35.  Then again, there are a lot of missed shots."

Golden State Warriors

24

-

6 - 10

Golden State Of Mind

Straight Outta Vancouver - "Not enough talent here with Biedrins out. Monta Ellis is proving his worth though, and rookie Stephen Curry has stepped up."

Memphis Grizzlies

27

2

6 - 12

Straight Outta Vancouver

Straight Outta Vancouver - "Jamaal Tinsley is providing a steady hand at the point and Marc Gasol is looking more and more like his big brother every day. They will grow into their talent as the season moves on."

Washington Wizards

26

-

5 - 10

Bullets Forever

Celtics Blog - "Firesale by February?"

Philadelphia 76ers

23

(4)

5 - 13

Liberty Ballers

Clips Nation - "First Speights, then Lou Williams.  Every time the Sixers try to look on the bright side, the bright side gets injured.  Paging EB (from 2006).  Or is it AI?

New York Knicks

28

-

3 - 14

Posting And Toasting

Celtics Blog - "Pep talk: 'We're not New Jersey!'"

Minnesota Timberwolves

29

-

2 - 15

Canis Hoopus

Blog A Bull - "Perhaps the stealthiest tank job in recent memory. They're just learning a new offense!"

New Jersey Nets

30

-

0 - 17

Really, who's going to be blogging about the Nets right now?

Clips Nation - "Lawrence Frank is out, though of course none of this is his fault.  Regardless, one more loss and they take the 99 Clippers out of the record books.  Let's go Mavericks!"