Tim Duncan’s injury should cause great concern for a Spurs team that could really use the home court advantage in the Western Conference.  The Lakers are on a tear, and never has the play of San Antonio’s bench been more important than in these last 12 games.

As of late Tuesday night, the Bulls surpassed the Celtics for the first spot in the Eastern Conference.  No longer firing warning shots across the bow, we have a full-blown war at the top of the Eastern Conference.  Literally every single game matters immensely as the Bulls, Celtics, and Heat will fight to sort out the 1, 2, and 3 position.  If Tuesday’s blowout of the Hawks in Atlanta is any indication, Chicago has no plans of slowing anytime soon.

Regardless of the challenges they face, the Lakers will always have #24 on the floor.  Bryant has been trotting around the Staples Center making his Mamba-face, so we know it must be getting close to April/May.  Regardless of all the doubt, we knew deep down this team would hit its stride right before the playoffs, and they have.  A lot of that can be credited to the health and play of Andrew Bynum over the last month, but a lot of it is just the Lakers being the Lakers.

The schedule guru’s put together a final stretch that favors the boys in South Beach, and the Heat will have every opportunity to try and catch Boston and Chicago.  Only two of Miami’s final 12 games are against playoff-caliber teams, one of those being a Sunday afternoon battle with the Celtics on April 10.  With the way LeBron has been playing recently, it is not unimaginable that Miami could be competing for top seeds in that matchup.

The Celtics got so up for their game Monday, it might have showed in their loss to the Grizzlies.  Not great execution down the stretch, but enough of a red flag to be concerned at all about the state of Celtics basketball.  They’ll need to play mistake-free basketball though, can’t have another 20 turnover game in the playoffs.

After tearing through a series of Eastern Conference opponents, the Thunder have put themselves in a position to make a run at Dallas and overtake the 3 seed in the Western Conference.  Luckily, the final games on the schedule don’t feature a complete crop of the Western elite.  As long as the Thunder take care of business, they should be able to win around 9 of their final 13 games on the schedule.

Orlando Magic

Dwight Howard deserves a bigger argument in the MVP discussion.  While what Derrick Rose has done across the entire season has been incredible, Howard is doing as much with less.  Howard is averaging more than 16 rebounds a game in Orlando’s last 10, and his current average on the season is 14.3.

With ten games left on the schedule, it is unlikely that the Nuggets can make up the four games  that separate them from a home-court advantage in the first round.  Which is good news for Oklahoma City, considering Denver’s 29-7 record at the Pepsi Center is one of the best in the NBA.  Regardless, with the way both teams are playing right now it will shape up to be a fantastic first round battle.

The Blazers have  been playing exceptionally well recently, and have won four of their last five.  They find themselves battling for position in the bottom half of the Western Conference playoff race.  Three games separate 5th plaice from 8th, and nobody wants to play San Antonio or Los Angeles.  Considering that, and the tough schedule down the stretch, Portland’s best basketball of the year should probably start now.

The Rockets have scratched and clawed and fought their way back into the playoff hunt.  Winners of five straight (and 7 of their last 9), Houston sits just two games behind a Memphis squad lacking Rudy Gay.  Kyle Lowry continues his breakout season, and even Chuck Hayes is getting triple-doubles.  Something is in the water down in Texas, and the Grizzlies have every reason to be concerned.

There is no denying the outlook is bleak for a Memphis team that won’t have Rudy Gay for the rest of the season.  With how well the Rockets are playing, they will need to give themselves a chance to win almost every night down the stretch.  Thankfully for Memphis fans, they already are doing just that.  On Wednesday night the Grizzlies did the unthinkable, walking into Boston without Gay and walking out victorious.  It was a complete team effort, with ten players seeing at least 11 minutes and six scoring in double-figures.  They will need more of that if they plan on keeping on a lock on that last postseason berth.

