Knicks Earn Rare Boost in Rankings
The difference between pro sports and college sports can be summed up by one phrase: "Any given Sunday." Most commonly used in football to refer to anomalous events such as, say, Eli Manning winning consecutive playoff games on the road, it applies equally in pro basketball.
As in, on any given Sunday, a Knicks team that normally rolls over and dies to a chorus of boos can suddenly beat the living tar out of a Pistons juggernaut that had just beaten the Spurs on the road.
That truly happened at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, with New York winning an 89–65 laugher that actually wasn't as close as the final score indicated. The win provided a rare moment of joy at MSG in an otherwise hellish season.
Of course, there were the usual side dramas — Stephon Marbury's mysterious absence, more rumors about Isiah Thomas's job security, and a confrontation earlier in the week between Zeke and Zach Randolph — but for the moment the Knicks can relish a rare .500 week and an even rarer move upward in the Power Rankings.
1. BOSTON CELTICS (30–5) (LW:1): A rough week by their standards, including a home loss to the lowly Bobcats and another defeat in Washington, as the Celtics' offense has ground to a halt. But it takes more than one bad week to knock the Cs from their perch.
2. LOS ANGELES LAKERS (25–11) (6): They may only be renting this spot, since center Andrew Bynum will miss the next two months with a knee injury. But they've won 10 of 11, and the only defeat in that stretch was at Boston.
3. PHOENIX SUNS (26–11) (3): The Suns were blown away in Utah without All-Stars Steve Nash and Shawn Marion, but they scored 122, 129, and 137 points in the week's other three games. Sounds like the old Suns are back.
4. DETROIT PISTONS (28–10) (2): Their embarrassing "effort" against the Knicks demands that Pistons be knocked down a peg, especially since they needed a controversial call to leave Charlotte with an overtime win the night before.
5. DALLAS MAVERICKS (26–11) (7): Jerry Stackhouse's 3-point buzzer shot to beat the Clippers ran the Mavs' winning streak to seven, partly because center Erick Dampier has returned from the dead to become a factor.
6. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS (25–12) (6): An amazing stat from Friday's 114–88 romp over the Heat: Guards Bobby Jackson, Chris Paul, and Jannero Pargo combined to shoot 20-for-20 from the floor.
7. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (24–11) (4): Is anyone else getting a little worried about these guys? The champs are 7–8 in their past 15 games and haven't beaten a winning team since December 15. Plus, their schedule is about to turn nasty.
8. UTAH JAZZ (21–17) (11): Do not be deceived by the Jazz's record. They are 13th when it comes to win-loss percentage, but they're 7th in point differential — and that's against a tough schedule that's about to get easier.
9. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (22–14) (9): The toughest dilemma for the Western Conference All-Star team is what to do about Brandon Roy. With so many good guards, it's almost impossible to take him … yet how do you leave him out?
10. DENVER NUGGETS (22–13) (8): The recent mystery illness to center Nene is the Nuggies' latest setback in a season full of setbacks. They've managed to tread water so far, but they'll run out of players if the injuries don't stop soon.
11 HOUSTON ROCKETS (20–. 18) (13): They're playing bet-Tracy McGrady they did with him (7–2 so far), but I'm not sure how much that has to do with TMac and how much it has to do with all the new pieces finally becoming acquainted.
12. WASHINGTON WIZARDS (19–16) (16): Saturday's win over the Celtics is a big feather in their cap, and now the schedule gods are rewarding them with just two games in six days — and better yet, both are against the Knicks!
13. ORLANDO MAGIC (23–16) .(12): The Magic have lost three of four on last week's Western swing, but they now have a month-long stretch of (mostly) home games to try to right their many defensive wrongs and snap out of a puzzling 7–12 slump.
14. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (22–16) (10): They won three of four this week, but I don't like the vibe the Warriors have been giving off lately. The one loss was a shameless mail-in at Portland, much like the one a week earlier in Dallas.
15. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (19–18) (14): The Cavs extended coach Mike Brown's contract yesterday, which was a little odd since he's signed through 2009 anyway and his team hasn't exactly overachieved this season.
16. TORONTO RAPTORS . (20–17) (15): Memo to East coaches: Put Jose Calderon on the All-Star team. He's averaging 13.8 points, 9.7 assists, and 50% shooting since taking over as the starter for the injured T.J. Ford … and, amazingly, he's only averaging 1.5 turnovers.
17. ATLANTA HAWKS (16–17) (18): Welcome back, Joe Johnson. Atlanta's All-Star guard averaged 29.8 points and 6.7 assists in three games this week, after his first back-to-back single-digit games as a Hawk had the locals perplexed.
18. NETS (18–18) (17): If they can't beat the Knicks in the Swamp , the season series for the first time since Jason Kidd arrived. I'd like to think it's impossible for Jersey to lose to the 'Bockers, but it's already happened twice.
19. INDIANA PACERS (17–22) (22): Does anyone else get the impression it will come down to the Nets and the Pacers for the East's final playoff spot? If you're curious, they play back-to-back games at the end of March that could prove crucial.
20. CHICAGO BULLS (14–21) (19): Sunday's bizarre team-voted suspension of rookie center Joakim Noah is the latest sign that firing Scott Skiles wasn't the only thing Chicago needed to do in order to get this train back on the rails.
21. SACRAMENTO KINGS (14–21) (21): Good news: The Kings welcomed back Kevin Martin on Saturday, get Mike Bibby back tomorrow, and might have Ron Artest back on the court next week. Bad news: They may have too much ground to make up on West's top eight.
22. MILWAUKEE BUCKS (15–22) (24): Is that a pulse I detect? The Bucks were competitive at Lakers and Suns and won their other two games last week. Rejuvenated defense has been key; if they keep it up, a playoff push isn't out of the question.
23. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS (13–23) (28): Give the Bobs credit for an impressive week in which they nearly knocked off both Boston and Detroit. Plus, they hammered the Nets — not that that's a rare feat or anything.
24 PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (14–23) (20): The Sixers still haven't won a game in 2008, but let's stick to the good news: Even with just one year of college ball, rookie forward Thaddeus Young looks like a keeper and could be starting soon.
25. KNICKS (10–26) (29): The Knicks appeared actually to care about the outcome in four of their past six games, which qualifies as huge progress in this corner of the world. As for the Detroit game, I have no explanation. Just enjoy it.
26. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (10–27) (23): I think we can now officially classify them as a huge disappointment, and as a result the Pau Gasol rumor mill is furiously churning away.
27. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (10–23) (25): Center Chris Kaman raised eyebrows with the disclosure that he was misdiagnosed with ADD at age two … and just found out this year. Apparently, that's a big reason he's playing better.
28 SEATTLE SONICS (9–27) (27): Their offensive ex-Kevin Durant and Chris Wilcox briefly sidelined; that phrase in itself is a fairly damning assessment of Sonics' state of affairs.
29. MIAMI HEAT (8–28) (26): Even with a loss deleted after a rare upheld protest stemming from a December overtime loss to the Hawks, the Heat's outlook appears grim. In fact, I may have them ranked too high — the T-wolves beat them handily last Tuesday.
30. MINNESOTA TIMBER - WOLVES (5–31) (30): Beating Miami was nice, but they've lost 10 of their past 11. Nine were by double-digits, and the other was by nine points. So basically, they're not even coming close on most nights. But Kevin McHale still has a job. Eat your heart out, Isiah.
jhollinger@nysun.com
