David Aldridge takes a look at the week that was around the NBA, and uses that to help him rank which teams are the top 15 in the league right now.
(previous rank in brackets; last week’s record in parenthesis)
1) Golden State [1] (3-1): His.Toh.Ree.
2) San Antonio [2] (1-3): Warriors’ win at AT&T Center Sunday night ends the Spurs’ 33-game regular season win streak over the Warriors in San Antonio, dating back to Feb. 14, 1997.
3) L.A. Clippers [5] (4-0): Historically, the franchises are not comparable, of course. But the Clippers have now won 11 straight games against the Lakers after their 22-point victory last week. The win streak dates back to the 2013-14 season-opener on Oct. 29, 2013.
4) Cleveland [3] (1-2): Does anyone have any doubt that Tristan Thompson will get the lion’s share of center minutes in the playoffs ahead of Timofey Mozgov — or that Channing Frye won’t be on the floor a lot in the postseason?
5) Toronto [6] (3-1): DeMarre Carroll in the playoffs? ¯_(?)_/¯
6) Oklahoma City [4] (1-2): Despite strong play to end the regular season, Clips still can’t catch OKC for third place in the west, by virtue of the Thunder’s 3-1 season series lead.
7) Atlanta [9] (3-0): The Hawks’ current streak of nine straight seasons making the playoffs is topped only by the Spurs, who have made the postseason 19 consecutive seasons.
8) Boston [7] (2-1): Danny Ainge says on local radio in Boston that the Celtics aren’t yet a championship-caliber team, causing great rending of garments among some in Beantown. But, he’s right.
9) Miami [8] (3-1): The Heat looks locked in and ready to be a very tough out in the playoffs. As in six or seven games in a conference finals kind of tough out.
10) Charlotte [10] (2-2): Hornets blow a chance to win out and finish as high as fourth (with some help) with an uninspired loss Sunday in Washington to the non-playoff Wizards.
11) Memphis [11] (1-2): Surprised the Grizz didn’t hold onto guard Briante Weber, who was quickly scarfed up and signed to a multi-year deal by the Heat last week after Memphis let him go in favor of veteran Jordan Farmar.
12) Indiana [12] (2-1): After being in a horrendous shooting slump for weeks, C.J. Miles is coming back to life at the right time for the Pacers: 13.7 points, 49 percent shooting, 46.9 percent (30 of 64) on 3-pointers his last 10 games.
13) Detroit [13] (2-1): Well, this is a pretty cool feature for Pistons fans.
14) Portland [14] (2-1): Al-Faroqu Aminu might well be the best bang-for-the-buck free agent signing of the offseason.
15) Utah [15] (1-2): Yes, I would love to see a Stifle Tower-Draymond Green matchup at some point during a potential Warriors-Jazz first-round series. Yes, I would.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
Golden State (3-1): The Warriors tied the Bulls’ 72 regular season win record with one game to go, and ended the Spurs’ 39-game win streak at home without a loss Sunday. We’ll forgive them the brain cramp at home last Tuesday against Minnesota.
TEAM OF THE WEAK
Brooklyn (0-3): Hillary vs. Bernie is a much better contest in New York than the Nets vs. anybody.
MORE MORNING TIP: Our 2015-16 award picks | Beasley rejuvenated in Houston
Longtime NBA reporter and columnist David Aldridge is an analyst for TNT. You can e-mail him 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.
