http://www.nba.com/features/rankings_index.html TEAM (LAST WK) REC. BREAKDOWN 1 Dallas (1) 50-16 NBA's first 50-game winner did it in style on Sunday with an overtime victory at Sacramento. Mavs host Spurs on Thursday in first of two more matchups against closest West rival. 2 San Antonio (2) 47-18 Spurs have gone 10-1 since losing to Dallas on Feb. 20, and they'll get the chance for revenge on Thursday. More importantly, though, how bad is Duncan's ankle? 3 Sacramento (3) 46-21 Tough week for Kings; blown out at Phoenix for most lopsided loss of the year, then couldn't handle Dallas -- whom they'd beaten three times this year -- in OT on their home floor. 4 L.A. Lakers (4) 37-28 After winning nine of 10, the Lakers start their big road swing with a loss at ... Chicago? Team looks back on track after wins at Bucks and Wolves, with Kings on tap this Thursday. 5 Minnesota (6) 43-26 Wolves emerged 2-2 from a tough week (Mavs, Spurs, Lakers and Blazers) and defeated Portland to help their cause in securing the West's No. 4 seed. 6 Philadelphia (7) 39-26 By far the hottest team in the East, Sixers have now won 14 of 16 and last week knocked off both New Jersey and Indy to pull into the No. 3 spot, just two games out of first. 7 Portland (5) 42-24 Scrounged only 79 points in loss to Philly then fell to Wolves; Blazers are in danger of losing homecourt in first round. Big games this week vs. Kings and streaking Rockets. 8 Detroit (8) 41-24 Put together nice four-game win streak -- including victories over Rockets and Lakers -- behind sudden scoring machine Chauncey Billups, who's averaging 26.1 ppg in March. 9 New Jersey (9) 40-26 Just two games last week, but both were against close rivals; topped Celtics by 15, then fell to rampaging Philly. This week begins relatively light stretch going into April. 10 Boston (13) 38-28 Bizarrely impressive week for Celts, who destroyed New Orleans by 28, lost to New Jersey by 15, then came back with a win over Detroit. Rematch with Nets is tomorrow. 11 New Orleans (10) 38-30 Hornets are still adjusting to return of Baron Davis, whose poor shooting hasn't helped (just 7-of-25 in his last two games, both losses). 12 Utah (12) 37-29 Hanging tough in the West's No. 7 spot despite back-to-back blowout losses at Indiana and Cleveland (?), Jazz are now just a game and a half up on the Rockets. 13 Indiana (11) 39-27 Victory over Utah notwithstanding, Pacers have won only two of 14. Now at No. 4, the danger of slipping into the bottom half of the playoff bracket has nearly been realized. 14 Houston (UR) 35-30 After bumbling through a four-game losing streak, the Rockets have possibly saved their season with five straight wins, including a 10-point victory over No. 8 rival Phoenix. 15 Orlando (14) 34-33 One-point loss to the Wizards last week could hurt Magic in wild East playoff race. The good news is that their next four opponents are a combined 78-184. 16 Phoenix (15) 34-31 Loss at Houston on Sunday made bottom of West race more interesting; Phoenix is one game out of eighth spot, but with season series completed, Rockets own tiebreaker.
What a sad, sad ranking. They probably only put Houston in there because now we're ahead of Phoenix, so they feel the need to put us ahead of Phoenix in their little rankings. Lakers are playing like crap lately, yet they're #4? Not even a little slide for the humiliating defeat in Chicago?
Toast - I got that same feeling from reading that ranking. How can they say that the Houston win over phoenix makes it more interesting, it's like they counted us out already and expected us to lose that game.
The Lakers lost badly to both the Bulls and the Pistons, and yet wind up at #4? They were coming on like gangbusters before last week, but let's at least try to be fair in how we assess these things. And the Pacers, even ranked? They be stankin. When they put it back together, then they deserve to be ranked.
Has Phoenix and the Lakers won on the road this year? I don't care if the Lakers are defending champions, this is a new year.
The Rockets can do it. They will have to play just like they did at home. And have to get a good start. That's the most important. Start out aggressive like hell and get a 20 point lead. Then they can play like crap like they did in the beginning of the year of 2003 and it will still be all fine. Yao will lead us with his confidence and poise and calmness and his classy class.
