NBA Rankings: Dallas Mavericks take a slide; New York Knicks out of top ten
Its Monday again and the power rankings for the 13th Dec to 19th Dec week are in. Although, the standings look somewhat the same like last week’s, some notable changes have been seen.
Boston Celtics hold the top spot for the third straight week. Standing on the longest winning streak in the league, the Celtics are enjoying a season high of thirteen straight games. Finishing fourth straight week with a perfect score, the Celtics top the
Eastern Conference standings with an outstanding 22-4 win loss mark for the season so far.
Starting play for the week on Wednesday, Celtics finished their three game road trip from last week. Playing at Madison Square Garden, Celtics met the New York Knicks. Although, Celtics continue to miss their centre giant Shaquille O’Neal, the Celtics were
still able to secure a close victory over the hot Knicks. A step-back jumper by Paul Pierce with four seconds left secured a 118-116 win for the Celtics. On Thursday, the Celtics hosted the Atlanta Hawks followed by a visit from the Indiana Pacers last night.
With two double figure wins, Celtics hit thirteen straight games last night.
Displaced from the top spot three weeks ago, San Antonio Spurs continue to hold the second spot despite topping the standings in the Western Conference (23-3). Although, Spurs also finished last week with a perfect mark extending their winning streak to
eight games, the fact that the Celtics are also performing well continues to deny the Spurs the top spot. The Spurs defeated the Milwaukee Bucks (92-90) in their opening match on Wednesday and then the Denver Nuggets (113-112) in an away match the next day.
The Spurs finished the week on Saturday doing away the Memphis Grizzlies by a six point margin win.
Moving up one spot each this week, Los Angeles Lakers (21-7) and Miami Heat (21-8) hold the third and fourth spots in the rankings. Summing up their seven game road trip that started last week, Lakers finished this week with a perfect 4-0 mark. Lakers now
stand on an eight game winning streak this season.
Winning over the Washington Wizards on 29th of last month, the Heat extended their wins to a twelve game winning streak last night coincidentally defeating the Wizards by a one point margin. In two home and two away matches, Heat also finished
the week with a perfect 4-0 mark.
Sliding down two spots, WC's 2nd place holders Dallas Mavericks dropped down to fifth position this week. Having played the opening match against the Bucks last Monday, the Mavericks had their twelve game winning streak snapped. In a four point
margin, the Mavericks failed to extend their lead despite enjoying the home court advantage. The Mavericks bounced back in their next two games to salvage the week at a respectable 2-1 mark totalling a 21-5 for the season.
Holding eleventh position last week, the Bulls moved into top ten this week securing the eighth position. With their seven game winning streak snapped by a one point defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers last night, the Bulls finished the week in the positives
sporting a 2-1 mark. Having slid out of the top 10 last week, the Denver Nuggets clawed their way back in this week securing the 10th position.
The hot Knicks moved out of the top ten sliding down two positions to hold the eleventh position. With their eight game streak broken by the Celtics on Monday, the Knicks found themselves on a three game losing streak by last night finishing the week with
a disappointing 0-3 mark.
With ten of the top eleven competing on Christmas weekends, major changes in next week’s power rankings can be expected.
Tags: