End of Season NBA Power Rankings

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By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

With the NBA season officially coming to end Thursday night with the Miami Heat defeating the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals here are the final power rankings for the season.

1.) Miami Heat (66-16) – NBA Champions for the second consecutive season lands the Heat in the top spot. Was Game 7 the last time we will see the Big 3 of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh? But as long as Lebron James is on the team they will be title contenders.

2.) San Antonio Spurs (58-24) – They gave the Heat all they could handle in seven games but ultimately came up short. Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard put themselves on the NBA map and look poised to take over even more next season. Manu Ginobili’s struggles bring up the question of retirement for him as well.

3.) Indiana Pacers (49-32) – A surprising season in Indiana ended with a tough loss to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Paul George has emerged as a legitimate star taking over for the injured Danny Granger. Finding a way to get David West back into the fold and improving the bench will improve the Pacers’ chance of besting the Heat next season.

4.) Memphis Grizzlies (56-26) – A surprising sweep at the hands of the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals does not diminish a franchise best season in Memphis. How different will they look next season though in a full campaign without Rudy Gay and with a new head coach as Lionel Hollins was not retained?

5.) New York Knicks (54-28) – Some people are disappointed with a second round exit at the hands of the Pacers but it was yet another season of improvement for the Knicks. Bringing in another point guard and infusing some youth is a must for the Knicks to improve next season. Carmelo Anthony finally taking that next step wouldn’t hurt either.

NBA Power Rankings: Week 23

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The NBA did not have to wait long for a team to get on another tear after the Nuggets and Heat both lost their winning streaks in the same week as the Knicks have picked up the slack and moved up the rankings yet again with an NBA high 12 game winning streak.  The Eastern Conference playoffs are set as to who will be in, but the Western Conference is a totally different story.  There are still spots up for grabs, as the race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference looks like it will come down to the last days of the season and seeding is still being worked out as well.  Were coming down the stretch run of the NBA season and it will be exciting to watch.

1.) Miami Heat (60-16) – Miami is sitting pretty right now; they are still dominating teams while their stars get healthy.  While the Knicks and Pacers still battle for second in the East and the West big dogs struggle with injuries, the Heat are gearing up and resting their players for another championship run.

2.) San Antonio Spurs (57-20) – It will be worthwhile to watch if Gregg Popovich can make some magic again in San Antonio.  The Spurs will need it with Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker ailing recently.  Tim Duncan cannot carry the team at his advanced age like it is 2003 can he?

3.) New York Knicks (50-26) – The longest current winning streak in the NBA resides at Madison Square Garden as the Knicks went into Oklahoma City Sunday afternoon and handled business.  Things could not be going better for the Knicks, who watch Carmelo Anthony put on a historic performance this past week and Mike Woodson has led the Knicks to the fourth most wins in the NBA since he took over as head coach, trailing only the Heat, Spurs and Thunder.

4.) Oklahoma City Thunder (56-21) – Things cannot be lining up any better for the Thunder currently heading into the end of the season, as the Spurs, Nuggets and Grizzlies all deal with injuries and the Clippers just cannot seem to get everything clicking.  The Thunder have everyone healthy, but could the loss Sunday to the Knicks be a precursor of them not clicking as well as they need to be?

5.) Denver Nuggets (53-24) – The Nuggets were going to struggle to make too much noise in the playoffs without home court but the injuries are mounting against them making it an either harder mountain to climb.  Losing Danilo Gallinari for the season and Ty Lawson hobbled it will be tough for them to go anywhere, even with home court.

NBA Power Rankings: Week 22

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The Heat and Nuggets both had their long win streaks snapped last week, opening up the door for another team to take over the NBA lead for wins in a row.  That team is also making their reappearance in the top five this week for the first time in a while.  Things are starting to shape up in the rankings and playoff picture as there is really only one spot still up for grabs; eighth place in the Western Conference.

1.) Miami Heat (58-15) – Chicago ended their 27-game winning streak last week, but the Heat were not down long as they destroyed the Hornets and then beat the Spurs without Lebron James and Dwayne Wade thanks to a Chris Bosh game winning three-pointer.  Erik Spoelstra is sitting pretty right now knowing he can pick and choose some places to rest his players if they have enough sans-James and Wade to still beat the Spurs.

2.) San Antonio Spurs (55-18) – After being relatively scathe free of injury prior to Tony Parker going down, the injury bug has come back to the Spurs, this time on Manu Ginobili.  Gregg Popovich thinks Ginobili could be out for weeks, which would be a real damper on the Spurs playoff hopes.

3.) Oklahoma City Thunder (54-20) – The Thunder have a golden opportunity to steal the top seed and home court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs from the Spurs with the Ginobili news.  It will be another thing to get them up after a loss to the Timberwolves this past week.

4.) Denver Nuggets (50-24) – The Ty Lawson injury is a big blow to the Nuggets, as like any team without their starting point guard just isn’t the same.  Denver will be dangerous in the playoffs if they are able to hold onto home court advantage and will be heavy favorites to move on as long as they do.

5.) New York Knicks (46-26) – Currently riding the longest win streak in the NBA at eight games, the Knicks are rolling again, looking like they did earlier in the season when they started 18-5.  Pablo Prigioni and J.R. Smith have been the catalysts in the Knicks resurgence, as the 35-year old rookie is combining to help Smith play the best basketball of his career.

NBA Power Rankings: Week 21

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We are all currently witnessing NBA history as the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets are both sporting winning streak of at least 15 games.  That will be something to keep an eye on as the Heat look to take over the longest winning streak in NBA history and the Nuggets try and move up the Western Conference and get home court in the playoffs.  The New York basketball scene is starting to heat up as well as the Knicks and Nets are playing for the Atlantic Division title. 

1.) Miami Heat (55-14) – 26 wins in a row. That is all you need to know.  Sure a large amount of them are against lottery teams but the Heat doesn’t make the schedule.  They are handling business and if they beat the Magic, Bulls and Hornets they will have a matchup with the Spurs for win number 30 on Easter Sunday.

2.) San Antonio Spurs (53-17) – The Spurs continue to roll along and will be getting a boost with the return of Tony Parker; not that they missed him too much as they went 6-2 without their leading scorer and assist man. 

3.) Denver Nuggets (49-22) – The Nuggets are on an impressive winning streak of their own, winning their last 15 games in a row and six in a row on the road.  Their winning streak is not getting as much attention as the Heat but is something worth keeping an eye on.

4.) Oklahoma City Thunder (52-19) – A soft spot in the schedule could not have come at a better time for the Thunder who lost to the Nuggets and Grizzlies before bouncing back against the Magic and Blazers.  A couple easier games against the Wizards, Timberwolves and Bucks will lead into a game against the Spurs.  That game against the Spurs very easily could be for the Western Conference title.

5.) Memphis Grizzlies (47-22) – Losing Marc Gasol to an abdominal injury could not have happened at a worse time.  They should let him rest for the regular season so that he is healthy come playoff time.  The Grizzlies will also need a little help to avoid going to Denver in the first round of the playoffs.