| RANK | TEAM | THE RUNDOWN | LAST |
| 1 | PACERS (24-5) |
Swept an easy home’n’home with Brooklyn, get Cleveland on Tuesday. Wouldn’t blame the Pacers for lamenting the end of 2013, except January brings only five games against teams sporting winning records. | 1 |
| 2 | THUNDER (24-5) |
Reggie Jackson can do a good enough Russell Westbrook impression for the Thunder to get by… but who on the bench does a good Reggie Jackson impression? | 2 |
| 3 | BLAZERS (24-6) |
Clearly not a flash in the pan, but at some point (namely the playoffs) the league’s most efficient offense will need more help from the 23rd most efficient defense. | 3 |
| 4 | HEAT (23-7) |
Beating the Blazers behind Bosh (did you see the game-winner from deeeeep 3?) and without LeBron basically makes this a tie for third. Miami now 8-1 against the West, with the one being this week’s loss to… Sacramento?. | 4 |
| 5 | SPURS (23-7) |
They have four guys hoisting more than three triples a game, and three (Marco Belinelli, Danny Green, Patty Mills) are hitting over 40 percent. The other: Manu Ginobili, shooting 47 percent overall. | 5 |
| 6 | CLIPPERS (21-11) |
They’ve quietly improved defensively over the course of the season, and should get better on the perimeter once J.J. Redick is back. Meanwhile, no player in the league creates more O than Chris Paul. | 7 |
| 7 | ROCKETS (21-11) |
Why are they loved by the analytics crowd? 85 percent of their shots are inside 8 feet or from 3-point range. I’m assuming the other 15 percent were accidents. | 6 |
| 8 | SUNS (18-11) |
Holding their own against the good teams (5-6 vs. .500 and up) and gaining some space between themselves and the ninth seed. | 8 |
| 9 | WARRIORS (18-13) |
Starting to look like the team everyone expected. Four straight wins, including Denver, the Clippers, and Suns. Next eight vs. the East, so look for the Dubs to make up some ground. | 11 |
| 10 | MAVERICKS (17-13) |
No player attacks the basket more relentlessly than Monta Ellis, via NBA’s SportVu data. Added bonus: He’s shooting half as many 3’s as ’12-13, and making more (34% vs. 29%). | 10 |
| 11 | WOLVES (15-15) |
They profile as a better team than Dallas in the chase for a playoff spot, but Ricky Rubio’s inability to shoot is a problem. Now, he’s not shooting at all (4.67 FGA over last 3), which presents a new set of issues for Minny’s O. | 13 |
| 12 | HAWKS (17-13) |
A valiant effort Saturday night at home without Al Horford, but needing OT to beat Charlotte at home is a bad sign of what’s to come without Al Horford. Good news: In the East, they’re still a playoff team. | 9 |
| 13 | PELICANS (13-15) |
Trying to hang in as a playoff contender, but the optics aren’t good, starting with an 0-11 mark against teams above .500, and a 6-13 mark against the West. At some point, the Pelicans will have to beat the good teams. | 17 |
| 14 | RAPTORS (13-15) |
They’ve won 7 of 10. Kyle Lowry is averaging 22.4/9.2 over his last five games. Toronto is now the fourth E.C. team with a positive point differential. Huzzah! Maybe Bryan Colangelo knew what he was doing? | 21 |
| 15 | NUGGETS (14-15) |
Losers of six straight, the Nuggs have slipped behind Minnesota in the West. Playing at a slightly faster pace in Brian Shaw’s first season, but with much less efficiency on O. | 12 |
| 16 | GRIZZLIES (13-16) |
Still within striking distance of a playoff spot if they can get it together, but have one win in their last eight games against teams currently on the W.C. playoff ladder. Not good. | 20 |
| 17 | WIZARDS (13-14) |
Al Horford’s injury makes a run to the 3 seed possible. Huge (insofar as a January game against teams with no real title hopes can be huge) game upcoming with Toronto on Friday. | 14 |
| 18 | LAKERS (13-17) |
No Nash, No Kobe, four straight losses, eight of 11 overall, and a tough January on the horizon. Embrace the lottery, Lakers fans! | 18 |
| 19 | PISTONS (14-18) |
Lost two of three on the road against sub-.500 teams, the final two (Orlando and Washington) by a combined 41 points. Still can’t make the individual talent into a cohesive team. | 15 |
| 20 | BOBCATS (14-17) |
Made some real improvement in Steve Clifford’s first season. These guys played .256 ball last season, and are threatening .500 now. | 19 |
| 21 | CELTICS (13-17) |
Before Celtics fans get all huffy, understand there’s basically no difference between the Bobcats, Pistons, and Celtics for the purposes of these rankings. | 18 |
| 22 | BULLS (11-17) |
The wheels are coming off the wagon. Only five wins since beating Denver on Nov. 21. Kirk Hinrich’s return helps, but he’s still Kirk Hinrich. | 22 |
| 23 | KINGS (9-19) |
Same number of wins (or fewer) than the teams below them, but they did just beat the Heat. Relatively speaking, that makes them world beaters, right? | 24 |
| 24 | JAZZ (9-24) |
6-9 in a road-heavy December, 5-5 over their last 10. Particularly given how awful they are defensively (30th in efficiency), Derrick Favors’ rim protection numbers are actually pretty good. | 25 |
| 25 | CAVALIERS (10-19) |
If they can flip Bynum for something useful (does Kris Humphries qualify?), the experiment will have been deemed a success. The season? Not so much … so far. But plenty of time left. | 23 |
| 26 | MAGIC (9-20) |
Arron Afflalo still playing at an All-Star level, while Tobias Harris nearly has his sea legs back (36.5 mpg in last four). Playoffs? Not out of the question… criminal as that may be. | 26 |
| 27 | SIXERS (8-21) |
They’ve lost nine of 10, trying to overcome that fast start in the Wiggins/Parker derby. Better than the NY teams? No, but they also don’t have payrolls matching many small countries. | 29 |
| 28 | KNICKS (9-21) |
Follow the Christmas debacle vs. OKC by losing back-to-back games against Toronto. Mike Woodson’s job is safe, says James Dolan. Unfortunately, nobody gets a vote on whether Dolan gets to stay. | 27 |
| 29 | NETS (10-20) |
Reports have Jason Kidd losing the locker room (assuming he ever had it) and growing ever more insular and paranoid. Next step: Accusing assistant coaches of stealing strawberries from the postgame spread. | 28 |
| 30 | BUCKS (6-24) |
On principle, I’d like to put the NY teams at the bottom… but even their collective incompetence doesn’t make them the Bucks. | 30 |
OTHER RANKINGS: MVP | Rookies | Most Improved | Sixth Man
Brian Kamenetsky is a frequent contributor to SheridanHoops.com. Follow him and his brother, Andy, on Twitter.
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