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?
13) 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.
14) 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.
