1. Miami Heat (64-16, previous No. 1) - Well, Dwyane Wade is back, and the Heat look ready for the postseason. They might even consider resting LeBron James and Wade for the entire series with Milwaukee in preparation for an actual challenge.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (59-21, previous No. 2) – Kevin Durant was fined $25,000 for a “menacing gesture” last week, but what he and the Thunder do in the Western Conference should be even more menacing.

3. San Antonio Spurs (58-22, previous No. 4) - The Spurs weathered the storm that was the 2012-13 NBA regular season. But do they have enough left in the tank to go deep into the postseason? It’ll be tough.

4. Memphis Grizzlies (54-26 previous No. 3) - What to make of Memphis’ 91-87 loss to the Clippers over the weekend? One, it could be an opening round playoff preview. Two, it should be a very entertaining one.

5. Los Angeles Clippers (54-26, previous No. 5) - A win over the Griz before the postseason does wonders for L.A.’s confidence. It also helps that it could give them homecourt advantage over them.

6. New York Knicks (53-27, previous No. 6) - The Knicks beat up on the Celtics pretty good in the regular season, but make no mistake: they aren’t thrilled about their opening round matchup.

7. Denver Nuggets (55-25, previous No. 7) - On the day point guard Ty Lawson returned, Kenneth Faried sprained his left ankle. Hopefully it’s not serious, because they’ll need all hands (and ankles) on deck without Danilo Gallinari.

8. Indiana Pacers (49-31, previous No. 8) - Roy Hibbert is playing at a higher level over the second half of the season. The Pacers should be fine against a banged up Bulls team or a Hawks team that lacks an identity.

10. Brooklyn Nets (47-33, previous No. 10) - The team that nobody is talking about could give the Heat more trouble than we all think in the second round. Deron Williams is playing as good as anybody.

9. Houston Rockets (45-35, previous No. 9) - The Rockets are the only Western Conference playoff team with a losing record against Western Conference teams. Beating up on the Eastern Conference won’t help them now.

11. Golden State Warriors (45-35, previous No. 11) - The Warriors seem to be that team that every other team in the Western Conference wants to play. Can they use that as fuel? Or will they just prove all those teams right?

12. Chicago Bulls (43-37, previous No. 12) - It feels more and more like the season of “what could have been” for Chicago. Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson are banged up now. Derrick Rose doesn’t appear to be suiting up this season, either.

13. Boston Celtics (41-39, previous No. 13) - The Celtics may not have depth on their side. Or age. But one thing they’ve never lacked is confidence, and often times that’s all a team needs.

14. Atlanta Hawks (44-36, previous No. 14) - He seems to go under the radar just about every year, but Al Horford is the type of player every team wants. Can play both power forward and center effectively on both ends.

15. Los Angeles Lakers (44-37, previous No. 15) - It’s an absolute shame that Kobe Bryant is lost for the season after doing everything in his power to get his team into the playoffs. Can Dwight carry them now?

16. Utah Jazz (42-38, previous No. 16) - The Jazz didn’t trade Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap at the deadline, could lose both now, and it’s looking like they’ll miss the postseason. What a season …

17. Milwaukee Bucks (37-43, previous No. 17) - No truth to the rumor that the Bucks are raising a banner with the words “Just Happy to be Here” written on it before the Heat series.

18. Dallas Mavericks (40-40, previous No. 18) - The Dallas Mavericks all finally shaved their beards on Sunday . . . because they reached .500 on the season. Congrats?

19. Philadelphia 76ers (33-47, previous 20) - Reports are that Doug Collins will resign as head coach after the season. Not a big surprise. It was pretty clear that, like everybody else, he had had enough with that team.

20. Toronto Raptors (32-48, previous – ) - All the Raptors are doing now is costing themselves ping pong balls. Should have followed the Trail Blazers lead to end the season (an 11-game losing streak).

The post NBA Power Rankings: The playoffs are here! appeared first on Metro.us.

The Knicks had been looking forward to avenging a loss to the Grizzlies earlier in the season, and did so in a big way with a 108-101 win Wednesday night.

The margin of victory didn’t explain the entire story as the Knicks (44-26) dominated throughout the game, leading nearly wire-to-wire. New York had been throttled by Memphis (47-24) on Nov. 16, and following the beating they took, the collective mantra was “wait until we get them at our house.” They backed up that bravado as the Garden proved to be a house of horrors for the visitors in the Knicks’ sixth straight win.

New York raced out to a 30-point lead in the third quarter and, except for a furious late Grizzlies run to cut it to four points, they managed to keep Memphis at bay. New York was led by J.R. Smith’s game-high 35 points, including 23 points in the first half.

