Power Rankings: In injury-plagued season, sustainability's the goal
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| Chauncey Billups, a solid presence behind CP3, may be lost to the Clips with an Achilles injury. (Getty Images) |
Updated Feb. 7
Consistency is the word NBA coaches use most often. But it's really "sustainability" that we're talking about this week.
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The Bulls' approach is one that relies on defense, smart play by all their players and Derrick Rose. That's pretty sustainable. Tom Thibodeau's obsessive hammering of his starters in terms of minutes -- Luol Deng came back from injury this week and played 41 minutes in a blowout, as if Thibodeau were directly laughing at us -- might not be sustainable in this kind of season.
The Knicks are relying on an undrafted rookie point guard out of Harvard to keep them afloat. That doesn't seem sustainable. Until you watch Jeremy Lin and see how well he understands and commands the things that Mike D'Antoni point guards do.
The Clippers keep winning games by the skin of their teeth and without playing solid defense. That doesn't seem sustainable, but with a lineup like that, you really only need to get close before the talent seals the deal.
Kobe Bryant keeps shooting. Keeps scoring. But is ignoring the Lakers' bigs and taking 25 shots a game sustainable?
This insane NBA season has redefined the parameters of what we have come to rely on. Depth is more important, but cohesion and trust play a part, too. And luck. So much luck. Good luck isn't sustainable, and bad luck is unavoidable. The question for all these teams is whether they can sustain their abilities in the face of those challenges.
And if we're using that metric? We're going to want to start including the Philadelphia 76ers in the discussion of the top four instead of top three, along with Chicago, Miami and Oklahoma City.
| Power Rankings | |||
| Current | Team | Previous | |
 | 1 | Bulls · Trends | 2 |
| Luol Deng is back. And there's no way you can miss that because Tom Thibodeau keeps playing him 37 minutes game. | |||
 | 2 | Heat · Trends | 1 |
| If it weren't for their second unforgiveable loss to Milwaukee in three weeks, they'd be on a seven-game winning streak. If it weren't for either loss to Milwaukee, it'd be eleven. | |||
 | 3 | Thunder · Trends | 3 |
| The Thunder's stars are playing better but their overall performance has stumbled a bit. So the head is shining and brilliant while the body's kind of knocking into things, clumsily. It's like Robin Williams in "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," which I'm sure none of you have seen. | |||
 | 4 | 76ers · Trends | 5 |
| The Sixers respond to criticism over their inability to beat good teams by knocking off Chicago, Atlanta and the Lakers. So when we said they can't beat good teams, we really just meant the Heat. (Yes, you had injuries, Bulls fans, we hear you.) | |||
 | 5 | Pacers · Trends | 8 |
| They wind up losing the season series to the struggling Magic, but other than that have taken care of business. Their slamming of the door on Dallas' face was impressive. | |||
 | 6 | Clippers · Trends | 4 |
| The word "sustainable" comes to mind with the Clippers because some things seem very sustainable, while others, not so much. The words "Vinny Del Negro" keep popping up in the same conversation. | |||
 | 7 | Spurs · Trends | 13 |
| I criticize their defense, and the Spurs win five straight, hold their opponent under 100 five times and only give up a plus-100 defensive efficiency once in that stretch. San Antonio has re-entered "extremely dangerous" territory. | |||
 | 8 | Lakers · Trends | 14 |
| Kobe Bryant passes Shaq on Monday. Good for him. Then he wound up hurting his team by going 1-11 in the second half and watching the Sixers down his Lakers for a second straight loss. That's pretty much the Lakers' season so far. | |||
 | 9 | Hawks · Trends | 9 |
| "No change" is such an apt description of this team. | |||
 | 10 | Nuggets · Trends | 6 |
| The wheels are coming off in Denver. And I mean that literally, the Nuggets keep having foot injuries. The schedule is beating up the league's deepest team, which says a lot. | |||
 | 11 | Celtics · Trends | 18 |
| Celtics don't die, they multiply (wins). | |||
 | 12 | Trail Blazers · Trends | 11 |
| Magic 8 Ball says: Team outlook cloudy. Try again later. | |||
 | 13 | Magic · Trends | 20 |
| Beat up some scrubs to stabilize the ship. Big week starting with the Heat on Wednesday. | |||
 | 14 | Rockets · Trends | 12 |
| This team would be so much higher if it could just beat Minnesota. | |||
 | 15 | Jazz · Trends | 10 |
| Beat the Lakers, lose to a Knicks team playing without Melo or Amar'e Stoudemire. The Jazz should change their name to the Utah HEAD EXPLODES. | |||
 | 16 | Timberwolves · Trends | 16 |
| If the Timberwolves can just play the Rockets every game, they will have an excellent shot at the playoffs. | |||
 | 17 | Mavericks · Trends | 7 |
| Oh, hey, Dirk is playing better. Oh, hey, the rest of the team is not. Bottom fell out of Dallas in only a week's time. | |||
 | 18 | Grizzlies · Trends | 19 |
| The Grizzlies are infuriating to watch on a consistent basis until you remember their injury situation. But those injuries should not excuse their decision-making at times. | |||
 | 19 | Bucks · Trends | 17 |
| See, look what you did. You all screamed "Fear the Deer!" and then the Bucks ran back into the woods. | |||
 | 20 | Cavaliers · Trends | 15 |
| Does anyone else think it would be wise to avoid Kyrie Irving in a first-round playoff series? | |||
 | 21 | Knicks · Trends | 25 |
| ALL LINSANITY EVERYTHING. | |||
 | 22 | Suns · Trends | 23 |
| It's Tuesday, Feb. 7, and Steve Nash still deserves better. | |||
 | 23 | Kings · Trends | 27 |
| You really need to check out the Kings' under-sized scoring point guard. No, Isaiah Thomas. Who's this Jimmer guy you keep talking about? | |||
 | 24 | Nets · Trends | 22 |
| The Nets without their injuries are likely not as bad as their harshest critics suggest nor as good as their fans continue to claim. The question is how good would they be with Dwight Howard? | |||
 | 25 | Raptors · Trends | 21 |
| The effort is consistent. The production is not. | |||
 | 26 | Warriors · Trends | 24 |
| You have to wonder whether huge roster changes are coming from an aggressive management if this keeps up. | |||
 | 27 | Pistons · Trends | 29 |
| They're going streaking! They also lost to the Nets! But they're going streaking! | |||
 | 28 | Hornets · Trends | 28 |
| If you offered 90 percent of the Hornets to just go into cryogenic stasis for the rest of this year, as long as they still got paid, they'd likely take you up on it. | |||
 | 29 | Wizards · Trends | 26 |
| Still bad. Not as bad. But still bad. | |||
 | 30 | Bobcats · Trends | 30 |
| Their next four games are against playoff teams. Let the "record losing streak" watch begin. | |||
