The updated 2013 NBA power rankings are for entertainment purposes only, folks.
1) Miami Heat (66-16) – Best team in regular season, with league’s best player, looking like the best in the NBA playoffs so far.
2) San Antonio Spurs (58-24) – Experienced Spurs still relying on Parker, Duncan, Ginobili and smart play.
3) Oklahoma City Thunder (60-22) – Injury to Russell Westbrook doomed OKC in playoffs. Kevin Durant continues to be all-world.
4) Memphis Grizzlies (56-26) – Low-scoring, grit-and-grind Grizzlies do it with defense. Smart, tough team.
5) Denver Nuggets (57-25) – Balanced, talented, versatile, super-scoring team was hurt by injury to Danilo Gallinari.
6) LA Clippers (56-26) – Terrific regular season but first-round loss to tough Grizzlies resulted in team saying goodbye to head coach Del Negro
7) Indiana Pacers (49-32) – Rugged, defensive-minded Pacers have serious competitive fire. Physical team with big frontcourt.
8) New York Knicks (54-28) – Live by the jumper, die by the jumper. And in the playoffs, JR Smith and friends missed a lot. Low-assist squad.
9) Golden State Warriors (47-35) – Super-shooting backcourt and some frontcourt talent with size is a good foundation
10) Chicago Bulls (45-37) – Heart and hustle allowed Bulls to keep fighting in playoffs despite constant injuries
11) Brooklyn Nets (49-33) – Slow team whose limited athletic ability prevented these guys from turning it up in playoffs
12) LA Lakers (45-37) – Lakers were doomed in playoffs anyway, but season-ending injury to Kobe Bryant helped ensure it
13) Houston Rockets (45-37) – Great at scoring, but just as great at… not defending. Interesting young combo of players.
14) Atlanta Hawks (44-38) – Good passing and running, but team lacks identity beyond that. Josh Smith enters free agency.
15) Utah Jazz (43-39) – Big summer of free agency, especially in the Jazz frontcourt with Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap.
16) Boston Celtics (41-40) – Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are aging, but injuries to Rajon Rondo and others limited them further.
17) Dallas Mavericks (41-41) – A full rebuild is needed in this old folks home. Aging Dirk Nowitzki needs new guys around him.
18) Milwaukee Bucks (38-44) – A nice surprise was the emerging play of young Larry Sanders.
19) Philadelphia 76ers (34-48) – Andrew Bynum didn’t play. Jrue Holiday has some game. Rebuilding project.
20) Toronto Raptors (34-48) – Rudy Gay brings scoring, but team is still limited in overall talent.
21) Portland Trail Blazers (33-49) – Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge have nice game, but team was a disappointment
22) Minnesota Timberwolves (31-51) – Ricky Rubio shot bricks, and Kevin Love was injured. Team is building for the future.
23) Detroit Pistons (29-53) – Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe are a solid, young, big frontcourt combo.
24) Washington Wizards (29-53) – John Wall looked like a seriously dangerous talent once he got going.
25) Sacramento Kings (28-54) – Sacramento got to keep their NBA team. That’s the one big win here. Good scoring, bad defense.
26) New Orleans Pelicans (27-55) – Hornets are now the Pelicans. Not many positives this season.
27) Phoenix Suns (25-57) – Played decent team basketball, but simply not talented enough to compete. Good season from Goran Dragic.
28) Cleveland Cavaliers (24-58) – Kyrie Irving is great (when healthy), but with Anderson Varejao injured there was very little help here.
29) Charlotte Bobcats (21-61) – Bobcats backcourt was OK. Rest of team was invisible. As a whole, team was awful at everything.
30) Orlando Magic (20-62) – Nikola Vucevic was decent. This was a D-League level team.
