NBA
NBA Power Rankings: Fear the Bear
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
At this point, we are merely waiting for the other shoe to drop. There are a few teams across the league—the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies come to mind—that have made a move or two to bolster themselves.
Then, there are a few other teams that would like to make a move or two to improve their odds of competing in the playoffs. With the likes of David West, Brook Lopez and Jose Calderon all having been rumored to be available for the right price, we sit and wait…
Just don’t expect the rest of the league’s contenders to do so. And don’t expect the Cleveland Cavaliers to do so, either. By virtue of the Atlanta Hawks’ epic 19-game win streak coming to an end at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, the Cavs end Week 14 with the longest active win streak in the league. They have won 11 straight while the Grizzlies become the hot team in the Western Conference, having won eight games consecutively.
Injuries continue to be a prominent storyline, as Kevin Durant is currently sitting and Dwight Howard and Rondo are each expected to be out for at least the next four weeks (and possibly much longer).
In the “not Hot” category, we welcome the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls, who have lost four and three games consecutively, respectively.
Wonder what kind of impact this all has in the Basketball Insiders Weekly Power Rankings?
Wonder no more.
