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 can now put to rest any clamor about the legitimacy of their winning streak, as they went into Oklahoma City and knocked off the Thunder, 125-120.

Carmelo Anthony went over the 30-point mark for the fourth straight game, and helped the Knicks (50-26) win their 12th straight game as the Knicks have regained that early-season swagger and are now once again a legitimate NBA title contender.

Anthony won his personal duel over Kevin Durant, 36-27, but did more than just score, as he also added a game-high 12 rebounds. Anthony’s newfound prolific sidekick, J.R. Smith, added 22 points, including a back-breaking straightaway 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining to basically put the game to rest. He also added seven rebounds and four assists.

The Thunder (56-21) were led by Russell Westbrook, who did all he could to keep Oklahoma City in the game as he finished with 37 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. He was a problem for New York all game as he tallied 12 points (5-of-12 shooting) in the first half and then erupted for 14 points (5-of-8) in the third quarter, to help the Thunder keep pace.

Ultimately, the Knicks had too many weapons to contend with, as their hot shooting from behind the arc (44.1 percent on 15-of-34 shooting) and timely rebounds (41-37 advantage) proved to be too much.

New York’s 125 points were also a season high, as they’ve now gained firm control of the Atlantic Division, with their magic number being just one.

What we learned …

1. Big impact

Tyson Chandler didn’t produce his usual All-Star worthy numbers, but he did enough to offset the Thunder’s big frontline of Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. Chandler, who’s been battling bulging neck pain, came into the game leading the league with four offensive rebounds per game and finished with three on the offensive glass. He finished with 15 points, five rebounds and two blocks.

2. Reserve’s reservoir of points

Thanks to Smith, the Knicks’ bench will usually out-produce their opponent’s bench. New York’s bench bested Oklahoma City’s 55-30. Smith was great again as he tallied 22 points off the pine. But Smith wasn’t alone, as Jason Kidd added 14 points (four 3-pointers), six rebounds and two steals and was his usual savvy self as he also had several key moments that won’t show up in the box sheet including supreme boxing out of the Thunder star point guard Westbrook, tipped passes that led to open shots and making the key extra pass. Chris Copeland was also stellar off the bench as he added 13 points, including two 3-pointers.

3. Night of marks

Anthony wasn’t the only one to have a special afternoon, temporarily taking over the league’s scoring lead, but the win also marked the first time since 1999-00 that the Knicks won 50 games. Head coach Mike Woodson also became the fastest Knicks coach to win 100 games as the Knicks are just one game away from clinching the Atlantic Division title and have regained firm control of the all-important No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Follow Knicks beat writer Tony Williams on Twitter @TBone8.

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Records through March 17:

1. Miami Heat (51-14, previous No. 1) – The Heat went into Monday night’s game against the Celtics literally forgetting how to lose. With 22 wins in a row this season, Miami is just waiting to prey on postseason victims.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (50-17, previous No. 2) – Metro was burned by the Thunder last week when they lost badly to the Tony Parker-less Spurs. Two big back-to-backs ahead: Home vs. Nuggets, away vs. Grizzlies.

3. Denver Nuggets (45-22, previous No. 6) - A gritty win over the Grizzlies last Friday earned Denver its 11th straight win. The Heat may laugh at just 11 in a row, but Denver is legit.

4. Memphis Grizzlies (44-21 previous No. 4) - Two tough losses on the road in Denver and in Utah – very hard places to win in. A Memphis-Denver series will go to the home team.

5. Los Angeles Clippers (46-21, previous No. 3) - The Nuggets beat the Grizzlies, who beat the Clippers. Therefore, the Nuggets would beat the Clippers. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

6. San Antonio Spurs (51-16, previous No. 5) - The Spurs continue to kick adversity square in the face, but at some point adversity will kick back harder – unless Tony Parker can return in time.

7. Indiana Pacers (40-26, previous No. 7) – Things aren’t going as planned for Indy lately. Exhibit A: Philly’s Spencer “Abdul-Jabbar” Hawes racked up 18 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, and seven blocks in the 76ers’ 98-91 win Saturday. Um, what?

8. Houston Rockets (36-31, previous No. 8) - The Rockets have three days to think about their 30-point loss to the Warriors on Sunday. Hopefully they’re over it by Wednesday’s big game against the ninth-seeded Jazz.

9. Boston Celtics (36-29, previous No. 11) – They could be the second-best team in the East now, which really isn’t saying much when you consider how bad every non-Miami team in the East actually is.

