2009-10 Power Rankings: Week 18
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| RK (LW) | TEAM | REC | COMMENT | |
 | 1 (1) | Lakers | 45-15 | Dare I say that the No. 1 team in the rankings had to have Sunday's come-from-behind win over Denver. Don't see how Lakers can quibble, either, when they're still just 5-7 against the other five division leaders. |
 | 2 (2) | Cavaliers | 46-14 | If the Cavs have Shaq back for the last three rounds of the playoffs (in reasonable shape, of course) they'll be fine. In the interim? Can't wait to see the encore after they averaged (no misprint) 107.5 ppg in February. |
 | 3 (5) | Magic | 40-20 | For all the grief Carter took about his 8.7 ppg in January and the hassle Howard always gets about his offense, be advised: Vince averaged 18.6 ppg in February and Dwight is at 24.5 ppg since the All-Star break. |
 | 4 (4) | Nuggets | 39-20 | One of the season's safer guesses: Pau Gasol announcing that the Nuggets talk too much -- "Way too much," Pau says -- isn't exactly going to quiet things down between these teams. Which is obviously great for us. |
 | 5 (7) | Mavericks | 39-21 | They've got the league's longest active winning streak at seven W's in a row. They're a promising 4-2 against the East's top four teams. And they're riding an increasingly ageless Jason Kidd as much as Dirk these days. |
 | 6 (3) | Jazz | 38-21 | As peeved as D-Will sounded after the Brewer trade, this might lighten the mood: Thanks to New York's ongoing spiral, only five teams have worse records than the Knicks. Utah, remember, owns New York's first-round pick. |
 | 7 (8) | Suns | 37-24 | Not even the latest torturous ending against the Spurs can dampen spirits on Planet Orange. Not after a 9-3 February that, considering all the Amare trade speculation, tops the 14-3 good times of October-November. |
 | 8 (10) | Hawks | 37-21 | I really do think that the Hawks had the best hope of any suitor outside Cleveland to land Ilgauskas' signature ... if there was any shot Big Z was legitimately open to playing for a team besides the Cavs. But he's not. |
 | 9 (6) | Thunder | 35-23 | Let's get Simmons in one last lather about The Streak: Durant's run of 29 straight games with at least 25 points started before Christmas and spanned a tidy 64 days. OKC's up to 22-11 when KD scores 30 or more. |
 | 10 (13) | Trail Blazers | 35-27 | As if the Blazers didn't have enough what-ifs to ponder after all of their injuries, there's more: Portland is 1-5 in OT games, presenting an unhealthy amount of fodder for second-guessing for a team in the No. 8 slot. |
 | 11 (14) | Spurs | 33-24 | The Spurs were already motivated to get Jefferson going by any means necessary, but they'll be even more desperate to keep him plugged in after someone passes along that they're 6-0 when RJ scores at least 20. |
 | 12 (12) | Bulls | 31-28 | Make sure Chicago is high on your list of trade-deadline winners. The Bulls' deals made them better now (Warrick and Flip Murray are off to productive starts) and later (creating the cap space to sign a max free agent). |
 | 13 (9) | Celtics | 36-21 | All might seem lost -- or heading that way -- after a home loss to the Nets, but I still tend to believe that Orlando won't be thrilled to see the Celts in Round 2 as long as KG, Pierce, Ray Ray and 'Sheed are upright. |
 | 14 (19) | Bucks | 30-29 | No idea what took me so long. But the Bucks' overdue bump arrives now thanks to that 6-1 record since trading for Salmons and a 12-4 mark since Bogut's near-perfect game Jan. 26 in the committee's presence. |
 | 15 (15) | Hornets | 31-29 | Thanks to his 35-point signoff in Dallas, Collison averaged 21.6 points and 8.3 assists for the month. Only one other rook in the past 25 years can top those totals: Allen Iverson (33.6 points and 8.7 assists) in April 1997. |
 | 16 (11) | Raptors | 31-27 | The Bulls and Bucks are surging while Bosh -- openly dreaming of a top-four slot during All-Star Weekend -- is nursing a sprained ankle. Add it all up and the East's bottom four playoff seeds are suddenly up for grabs. |
 | 17 (18) | Grizzlies | 30-29 | Four straight road wins account for just the latest in a string of Griz surprises, but here's the unfortunate reality out West: You've got to win 46 games to get to the playoffs if No. 8 Portland maintains its current pace. |
 | 18 (16) | Bobcats | 28-29 | The Mavericks have never lost a game to the Bobs. The Bobs are better than ever at home and will get the Mavs on Monday night after Dallas played l-a-t-e Sunday. It's your classic something has to give. |
 | 19 (20) | Rockets | 29-29 | Good news: Houston was the first team in 15 years with three 30-point scorers (Martin, Brooks and Scola) in a non-OT game. Bad news: The W they netted over the Parker-less Spurs is Houston's only W post-trade. |
 | 20 (17) | Heat | 29-31 | D-Wade can't miss any more extended time or Professor Hollinger's dream of seeing all 10 teams in the South (and Southwest) with winning records has no shot. Miami and Charlotte are the only teams currently falling shy. |
 | 21 (23) | Clippers | 24-35 | Guest comment courtesy of/swiped from the Twitter feed of ESPNLA's Arash Markazi: "What were the odds of the Clippers going 3-0 and the Cavs going 0-3 in their first three games following the trade deadline?" |
 | 22 (24) | Wizards | 21-36 | None of it's sinking in so easily. With Arenas in exile, Blatche, the senior Wizard after all the changes, is averaging 27 and 12 in the past seven games, four of them wins and three losses by five points or less. |
 | 23 (22) | 76ers | 22-36 | After an uneventful trade deadline in Philly -- unless you count Jodie Meeks' arrival -- two topics dominate discussion: How much longer Iverson will be here ... and ditto for Eddie Jordan, even though he's only in Year 1. |
 | 24 (26) | Pacers | 20-39 | Saw Larry Bird on NBA TV over the weekend discussing A) Indy's long and difficult "journey" until it has cap space in the summer of 2011 and B) how he expected this group to at least make another run at 35-40 wins. |
 | 25 (21) | Pistons | 21-38 | In spite of all its issues, Detroit actually made it to the final two games of February with a record of 6-5 ... only to lose in Denver and Golden State and clinch a losing record for the ninth consecutive calendar month. |
 | 26 (28) | Kings | 20-39 | We certainly didn't expect Westphal's Kings to need this long to reach 20 wins after a 13-14 start ... but we can also still remember plenty of folks back in October who thought this team's ceiling was less than 20 wins. |
 | 27 (25) | Warriors | 17-41 | Which stretch-run milestone happens first? New Jersey gets to 10 wins? Or the Dubs win the seven games that nudge Nellie (1,326) past Lenny Wilkens (1,332) as the all-time winningest coach in league history? |
 | 28 (27) | Knicks | 20-38 | It hasn't stopped the sniping about his David Stern-issued All-Star invite, thanks to all the Knicks' recent losing, but D-Lee just averaged 23.5 ppg in February, the third straight "best" scoring month of his career. |
 | 29 (29) | Timberwolves | 14-47 | The Blazers must have been paying attention when 'Sota sneaked in those road wins in Utah and Denver. Portland just polished off a very focused four-game sweep of the Wolves. Margins: 23, 23, 24 and 19. |
 | 30 (30) | Nets | 6-53 | The shocker heard 'round the world in Boston just catapulted the Nets two wins ahead of Philly's fateful 9-73 pace through 58 games in 1972-73. Which means you can almost hear the exhales from here. Almost. |
