Power Rankings: December 30, 2008

So on Christmas Day, they showed that Lebron Powder commercial about twice every commercial break. I greatly enjoy the facial reaction of the dude in the barber-chair who realizes his barber just threw a bunch of powder in his afro. It's fantastic.

Just thought you all might have wanted to know that....

On to the power rankings....



30. Oklahoma City (3-29) – Westbrook has been very impressive of late.... [pv wk 30]

29. Minnesota (6-24) – Do you hear that? That’s the sound of Kevin McHale updating his resume…. [29]

28. Washington (6-23) – Caron Butler might be one of the most underrated defenders in the league. [28]

27. Sacramento (7-24) – Sac-town has lost 6th straight… [27]

26. Clippers (8-21) – On the bright side at least they’ll have a ton of cap space in 2010… oh wait…. Randolph! [25]

25. Indiana (10-20) – Danny Granger is wondering when this will end…. [23]

24. Golden State (10-23) – Nellie Ball not working out this year… [24]

23. Memphis (10-21) – On the bright side, at least they got a lot for Pau Gasol last year…. Nope. [22]

22. Charlotte (11-20) – Tougher team at home, but still a doormat on the road. [26]

21. New York (11-18) – Haven’t won a game since the last issue of the power rankings… D’Antoni! [18]

20. Toronto (12-19) – 2-6 since the last power rankings…. Frontline of Bargnani, Bosh & O’Neal had been disappointing. [20]

19. Philadelphia (12-18) – More of the same since the Mo Cheeks firing… At least signing Elton Brand to that big contract really worked out for them… [19]

18. Milwaukee (14-17) – 4-2 record since the last power rankings propels them all the way to 18 [21]

17. Chicago (14-17) – Quietly sitting in the 8th spot in the East despite being completely inept up front… [17]

16. New Jersey (15-16) – Devin Harris should be an all-star and if the Nets keep this up, could be a top 10 MVP candidate…. [16]

15. Miami (16-13) – Squandered a 9 point lead against Cleveland where D-Wade scored as many as Cleveland did in the 3rd quarter, but overall, an impressive two weeks for the Heat. [15]

14. Detroit (16-13) – Deeeeeeeeeeeeeetroit FOOT-BALL….. oh wait…. [14]

13. Utah (19-14) – 4-4 record since the latest power rankings causes drop to 13th…. And 9th in the West. [8]

12. Dallas (18-12) – Nice punch Dirk. [12]

11. Phoenix (17-12) –Heartbreaking loss to the Spurs on Christmas… you can’t leave Roger Mason open like that J-Rich… you just can’t, not when Grant Hill is blanketing Parker like that. [11]

10. Portland (19-12) – disappointing loss to Dallas, but still sitting at 6th in the West. Still think their best lineup is Roy-Rudy-Outlaw-Aldridge-Oden/Przybilla [10]

9. Houston (20-12) – Houston holding strong in the 5th seed out West. [9]

8. Denver (20-12) – losses to Atlanta and Portland keep them below the truly elite. [6]

7. Atlanta (20-10) – 6-1 since last power rankings (including wins over Detroit and Denver) and loss was a close defeat to Boston. Hawks seem to be quite the streaky team. Their frontline of J-Smith, Horford and Marvin might be the best 3-4-5 in the league. [13]

6. New Orleans (18-9) – Wins over San Antonio and Houston balanced out by losses to Lakers and Magic… and loss to Lakers wasn’t close. [7]

5. Orlando (24-7) – Mr. Roberston has discussed this, but can this team really take the leap to the Eastern Conference Finals with Boggans and Nelson in the backcourt? [4]

4. San Antonio (20-10) – Western Conference Finals rematch looking more and more likely… [5]

3. Lakers (25-5) – Two tough losses on the road balanced out by wins over New Orleans and Celtics. The class of the West plays their next three against Utah, Portland and New Orleans, all at Staples. [2]

2. Boston (28-4) – Tough loss against the Lakers, but that was forgiven… loss to Golden State causes slip to #2. [1]

1. Cleveland (26-4) – We are all witnesses. [3]