10. Atlanta Hawks (37-29, previous No. 13) - Three straight wins for the Hawks, including two over the Lakers and Nets. They are pesky. They’ll put up a fight. But ultimately, they’ll come up very short in the postseason.

11. Los Angeles Lakers (36-32, previous No. 12) – Mike D’Antoni is clearly having an effect on Kobe Bryant. Bryant couldn’t believe that Atlanta’s Dahntay Jones played defense (?!) on him, which led to him landing on Jones’ ankle.

12. Brooklyn Nets (38-28, previous No. 10) - The Knicks are begging the Nets to take the division, but the hipsters in Brooklyn are way too into being “up and coming, man.” That’s fine by the Celtics.

13. Golden State Warriors (38-30, previous No. 15) - Somehow, one of the worst defenses in the NBA (Warriors) limited one of the best offenses in the NBA (Rockets) to 78 points on Sunday. Maybe there is a sliver of hope for this squad after all.

14. New York Knicks (38-26, previous No. 9) – The Knicks are officially falling apart. And honestly, who could have seen a team of 40-year-olds running out of gas down the stretch? Get Allan Houston on the phone!

15. Chicago Bulls (36-29, previous No. 14) - Pretty sure there was a report that came out last week saying Bulls point guard Derrick Rose could play very soon, or not at all this season. And that about sums up that situation right now.

16. Milwaukee Bucks (33-32, previous No. 16) - It should be Miami vs. Milwaukee in the first round of the playoffs. Nothing against Milwaukee, but American Airlines Arena can go ahead and book Game 5′s date for another event.

17. Utah Jazz (34-32, previous No. 18) - Is this almost the part where we say, “the Jazz are singing the blues”? And if so, how many years in a row is it allowed to be said. Got to be close to the limit.

18. Dallas Mavericks (31-35, previous No. 17) – Mark Cuban and the Mavericks’ fan base made sure to boo the heck out of Derek Fisher upon his return on Sunday. Whatever takes their minds off booing their own team.

19. Portland Trail Blazers (31-34, previous No. 19) – A five-game road trip starting last night and ending in OKC on Sunday should all but guarantee the Blazers’ terrible odds in the NBA lottery.

20. Toronto Raptors (26-341 previous No. 20) – To be honest, the Raptors don’t belong in the same power rankings list as the 19 teams ahead of them. Just needed to fill space.

Follow Metro sports writer Jimmy Toscano on Twitter @Jimmy_Toscano

The post NBA Power Rankings: The Knicks are officially falling apart appeared first on Metro.us.

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.

The Knicks almost overcame adversity in Thursday night’s prime time matchup with the Thunder, but ultimately it all proved to be too much in a 96-94 loss.

Already without MVP candidate Carmelo Anthony, who had fluid develop in his troubled right knee, the Knicks started a lineup that included lightly-used veterans Kurt Thomas and James White, and a still-recovering Iman Shumpert to battle the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed. The lineup gamble almost worked for the Knicks (37-22), as they battled until the end, but ultimately the Thunder (45-16) proved to be too much — especially when they had their go-to guy, Kevin Durant, able to close out the game.

Durant, who leads the league in scoring — percentage points ahead of Anthony — registered 34 points. He was aided by fellow All-Star teammate Russell Westbrook, who added 21 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Running mate Serge Ibaka, who forms their own version of the “Big 3,” added 12 points, nine rebounds, five blocks and countless other altered shots.

Despite not having Anthony in the lineup, the Knicks certainly had chances to pull off the upset due to the brilliance of J.R. Smith. The often-erratic shooting guard had arguably his best game of the season, as he tallied a game-high 36 points, including six 3-pointers. But it wasn’t just Smith’s hot hand that kept the Knicks in the ball game. He also contributed three steals and accounted for numerous “hockey assists” in which he made the smart pass that eventually lead to the actual assist. Smith was in such a zone that during one particular stretch spanning the second and third quarters, he accounted for 11 of the Knicks’ 15 made field goals. He had 18 first-half points to keep the Knicks within striking distance following a 16-0 Thunder run in the first quarter, and capped off a brilliant third quarter, in which he netted 13 points, with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Smith couldn’t duplicate such heroics at the final buzzer, however, as he missed what would’ve been the game-tying bucket.

“I really had the whole middle and didn’t have much room on the baseline,” Smith said, noting he decided to take the off-balance jumper at the buzzer so the Thunder wouldn’t have time to respond had he made it. “But the left side is my best side to get my shot up. I really should’ve went to the basket and taken a page out of LeBron’s book and just go to the basket. Worse comes to worst, I get the foul. But it didn’t work. My jumper was pretty much good all night, except for the fourth quarter and it just didn’t go in. … I waited a long time as well, [because] they got a good closer over there in KD [Kevin Durant], so I wanted to finish it off.”