Head coach Mike Woodson noted after the game he’s been just as impressed with the way Smith has responded with his growing maturity and doing the little things, as much as the shooting guard’s scoring prowess.

“He’s been playing well the last two weeks. He’s starting to figure out some things. And by doing that, he’s helping us win some games,” said Woodson. “He’s not only shooting jump shots. He’s rebounding, getting to the free-throw line and making a conscious effort to defend. Right now, his game is pretty well-rounded.”

Smith, who became the first Knicks reserve to score 30-plus points in consecutive games since Al Harrington in 2010, has been as efficient as ever this season and sounded as if he’s finally understanding when to be aggressive and when to let the game come to him.

“I’m starting to attack with both the jump shot and also by trying to get to the free-throw line,” Smith said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we just had to get stops when we needed them most. When we started slowing the ball too much it took away some of our momentum.”

Smith’s offensive momentum was in high gear all night, but he wasn’t alone. He was joined in the assault by Iman Shumpert, who looked as comfortable shooting the jumper as he had all season on his surgically repaired ACL, scoring 16 points — all in the first half. Shumpert scored 13 of the Knicks’ first 15 points in the first quarter, as he’s starting to look more comfortable behind the arc (he’s 12-of-25 on 3-pointers during this winning streak.)

Such was the dominance that Carmelo Anthony played the willing role of sidekick for the second consecutive game. The All-Star forward tallied 22 points. Anthony wasn’t needed for most of the game, as Smith and Shumpert carried the load. And when they weren’t dominating the scoring, Raymond Felton (two 3-pointers), Steve Novak (three 3-pointers) and Jason Kidd (an and-1 3-pointer) were more than capable of knocking down shots. The Knicks shot 42 percent from behind the arc, including 11-of-21 in the first half to demoralize the Grizzlies defense.

New York’s winning streak is tied for their longest stretch this season. It’s all the more impressive since it’s following what was arguably the team’s lowest point of the season — a 1-4 record on their horrendous West Coast trip two weeks ago.

Woodson thinks by suffering through such a rough stretch, it actually awakened his once-coasting team.

“There’s a sense of urgency in terms of we’re heading down the stretch run and every game is important. And that’s how we should be playing,” Woodson said. “We’re trying to stay ahead in our division and maintain that No. 2 seed. Our guys are making a conscious effort of that when they step on the floor. … Even when losing a lead like tonight. It happens. Give them credit because they didn’t quit. But after a back-to-back game, I think we played really solid and were able to keep them away. Overall, I was pleased with the way we played.”

Knicks notes

The Knicks shot an amazing 72 percent from the field in the first quarter — a season high — and notched a season-high 69 points in the first half.

Follow Knicks beat writer Tony Williams on Twitter @TBone8.

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Records through March 11

1. Miami Heat (47-14, previous No. 1) – The Heat have won their last 18 games, or in other words, five more games than the Bobcats have won all season. Miami is also the only team to already clinch a playoff berth.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (47-16, previous No. 2) – Going into Monday night’s game in San Antonio, the Thunder had a nice little five-game winning streak going. It’s not 18, but OKC looks good.

3. Los Angeles Clippers (45-20, previous No. 4) – If you haven’t seen DeAndre Jordan’s dunk over Brandon Knight, find it. If you have seen it, find it again. Also, somebody should check on Knight.

4. Memphis Grizzlies (42-19 previous No. 5) – Tough four-game road trip ahead for the Grizz (POR, LAC, DEN, Utah) who have quietly won 12 of their last 13 games.

5. San Antonio Spurs (48-15, previous No. 3) – According to Elias, the Spurs suffered their worst home loss since 1997 on Friday, losing to the Trailblazers, 136-106. What’s that all about?

6. Denver Nuggets (42-22, previous No. 7) – Winners of eight in a row including a 15-point win over the Clippers last week. Circle Friday night’s game against Memphis on your calendar.

7. Indiana Pacers (39-24, previous No. 6) – An absolute choke job at home vs. the Celtics last week, and they were blown away in Miami. Not a good week for the Pacers. Oh, and Danny Granger is out again.

8. Houston Rockets (34-30, previous No. 12) – It’s not just James Harden with Jeremy Lin cameos. The Rockets are getting big production from Omer Asik and Chandler Parsons. Offense off the charts.

9. New York Knicks (38-22, previous No. 8) – How much better is the West than the East? The Knicks’ (second in the East) record puts them at the sixth seed out West — and even that seems too high.

