Please Vote! Power Rakings Week 5- Oh baby people are about to be mad at me

I'm seriously contemplating changing my GT to Nostradamus, last week for those who read I talked about how Boston's roster looked worse after the smoke of the Ando trade and this week my prediction came true. Now that rosters are locked teams rosters are final and this will be the last power rankings before playoff matchups come out and award predictions next week, that being said there is no shortage of content for this week so lets jump into it.

#1a- Phoenix Suns 23-7 (5-1) X

Oh yes here comes the salt, please keep in mind this is a week by week power rankings and the Suns have been HOT, 5-1 last week, 5-1 this week in extremely close games that were a handful of points away from being two 6-0 weeks. Phoenix hasn't had a week below 4-2 this season and it doesn't look like next week will be the week that ends it, their 2 pg's are quite possibly the 2nd and 3rd choices for MVP this season along side an easy top 3 supporting cast. With their second line knocking off Boston's most talented unit and the Celtics struggling this week Phoenix knocks Boston out of the top spot for the first time this season. This is a very dangerous team too, after Witt's week off he came back and absolutely balled out, knocking off the Blazers before dropping 57 on the Nets while missing only 4 shots, and in a week where he struggled compared to his regular weekly average Slime still knocked off the Celtics going point for point with Venom making a statement about the quality of line his line can beat, Slime is without a doubt a top PG in this league, there's no denying it anymore.

#1b- Boston Celtics 25-5 (3-3) X

To anyone that's reading this and thinking anything other than "yeah this makes sense" let me explain, last week Boston made a couple of massive trades, imo their roster as a whole got marginally worse and like I said last week, lets see how week 5 goes for them. Week 5 did not go for them, Venom's line dropped both of his games with losses to a solid looking Nuggets line and the Suns 2nd unit. Venom took his season average in shots and shot just slightly below his season average, he did turn the ball over 13 times in 2 games but he was not the reason his team lost those games. His supporting cast shot 43.5% from the field and turned the ball over 10 times in those 2 games, even with the addition of Ando his line got marginally worse and when the success of your line falls on one player it was enough that the trade + having to build chemistry with his new line was enough to cost them both games this week, but that's only half of the story. Thursday's games were anything but ideal for the Celtics, after almost blowing a 12 point 4th Q lead to the Lakers, they avoided a buzzer beater loss to the Hawks and squeaked out a 2 point OT Win (against the Hawks 2nd line). Then in their 3rd game they dropped a heartbreaker to the Grizzles, their 2nd loss of the season to Memphis, after going 12 straight games without a loss they struggled hard this week and their focus is going to shift towards righting the ship next week before playoffs begin. By all means they're still the #1 seed, they will most likely finish the season #1 and they are still a favorite to win the chip but this week showed that they do have some kinks in their armor. Look for them to bounce back with a 6-0 week tho.

#3a- Memphis Grizzles 18-12 (4-2) X

The Grizzlies finally seem to have found their stride, they struggled to put together winning weeks at the start of the season but are rolling along moving into the last week of the season, I'm not sure what happened in their 9pm against Brooklyn but as long as that was a one time occurrence they should be fine. They went 4-1 in games they played this week including big wins against the Celtics and Blazers, these are the types of games that they were struggling to win at the beginning of the season but in the past 2 weeks they've beaten every top team that they've played. Going into the playoffs the Grizzlies are a very dangerous team, they made a ton of roster moves right before the deadline and it seems to have worked out well for them, they may be overlooked with how strong the Celtics, Suns & Nets have been playing all season but they're an easy Darkhorse to win it all. They'll finish up their season series against the Celtics this week and with the series tied 2-2 we'll see who has the edge some playoffs. They match up this week against the Blazers, Celtics & Suns, with seeding on the line they'll need to close the season out to avoid finishing in that 4th position.

#3b- Brooklyn Nets 19-11 (4-2) X

I should preface this, if they had played the Grizzlies this past week and beat them they would still hold a spot ahead of them, and with the FF being something I disregard for ranking purposes they'll share a spot with the Grizzlies this last week. In the games they did play this week they went 1-2 dropping games to the Blazers and Suns, absolutely destroying the Nugs but still not an ideal set of games, there's little doubt that Tee wouldn't have cooked up the Cavs & Bulls but nevertheless they did drop two big games this week that would have locked in their top 3 position, instead they'll have to finish the season strong to avoid being topped by the Grizz. In all honesty tho Brooklyn is a very underrated team, with specific players getting X's allowing them to switch their lines around they have the potential to have two of the best lines in the league, Kasra is a criminally underrated Lock this season and if he can sure up Jiggy's line they are going to be a Dangerous team. They play both Phoenix and Boston this week so they've got a big chance this week to show that they are a serious contender for the chip.

