Power Rankings: Through topsy-turvy 2012, Spurs surprise
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| The Spurs will have the homecourt advantage through at least three rounds of the playoffs. (Getty Images) |
Updated April 24
And so it ends.
This crazy, whacked out, exhausting season comes to a close this week, and with it your 2012 regular-season Power Rankings.
It's time to pour one for the constant outrage over where teams are subjectively ranked and shed a tear for those teams that won't join us as the postseason moves into May.
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The season ends with an unexpected team on top. How often have we said that? The Spurs just keep rolling along, dominating the competition and proving Gregg Popovich could coach three camels and a penguin to .500. Every year since 2003, the Spurs have been counted out before the ball gets tipped on Day One, and every year they surprise with how far they can take a team.
Last year that regular-season dominance ended in postseason disaster. The Spurs' place at the top is only surprising to those who haven't watched them enough this season. This year it would seem San Antonio has resolved to shore up the defense without losing the offense.
There are other surprises here as well. The Bulls are surprisingly fragile, health-wise, for a team that isn't that old. The Thunder have been surprised by a stretch of adversity that challenges their status as favorites. And perhaps not so surprising at this point, the Heat don't seem nearly as good as we always tend to think they are.
But there are also good surprises. The Pacers are better than we thought they would be, and are peaking at the right time. They started off strong, never suffered a huge regression, and have things working at full-speed going into the postseason. The Lakers have surprisingly not only survived all their drama, but surged through it. The Clippers made it through the year not only with Vinny Del Negro, but with their confidence mostly intact. The Mavericks are worse than expected, but the Suns surprisingly better.
The Bobcats are stunningly worse than expected, and we expected them to be one of the worst teams in the league. Turns out we should have said "history."
All of this leads into a postseason rife with the potential for surprise. You never know what you'll get from Miami, game to game, even quarter to quarter. Will Miami destroy everything? Fall apart? Neither do we know what we'll get out of Derrick Rose. We don't know whether the Thunder have the fortitude to overcome the challenges in their way. We don't know if the Spurs are made for the postseason. We don't know anything about what's going to happen with either L.A. team. Implode, win the title, make a good run, flame out? Nothing would stun, but the whole season for both will seem bizarre in retrospect.
The West is wide open, and the East more vulnerable than we expected.
I hope you like surprise endings.
Here are this week's Power Rankings.
| Power Rankings | |||
| Current | Team | Previous | |
 | 1 | Spurs · Trends | 1 |
| Can you win an NBA title with an offense-first team? That's what Popovich is trying to do this season. And he may have a better shot than the Seven-Seconds-or-Less Suns. It would not be celebrated as such, but it would be an incredible accomplishment. | |||
 | 2 | Bulls · Trends | 2 |
| The most consistent team in the league for two years running. Tom Thibodeau is the Dr. Doom of the NBA. | |||
 | 3 | Heat · Trends | 3 |
| To live up to expectations, the Heat have to make such a huge jump, they need rocket fuel to get it done. | |||
 | 4 | Thunder · Trends | 5 |
| The Thunder have had nothing but upside and positive feelings the past two years as they climbed into contention. They're facing their first bout of serious adversity. How they handle it determines whether this team has championship mettle. | |||
 | 5 | Pacers · Trends | 9 |
| You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos. | |||
 | 6 | Lakers · Trends | 6 |
| The Lakers winning the Pacific again would be like the Kansas Jayhawks winning their conference. They have a closet where they just toss the trophies on top of the pile. Looks like Scrooge McDuck's gold. | |||
 | 7 | Clippers · Trends | 7 |
| Uh, anyone else notice that despite all the questions (defense, coaching, shooters, coaching, cohesiveness, coaching), the Clippers are really pretty good? | |||
 | 8 | Celtics · Trends | 4 |
| One more ride, old-timers. One more ride. | |||
 | 9 | Hawks · Trends | 11 |
| Boston and Atlanta began their playoff runs with their cores pitted against one another. It's possible they'll end them as well. | |||
 | 10 | Knicks · Trends | 12 |
| The grind-it-out style of the playoffs means having Carmelo Anthony's super-ISO offense is a whole different thing. | |||
 | 11 | Grizzlies · Trends | 8 |
| The Grizzlies are on the worst-looking five-game winning streak ever. | |||
 | 12 | Nuggets · Trends | 10 |
| Oh, look, Denver, you found your offense under the porch! Good job! Maybe that'll teach you not to be so cavalier with it. | |||
 | 13 | Jazz · Trends | 16 |
| The Jazz hope the first round's title will be "Hidden Tiger, Crouching Millsap." | |||
 | 14 | Mavericks · Trends | 17 |
| I've decided the Mavericks' 2012 season is "Cabin in the Woods." It looks like your standard horror show, but there's so much more going on. | |||
 | 15 | Suns · Trends | 13 |
| If this were Steve Nash's last legitimate playoff run ... #slowclap | |||
 | 16 | 76ers · Trends | 19 |
| "Mr. and Mrs. Sixers fans? Hi. Yes, I'm Dr. Easy Schedule. Your team is stable. It's resting comfortably. It was touch-and-go for a while, but we managed to repair the playoff eligibility. It's going to make it. ... You don't look happy?" | |||
 | 17 | Rockets · Trends | 15 |
| Oh, look. The late lottery. There's a new area for the Rockets to explore. #stare | |||
 | 18 | Magic · Trends | 14 |
| The Orlando Magic: The walking, talking reason for the league to enact a "you can trade your playoff spot for a lottery pick" rule. | |||
 | 19 | Bucks · Trends | 18 |
| A pivotal offseason for the Bucks is set to begin. It's extremely unlikely, but imagine if this team lands a top-three pick. | |||
 | 20 | Timberwolves · Trends | 22 |
| To the tune of "Total Eclipse of the Heart:" "Ru-bi-o, every now and then I get a little bit lonely and your leg still isn't healed. Ru-bi-o, every now and then I get a little bit tired of Beasley getting killed on defense ..." | |||
 | 21 | Trail Blazers · Trends | 21 |
| The Blazers were 12-9 on Feb. 1. This completes today's lesson in "How quickly things can go to hell in a handcart." | |||
 | 22 | Kings · Trends | 23 |
| The Kings can look back and point to legitimate growth. But the next steps are even more important. The leap from "promising young talent" to "team that doesn't make you want to gouge your eye out with a lobster fork" is a difficult process. | |||
 | 23 | Hornets · Trends | 20 |
| Monty Williams and Dell Demps need to go bowling, get drunk and forget this year ever happened. Unfortunately, it's New Orleans, so finding alcohol could be a problem. | |||
 | 24 | Pistons · Trends | 24 |
| Well, a young, inexperienced team like that is going to have ... what's that? Tayshaun Prince is how old? Oh, never mind, they're just bad. | |||
 | 25 | Raptors · Trends | 25 |
| Dwane Casey can look back and say he changed the culture. The talent comes next, then the winning. The future is bright in Toronto. | |||
 | 26 | Nets · Trends | 26 |
| I'm sure New Jersey is all choked up over losing the Nets. At least they're used to that when it comes to the Nets -- losing, that is. | |||
 | 27 | Cavaliers · Trends | 27 |
| It had to get worse before it gets better. They've got their next franchise guy. Now they just have to build around him. And do it better this time. | |||
 | 28 | Warriors · Trends | 28 |
| This had better have been worth it. | |||
 | 29 | Wizards · Trends | 29 |
| The Wizards managed to move from pathetic joke to just pathetic by the end of the year. Progress in our time! | |||
 | 30 | Bobcats · Trends | 30 |
| Now let us never speak of this again. | |||
