NBA Power Rankings: Spurs Are Best In West

I really look forward to seeing how the upper crust of the NBA handles the end of the lock-out season. Mainly when to rest guys and how hard to push it every night. In the case of the Bulls injuries matter not.

Here are this week's Power Rankings:

1- Chicago Bulls (37-10) Remember when I referred to the Bulls as Bright Eyes and Derrick Rose as Conor Oberst? Well I guess the better description would be Menudo. You can change all of the parts but the product is still the same.

2- Miami Heat (33-11) Dwyane Wade is now the "Closer" for this team and LeBron James gladly stuffs the stats sheet. We will check back in with them during the Eastern Conference Finals.

3- San Antonio Spurs (29-14) I wonder if it hurts to play basketball in those ninja slippers? I said this on twitter Friday night during the game vs. the Thunder and I will say it again. Tim Duncan is the greatest power forward of all time.

4- Oklahoma City Thunder (34-11) I have been warning the Thunder about the San Antonio Ninjas for weeks. But do they listen? No… You guys should really be reading this blog. How did you not see this coming? Were you distracted by the ninja smoke?

5- Los Angeles Clippers (26-18) As long as the Clippers do not play the Suns while they rest Steve Nash I like their chances in the playoffs.

6- Orlando Magic (29-17) Count me as someone who is actually excited to see what happens with the Magic now that Dwight Howard is staying for one more year. I cannot wait to see how they blow this team up and try to add players around Howard this off-season. Years ago I was screaming for the Magic to make a run at Chris Paul. They did not listen. Now I will scream that Steve Nash needs to be on the Magic roster next season. Nash at least deserves that.

7- Denver Nuggets (25-20) Adding Wilson Chandler gives more depth to a team that already had depth coming out of its butt. I love what the Nuggets did at the trade deadline simply because it means Denver natives can now bear witness to the Gift.

8- Philadelphia 76ers (25-20) Sixers, it’s been nice and we had some fun but we all knew this day was coming and this was not going to last forever. This is where you need to exit. Signed – Elite NBA Teams Train

9- Los Angeles Lakers (28-17) Needing OT to beat the Grizzles and the Hornets on back-to-back games is not a good recipe to being an elite team. On a good note, they continued their dominance over the T-Wovles. Off the top of my head I believe that now make its 137 straight wins over the T-Wovles but I could be wrong.

10- Memphis Grizzles (25-18) This is more like a buy early on the Grizz. They are still trying figure out how to get Zach Randolph to return to the fold.

Player of the Week:

Dwyane Wade SG Miami Heat

In his past five games the Closer has averaged 27 pts, 6.8 reb, 4.6 ast, and 1.4 stl. Look for his TV show on TNT coming this fall.

Best Game of the Week:

Clippers at Thunder (Wednesday 7 pm CST):

Beware the ghost of Kendrick Perkins. I hear he haunts Clippers vs. Thunder games.

Worst Game of the Week:

Warriors at Hornets (Wednesday 7pm CST):

At least you get to see Steph Curry play....oh....my bad. Please avoid.