The Heat have looked destined to be the second seed in the Eastern Conference all season.
The Pacers grew a healthy lead thanks to a hot start and Miami’s variety of issues, including old age and Dwyane Wade’s knees. But after a second straight hot February, the Heat have closed to within one game of the Pacers in the loss column, and have a chance to overtake them with two head-to-head matchups left on the schedule.
(Last week’s rankings in parentheses)
1. Heat (4):Â They survived against the Bulls on Sunday without LeBron James, who was out with a broken nose.
2. Rockets (2): Houston has one loss in its past 10 games, and it came on the second half of a back-to-back in overtime to the Warriors last week. We’ll see how high up the standings they can go.
3. Thunder (1): Russell Westbrook has returned to the fold after the Thunder remained atop the Western Conference in his absence. That might be the most impressive feat of the entire season.
4. Pacers (5): After adding Evan Turner at the trade deadline, the Pacers have plenty of ammunition to go toe-to-toe with the Heat come late May and early June. The question now is whether or not they’ll have homecourt advantage.
5. Mavericks (6): Dallas continues to rattle off wins, though they can’t manage to move up from the bottom of the Western Conference playoff spots. The West playoffs will be something to watch.
6. Spurs (9): San Antonio is managing to survive all of its injuries and getting its guys back while hanging onto the second spot in the West, only a couple of games behind the Thunder for first.
7. Clippers (3): With Chris Paul back, the Clippers have to make sure they hold off the Warriors and Suns for first place in the Pacific Division, in order to avoid an even more difficult first-round matchup than they’ll already have.
8. Suns (7): When Eric Bledsoe went down, there was a question about whether or not the plucky Suns would be able to survive it. Instead, Goran Dragic went crazy and kept the Suns plugging along.
9. Warriors (10): Golden State is getting a renaissance from Jermaine O’Neal over the past few games while Andrew Bogut recovers from his shoulder issue.
10. Grizzlies (11): The Grizzlies have done a nice job of rebounding from their poor start, but it’s going to be tough for Memphis to surpass either the Mavericks or Suns to sneak into the playoffs.
11. Trail Blazers (8): The hot start is beginning to wear off as injuries mount for the first time this season, and Portland is slipping down the Western Conference standings.
12. Raptors (13): After keeping their team together at the trade deadline, the Raptors have a four-game lead over the Nets as they try to win the second division title in team history.
13. Bulls (16): It’s amazing to see how the Bulls keep winning after losing Derrick Rose for the season and sending Luol Deng to Cleveland a month ago.
14. Nets (12): The Nets made history Sunday by signing Jason Collins, but it was much more important basketball-wise to have Deron Williams play like an All-Star again.
15. Wizards (14): Reports out of the nation’s capital have Nene potentially out for the season with a knee injury. The snake-bitten history of the Wizards continues.
16. Bobcats (17): In a season full of impressive coaching jobs, what Steve Clifford is doing in Charlotte may get lost. It’s looking more and more like he’s going to drag this team into the playoffs, which would be remarkable.
17. Pistons (18): If Detroit winds up missing the playoffs, the back-to-back losses to the Bobcats coming out of the All-Star break might be the reason why.
18. Cavaliers (27): The Cavaliers have finally started to get their season turned around after firing general manager Chris Grant. But five games out of a playoff spot, is it too little too late?
19. Timberwolves (22): With the playoffs looking like a long shot – the Timberwolves are 6 1/2 games out of the eighth spot – the focus will soon shift solely to Kevin Love’s future.
20. Pelicans (21): Anthony Davis is outstanding. But when you look at the moves the Pelicans have made over the last 12 months or so, is it fair to start wondering if this is going to turn into Kevin Garnett in Minnesota all over again?
21. Hawks (15): The Hawks are plummeting in the Eastern Conference, and the the playoffs are now in doubt with Al Horford out for the season and Paul Millsap out indefinitely.
22. Magic (23): Knicks fans got a healthy dose of Victor Oladipo on Friday night, watching the rookie go for 30 points, nine rebounds and 14 assists in Orlando’s double-overtime win and show why he’s been compared to Russell Westbrook.
23. Kings (26): The Kings, 5-5 in their past 10 games, are playing pretty well even as they prioritize the future. Moving Marcus Thornton means more time for Ben McLemore, which is a good thing.
24. Nuggets (19): Things continue to spiral downward in Denver, where Brian Shaw blasted his team for a poor showing against the Bulls on Friday.
25. Celtics (25): With the trade deadline coming and going without the Celtics making any more moves, how long before Rajon Rondo loses his mind in Boston over all the losing this team will do?
26. Jazz (24): Without Derrick Favors, the Jazz simply don’t have the size and heft inside to be competitive. But there’s still a bright future ahead in Salt Lake City.
27. Knicks (20): With losses in eight of their past 10 games, the Knicks are 5 1/2 games behind the Hawks for the final playoff spot in the East. Is there any evidence they can make up that gap?
28. Lakers (28): The most confusing thing about what the Lakers did at the trade deadline is they didn’t deal more of their players. This will be a rough final two months of the season, for sure.
29. Bucks (29): The Bucks shipped out Gary Neal at the trade deadline, but with Larry Sanders likely out for the rest of the season, there’s little to watch in Milwaukee besides Giannis Antetokounmpo.
30. 76ers (30): The Sixers have lost 10 straight, and shipped out two of their four best players – Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner – at the deadline.