Power Rankings - February 3, 2009

No, that's not a picture from last night. But it is Kobe in the Garden. And it does appear Nate-Rob is in danger of getting his ankles broken in said picture. KOBE! By the way Kobe, dynamite rebound and assist numbers last night... 0 & 3 respectively. Are we about to see take-over mode Kobe for the next 8-12 weeks?

30. Sacramento (11-39) – Sac-town gets drubbed by almost 50 by Phoenix… Ouch. Also, Kevin Martin’s point total did not surpass Larry Fitzgerald’s longest reception -11.5 yards in the Super Bowl… Fitz! [pv wk 29]

29. Clippers (10-38) – 0-4 last week. The Clippers have to be the most disappointing team in the NBA this year. [28]

28. Washington (10-38) – With a win last week (and 1-3 record overall) they become the last team to hit double digit wins.. [30]

27. Memphis (12-35) – Loss to Thunder causes drop to 27th. Mayo leads rookies in scoring… [26]

26. Oklahoma City (11-37) – Win over Grizzlies in overtime allows for them to move to their highest spot of the year. Loss to Kings on Super Bowl Sunday was an extreme disappointment, even if Russ Westbrook went 20-22 from the foul line. [27]

25. Golden State (15-34) – 1-3 since last power rankings however, due to complete ineptitude of the bottom 5, they hold strong at 25. [25]

24. Indiana (19-29) – 2-2 week for Indiana and they hold on to 24th. [24]

23. Toronto (19-29) – Season started with such high expectations… [22]

22. Minnesota (16-30) – Yeah, they went 0-3 this week. Yeah, I’m aware they’re moving up in the rankings. Yeah, I meant to rank them here last week. Yeah, I’m an idiot. [23]

21. Charlotte (19-29) – 1-3 week highlighted by win at Staples. Gerald Wallace suffered cracked ribs and a collapsed lung in their victory, so even that turns out to be a net loss. [21]

20. New Jersey (21-27) – Devin Harris is an all-star, but the Nets slide continues. [18]

19. Chicago (21-27) – 3-0 week for the Bulls leads to move ahead of the Nets. [20]

18. New York (21-26) – Wilson Chandler falls to the Power Rankings jinx. After praising his defense against Kobe in their matchup at Staples, Chandler and the Knicks surrender a Madison Square Garden record 61 to Kobe last night. Otherwise, the Knicks are kinda on a tear… winning 6 of last 8 overall. [19]

17. Milwaukee (24-27) –Milwaukee grasping onto the 8 seed as the Knicks, Nets and Bulls remain within striking distance. Add Michael Redd’s season ending injury to the mix and this could be the last time the Bucks see the top 20. [17]

16. Philadelphia (23-23) – 76ers fight their back to .500. This team is slowly locking themselves into the 7 seed… good luck against Boston or Cleveland in round 1…. [16]

15. Detroit (25-21) – Anytime you’re tweaking your lineup to find the best mix 30 games after someone like AI’s arrival means trouble. After another 1-2 week, there’s no reason to alter their blurb. [14]

14. Miami (26-121) – 2-2 week + confusion in Detroit and the Heat have earned their highest ranking of 2009. [15]

13. Utah (27-22) – Much like Houston, this team just cannot get healthy. Deron’s back on the shelf, but they’re still tough as nails in Salt Lake. [13]

12. Phoenix (26-20) – 1-2 week salvaged by absolute beatdown of the worst team in the league last night. [11]

11. Atlanta (27-20) – Josh Childress better be enjoying life in Greece because the Hawks certainly aren’t going to be looking for him to return with the way they’ve been playing. [10]

10. Dallas (28-19) – 3-0 week capped off with a win over Orlando allows for move all the way to 10. [12]

9. Houston (29-19) – Par for the course for the Rockets last week… Yao returns, T-Mac goes down, team goes 1-1. Wait, what did their blurb say last week? Interesting…. [9]

8. New Orleans (28-17) – Rough week for New Orleans as they go 1-3 and CP3 injures groin in loss to Portland. CP3 has the third most double-doubles in the league, just behind Dwight Howard (obvious) and… David Lee…. [7]

7. Portland (30-17) – 3-0 week including a win over New Orleans last night, although that win comes with an asterisk… Portland was down 15 until CP3’s groin injury and outscored the stunned Hornets 42-17 after. [8]

6. Denver (31-16) 2-1 week allows for them to hold down the 6 spot. Nuggets season appears to be moving in the opposite direction of the Pistons… interesting… didn’t these two teams make a trade? [6]

5. San Antonio (33-14) – A 4-0 week keeps San Antonio solidly in the 5-hole. This team just finds ways to win. [5]

4. Orlando (36-11) – Another ho-hum 3-1 week for Orlando as they hold down the #4 spot. Week included a win over Cleveland and a loss to the Mavs last night. [4]

3. Lakers (38-9) – Déjà vu for the Lakers as Bynum goes down. Upset Alert: Lakers start 6-game road trip 3-0, with Boston on Thursday and Cleveland coming up on Sunday, will it be hard for the Lakers to not overlook Toronto? Kobe’s 61 in the Garden was magical. [2]

2. Cleveland (37-9) – 3-1 week coupled with Bynum injury and Lakers’ loss to the Bobcats allows for jump to #2. Cleveland hosts the Lakers on Sunday with their perfect home record on the line. [3]

1. Boston (40-9) – Boston’s last loss was on January 9th. Matchup with Lakers on Thursday night is revenge time for the Celtics after the Christmas Day victory for the Lakers. [1]