10. Brooklyn Nets (37-26, previous No. 11) – A relatively easy stretch over the next 10 games could fool people, but Brooklyn looks to keep pressure on the Knicks.

11. Boston Celtics (34-28, previous No. 13) – Two big wins over the Pacers and Hawks, followed by a 79-point showing in OKC. The C’s are good enough to roll with second-tier teams, but that appears to be their ceiling.

12. Los Angeles Lakers (33-31, previous No. 17) – They’re 16-6 in the last 22 games and it seems Kobe Bryant is averaging 70 points a game as of late. Dwight Howard is playing basketball. Pau Gasol is closer to a return. Watch out…

13. Atlanta Hawks (34-28, previous No. 9) – Five losses in their last six games, with a game tonight in Miami. But hey, they still have Josh Smith leading the way … to nowhere.

14. Chicago Bulls (35-28, previous No. 10) – Sorry, Chicago, it seems like a Derrick Rose return this season is unlikely. Also unlikely: A series win without him.

15. Golden State Warriors (35-29, previous No. 14) – If Golden State wants to turn their season around, they can start by never wearing those jerseys with sleeves again. Jerseys with sleeves?

16. Milwaukee Bucks (32-29, previous No. 16) – It looks like Milwaukee should hang on to make its first playoff appearance since the 2009-10 season. Toronto and Philly don’t have any fight left.

17. Dallas Mavericks (29-33, previous No. 18) – The Mavs are only three games out from the eighth seed, but they’d probably need the Warriors to complete an epic collapse to get there.

18. Utah Jazz (32-31, previous No. 15) – No surprise that the Jazz went 0-4 on their four-game road trip, where they’ve struggled all year. Now they’re on outside looking in.

19. Portland Trail Blazers (29-33, previous No. 19) – If you thought a big win over the Spurs could spark them, oops, you were wrong. Portland lost to the lowly Hornets the next game.

20. Toronto Raptors (25-39 previous No. 20) – It’s a good thing the Blue Jays look ready to contend for something, because the Raptors sure don’t.

The post NBA Power Rankings: Lakers, Nuggets, Grizzlies quietly climbing appeared first on Metro.us.

Records through Feb. 24:

1. San Antonio Spurs (45-13, previous No. 1) – The Spurs finished their nine-game road trip with a 7-2 record, and continue to win games despite fighting the injury bug. Health seems to be the only roadblock for this team come postseason.

2. Miami Heat (40-14, previous No. 3) – Eleven wins in a row, seven of which have come by double-digits. Is that good? Not for the rest of the NBA. The Heat are pulling away from the East with relative ease.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder (41-15, previous No. 2) – A 30-point beat-down of the Bulls is comforting. Not comforting? Signing Derek Fisher a few hours later. Do they really need him?

4. Los Angeles Clippers (40-18, previous No. 4) – Would Kevin Garnett put them over the top? We’ll never know. But the Clippers still have as good of a chance as any team to win a title.

5. Memphis Grizzlies (37-18 previous No. 6) – It’s not the strongest seven-game winning streak around (two wins over playoff contenders), but it’s a streak nonetheless. Still, it’s hard to include them with the elite right now.

6. Indiana Pacers (35-21, previous No. 8) – The Pacers are the team keeping somewhat of a “pace” with the Heat over the last 11 games, going 9-2 in that span. And they just got Danny Granger back. Fun times.

7. Denver Nuggets (35-22, previous No. 5) – Can we just bottle up everything about Kenneth Faried and give it to every NBA player? It would make for some pretty intense and amazing games.

8. Golden State Warriors (33-23, previous No. 9) – It looked like the wheels fell off for the Warriors after six straight losses. But a comeback, overtime win over the Spurs on Friday has them living up to their team name.

9. Brooklyn Nets (33-24, previous No. 11) – Went into and out of the break strong – two wins each – but have since lost to the Rockets and Griz. Joe Johnson can only hit so many game-winners, ya know?

10. Chicago Bulls (32-24, previous No. 7) – Sunday’s loss to the Thunder was ugly. Here’s some salt for that wound: According to Elias, it was Chicago’s eighth-straight game in which none of its players scored more than 20 points, the longest such streak in franchise history.

11. New York Knicks (33-20, previous No. 10) – The Knicks have just one win against a playoff team (the Bucks) in February. They are fading, and fading fast. Is anybody that surprised?

12. Atlanta Hawks (31-23, previous No. 13) – It almost seemed like a guarantee that Josh Smith would say buh-bye to ATL at the deadline. Instead, it’s a guarantee that the Smith-led Hawks are first or second round playoff exits.

