NBA Power Rankings: The Biggest Concerns of the NBA's Current 16 Playoff Teams
As the NBA season nears its halfway point, the title contenders have become apparent and the playoff teams are starting to set themselves apart from those franchises destined for the NBA draft lottery.
If the playoffs started today, the teams with the eight best records in each conference would make the postseason tournament. However, that doesn’t mean that these teams are without their issues.
This article breaks down the biggest concerns for each of the NBA’s current playoff teams.
Agree or disagree with the issues I raise? Feel free to let me know in your comments.
Atlanta Hawks
1 of 16
Issue: Small up front
The Atlanta Hawks are having a good season so far, but not a great one.
The team has a talented core group of players, but one of the roster’s biggest weaknesses is the lack of size up front.
Josh Smith is a bit undersized for a power forward and Al Horford, the team’s best center, is also small compared to other NBA centers. Horford measures just 6’10” and 245 pounds.
While Horford and Smith have solid all-around games, it is difficult for them to bang with bigger frontlines on a nightly basis. Not surprisingly, the Hawks rank 22nd in the NBA in rebounds.
It is going to be difficult for this team to get past Boston and Orlando in the East if Atlanta can’t control the paint.
Boston Celtics
2 of 16
Issue: Stay healthy
Coming into this season, many talked about the age issues of the Celtics players. While this has in part attributed to the limited play of the O’Neals (Jermaine and Shaquille), that had little to do with the injuries to Delonte West and Rajon Rondo.
To make matters worse, Kevin Garnett is now likely to be out a couple of weeks with a muscle strain in his right leg.
The Celtics still sport the best record in the Atlantic Division and second-best in the NBA, as Boston has played as one of the best teams so far this season.
However, things will only get more difficult as the season progresses. The Celtics will need to stay healthy, especially heading into the playoffs.
Chicago Bulls
3 of 16
Issue: A decent shooting guard
The Chicago Bulls have put together the successful season I predicted, currently with the best record in the Central Division.
The roster is quite strong at four positions (center, power forward, small forward, and point guard) with MVP candidate Derrick Rose leading the way.
However, the shooting guard position could use some help. That spot is shared by Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, and Keith Bogans—none of whom are having a particularly impressive season.
Strengthening this position with a starting-caliber player will help with the chemistry of the team’s first unit.
Either one of the three mentioned players needs to step up or the team may need to consider a trade scenario to boost the two position in order to truly compete with the elite teams of the East.
Dallas Mavericks
4 of 16
Issue: Dealing with the loss of Caron Butler
At 15.0 points per game, Caron Butler has been the Mavericks’ third-leading scorer (slightly behind Jason Terry’s 15.3 points per game). Besides scoring, Butler is one of the team’s best perimeter defenders and three-point shooters.
To the team’s dismay, Butler recently suffered a partially torn patella tendon in the knee that may force him to miss the rest of the season, according to ESPN.
The team has been winless with Dirk Nowitzki sitting out recent games, and the injury to Butler only complicates matters further.
Defense and outside shooting have been the strengths of Dallas this season. Without Butler, it will be tough for the Mavericks to maintain the same type of early-season dominance.
Denver Nuggets
5 of 16
Issue: The impending departure of Carmelo Anthony
What a difficult season it must be for Nuggets fans. With the team struggling to stay atop the Northwest Division, the franchise has been distracted with the looming departure of Carmelo Anthony since last summer.
While there are quite a few trade scenarios that could become reality, the Nuggets organization better wake up. The team has until the trade deadline in February to pull off a trade.
If that doesn’t happen, the Nuggets will lose Anthony and get nothing in return. It doesn’t take a genius at math to figure out that usually something is better than nothing.
Time for the franchise to move on and stop letting the rumors be a distraction to the season.
Indiana Pacers
6 of 16
Issue: Help at the power forward position
The Indiana Pacers have some nice young talent to build around. While the roster is not as loaded with talent as some other teams, all the positions have decent production besides the power forward spot.
The tandem of Josh McRoberts and Tyler Hansbrough is not working well. While McRoberts provides the team with an additional outside shooter, I would bet that the Pacers will benefit more from a stronger inside presence.
This is why the team should strongly consider playing Hansbrough more minutes. With more playing time, his confidence should improve as he gains more experience.
The Pacers are not a serious title contender this year, which is why it is critical to get more experience for talented players that are going to drive the team’s future success.
Los Angeles Lakers
7 of 16
Issue: Lacking a sense of urgency
The Los Angeles Lakers have been a frustrating team for their fans this season thus far. Despite having one of the most talented rosters and a team whose core has been together for over three years, the Lakers have struggled in too many games this season.
When the Lakers lose to a team at home with a poor record while that team is on the second night of a back-to-back, there is no excuse. It simply comes down to wanting the win more and showing more hustle.
Every team gives their best effort against the Lakers. It’s time that LA plays up to its potential for once this season. Otherwise, getting home-court advantage in the playoffs will be impossible.
