NBA Top 10 Rankings: Knicks #1 in the Early Going
What if they had an NBA poll? Where would your favorite team be ranked? That all depends on who is doing the ranking. Are the people doing the rankings watching the games? Are they going to the games? Or are they going by who they see in commercials most often?
We here at basketballschedule.net follow the sport. We go to games whenever and wherever possible. We watch as many on TV as we can. And we read about the rest. So we try to stay on top of things. So we feel we are qualified to give our opinion on which teams have or are the best, and who is the worst. So here goes:
1. New York Knicks (4-0)- The Knicks are the NBA’s only unbeaten team. None of their games have even been close. Their closest game was a 10-point win on Friday over Dallas, 104-94. Carmelo Anthony leads them with a 27 points per game average. He has been outstanding so far with Amare Stoudamire out and Jeremy Lin in Houston. New York is the obvious #1. They have a 20 point win over Miami and two blowouts of Philadelphia. With Orlando up next, they will likely be 5-0/ But then they get San Antono and Memphis. Speaking of San Antonio…
2. San Antonio Spurs (6-1) - We are all surprised the Spurs are 6-1, but should we be? All this franchise does is win basketball games. They’ve got four NBA World Championships since the late 90s and countless division titles to boot. Every year, we write them off as too old or too slow or too boring, and every year they end up at or near the top. The Spurs won two of three on this week’s road trip. The Spurs-Knicks game will be a highly anticipated game this week. That one and the Knicks next game against…
3. Memphis Grizzlies (6-2) - The Grizzlies are not a doormat anymore. They’ve been coming on for the last couple of years and now they are officially a contender. With Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, and Zach Randolph all averaging in double figures, the Grizzlies have a team that will be reckoned with this year. After losing on opening night to the Clippers, Memphis has won five in a row, their latest being a blowout of the Miami Heat.
4. Los Angeles Clippers (5-2) - The sky really is the limit with this team. They’ve proven they can beat the best with wins so far over the Grizzlies, Lakers, Spurs, Blazers and Hawks. And they don’t have their full compliment of players yet either with Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill not yet in uniform. And Lamar Odom is still not down to his playing weight either. But Chris Paul, Deandre Jordan, Blake Griffin, and Eric Bledsoe can hang with anybody. The only reason the Clippers aren’t ranked higher is they will sometimes lose focus at home against a team they should dominate.
5. Miami Heat (5-2) – Miami would probably be higher, after all they are the defending champions, but their two losses were blowouts. One was a 20 point beat down handed out by the Knicks. The other was tonight’s hammering by 18 points against the Grizzlies. The Heat have already handed out some beatings of their own, hammering the Celtics, Suns and Nets. Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh are all averaging at least 20 points per game.
So that is our “top five” ranked teams in the NBA. The next five? Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves. You may be wondering why the Lakers are that high, but really, look at their schedule so far, and remember that Steve Nash is out. Also, look at what they’ve done since firing Mike Brown. They are 2-0 with two blowouts. Expect them to crack the top five very soon.
