The first two months of the NBA are in the books and as we enter 2009, it's apparent that contenders and pretenders begin to separate themselves in the second-half of the regular season. Las Vegas Sports Consultants didn't tweak their power rankings heading into the New Year, even though a pair of top teams in the 10th installment was recently humbled too.
The Lakers reclaimed their No. 1 spot in the rankings after ripping off six straight victories before losing to New Orleans 115-106 on Wednesday. The setback snapped a 15-game home winning streak for Los Angeles and it also showed the club is banged up too. The Lakers are going to continue to have trouble matching up with fast point guards until Jordan Farmar (knee) returns from injury.
Boston was the talk of the league, jumping out to a 27-2 record but it's been nothing but ugly efforts since that hot start. Doc Rivers' troops have gone 2-4 and two of the setbacks came against the Knicks (100-88) on Sunday and Tuesday against the Bobcats (114-106).
The Cavaliers have also received a ton of hype this year and deservingly so. However, Cleveland has dropped two of its last three games, including an 80-77 loss to Washington on Sunday as a nine-point road favorite. Gamblers should be aware that the Cavs are mired in a 2-5 ATS skid.
Orlando remained in the fourth position and both oddsmakers and gamblers should get a better feel of Stan Van Gundy's club next week. The Magic have a home-and-home set with Atlanta this week before the team embarks on a four-game road trip against the Spurs, Kings, Lakers and Nuggets. After that trek, the team returns to the East Coast with a pair of battles versus Boston and Miami.
A couple other teams to keep an eye on in the Eastern Conference are Detroit and Atlanta. The Pistons have captured seven straight games, while the Hawks are 7-1 in their last eight.
The only team to fall more than two spots this week was Portland, who dropped to the 12th position from No. 9. The Trail Blazers haven't had All-Star guard Brandon Roy (hamstring) in the lineup for the past three games, which has watched the team go 1-2. It's obvious that the offense is missing his efforts, since the team is averaging 84.7 points per game during this stretch. The 'under' has been gold all year for Portland (24-14) and is currently on a 4-0 run.
Below is a complete list of all the rankings.
| 1 |
L.A. Lakers (27-6) |
78.5 |
2 |
| 2 |
Boston (29-7) |
77.5 |
1 |
| 3 |
Cleveland (27-6) |
77.0 |
3 |
| 4 |
Orlando (27-8) |
75.0 |
4 |
| 5 |
New Orleans (21-10) |
73.4 |
5 |
| 6 |
San Antonio (23-11) |
71.9 |
7 |
| 7 |
Houston (21-15) |
71.6 |
6 |
| 7 |
Denver (24-12) |
71.6 |
9 |
| 9 |
Utah (20-15) |
71.3 |
8 |
| 10 |
Phoenix (19-12) |
71.0 |
12 |
| 11 |
Dallas (21-13) |
70.8 |
11 |
| 12 |
Portland (20-14) |
70.6 |
9 |
| 13 |
Detroit (21-11) |
70.3 |
13 |
| 14 |
Atlanta (22-11) |
69.2 |
14 |
| 15 |
Miami (18-15) |
66.8 |
15 |
| 16 |
Milwaukee (17-19) |
66.6 |
16 |
| 17 |
Toronto (14-21) |
65.3 |
17 |
| 18 |
Philadelphia (14-20) |
63.7 |
18 |
| 19 |
New Jersey (17-18) |
63.6 |
20 |
| 20 |
Chicago (15-20) |
62.7 |
19 |
| 21 |
New York (13-20) |
62.3 |
24 |
| 22 |
Indiana (12-22) |
62.1 |
21 |
| 23 |
Charlotte (13-22) |
62.0 |
22 |
| 24 |
L.A. Clippers (8-26) |
60.9 |
23 |
| 25 |
Memphis (11-24) |
60.6 |
26 |
| 26 |
Golden State (10-26) |
60.5 |
25 |
| 26 |
Washington (7-26) |
60.5 |
27 |
| 28 |
Minnesota (9-25) |
59.5 |
28 |
| 29 |
Sacramento (8-28) |
57.6 |
29 |
| 30 |
Oklahoma City (5-30) |
57.5 |
30 | |
Chris David can be reached at cdavid@vegasinsider.com
