A lot of the talk in the NBA lately has been circling around the summer of 2010 and the enormous amount of available free agents. The list includes Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki and of course the headliner, LeBron James.
James has been pressed hard lately by the media, especially the journalists in the Tri-State Area. The Knicks and Nets have already started maneuvering for the free agency period and both are considered frontrunners for the King's duties.
Even though the blockbuster deals for LeBron are being talked about regularly, not much has been made of his current team, Cleveland.
Oddsmakers at Las Vegas Sports Consultants, the company that provides the majority of lines to casinos in Nevada, have taken notice of the red-hot Cavaliers.
LVSC has pushed Cleveland from the sixth spot up to No. 3 in their latest rankings after watching the club extend its winning streak to five games last Saturday with a 97-85 road victory against Milwaukee.
During the streak, all five wins have come in double-digit fashion and the public has ridden the Cavs to a 5-0 mark against the spread to boot.
Cleveland stands at 14-3, which is the third best record in the NBA. The Lakers (14-1) and Celtics (17-2) still remain the top two teams in the standings and according to the latest LVSC rankings as well.
If you look at the Cavaliers' three losses closer, you can see that LeBron and company have been humbled against Boston (90-85), New Orleans (104-92) and Detroit (96-89). All three of those teams are ranked seventh or higher by LVSC.
One club that dropped last week was Phoenix. The Suns' new identity under head coach Terry Porter hasn't produced a great record (11-7) but it isn't that bad either. One sour note is the team's inability to win at home (4-5), which includes a pair or recent setbacks to what most would view as inferior teams, Miami (92-107) and New Jersey (109-117).
The aforementioned Amare Stoudemire has already complained about not being featured as much in Porter's offense. Makes you wonder who will go first, considering Stoudemire is going to be a hot commodity.
Below is a list of this week's rankings.
| 1 |
LA Lakers (14-1) |
78.0 |
1 |
| 2 |
Boston (17-2) |
77.5 |
2 |
| 3 |
Cleveland (14-3) |
73.6 |
6 |
| 4 |
Houston (11-7) |
73.4 |
3 |
| 5 |
Utah (11-7) |
72.4 |
7 |
| 6 |
Detroit (10-6) |
72.2 |
5 |
| 7 |
New Orleans (9-6) |
72.0 |
7 |
| 8 |
Portland (12-6) |
71.8 |
10 |
| 9 |
Orlando (13-5) |
71.6 |
9 |
| 10 |
San Antonio (9-7) |
71.4 |
15 |
| 11 |
Denver (12-6) |
70.8 |
11 |
| 12 |
Phoenix (11-7) |
70.7 |
4 |
| 13 |
Dallas (8-8) |
70.2 |
12 |
| 14 |
Toronto (8-8) |
67.6 |
14 |
| 15 |
Chicago (8-9) |
66.4 |
17 |
| 16 |
Philadelphia (7-10) |
66.0 |
13 |
| 17 |
Atlanta (10-6) |
65.8 |
16 |
| 17 |
New Jersey (9-7) |
65.8 |
21 |
| 19 |
Miami (9-9) |
65.0 |
18 |
| 20 |
Milwaukee (7-12) |
63.6 |
19 |
| 21 |
Indiana (6-10) |
63.2 |
22 |
| 22 |
Golden State (5-13) |
61.4 |
20 |
| 23 |
Minnesota (4-12) |
61.3 |
24 |
| 24 |
Charlotte (6-11) |
61.2 |
29 |
| 25 |
LA Clippers (3-13) |
60.8 |
26 |
| 26 |
New York (8-8) |
60.6 |
23 |
| 27 |
Sacramento (5-14) |
60.0 |
25 |
| 28 |
Washington (2-12) |
59.8 |
28 |
| 29 |
Memphis (4-13) |
58.3 |
27 |
| 30 |
Oklahoma City (2-16) |
56.6 |
30 | |
Chris David can be reached at cdavid@vegasinsider.com