The fact that Durant was in the back of Smith’s mind as the game was winding down, showed just how much respect — or maybe fear — the Knicks had for the three-time scoring champ.

“He’s so good. I didn’t want to make the shot too soon, so he could end up winning the game,” Smith said of Durant. “That’s a great team over there and we were a man down. If we play with that type of effort and intensity it’s going to be tough for a lot of teams to beat us.”

Knicks notes

Head coach Mike Woodson said Anthony is “still day-to-day and we’ll know a little bit more tomorrow.” The coach added that Anthony “could play” on Saturday, at home against the Jazz. The Knicks are now 4-5 without Anthony.

Woodson didn’t sound like he was too thrilled with Smith’s final shot selection, but said the shot was ultimately up to Smith because he was riding the hot hand: “He could’ve ripped through and gone to the rim, but he didn’t and he settled.” Smith shot 2-of-9 in the fourth quarter, making just 1-of-5 from behind the arc.

Amar’e Stoudemire had a solid game with 16 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes of action, as Woodson made sure his power forward stayed close to the doctor-appointed 30-minute cap. Woodson, however, noted that Stoudemire’s minute restrictions could be lifted as he gets further along into the season: “Maybe his minutes will increase as we get closer to the playoffs, or get in a playoff series.”

Follow Knicks beat writer Tony Williams on Twitter @TBone8.

The post Smith buzzer beater misses as Knicks lose to Thunder appeared first on Metro.us.

UPDATE: March 7, 10:30 a.m.

Carmelo Anthony was a scratch, as expected, in Wednesday night’s 87-77 win over the Pistons.

Anthony is still listed as questionable for tonight’s match up with the Thunder, but the outlook may be less positive today. Head coach Mike Woodson admitted at Wednesday’s shootaround that Anthony did not just have soreness in his right knee — as previously reported — but had fluid buildup in the knee.

Kurt Thomas replaced Anthony at forward in the starting lineup, instead of Amar’e Stoudemire, against the Pistons. Thomas played just four minutes, however, while Stoudemire contributed 31 minutes off the bench.

————————————-

The Knicks might’ve stumbled on to something in the aftermath of Carmelo Anthony’s knee injury Monday night in Cleveland.

While their MVP candidate remains day-to-day recovering from soreness in his right knee — and is also listed as questionable for Thursday night’s tilt with Oklahoma City — the Knicks might’ve gotten back to the same efficient offense that spurred them to an 18-5 start, and what also propelled them to overcome a 22-point deficit in Cleveland.

Anthony is second in the league in scoring at 28.2 points per game, just mere percentage points behind leader Kevin Durant (28.6) of the soon-to-be visiting Thunder. But as wonderful as Anthony has been this season, the Knicks’ offense runs more efficiently utilizing head coach Mike Woodson’s ball-swing offense, instead of the recent trend of giving the ball to their leading scorer and idly watching him go to work.

The Knicks certainly need Anthony at 100 percent against the Thunder, but should he sit out (they’re 3-4 without him), Woodson should be encouraged that the team has showed they can distribute the scoring responsibilities and are seemingly back to their sharing ways. New York had 23 assists on 36 made field goals against the Cavs. And while none of the starters reached double figures in scoring, the bench carried the way with 70 of the 102 points, which also showed they are capable of generating offense in Anthony’s absence.

Amar’e Stoudemire led the way with 22 points in a season-high 32 minutes — despite Woodson being forced to give his power forward a 30-minute cap. And should Stoudemire continue to ascend and be more comfortable in his expanding role, the Knicks just may finally have someone other than Anthony who’s able to close out games.

“If needed, I’m pretty sure I’ll play however amount of minutes I need to play and do whatever role coach wants,” said Stoudemire.

Since returning to the lineup following a two-month absence after his offseason knee debridement procedure, Stoudemire has averaged nearly 16 points and six rebounds during his 23 games. He’s also converted 63.1 percent of his field-goal attempts and is shooting 81.1 percent from the foul line.

Immediately following the Cavs’ game, Woodson hinted that Stoudemire should be a bigger factor down the stretch – even if Anthony returns for the Thunder game and regardless of the perceived chemistry issues between the two. Woodson also noted, however, that it’s unlikely that Stoudemire will start if Anthony sits out the game.