13. Houston Rockets (31-27, previous No. 14) – With the position Houston has put itself in since last offseason, it’s easy to picture the Rockets as a top dog in the West next season. Not this season though.

14. Boston Celtics (29-27, previous No. 12) – Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett will live to see another full season in Green. That may have not been the case if it was a seller’s market at the deadline.

15. Utah Jazz (31-25, previous No. 16) – The Jazz have both Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap ready to hit free agency. They aren’t good enough with them, can’t re-sign both, but didn’t trade either. Figure that one out.

16. Milwaukee Bucks (26-28, previous No. 15) – A round of applause for the Bucks who tried as hard as possible to land Josh Smith. Now, a moment of silence.

17. Los Angeles Lakers (28-29, previous No. 19) – The Lakers are 11-4 in their last 15 games, which can only mean one thing: they’ve finally tuned out Mike D’Antoni.

18. Toronto Raptors (23-33 previous No. – ) – The Raptors are 6-1 over their last seven games, including wins over the Pacers, Nuggets, and Knicks (twice). Playoffs?!

19. Dallas Mavericks (25-30, previous No. 18) – Mark Cuban loves hypotheticals (“Amnesty Kobe”), so here’s one: “Let’s just say the Mavericks make the playoffs this season…”

20. Portland Trail Blazers (26-30, previous No. 17) – The problem with Portland is that they need lots of production from their starters because their bench is extremely weak. No offense, Sasha Pavlovic.

The post NBA Power Rankings: Spurs, Heat, Thunder battle at top appeared first on Metro.us.

With 19.2 seconds left, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov rose from his seat in his suite high atop the Barclays Center.

Prokhorov, like many in the crowd, was anticipating a game-tying shot.

Eleven seconds later, his face was buried in his hands as Deron Williams’s attempt fell short into Tayshaun Prince’s grasp and the Nets wound up with a 76-72 loss to the Grizzlies.

The Nets dropped their second straight game with Joe Johnson watching in a suit from the bench because of a sore left heel.

Williams scored eight of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and got a shot at two more with less than 30 seconds to play. He crossed over Tony Allen and attempted to get a shot past Zach Randolph while enduring contact. He did not get a foul call, much to the dismay of the crowd.

“I definitely got fouled, but they didn’t call it, so I guess I didn’t,” Williams said. “It’s frustrating, but I can’t really control no calls or calls or anything like that. I can control that I turned the ball over on the next play, which is even more frustrating and how we executed down the stretch is frustrating.”

Williams briefly fell to the ground but appeared uninjured. On the next possession, Keith Bogans was initially called for a goaltending but after it was reversed Mirza Teletovic was called for a foul and Allen hit two free throws for a 74-72 lead.

“I thought Deron did a great job of taking the ball to the basket,” interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “It’s hard to believe. I thought there was a travel before the pass. I didn’t watch the replay yet. He goes to the basket on the other end and gets knocked down and I think if you watch the replay, you’ll see a travel before the pass but you don’t lose the game on the last play. We had other opportunities to do things and that’s just a disappointing way to lose.”

The Nets were unable to overcome Johnson’s absence because Brook Lopez was ineffective in the post. He sat for the entire fourth quarter and was held to nine points while shooting 3-of-10. Lopez left the locker room, escorted by general manager Billy King, without talking to the media.

Even with Johnson sitting and Lopez a non-factor, Williams’s aggressiveness nearly willed the Nets to a win. Williams was an efficient 9-of-14 and seemed more intent on driving to the basket instead of settling for jump shots, though he knocked down four 3-pointers.

Williams’s efficiency came on a night where the rest of the starting lineup fell short. The other four starters combined for 22 points, eight turnovers and shot 8-of-27 from the field.

The rest of the starters were so ineffective on the offensive side that Gerald Wallace, C.J. Watson and Evans sat for virtually the entire fourth quarter as Carlesimo went with Bogans, Brooks, Teletovic, Andray Blatche and Williams for most the final period.

That group helped turn a 55-51 deficit into two five-point leads. The last one was on Teletovic’s 19-foot fadeaway before it all fell apart.

“It hurt a lot because you don’t want to lose at home,” Evans said. “It hurts a lot. We couldn’t find a way to make a bucket and things didn’t go our way at the end like we probably thought it would, but unfortunately we didn’t find a way to get a win.”

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

Even with Johnson sitting and Lopez a non-factor, Williams’ aggressiveness nearly willed the Nets to a win as he spent most of the night trying to get around Tony Allen. Williams was an efficient 9-of-14 and seemed more intent on driving to the basket instead of settling for jump shots, though he knocked down four 3-pointers.

