14. (-2) Portland Trailblazers are 8-8 and are dealing with injuries like they did last season. Joel Przybilla had a knee surgery and is day-to-day while Greg Oden is out for the season once again. The Blazers are even on offense and defense, averaging 96 points and giving up 96 points per game. Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge lead the team with 19 points apiece.
13. (+2) New York Knicks are 9-9 and just came off a five-game winning streak. The Knicks are benefitting a whole lot with the addition of Amare Stoudemire, who recently said he was never taught defense. The Knicks seem like they don’t teach defense either since they are giving up 107 points per game. Stoudemire leads the Knicks with 22 points and 9 rebounds per game.
12. (+0) Denver Nuggets are 10-6 and are the team they have been for the past few years. They are scoring 103 points and giving up 101 points per game. Carmelo Antony leads the team with 25 points per game.
11. (+9) Indiana Pacers are 8-7 and have been one of the surprising teams of the season thus far. The Pacers defeated the Miami Heat 93-77 this past week in Miami. The Pacers also beat the Lakers in Los Angeles this past Sunday. The team is averaging 100 points and allowing 96 points scored per game. The team is led by Danny Granger’s 22 points per game. Roy Hibbert is having a great season thus far, averaging 16 points and 9 boards per game. UCLA product Darren Collison is also adding 14 points and 4 rebounds per game.
10. (+0) Miami Heat are 9-8 and have had dropped three of their last four games. The Heat were blown out of the water by the Pacers in a 93-77 loss that was followed by another loss in Orlando. The team signed Erik Dampier this past week, in hopes that he can be the missing component in their video game fantasy team… (Insert your joke here.) The team is averaging 100 points a game and giving up only 93 points on defense. LeBron James leads the team with 23 points followed by Dwayne Wade’s 21 points and Chris Bosh’s 17 points per game.
9. (+0) Atlanta Hawks are 11-7 and have had balanced scoring among their starting five. Joe Johnson leads the starters with 18 points followed by Al Horford’s 16 points, Josh Smith’s 16 points, Jamal Crawford’s 14 points and Mike Bibby’s 11 points. The Hawks are giving up 99 points a game and scoring 100 points of their own.