“The thing with Amar’e is that I’m on a minute restriction, and I’m trying to gauge it as I go along,” Woodson said, adding he’ll experiment with the idea of keeping a bigger lineup that’ll feature Stoudemire, Anthony and Tyson Chandler on the floor more down the stretch. “We’re pretty happy when him [Stoudemire], Melo and Tyson are on the court together. … [Stoudemire] needs to be in the game more at the end, [because] while it’s a tough matchup for us guarding perimeter players, it’s also to our advantage offensively going big.”

And for a team like the Thunder that boasts a frontline featuring the 6-foot-9 Durant, the shot-blocking Serge Ibaka and wide-body center Kendrick Perkins, it may be in the Knicks’ best option to go with the big lineup.

Knicks notes

» Power forward Kenyon Martin was signed to a second 10-day contract on Tuesday, despite playing only five minutes since originally signing with the team on Feb. 21.

Follow Knicks beat writer Tony Williams on Twitter @TBone8.

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Records through March 3

1. Miami Heat (43-14, previous No. 2) – A 14-game winning streak. Is that good? Nope. It’s freaking awesome – and so are the Heat right now. They haven’t lost in over a month!

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (43-16, previous No. 3) – A tough loss in Denver was followed up by a big win against the Clippers to lock the Thunder in at the No. 2 spot this week. Miami No. 1, OKC No. 2 – not much has changed since last year.

3. San Antonio Spurs (47-14, previous No. 1) - Tony Parker (ankle) will be down for about a month. He’s been the reason the Spurs have overcome injuries. Can they pay him back the favor?

4. Los Angeles Clippers (43-19, previous No. 4) – Still one of the deepest teams in the NBA, which will be huge for them in the postseason – especially if they eventually meet that always-banged-up Spurs team.

5. Memphis Grizzlies (39-19 previous No. 5) – The second hottest team in the league behind the Heat has gone 9-1 in their last 10 games losing to just – you guessed it – the Heat. An OKC-Memphis second round sounds exciting. Then again, so does a Memphis-Denver first round.

6. Indiana Pacers (38-22, previous No. 6) – The last game the Heat lost was against the Pacers, and the two will play again – this time in Miami – on Sunday. We’ll learn a lot about the Pacers here.

7. DenverNuggets (38-22, previous No. 7) - Say what you want about the Nuggets’ lack of star power, by Ty Lawson is averaging 23.1 points and 7.6 assists over his last 10 games – including a game-winner to beat the Thunder last Friday.

8. New York Knicks (35-21, previous No. 11) – The Knicks posted 37 points in the second quarter against the Heat on Sunday, but just 34 points combined in the third and fourth. They move up the ranks this week by default.

9. Atlanta Hawks (33-25, previous No. 12) - Going into Monday night, the Hawks were ranked No. 4 in the Eastern Conference, but they were just two games from falling to No. 7. Do they have what it takes to hold on?

10. Chicago Bulls (34-26, previous No. 10) – Joakim Noah looks like a man amongst boys out there as of late, but the Bulls are playing below-.500 basketball since late January.

11. Brooklyn Nets (34-26, previous No. 9) – Hopefully Jay-Z is too busy planning his summer stadium tour with Justin Timberlake to notice his team has lost four of its last five games.

13. Boston Celtics (31-27, previous No. 14) – Four games in six days for the C’s, including a back-to-back on the road. They could easily go 4-0, or 0-4. That’s been the theme for the majority of the year.

14. Golden State Warriors (33-27, previous No. 8) – The Warriors have two big problems. They don’t play much defense and they can’t win on the road. That spells early playoff exit.

15. Utah Jazz (32-27, previous No. 15) - The good news: The Jazz are 22-8 at home. The bad news: Five of their next six are on the road, where they’ve gone 10-19.

16. Milwaukee Bucks (29-28, previous No. 16) – As it stands now, the Bucks would play the Heat in the first round of the playoffs. Imagine if they w- nah, never mind.

17. Los Angeles Lakers (30-30, previous No. 17) - It might sound crazy, but with the Warriors, Jazz, and Rockets currently ahead of L.A., the No. 6 seed is still possible.

18. Dallas Mavericks (26-33, previous No. 19) – Mark Cuban claims to have this new CBA thing down. Mavericks fans have no choice but to hope he’s right.

19. Portland Trail Blazers (27-31, previous No. 20) – It’s starting to hit the fans in Portand that the playoffs probably aren’t coming there this season.

20. Toronto Raptors (23-37 previous No. 18) - It was looking good for Toronto for a few days anyways, but losing five of six will snap everybody back to reality.

Follow Metro sports writer Jimmy Toscano @Jimmy_Toscano

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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.

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