Panther's Perspective: NBA Power Rankings

1.San Antonio Spurs-To the surprise of many, the Spurs have the best record in the NBA this season and have quietly set themselves up for a real shot at their fifth championship in the last 12 seasons.  One would think that you would hear more about San Antonio's success this season, but major sports media networks like ESPN are too busy following the Celtics, Lakers and Heat.  Apparently if you're not flashy and come from a small media market like San Antonio, you're only a side note most nights when it comes to coverage from ESPN.  But that doesn't bother the Spurs, they simply go about their business every single night.  What's amazing about San Antonio this season is that they're doing it with Tim Duncan on the bench a lot more.  Duncan is averaging a career low in minutes per game this season at 28 per game; and it's scary to think how dangerous they will be when he starts playing 40 minutes per game come playoff time being rested and ready to go.

2.Chicago Bulls-With Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer both finally healthy at the same time, the Bulls have been surging up the standings in the Eastern Conference.  The Bulls are currently tied with the Heat at the two seed and are only two losses behind the Celtics in the loss column.  They also have a sizeable advantage over Orlando, so it's hard to see them falling past the three seed.  Derrick Rose continues to make his case for MVP as he has proved this season to be the best point guard in the NBA.  

3.Los Angeles Lakers-The Lakers have come back strong after the all-star break and are getting ready to make their playoff push for another championship.  Let's be honest, the Lakers that we all witnessed in the first half of the season were sleep walking.  They were bored.  They know full well that the only games that matter are played in April, May and June.  They remind me a lot of the Boston Celtics of last season.  The Celtics went into the playoffs as a four seed and made it all the way to the Finals before ultimately losing to these same Lakers in game seven.  As long as the Lakers are playing well come playoff time, that's all they really care about, because it's evident that this 82-game regular season means absolutely nothing to them.

4.Miami Heat-Yes I know I am putting Miami ahead of the Boston despite the fact that Boston is 3-0 against the Heat this season, but after the bone-head moves Danny Ainge made at the trade deadline (more on that in a minute); the Heat have moved ahead of Boston in the balance of power in the Eastern Conference.  Miami's biggest problem, to me, is their inability to close out games.  It has been unclear at times this season over who "takes control" late in games for Miami.  With the money and attention that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade get, they should be taking the majority of shots in crunch time.  On several different occasions this season, I have seen Eddie House, Mike Miller, James Jones and Mario Chalmers all take crucial shots at the buzzer.  If Miami wants to be true championship contenders this season, coach Spoelstra has to realize who his go-to players are and make sure the ball is in their hands when the game is on the line.  

5.Boston Celtics-The reason the Celtics are so low in my rankings this week is because of the fact they traded Kendrick Perkins for a backup forward right before the trade deadline last week.  I'm having a hard time figuring this one out.  Why would Danny Ainge take this kind of a gamble with an obvious championship contender?  I'm aware that they only have 15 losses this season despite the fact that Perkins has been out most of the season, but the playoffs are a completely different story.  The game slows down in the playoffs, and teams are drawn more into a half-court set as compared to the regular season.  The Celtics had arguably the best frontline in all of basketball, but now that Pekins is gone, they're going to depend on Shaq to be healthy and ready to play 30+ minutes per game in the playoffs (which is laughable), otherwise Big Baby Davis will be their bruiser inside (which is also laughable).  Come playoff time, I think the Celtics will sturggle against teams with big frontlines like the Lakers, Magic, and Bulls.  Apparently Danny Ainge has never heard of the saying "If it isn't broken, don't try to fix it."

6.Orlando Magic-The Magic have been very inconsistent this year and, like the Lakers, seem to be bored with the whole process of the regular season.  One night, they'll look awesome and beat the Lakers by double-digits.  The next night, they'll lose to the Sacramento Kings at home and look dreadful. And the night after that, they'll beat the Oklahoma City Thunder by 23 points and look like championship contenders again.  Although the team itself has lacked consistency, one thing that has been consistent for the Magic has been Dwight Howard.  Howard is quickly moving up in the MVP race and is making some pretty big arguments for why he should win the award.  Dwight is averaging a career high in points per game with 23 to go along with 14 rebounds per game and nearly three blocks per game.  But in his last six games, Howard has averaged 29 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks per game which includes victories over the Lakers and Thunder.  With performances like these, Dwight could single-handily carry the Magic back to the Finals.

Honorable mention but didn't quite make the cut:

Oklahoma City Thunder

Dallas Mavericks

Atlanta Hawks

Portland Trailblazers

New York Knicks