#5- Portland Trailblazers 17-13 (4-2) X

It's rare that a solid week is an understatement for a team but this was without a doubt a statement for the Blazers, they finally got their 2nd line PG and CTwicee dropped off 3 solid lines all by 10+ points, he's bounced around a couple of teams but seems to have found a home in Portland. Their first line lost a close one to Memphis and dropped their 4th straight game to Phoenix before blowing out the Nugs on their way to a solid bounce back week, they've locked up their playoff spot which has to be a relief but they'll need a solid final week to avoid slipping into a dangerous playoff position, at the moment they would match up against the Grizzlies which would be an awesome first rounder, regardless of whether they finish in that 4 or 5 position their matchup wont really change unless Memphis can leap frog Brooklyn, with 2 games up on Atlanta they're pretty safe, they do match up against them on Thursday which could end up being a very important game for seeding. They've got Memphis, Phoenix and Boston this week whether they're a serious playoff team or not will soon be answered.

#6- Atlanta Hawks 15-15 (4-2) X (if Cavs FF)

Atlanta was a last second play away from having one of the most remarkable weeks in LG history, with 11 seconds left on the clock, tied in the 4th Q against the Celtics STG got absolutely swatted, sending the game to OT where they would again, fail to score a last possession bucket in a heartbreaking loss to the Celtics. On to the real story though, Atlanta has had an absolute ride in the past 3 weeks, after going 5-1 then 1-5 they shipped away their best player to the Celtics for UBL Ai Rico, who went 3-0 this week with wins over 3 solid lines, eventually leading them to taking a FF win against the Cavs and clinching a playoff birth. They brought in a ton of players for Ando and its really seemed to pay off, STG did do STG things and get graded out against the Nugs in what would have been a big win but regardless they got the job done and got to the post season. Even though they've essentially clinched a playoff spot already they need to come out and try to have a good last week of the season, at the moment they'll meet Brooklyn in the first round who they're 1-2 against this season, with games against Boston and Brooklyn they have an uphill battle if they want to try and pass Portland but they do play them this week which could help. With this being the last playoff push for all but 1 team its going to be an extremely competitive week, we'll get to see if Atlanta can match up.

#7- Denver Nuggets 10-20 (4-2)

Give me a second as I remove my foot from my mouth, last week I said that Denver's season was over but boy was I ever wrong, after making a massive trade to pick up Ching and Dangs from Portland they went on to knock off Boston, LA & Atlanta to pick up their first positive week of the season. I've been echoing the same point all season when it comes to Denver, they have the players to succeed but until this week couldn't quite put the parts together to pull out wins, now its looking more and more like they have a legitimate first line and a second unit that can hang in there and get them the fringe win or two, but its not time to coast just yet. They've put themselves into position to sneak into the playoffs but they have not done enough yet, regardless of what the standings say at the moment Denver still sits behind LA for the 8th playoff spot as it goes by head to head and not points, they'll have to win one more game than the Lakers or 3 more than the Bulls to officially complete the late season push. Skizzo is a veteran in the league and its a perfect example of why a seasons not over until you've officially been eliminated from the playoffs. They have an extremely important night on Wednesday as they play both the Lakers and Bulls, games that will most likely decide whether they will play week 7 or not, on Thursday they have the Grizzlies and Suns which will show whether making the playoff's will just result in a swift exit or not. This is the stuff that makes LG exciting people.

#8- Chicago Bulls 12-18 (1-5)

Unfortunately I don't have much to say about the Bulls, its been the same story all season, their first line is responsible for 8 of their 12 wins this season and this week they didn't even manage to field a lineup for their 2nd line games. Their first line is good, they've knocked off some solid teams but with no second line and the fact that their first line probably won't be able to carry them very far in the playoffs its looking like a playoff birth will most likely result in a quick exit for the Bulls. Matching up with the Cavs this week means there's a solid chance that they'll have a free win, they'll need to pull out 3 more on top of that to clinch a playoff spot, if not they're currently even with the Nugs on the season series and have a 2-1 advantage over the Lakers. In reality, a win against the Nugs in Wednesdays opener will most likely clinch them a spot in the playoffs, lets just hope if they do make it that they can put something together as they'll likely meet the Suns in the first round.

#9- Los Angeles Lakers 10-20 (1-5)

They're currently holding onto that last playoff spot by the skin of their teeth but things are really not looking good for the Lakers, their only win this week was a ff by the Cavs, although they almost managed to beat the Celtics and Nugs they fell short in both and had no success anywhere else. They had 2 extremely important games this past week against the Bulls and Nuggets and the fact that they dropped both of those and currently face 5 playoff teams and the Nugs next week means their season and playoff hopes aren't looking pretty, including the fact that the Bulls and Nugs are also most likely going to benefit from a Cavs teams that's given up they currently would sit one game behind Denver meaning they'll have to pull out some serious upsets this week to hold onto that last playoff spot. Their roster though is actually quite promising, if they decide to say fuck it and throw their game 5 line at their 3 best chances to win this week they may actually have a chance, we'll just have to wait and see if they can pull it off.

#10- Cleveland Cavaliers 1-29 (0-6)

It's rough to see a team have a season like this, their owner came in as a brand new player to LG and quit in the 2nd week, I want to personally apologize to every player on the Cavs roster, you will have better seasons than this, there's nowhere to go but up from here. That being said with the looming probability that they will FF all 6 games next week its almost official that this seasons Cavs are the worst team (record wise) in LGBA history.

Next week is Playoff and Award predictions, stay tuned.