In the bottom half of the the Week 12 NBA Power Rankings, several teams on the cusp of playoff contention hang steady. But the L.A. Clippers, led by the unstoppable Blake Griffin, are making moves, darting out of the bottom third as the season reaches the midway point. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Nets slide (almost) all the way out of the picture.
16. Houston Rockets (19-23, Prev: #16) -- How snakebitten are the Rockets? Forget the injuries. Houston has actually outscored opponents this season ... but sits four games under .500 due to a string of close losses.
17. Indiana Pacers (16-22, Prev: #18) -- Indiana began the week with great back-to-back wins over the Mavericks and 76ers. But a handy loss to the Bulls and Monday's sonning by Blake Griffin has the Pacers right back to square one. Where square one is the East's No. 7 spot.
18. Philadelphia 76ers (17-23, Prev: #17) -- Battling Indiana for that spot are the 76ers, who, of these mediocre Eastern teams packed together, stands the best chance of reaching .500. You'd think that the defense would be better than No. 14, but then you realize Spencer Hawes is the starting center. Too bad.
19. Los Angeles Clippers (15-25, Prev: #21) -- The Clippers had a pair of signature wins, beating the Heat and Lakers. But in the middle there, they lost to the Warriors. Give this team a starting-level small forward with defensive chops, and we'll be talking about the Clippers a lot differently next year.
20. Phoenix Suns (18-21, Prev: #20) -- Just when you thought the Suns were finally dead, the team pulls off a three-game win streak, with two of the games (Portland, New York) coming against good teams. Despite that, Phoenix is still 2.5 games out of the playoffs.
21. Milwaukee Bucks (14-24, Prev: #19) -- What's it going to take to get Milwaukee's offense on track? You could point to Brandon Jennings' approaching return, but the Bucks' attack was awful before his injury, too. Milwaukee went out to acquire two good scorers -- Corey Maggette and Drew Gooden -- and paid big to keep the team's best incumbent scorer (John Salmons). But it's not working, and Scott Skiles doesn't seem particularly equipped to figure it out.
22. Golden State Warriors (17-23, Prev: #22) -- The Warriors are 2-0 on a current four-game homestand, with wins over the Clippers and Nets. The Pacers and Kings follow. A 4-0 homestand has never looked so right.
23. Charlotte Bobcats (15-24, Prev: #26) -- The Paul Silas magic finally fell apart a bit, with three straight losses. But the one win last week came over the Bulls, and two losses were found in a back-to-back against Boston and New Orleans. The MLK Day loss to the Sixers hurts, but time is on Charlotte's side.
24. Detroit Pistons (15-26, Prev: #24) -- John Kuester, thought to be the leader in the clubhouse for "next coach fired," has the Pistons on a three-game win streak following Monday's shocking victory over the Mavericks. But the schedule gets extraordinarily sticky over the next two weeks. Will Kuester survive?
25. Toronto Raptors (13-28, Prev: #23) -- The Raptors have dropped four straight, and look much like what most thought they would. It's going to take either a grand free agency or trade heist, or a couple years of high draft picks to right the ship.
26. Minnesota Timberwolves (10-32, Prev: #27) -- We're going to borrow a post-game tweet from SB Nation's Wolves blog Canis Hoopus, presented following Minnesota's loss to Portland on Monday night.
Wes Johnson, DNP-CD; Jonny Flynn, 15 min, 2 points; Ricky Rubio, tanning. What an awesome use of top lotto picks.
Yep.
27. Washington Wizards (12-27, Prev: #28) -- The 0-19 road record is impossible to ignore, but Washington has a bit of home court swag going. The Wizards are 12-8 at the Verizon Center, and have won four straight at home. Phoenix, Boston and Denver are the next three visitors, though.
28. Sacramento Kings (9-30, Prev: #29) -- Has a team ever had a successful 1-5 road trip? The Kings had a chance to win five of the six games late, but pulled out just a victory over the Knicks. Some would call that trip a massive failure all told. But if the goal is personal improvement and another really high draft pick ...
29. New Jersey Nets (10-31, Prev: #25) -- The Nets should probably set a deadline for the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes, because the uncertainty can't be helping New Jersey as we move along. Even in the East, the playoffs are quickly becoming a pipe dream.
30. Cleveland Cavaliers (8-32, Prev: #30) -- The Cavaliers have one win since November. Of the team's next eight opponents, only two have losing records. Fun times in C-Town.