Miami Heat
8 of 16
Issue: Lack of size up front
The Miami Heat have been on a roll lately. Yet despite all of the team’s success, the roster still lacks size up front. While Zydrunas Ilgauskas is 7’3”, he doesn’t play a dominant game in the paint, preferring to mostly shoot outside jumpers.
Erick Dampier may be 6’11” but is on the tail end of his career and largely ineffective. Chris Bosh is the same height as Dampier, but Bosh is not known for being a banger down low.
The team could truly benefit from a player like Tyson Chandler on the team. Unfortunately, Miami will have to play out the season without much extra help to bolster the front line.
Milwaukee Bucks
9 of 16
Issue: Health issues
The Milwaukee Bucks were supposed to have one of the best records in the Eastern Conference. Currently the team is barely on target to even reach the playoffs.
The team’s biggest struggle has been the injury bug. Brandon Jennings (foot), Andrew Bogut (migraine), Drew Gooden (foot) and Corey Maggette (concussion) among others have all missed significant playing time.
It’s a simple concept in the NBA: stay healthy and a team has a chance to win.
Hopefully the Bucks will experience better luck going forward.
New Orleans Hornets
10 of 16
Issue: Offensive struggles
The New Orleans Hornets are one of the league’s better defensive teams, ranking second in points allowed.
However, the team ranks among the bottom half in points scored, field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage and assists.
The Hornets could use an extra offensive weapon that would make Chris Paul even more effective on that end of the court. While it’s true that defense wins games, the Hornets will also have to outscore opponents in order to win.
New York Knicks
11 of 16
Issue: Defensive struggles
Say it isn’t so! A Mike D’Antoni team excels at offense but is not good on defense?
The Knicks currently rank first in the NBA in points scored but also rank 28th in points allowed. Opponents also shoot over 47 percent against the Knicks, good enough for the fifth worst mark in the league.
Once again, D’Antoni has Amare Stoudemire as his star player. Stoudemire currently ranks second in the NBA in scoring average. But as in his past with D’Antoni, Stoudemire still doesn’t play much defense.
To be fair, defense is a collective team effort, so everyone on the roster needs to step up. But the defensive sets start with the coach.
Perhaps D’Antoni should read An Idiot’s Guide to Basketball Defense if he wants the Knicks to make a serious playoff run this year.
Oklahoma City Thunder
12 of 16
Issue: Three-point shooting
Kevin Durant may be the NBA’s leading scorer but he and his teammates cannot seem to hit the long ball the season.
So far the Thunder ranks 29th in the NBA in three-point shooting. When a team cannot shoot at a decent clip from outside, this encourages defenses to clog the interior, making it more difficult to penetrate.
Many NBA analysts have talked about the Thunder needing one more big man in order to become a contender, but adding a few shooters may help the team more.
Orlando Magic
13 of 16
Issue: Perimeter defense
The Orlando Magic just completed a couple of blockbuster trades.
Out went Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus and Rashard Lewis. In came Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Gilbert Arenas.
While there was no question that the team needed a change, it now finds itself in a position with plenty of offensive options but not a lot of defense outside of Dwight Howard.
Last season, Matt Barnes and Pietrus provided excellent defense on the perimeter.
Coach Stan Van Gundy does not have that luxury any more. Now he will be challenged to get a bunch of mediocre defensive players to perform well in a team system.
Portland Trail Blazers
14 of 16
Issue: Franchise-player health
First came the injury to Greg Oden—the supposed franchise player of the future for the Blazers—that has sidelined him for the entire season.
Then came unfortunate news surrounding the team’s current franchise player—Brandon Roy. With his knees bothering him all season, ESPN reported recently that Roy is now out indefinitely.
As usual, I expect the Trail Blazers to overachieve, squeak into the playoffs only to succumb to a better team.
Perhaps it may be better to miss the playoffs and get a chance at drafting another franchise player, hopefully one that can stay healthy?
San Antonio Spurs
15 of 16
Issue: None, but will injuries become a factor?
The San Antonio Spurs are off to an amazing season, with a 29-4 record.
This rivals some of the best team starts in NBA history. The Spurs seem to be playing well in every category—defense, offense, shooting, rebounding and playmaking.
And the best part is that Tim Duncan is playing a career low in minutes, which is in effect preserving him for the playoffs.
The only concern that the Spurs have right now is whether this success will continue and the team can stay healthy all season long.
Utah Jazz
16 of 16
Issue: Rebounding
The Utah Jazz are having a great season, currently ranked first in the Northwest Division. The team has one of the most talented rosters in the NBA, including a deep frontcourt rotation.
In addition, Deron Williams is a legitimate candidate for the MVP.
However, the Jazz have an Achilles’ heel and it is rebounding. Currently ranked 28th in the NBA in rebounding, the team is making games much more difficult to win.
As an indication to the importance of rebounding, in last year’s Finals, the Celtics and Lakers only won the games in which they won the rebounding battle.
If the Jazz can learn to rebound the ball better, then the team will become a legitimate title contender.
