Power Rankings: No joke -- five reasons to watch April games

Updated March 30

When someone labels the NBA's April schedule as traditionally the most meaningless in all of sports, it's no April Fool's joke. Heck, that even includes the first round of the playoffs, where real news is as hard to find as in a Tiger Woods interview.

On the surface, this April appears no different. With the Cavaliers and Lakers running away with conference titles and the Nets having avoided a historically bad season, you might say the only thing left undecided is identifying the weakest of the 16 playoff teams.

With Adrian Dantley leading in George Karl's absence, the Nuggets have struggled. (Getty Images)

•  On which side of the Eastern bracket will the Celtics fall?

Make no mistake about it: Even though they are basically unchallenged for best-record-in-the-league honors, the Cavaliers will have one eye on the scoreboard the rest of the regular season. That's because the road to the NBA Finals becomes a lot rockier if they must go through both Boston and Orlando.

And that's what figures to happen if the Celtics, who entered the week tied with Atlanta for the third-best record in the East, stumble down the stretch and wind up No. 4. Interestingly, it would behoove the Cavs to let Boston beat them Sunday, thus aiding the Celtics' chances of eventually landing in the third slot and setting up a possible duel with Orlando in the Eastern semifinals.

•  How is Tony Parker's broken hand?

Wins this past week over the Cavs and Celtics demonstrated the Spurs can be a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs. Now imagine just how good they could be if Parker were running the show.

Gregg Popovich says he would like to keep his star point guard, injured March 6, out until the playoffs. Unfortunately, he can't afford to do that because, in the West, every first-round matchup is a tough one. Parker will not be afforded the luxury of playing his way back into shape while his team coasts in Round 1, so look for him to freshen up on the West's human tackling dummies -- the Timberwolves -- on April 12.

•  Can George Karl muster up the energy to coach again?

As usual, there figures to be a handful of coaching vacancies this offseason. Suffice it to say, it's unlikely Adrian Dantley will be a strong candidate for any of them.

Seen as a serious threat to the Lakers in the West not long ago, the Nuggets have gone into an untimely tailspin with Dantley moving into the seat vacated by Karl, who is suffering through cancer treatment and unexpected complications. The club is hopeful its inspirational leader can return for the playoffs, but that's no sure thing.

And the way they're playing under Dantley, it's quite possible the Nuggets might have slipped into a first-round matchup with the Lakers by the time Karl returns. In that case, he's advised to let Dantley finish up because it shouldn't take long.

•  Will Don Nelson become the winningest coach in NBA history?

The answer to that question undoubtedly is: Yes. But it seems Warriors fans would prefer to see it happen sooner (as in this year) than later. With the club up for sale and Nelson approaching 70 years old, it would be a nice send-off into a Hawaiian retirement if the Warriors could win three of their last nine games and get their coach the record. Even tying Lenny Wilkens' mark would seem to give Nelson a classy way to bow out and tell the Warriors' new owner to keep the $6 million he's due next season. With the Knicks, Wizards, Timberwolves and Clippers on Golden State's remaining schedule, Warriors fans just might see their wish come true.

•  Will the Nets play their way out of the first pick in the draft?

Winning the draft lottery could be the turning point in Nets history. In the greatest period of free agency the NBA has ever seen, the Nets could land one of the best (Kentucky standout John Wall) for free in the draft and use him -- along with a pocketful of millions -- as a magnet for even bigger fish.

Alas, the Nets have won three of four, which was great in that it allowed them to avoid the distinction of being the worst team in league history. But another stretch like that would put Minnesota back in the picture to earn favoritism in the lottery, which the Nets have fought long and hard to achieve.

With everything possibly locked up in the playoff bracketing by then, it's possible the Nets-Heat and Warriors-Trail Blazers matchups could be the most significant on the final night of the regular season.

Who says the NBA's April basketball isn't fantastic?

Speaking of the Nets, they've earned a new residence in this week's CBSSports.com NBA Power Rankings. Congratulations.

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.