The Boston Celtics still have the league's best record but they just lost two games in a row to the Washington Wizards, which automatically disqualifies the Celtics from ever again being compared to the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that went 72-10. In a related note, yes, right about now it is fair to not only state that Gilbert Arenas is overrated but to also seriously raise the possibility that the Wizards are in fact better off without him and the accompanying baggage of his off court antics and on court narcissism. When I first pointed out that the Wizards were doing just fine without Agent Zero, Washington fans breathlessly responded that Washington had not beaten anybody who was any good, as if they could not wait for their team to go on a long losing streak to reaffirm the value of their favorite player. Well, now the Wizards have just won back to back games against the team with the best record in the league and their winning percentage without Arenas so far is better than the team has ever done with him. So, Washington fans can pray for a long losing streak to "prove" that I am wrong about Arenas but the facts speak for themselves.
Best Five Records
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1) Boston Celtics, 30-6
2) Detroit Pistons, 28-10
3-4) L.A. Lakers, Phoenix Suns, 26-11
5) San Antonio Spurs, 25-11
What a difference three years makes: in that time, Shaquille O'Neal has gone from being the most dominant big man in the NBA to being a broken down center on the worst team in the Eastern Conference--and the Lakers have rebuilt around Kobe Bryant to the point that they now have one of the best records in the league. Andrew Bynum's injury is obviously a setback (see the scoring leaderboard for more about that subject) but there is no denying that a championship window in L.A. seems to be opening (not necessarily this season but soon) and that the championship window in Miami has long since slammed shut. The Lakers own the league's longest current winning streak (seven games) and are the only team that has won nine of its last 10 games.
Top Ten Scorers (and a few other notables)
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1) LeBron James, CLE 29.1 ppg
2) Kobe Bryant, LAL 27.0 ppg
3) Allen Iverson, DEN 26.9 ppg
4) Carmelo Anthony, DEN 25.4 ppg
5) Dwyane Wade, MIA 24.5 ppg
6) Richard Jefferson, NJN 24.4 ppg
7) Michael Redd, MIL 23.2 ppg
8) Carlos Boozer, UTA 23.1 ppg
9) Dwight Howard, ORL 22.5 ppg
10) Amare Stoudemire, PHX 22.3 ppg
11) Dirk Nowitzki, DAL 22.2 ppg
12) Yao Ming, HOU 22.1 ppg
20) Paul Pierce, BOS 21.0 ppg
26) Kevin Durant, SEA 19.8 ppg
28) Kevin Garnett, BOS 19.2 ppg
29) Brandon Roy, POR 19.1 ppg
44) Ray Allen, BOS 17.6 ppg
You may not have heard about it, but Kobe Bryant clinched the scoring title this week. Seemingly everyone is predicting doom and gloom for the Lakers now that Andrew Bynum has been sidelined for up to eight weeks by a knee injury. Maybe the Lakers are doomed and maybe they are not. The one thing that we do know is that last year when the Lakers were devastated by injuries Kobe Bryant responded by averaging more points after the All-Star break than anyone had in more than 40 years. So, what we will see in the next two months is a similar scoring outburst from Bryant. If the rest of the Lakers can manage to contribute something productive during this stretch then there is no reason for the team to completely collapse; the margin for error will be smaller without Bynum's presence in the paint but the Lakers should still be able to win some games. By the way, in the Lakers' first game after Bynum's injury, Bryant poured in a season-high 48 points, including six of his team's eight points in overtime (with the last two points coming on the game-winning jumper), as L.A. beat Seattle, 123-121, on Monday night. Bryant is averaging 29.6 ppg so far in January and has scored 37, 37 and 48 points in his last three games. LeBron James is consistently scoring around 29 ppg but if Bryant averages 35 ppg over the next few weeks then he could catch James by the All-Star break.
Top Ten Rebounders (and a few other notables)
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1) Dwight Howard, ORL 15.2 rpg
2) Marcus Camby, DEN 13.9 rpg
3) Chris Kaman, LAC 13.7 rpg
4) Tyson Chandler, NOH 12.0 rpg
5) Al Jefferson, MIN 11.8 rpg
6) Antawn Jamison, WAS 10.9 rpg
7) Carlos Boozer, UTA 10.8 rpg
8) Tim Duncan, SAS 10.7 rpg
9) Yao Ming, HOU 10.5 rpg
10) Emeka Okafor, CHA 10.3 rpg
11) Andrew Bynum, LAL 10.2 rpg
14) Kevin Garnett, BOS 9.9 rpg
16) Al Horford, ATL 9.7 rpg
24) Ben Wallace, CHI 9.1 rpg
28) Jason Kidd, NJN 8.9 rpg
31) Dirk Nowitzki, DAL 8.5 rpg
Dwight Howard maintains a firm grip on the top spot and remains on pace to have one of the best non-Dennis Rodman rebounding seasons of the past three decades. Tim Duncan moved into the top ten, while Andrew Bynum just missed the cut. Of course, due to inactivity Bynum will eventually drop off of the list.
Top Ten Playmakers
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1) Steve Nash, PHX 11.9 apg
2) Jason Kidd, NJN 10.7 apg
3) Chris Paul, NOH 10.4 apg
4) Deron Williams, UTA 9.1 apg
5) Jamaal Tinsley, IND 8.5 apg
6) Jose Calderon, TOR 8.3 apg
7) Baron Davis, GSW 8.2 apg
8) LeBron James, CLE 7.5 apg
9) Chauncey Billups, DET 7.3 apg
10) Allen Iverson, DEN 7.0 apg
The first nine players are in the exact same order that they were in last week. Iverson slipped past Milwaukee's Mo Williams, who now ranks 13th with 6.8 apg.
Note: All statistics are from ESPN.com
NBA Leaderboard, Part X