I completely realize that they are the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference according to the standings.  But these are “power rankings.”  The Hawks have shown very little “power” recently, particularly a complete no-show against the Bulls at home on Tuesday.  The Hawks have lost 7 of their last 10 and look like they will be a cupcake in the first round unless they turn things in another direction soon.

If there are any Doug Collins doubters left, they haven’t been watching Philadelphia at all in the second half of the season.    The Sixers surpassed New York in the standings for the 6th spot, and now even give themselves a chance to catch Atlanta for the 5th.  The ultimate goal in the East right now is to avoid Chicago/Boston/Miami at all costs.  If Philadelphia continues to play at a higher level than Atlanta (like they did on Wednesday night), this young team might achieve that goal.

The Hornets have turned it around since nearly falling out of the playoff race last month.  Their own “big three” of Chris Paul, David West, and Emeka Okafor are healthy and playing well.  They should be safe in their playoff status, but will need some major improvements on the offensive if they want to make the first round interesting.

The Suns are playing some of their best ball since the mega-trade, and now have made the Western Conference race interesting.  Phoenix has won three of their last four, with their only loss coming at the hands of the Lakers in triple overtime.    A lot of credit is due to the play of Aaron Brooks and the rest of the Suns’ bench.  Unfortunately, the final stretch includes a five game road trip and eight games against teams with +.500 records.

New York Knicks

This needs no additional attention.  The Knicks have performed worse since acquiring Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets.  One point that is less discussed is the injury to Chauncey Billups.  Bringing in Billups then losing him for six games could have altered the team’s development and chemistry.  That’s one of the last reasonable explanations I’ve got.  Regardless, the Knicks need to find some other answers fast.

The post-Sloan Jazz are now 5-12, and it seems like the days of dominance in Utah might be over.  Now the Jazz can only hope for Jimmer Fredette to come over after graduation in Provost and take over as the new face of the franchise.

The Pacers lost 7 of 9, and still are sitting in a position to make it to the postseason for the first time since 2006.  Hansbrough has continued his breakout month, averaging 21.0 points and 7.6 rebounds in his last 10 games.

If the Bucks can’t even get it together to beat the Knicks at home, I have no idea what can be expected from them.  Easily one of the more inconsistent teams in the conference, they never got a chance to really get used to each other with a healthy roster.  Playoff potential gone sour.  Hate to see it, but it’s an annual occurrence.

Another season of missed opportunity, but Golden State fans have to like the possibilities moving forward.  With Dorrell Wright’s production since the All-Star break, the Warriors have a solid core of players to build around.  The addition of a lottery pick and maybe some free agency moves could have them ready to make another run in 2011-2012.

Such a nasty dunk, too bad it didn’t count.

Despite all the off-court drama, it is good to see the Pistons still competing.  The drive is a mark of true professionals, but I still think this team needs to be blown up in the offseason to end this painful relationship between coach-management-players.

Charlotte Bobcats

It does not say much for the Eastern Conference that the Bobcats traded away their best player, have lost eight of their last ten games, and still have a shot to make the playoffs.  We might be focusing on the race at the top, but man we are missing this intense mediocrity at the bottom!

The Nets will absolutely need to make some moves if they want to keep Deron Williams.  The pieces they gave away clearly left some holes in this roster, and New Jersey is not ready to compete for the postseason as they are.

Now we enter the Chad Ford division of the power rankings.  At this point in the season, these teams have fans that are just re-hitting the “Play Lottery” simulator to see what pick they might achieve and who they could get at that spot.

It looks like Sacramento might be moving to Anaheim after all.  I feel bad Sac-town, but maybe the move will invigorate a franchise that hasn’t seen the postseason since 2006.

Minnesota’s players are backing Kurt Rambis. Seriously?  Wasn’t that the same coach who wasn’t giving minutes to Kevin Love?

JaVale McGee has made a habit of highlight swatting recently.  I’m not complaining, it at least energizes a crowd that seems ready to quit on the Wizards.

A roster that you would already consider depleted talent-wise is depleted health-wise.  Not pretty for anyone to watch.