The Top 5 "Other" Teams

The Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trailblazers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Ask any fan, critic, blogger or media personality who the top 5 teams are in the NBA right now, and they’re bound to mention one if not all of the above, and with good reason.

Few can argue the above teams winning records and stars that fuel their performances. Although you wouldn’t know it by watching highlights shows, there are more than 5 teams in the NBA. I have no problem giving credit where credit is due, but the large part of why I love the NBA so much is that there is so much going on just below the surface, where great games are being played with young stars and veterans offering the same level of entertainment and excitement that the the top 5 teams offer.

Who knows, maybe this list reads more like “the best of the worst”, but these teams are still winning games and even though it’s still early to predict, some have a chance of making the playoffs.

So with my disclaimer out of the way, here are my “Other” top 5 teams.....

1. Denver Nuggets (7-4)

With all the “Melo” drama last year regarding All-Star Carmelo Anthony’s desire to play for the New York Knicks, the Nuggets ended the season playing relatively well and were able to save face, compared to the Cleveland Cavaliers when they lost Lebron James. To be fair, the Cavaliers had to go a full season without Lebron, where as Denver only had a few months left in the season after Carmelo made his exit. With that said, they ended last season very well and started the 2011-12 season the exact same way.

With Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson averaging over 15 points with help from Harrington, Aflollo and Nene averaging 10 points each, it’s clear they know they need to step up their level of play without a clear cut captain on the ship. They might not have Carmelo as their go to guy on every play, but it pays off in them not standing around watching him go one on one and instead move the ball around getting everyone in rhythm allowing balanced scoring throughout.

At 7-4 and with big wins over the Mavericks and Lakers, the Nuggets will get a chance to take down another heavily favored team in the Miami Heat tonight at 10:30 pm and become 8-3 as well as make a very big and serious statement.

2. Philadelphia 76ers (7-3)

I know, I know, you don’t have to remind me, 6 out of the 7 wins came against teams that did not make the playoffs last year. But to be fair, the majority of the Heat’s win come in exactly the same way. Maybe not the best comparison, but my point is that the 76ers are beating teams they should, that maybe a year or two ago would not have.

Speaking of leaderless teams, the Philadelphia 76ers have been without a leader for a better part of two years and have still been able to compete without any one player averaging above 15 points or 10 rebounds.  After making an appearance in the playoffs versus the above mentioned Miami Heat in the first round of the 2010-2011 playoffs, it makes perfect sense that this young team has gained a lot of confidence and experience after playing a team like that in a playoff series.

Although there is no immediate danger found in the 76ers schedule, there is a block of games coming up that include the Clippers, Spurs, Lakers, Atlanta, Chicago and Orlando, all one after the other between January 30 and February 10. Should they win 3 of those 6 games, I think every one will be surprised. However, it’s more likely they will face a 6 game losing streak that few teams with that schedule could avoid. Perhaps putting them #2 in my “Other” top 5 list before those games are played is a bad idea, but they still have a few winnable games coming up to make that block of games less painful on their record.

3. Indiana Pacers (7-3)

Boston and Atlanta. Those are the only 2 wins that stand out for the Indiana Pacers. A solid team with half its players scoring in double digits, and with go to guy Danny Granger, and reliable players like Hansborough, Hibbert, Collison and new comer David West, I expect this team to make another appearance in this years playoffs after losing to the Bulls in the 1st round last year.

With a shortened schedule, teams like Philadelphia and Indiana can benefit by not having to face as many Western Conference teams as they normally would, and considering the struggles the bottom rung teams in the Eastern Conference face, Indiana has a chance to stack wins for Spring time.

Even though the Indiana Pacers have to face some of the elite teams in the coming weeks, they are spread out amongst weaker teams, allowing them to bounce back, recover and get a win or two before facing a possible loss.  This will go a long way for their confidence and prevent them from facing consecutive losses and causing them to drop out of a playoff spot in the span of a few days.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers (5-5)

With the 1st and 4th pick in this years NBA draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson. To say this franchise expects a lot out of these two rookies is putting it mildly. At the time of writing this, the Cavaliers haven’t faced a great deal of elite teams, so the games they won could have just as easily been losses.

With Antwan Jaimison leading the pack averaging 17 points and #1 draft pick Kyrie Irving averaging 16 points and 5 assists, there is a chance that Cleveland can finish the season with a much better record than they had last year of only 19 wins.  Currently in the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference, the only trailing threat are the Celtics who sit at the 9th spot. However, should the Celtics fail to live up to expectations and not make the playoffs, the 8th spot is the Cavaliers to lose.  Imagine what a story that would be, only one full season from the departure of Lebron James and having the worst record in the East, to come back and make the playoffs and likely face the Miami Heat in the 1st round, all this of course depending on where Chicago ranks in the end.  

Between January 29 and February 8, the Cavaliers face a string of elite teams, much like the 76ers, which could cause them to drop from the 8th spot pretty fast, but with below average teams still making up the greater part of their schedule, and again, should Boston for some reason bottom out, Cleveland would have made a statement about how good they have become, or how weak the East still is in the NBA.

5. Memphis Grizzlies (4-6)

After beating San Antonio in the 1st round of last years playoffs and giving the Oklahoma City Thunder a run for their money before getting knocked out, I feel wrong mentioning this team as a “best of the worst”, but to be fair their record is not great and they don’t have Zach Randolph in the line up at the moment.  No matter, this is something this team is used to, being underestimated and overlooked until they show up around playoff time ready to roll.

Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo and Marc Gasol are fun to watch and together average over 40 points per game. Their most recent win over the New York Knicks is what impressed me most as the Grizzlies looked solid on defense and aggressive on offense, with fast breaks, pull up jumpers as well as post play to round out their performance.

What will help the Grizzlies is their somewhat easy schedule.  Not to say they do not face some of the top teams in the league, but they have those games placed in between a slew of winnable games. With Dallas in the 8th spot and Phoenix in the 9th, Memphis might have a hard time becoming the Cinderella team again this year as the Western Conference seems more fierce than ever.  Not to mention the playoff spot they claimed last year will likely be taken by the Chris Paul and Blake Griffin lead Los Angeles Clippers, forcing the Grizzlies to play better than they did last year just to have a chance.