The Sports Inquirer

Time for my latest NBA Power Poll

Music to listen to: No Hands by Waka Flaka Flame, Roscoe Dash and Wale

Let’s get straight to the teams

30- Los Angeles Clippers: They are a mess right now. Their two top veterans, Baron Davis and Chris Kaman are out with injury, leaving the young pups like Blake Griffin, Eric Bledsoe, Eric Gordon and a cast of others to lead the squad. This unit would win the NCAA title but have only one win so far this season.

29- Philadelphia Sixers: The trade countdown begins for Andre Iguodala. Only ten games into the season and you can see that Evan Turner and him are going to conflict on the court.

28- Washington Wizards: We are all enjoying the John Wall show but the Wizards have to get more out of the rest of the squad.

27- Toronto Raptors: The emergence of DeMar DeRozan has been one of the more surprising developments the first few weeks of the season. He had 26 points in the Raptors’ best win of the season at Orlando last Friday and has become the top offensive option for Toronto.

26- Sacramento Kings: The Kings shouldn’t be this bad defensively. They gave up 42 points to Minnesota’s Michael Beasley, which shouldn’t ever happen with physical players such as Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and Samuel Dalembert.

25- New York Knicks: Everyone wants to point the finger at Amar’e Stoudemire for the Knicks struggles, and that would be fair seeing how New York is getting torched by power forwards, but the lack of good outside shooting has been more worrisome.

24- Minnesota Timberwolves: Kevin Love’s 31-31 performance against New York was outstanding, especially when you consider that the last guy to produce that type of game was Moses Malone in 1981, but it was against the Knicks. New York’s style of play allows for these type of numbers to happen. With the improvement of Beasley, the Wolves may have something going at the forward position. If only Darko Milicic was still around…

23- Detroit Pistons: The team is improving slowly and Ben Gordon has been leading it, finally shooting above 50% from the field.

22- Charlotte Bobcats: Wins over Toronto, Minnesota and Washington really don’t impress me much.

21- Cleveland Cavs: We may actually see Cleveland face Miami in the first round of the playoffs, which would bring us a significant former Cav return home. I’m looking forward to Žydrūnas Ilgauskas taking on his former team.

20- New Jersey Nets: It looks like Brook Lopez is getting past his early season shooting slump.

19- Indiana Pacers: Is Roy Hibbert a top-five NBA center right now? I’ll give you Dwight Howard, Joakim Noah, Al Horford and currently Pau Gasol at this time.

18- Houston Rockets: I may have to add Luis Scola to that list mentioned above.

17- Memphis Grizzlies: To not sign or re-sign Zach Randolph? The Grizz already have money tied into Rudy Gay, Mike Conley and will want to re-sign Marc Gasol and O.J. Mayo next season. Randolph has found a good level of maturity and is one of the only consistent 20-10 guys in the league. However, Randolph has had bad moments in his career and tying him up to major money leaves less flexibility if he screws up again.

16- Golden State Warriors: Count me in the camp that thinks that Golden State is going to stick around the playoff race all season. The reason is that the Warriors are in the top-10 in defensive efficiency in the league.

15- Denver Nuggets: True, they are only 5-5 this season but those wins include the Lakers, Utah and Dallas, the top three teams in the West. If Denver gets back Kenyon Martin and Chris Anderson healthy AND find a way to keep Carmelo Anthony, things may be looking up in Denver.

14- Atlanta Hawks: Losses to Phoenix, Milwaukee and Orlando hurts Atlanta in the Power Rankings. Beating teams like Indiana and Detroit doesn’t mean much.

13- Portland Trail Blazers: Brandon Roy’s knees are a major concern.

12- Oklahoma City Thunder: They will come around and still win more than 50 games but the defense has to improve for that to happen.

11- Milwaukee Bucks: If the Bucks expect to go beyond the first round of the playoffs, the offensive pace has to increase.

10- Phoenix Suns: Steve Nash isn’t going anywhere.

9- Orlando Magic: Where is the three-point shooting?

8- Chicago Bulls: They’re entering a rough road stretch which included last night’s loss at San Antonio, Dallas, the Lakers, Phoenix, Denver and Sacramento. That’s brutal.

7- Miami Heat: Chris Bosh had a nice game last night against Phoenix but the Heat still have major issues with interior defense and point guard play.

6- Utah Jazz: Major respect for winning at Miami, Orlando, Atlanta and Charlotte. Maybe my prediction of the Jazz having the second-best record in the West this season isn’t looking as bad.

5- Dallas Mavs: If Tyson Chandler can hold up for an entire season, the Mavs may be the only team in the West that can compete with the Lakers size.

4- San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs only have one loss so far and have been able to do it without getting the best production out of Tim Duncan because Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are playing at an All-Star level. If those two can stay healthy, maybe the Spurs have one more run in them.

3- LA Lakers: Still the top dog in the West and Pau Gasol is still my nominee for the early MVP so far this season.

2- New Orleans Hornets: The Hornets have some losses on their record now but have cemented themselves as a playoff team in the West and may even host a first-round series.

1- Boston Celtics: The Celtics are playing at an elite level on defense and its been led by Kevin Garnett, who looks like he has his knees in healthy form along.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?