Erick Blasco's NBA Power Rankings

1) Los Angeles Lakers: Their bench play has fallen off the map since Andrew Bynum’s injury. As good as Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant have been, and as good as the Lakers’ resume against top teams have been, they aren’t invincible.

2) Cleveland: If they win their final four home games, the Cavs will finish the year 40-1 at home and undoubtedly have home court advantage throughout the playoffs. That won’t mean as much in the Finals since the Lakers handed Cleveland that only home loss.

3) Boston: Stephon Marbury and Mikki Moore haven’t given the Celtics the shot in the arm they’ve needed. Like the Lakers, they’ll need heavy-duty production out of their starters to capture a title.

4) Orlando: As the three-pointers go, so do the Magic. Can they guard Paul Pierce or LeBron James with the chips on the line?

5) San Antonio: As Tim Duncan ages, the Spurs have to rely more and more on the perimeter shot. When those shots fail, as they did against New Orleans, the Spurs lose a lot of offensive firepower.

6) Houston: The rugged Rockets are finally equipped to win a playoff series. In the later rounds, they’ll need more from an inefficient offense if they want to advance.

7) Portland: The Blazers are more talented than most young teams, and more disciplined that most veterans teams. If their inexperience may do them in, they’ll put up a major fight in the first round.

8) Denver: They’ve stabilized since an early March swoon dropped them down to seventh place. A high seed is more important to them than any other team because they can beat the Hornets, Mavericks, or Suns, but they don’t want to touch Houston or San Antonio in the first round.

9) Utah: If they could become just an average road team, they might be the best team in the league. I trust the Lakers, Rockets, and Spurs to win in Utah before I expect Utah to return the favor on the road.

10) New Orleans: Their win over the Spurs was easily their most impressive victory of the season. If they can keep up the strong points from that game—pushing the ball early, relying on Paul as a scorer, getting good defense from Hilton Armstrong and Sean Marks, they’ll have a chance to do postseason damage.

11) Atlanta: The Hawks home court advantage is super impressive because no fans show up as home court support.

12) Miami: You can’t count out a team with Dwyane Wade. If he doesn’t win an MVP, it won’t be for a lack of effort.

13) Dallas: The Mavericks are a solid playoff team, but nothing better. They’ll hold off the Suns before their inevitable sweeping at the hands of the Lakers.

14) Phoenix: With their playoff lives at stake, they blew a seven-point lead with two minutes to go against the Jazz, and then lost in Sacramento. They can’t blame anyone but themselves for this season’s debacle.

15) Chicago: John Salmons and Brad Miller have brought veteran stability to a young, immature, moody roster. Now the Bulls are more cohesive and their talent is shining through. Notice how the calls for Vinny Del Negro’s head have ceased?

16) Philadelphia: It’s hard to call the Sixers a disappointment when they’re over .500 and have played much of the season without Elton Brand. They’ll need to do a better job of integrating Brand into their running game next year or another head coach will be fired early in the season.

17) Detroit: Injuries crippled them late in March. They have the talent to go on a run, but Michael Curry’s poor decision making will no-doubt hold them back. It will be a shocker if he’s brought back next season.

18) Charlotte: Few coaches have done more with less than Larry Brown has this year. It’s a reminder that if a team has players who want to be coached, Brown will get the most out of them. They have a realistic shot at a playoff spot.

19) Milwaukee: The Bucks ran out of steam at the end as all the injuries caught up with them. At least there is finally hope for the downtrodden franchise.

20) Indiana: The season has shown that the Pacers have the offense to beat anybody. They’ll need to bring in defenders to compete for the playoffs next year.

21) New Jersey: They, too, have fallen off the map towards the end of the year. Keep in perspective though, they were never supposed to be on the map in the first place.

22) New York: Larry Hughes has been a pleasant surprise for the Knicks. He’ll jack up bad shots as often as Nate Robinson will, but at least he’ll defend too.

23) Toronto: They were a game under .500 when Sam Mitchell was fired. They’re 17 games under .500 now.

24) Oklahoma City: The Thunder were 3-29 at one point in the season. I wonder what Scott Brooks can do with another high draft pick and a full season.

25) Golden State: At least they’re still competing. They played spoiler against Dallas and Philadelphia recently, and almost upset the Spurs in San Antonio.

26) Minnesota: When Al Jefferson’s season ended, the Wolves’ season ended.

27) Washington: What is Gilbert Arenas trying to prove by coming back?

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

29) Sacramento: The Kings don’t have many fans in Phoenix right now.

30) Los Angeles Clippers: Unlike the other bad teams in the league, the Clippers are usually done in their games after the opening quarter. What else would you expect besides a disgraceful season from the Clipper?