Williams’ efficiency came on a night where the rest of the starting lineup fell short.  The other four starters combined for 22 points, eight turnovers and shot 8-of-27 from the field.

The rest of the starters were so ineffective on the offensive side that Gerald Wallace, C.J. Watson and Evans sat for virtually the entire fourth quarter as Carlesimo went with Bogans, Brooks, Teletovic, Andray Blatche and Williams for most the final period.

That group helped turn a 55-51 deficit into two five-point leads. The last one was on Teletovic’s 19-foot fadeaway and then it all fell apart.

“It hurt a lot because you don’t want to lose at home,” Evans said. “It hurts a lot. We couldn’t find a way to make a bucket and things didn’t go our way at the end like we probably thought it would but unfortunately we didn’t find a way to get a win.”

The post Williams attempt falls short as Nets lose to Grizzlies appeared first on Metro.us.

Joe Johnson is dealing with a foot injury.
Credit: Getty Images

The good news for the Nets is Joe Johnson’s foot injury is not plantar fasciitis as they originally believed. The bad news is that his heel still remains sore, leaving him out for last night’s game against Memphis.

Johnson missed his second game with the sore left heel that flared up during last week’s games with Milwaukee after initially bothering him two weeks ago before the All-Star break.

“I’ve had plantar fasciitis, but this, I don’t think this is plantar fasciitis,” Johnson told reporters Saturday. “My heel is bruised badly. It was hard for me just to put my foot down, the heel of my foot on the ground. Today it wasn’t so.”

To help with the injury, Johnson has been receiving ice massage stimulation treatment and that seemed to help him participate in Saturday’s light practice.

Johnson had played in all 53 games before Friday is averaging 17 points and the team is hopeful he can suit up Tuesday in New Orleans.

Hollins addresses Evans comments

The Nets suffered one of their worst losses of the season on Jan. 25 when Memphis beat them by 25. In that game, the Grizzlies kept their starters on the court late in the game and in the waning moments, head coach Lionel Hollins reinserted starting center Marc Gasol into the game.

That move irked Nets forward Reggie Evans, who after the game expressed his displeasure.

“That was the point where it was like, wow. I was shocked,” Evans said that night. “I was real shocked to see him come back in. We won’t be forgetting, though. We’re definitely going to look forward to when that day comes when we play [Memphis again].”

A month after those comments, Evans changed his tone and wasn’t nearly as fired up about facing the team that held the Nets to one of their lowest point totals of the year.

Before last night’s game, Hollins spent a few minutes defending his move but not concerning himself with the previous comments made by Evans.

“This is what I say about all that stuff, when we’re getting beat, we were beaten by 20 three times in a row, the other team can do what they want when they’re up 20 points. It doesn’t matter,” Hollins said. “We don’t deserve any kind of courtesy and I wasn’t trying to leave my starters in the game. It just so happened they were in the game and I couldn’t get them out.

“Respect comes from going out there and battling and doing your job and competing and being in the game. We’ve been out of the game and we can’t say anything about what anyone does to that.”

As for the unwritten code some players may have, that didn’t cross the mind of Hollins, who played from 1975-1985 with the Trail Blazers, 76ers, Clippers, Pistons and Rockets.

“This is my theory on that. I play the game until in my mind we have the game in hand,” Hollins said. “I’ve been with teams that have taken out their starters and put subs in, not to lose, not to give up but to change the tempo.

“If you’re going to put your guys on the bench with 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter and you put a bunch of guys in and I have guys in that can’t score and you come back and I have to put my starters back in the game then I’m stupid. I have to do what I have to do in my mind to get us a win and when I feel like the game is hand, I take my starters out.”

Early for scoreboard watching

In baseball, players and managers often get asked about scoreboard watching late in the season. In a few weeks, the Nets may experience the same thing, especially since they came into last night just one game behind the Knicks for the Atlantic Division lead.

The Nets have had the same record as the Knicks just once and that was after both teams won their season openers. Since New York was 18-5 on Dec. 15, it has gone 14-15 while the Nets are 20-12 in the same period.

Interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo said the topic has come up in meetings, especially since winning a division likely nets homecourt advantage in the playoffs. However, he also feels it is too early, especially with 25 games remaining and just nine of them left at home.

“It’s too early,” he said. “There’s too many games left. Moving forward, we can look at it but I think until we are a lot deeper into it to talk about things like the division and standings.”

Follow Nets beat writer Larry Fleisher on Twitter @LarryFleisher.

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