SoB NBA Power Rankings: 12-30-09

By Andrew Kipp in Celtics, Featured, Opinion ⋅ December 30, 2009 at 5:46am ⋅ Post a comment

Free agent acquisition Richard Jefferson and draft pick DeJuan Blair have helped the streaking Spurs into this week's SoB NBA Power Rankings.

Hello loyal readers, and welcome to the second edition of Sports of Boston’s bi-weekly NBA Power Rankings. We decided to set it up a little different this week. Four of our experts (Andrew Kipp, KC, Teddy Byrne, and John Scullane) ranked who they think are the top 10 teams in the NBA . The teams have been ranked according to a point system. Teams earning a first place vote received ten points, a second place vote earned nine points, a third place vote eight points, and so on. Tiebreakers were given to teams with the better winning percentage.

In our synthesized rankings, the Los Angeles Lakers narrowly edged the Boston Celtics by one point for the number one spot. The Cleveland Cavaliers made some noise coming in at No. 3 in this week’s rankings, receiving just one point fewer than the Celtics.

The Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic rounded out the top five, and the Nuggets and Spurs snuck in at nine and ten respectively.

The Houston Rockets received one number ten vote, but remain on the outside looking in this week.

Previous Power Rankings: 12/18 | 12/30 | 1/16 | 1/29 | 2/12

Rank (points)	Team	Record	Comment
1 (37)	Los Angeles Lakers	24-6	This Lakers team is looking consistent enough to have a shot at a repeat. (John Scullane)
2 (36)	Boston Celtics	23-7	After back-to-back losses to the Clippers and Warriors, it’s clear KG isn’t the only member of “The Big 3″ the Celtics can’t afford to lose. (Andrew Kipp)
3 (35)	Cleveland Cavaliers	25-8	The win at the Lakers was very convincing. Maybe the Cavs are for real. (KC)
4 (26)	Atlanta Hawks	21-9	Keep an eye on the Hawks. They continue to impress, and could threaten the Cavaliers’ claim as the second best team in the Eastern Conference. (Teddy Byrne)
5 (22)	Orlando Magic	22-8	Sorry Stan Van Gundy, but nobody likes to lose on Christmas. (Andrew Kipp)
6 (22)	Dallas Mavericks	22-9	The Mavericks have really impressed this year, and sit only 2.5 games behind the Lakers in the Western Conference. (John Scullane)
7 (16)	Phoenix Suns	20-12	The Suns proved they can take down the Lakers, which should give them confidence matching up against any Western Conference opponent. (Teddy Byrne)
8 (11)	Portland Trailblazers	20-13	Keepin’ it up without Greg Oden has been pretty impressive. (KC)
9 (8)	Denver Nuggers	20-12	Despite being third in the West, the Nuggets have lost their last three games (@Portland, vs. Dallas, @Sacramento). (John Scullane)
10 (6)	San Antonio Spurs	18-11	This team is very deep, and now that they’re healthy, the rest of the league should be weary of the Spurs. (Andrew Kipp)