David Aldridge reveals which teams, to him, are the Top 15 squads in the NBA at this moment.
(last week’s record in parenthesis; previous ranking in brackets)
1) Golden State Warriors (2-0) [1]: Fitty on the Clippers in the third quarter Thursday night. Fitty.
2) San Antonio Spurs (2-0) [3]: Finish Rodeo Trip with four straight wins and a 6-2 mark. Spurs will have 16 of their last 24 regular-season games at home
3) Cleveland Cavaliers (1-1) [2]: Don’t care what Deron Williams’ stats were in Dallas; he’ll be a strong pickup for the Cavs and will help them immensely in the playoffs.
4) Houston Rockets (2-0) [4]: Lou Williams, just what the D’Antoni ordered.
5) Utah Jazz (2-0) [9]: Why do teams even bother to challenge Rudy Gobert?
6) Boston Celtics (1-1) [5]: Normally when you have to wait this long for something, there’s a line all the way down to seat 19A in either direction on the plane.
7) Toronto Raptors (2-0) [8]: Note to self: get passport renewed in time for potential late spring travel.
8) Washington Wizards (0-2) [6]: Wizards pushed hard for either Darren Collison or Ty Lawson from Sacramento before the deadline, but the Kings held firm on asking for first-rounders for each.
9) Atlanta Hawks (0-2) [7]: Re-signing Paul Millsap is the Hawks’ top offseason priority. It will not be easy. Won’t be impossible, but it won’t be easy.
10) Memphis Grizzlies (1-1) [10]: They choose to keep Toney Douglas for the rest of the season rather than go the bought out free agent route.
11) Oklahoma City Thunder (2-0) [12]: Kanter’s back. There’s going to be trouble. Hey na, hey na, Kanter’s back.
12) LA Clippers (1-2) [11]: Chris Paul returns…just in the nick of time?
13) Chicago Bulls (2-0) [15]: Speaking for myself: what is the point of keeping Rajon Rondo on this roster another second?
14) Indiana Pacers(1-1) [13]: I was born by the river in a little tent/Oh, and just like the river, I’ve been runnin’ ever since/It’s been a long time, a long time coming/But I know a change gonna come, oh, yes it will.
15) Detroit Pistons (1-1) [14]: Why, yes, that is Miami and Milwaukee just a game behind the Pistons for the last playoff spot in the East.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
San Antonio Spurs (2-0): Only Congressional action will stop the Spurs from reaching the 50-win mark for a 20th straight season overall and 18th consecutive non-lockout season. By contrast, the entire Atlantic Division, over the same time period, has a total of 10 teams record 50-win seasons as division winners.
TEAM OF THE WEAK
Atlanta Hawks (0-2): The fellas may have had too good a time during All-Star break: Hawks have been drilled by 18 and 19, respectively, in their first two post-break games.
Longtime NBA reporter, columnist and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer David Aldridge is an analyst for TNT. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
