Erick Blasco's Power Rankings

1) Los Angeles Lakers: Recent blips show that offensively and defensively they are far from a refined championship product. Fortunately, their competitors have major flaws themselves.

2) Cleveland: They beat three playoff teams on the road last week, with their only slip-up against the rejuvenated Rockets. They’ll be fine with Anderson Varejao replacing Ben Wallace, but who will replace Varejao off the bench?

3) Boston: Their loss to the Clippers was a fluke, but chinks are starting to show in their team defensive armor without Kevin Garnett. They didn’t have the length to show and recover on Rip Hamilton’s off-ball work last Sunday.

Their Friday tilt with the Cavs will be a nice test to see who is the East’s top dog.

4) San Antonio: They showed that they could survive without Duncan in the short term, but they can’t consistently beat great teams, or very good teams on the road unless Duncan is healthy and with a few games under his belt.

5) Orlando: Courtney Lee was torched by Rip Hamilton and Willie Green over the weekend. In a quiet way, the Magic are missing Keith Bogans’ toughness. They don’t want to see Detroit in the postseason.

6) Utah: They’re feasting on this portion of lightweights and home cooking. Their next difficult road stretch comes in mid-March against the Southeast Division trio of Atlanta, Miami, and Orlando.

7) Houston: Nobody is going to want to deal with Houston’s toughness at home in the postseason. On the flip side, the Rockets haven’t picked up an impressive road win since bumping off Boston during the Celtics post-Christmas swoon Jan. 7. Before that, you have to go back to November.

8) Portland: Brandon Roy is going to be an MVP candidate very shortly. Probably as early as next year.

9) New Orleans: Their fire has picked up with Tyson Chandler. Now they need to carry that each and every game.

10) Denver: They’ll hold the Lakers to their worst offensive game of the season—and then lose two days later against a Pacers team missing Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy. Where’s their focus? They get Portland, sandwiched between road trips to Detroit and Utah. This is a pivotal stretch for them.

11) Detroit: They’ve rediscovered the offensive harmony of featuring Rip Hamilton around single/double screen options, and subsequently, they’re rediscovered winning basketball. Offenses work crisper when poor decision makers like Allen Iverson are removed from the equation.

12) Phoenix: The win over the Lakers was nice—now they have to back it up. Orlando, Miami, and Utah on the road.

13) Dallas: Losing in Oklahoma City, and needing overtime to avoid a second loss to the Thunder? The Mavericks aren’t bad, but they have no hope in the West. They’re going to end up as a tasty first round meal for a true power—if they hold off Phoenix.

14) Atlanta: They may not be overly physical, but the Hawks play with heart. They were two breaks away from four straight wins, including over Denver and Cleveland.

15) Miami: They’ve needed to rely too much on Dwyane Wade for their offense. Jermaine O’Neal is living up to his quota of one good performance per week.

16) Philadelphia: Andre Miller’s brilliance and Andre Iguodala’s talent can only take the team so far. They need a strong, dependable post defender and post scorer. Someone like, I don’t know, Elton Brand?

17) Milwaukee: There are the Bucks, on the road taking a team they have no business competing against down to the buzzer. They play too well to miss the playoffs.

18) Chicago: They’ll beat Orlando and Houston at home, and lose to the Wizards and Nets on the road. That’s a sign of talent, but also, immaturity.

19) New Jersey: Their win over the Bulls helps them in their quest for the East’s eight seed. Their game against Milwaukee on Tuesday is their next big test.

20) Indiana: The win over Denver reaffirms their title of “giant-slayer”

21) Charlotte: They’re consistently disciplined, earnest, and committed to playing defense. That alone allows them to prosper over bad teams.

22) Oklahoma City: Oh! What could’ve been if Scott Brooks were the coach at the start of the year!

23) Toronto: Chris Bosh would have had credibility in his Shaq complaints if he would have played tough defense at least once this year.

24) New York: The Knicks are starting to fall into the bad habit of trying to win games individually. They’ve always had the bad habit of not playing defense.

25) Minnesota: Their lack of talent is catching up hard.

26) Golden State: The Warriors are simply playing out the string

27) Washington: Ditto for the Wizards.

28) Memphis: The Grizzlies are hopelessly young and doomed to mediocrity for a long time.

29) Sacramento: Is there a more hopeless franchise? Kevin Martin isn’t a franchise player. They have young players, but do they have young talent?

30) Los Angeles Clippers: Their win over Boston was a fluke. Their loss to Sacramento featured their real identity.