Welcome sports fans to another weekly edition of Sasky’s Sizzle Rankings. We break down the NBA for you with our 100 point Sizzle Scale.  


The scale ranks teams by On-Court Performance, Watchability, Buzz Around the Team, and Off-Court Intrigue.

This week the name of the game is parity. As of Thursday morning, 10 of the 30 teams were within one game of .500. Additionally three of the six divisions in the league feature a tie at the top of their standings.  It appears the only thing we know for certain at this point is that the Wizards suck. With that, let’s jump in.

30. Washington-23 Sizzle Points- The Wizards are not a good basketball team. Not much more to it until they win at least one game.

29. New Jersey-25 Not a lot of winning going on in Jersey either. The Nets weren’t competitive in any of their four losses this week.

28. Charlotte -28- The Bobcats came back down to earth this week after a ‘hot’ start. They were blown out in three straight games before finally winning against the Knicks on Wednesday night.

27. Cleveland-30- Irving and the Cavs were 2-2 this week but they just aren’t fun to watch. Tristan Thompson is progressing nicely.

26. Detroit-31- The Pistons actually beat Orlando and Indiana this week. Not too bad, but both of those teams were coming off back to backs. Not quite buying them.

25. Milwaukee-32- Losses to Denver and Utah were probably expected for this team and the win against the hapless Wizards doesn’t do much good.

24. Toronto-34- The Raptors were 1-2 this week and are unexpectedly sitting at 3-3. They’re practically playoff contenders in the watered down East.

23. Utah-37
22. Minnesota-38- Both teams are young and can play up or down on any given night. I’ll give the edge to Minnesota just because Ricky Rubio is so damn fun to watch. Love will be playing on All-Star Sundays for a long time the way he looks.

21. Sacramento-40- The Kings had a rough week losing to Chicago, New York and Memphis before beating New Orleans. Still a fun team to watch but they seem to be playing their way out of the division quickly.

20. Houston-43
19. Phoenix-44
18. Golden State-45- Sub .500 teams in the West, the only things that separate these teams at the moment are the players.  Four years ago I loved watching Steve Nash win, these days, I’ll watch Monte Ellis and Stephen Curry lose. Houston looks like an uninspired team after the off-season trade talk. We’ll see how much longer this team stays together as is.

17. New Orleans-48- The Hornets did not play very well this week. Eric Gordon is scoring 21 ppg and looks to be settling in very well in the Big Easy. New Orleans however allows 91 points a game to opponents, not a winning formula.

16. New York-52- The buzz is fading, the new sheen has worn off and it looks like this team could be in trouble. Anthony scored 30+ in losses to Charlotte and Toronto. Ouch. Tyson Chandler is certainly not affecting the Knicks’ ability to defend as much as was advertised.

15. Memphis- 56- Memphis scored a season low 64 points against the Bulls then hit 113 against Sacramento. This team wants to play with the elites but they’re gonna have to be more consistent.

14. Orlando-58- Orlando racked up a 4-1 schedule this week by beating the Wizards, Nets, Bobcats and Raptors. Ryan Anderson is scoring efficiently and is a good compliment to Dwight Howard.

13. Philly- 60- The 76ers find themselves on top of the Atlantic Division, and Jrue Holiday looks like he’s ready to be one of the season’s breakout stars. They’re playing very good ball, and even better, they play like a team. If Boston doesn’t develop consistency they Sixers could find themselves on top for a while.

12. Indiana-65- Speaking of teams without a real star, the Pacers had five different players lead the team in scoring in their four games this week. They were 2-2, but having that kind of depth bodes well for this young athletic team.

11. Boston-68- Boston got fat this week on the back of Washington with a two game sweep of the Wiz kids. They’re still a major injury away from being in big trouble without real depth. We’ll continue to monitor how all these old knees deal with so many games in so little nights.

10. LA Lakers-72- The Lakers also got themselves right this week. Andrew Bynum had some monster games. As he goes, this Lakers team will go. No team in the league can bang with Bynum and Gasol when they’re at their best.

9. San Antonio-74- The Spurs were 2-2 this week and are looking like a team who can turn it on and off. You can bet this squad is just looking to punch a ticket to the dance with no real concern for seeding. Make it to the playoffs healthy, that’s the key.

8. Atlanta-79- The Hawks had some week. An eight point win against the Heat is something to hang their hat on, and a two point loss to the Bulls proves they can play with anyone. The top of the Southeast Division is looking very interesting.

7. Dallas -81- The Champs took some lumps this week but did get a big win against OKC after a two point loss to them earlier in the week. Nowitzki is still playing at a high level but he’s gonna need help over the course of 66 games.

6. LA Clippers-84- The Clip-show are playing some very watchable basketball. They played a highly entertaining game against the Bulls, albeit a loss. In lieu of further words, just watch Blake Griffin dunk.

5. Denver-87- The Nuggets are playing very good ball. Danilo Gallinari keeps showing flashes of brilliance but his 3-point shooting percentage is woeful. They have enough depth to weather the rough schedule, but they’ll need to stay consistent.

4. Portland-90- The Blazers loss to the Clippers was their first of the season. This could be a great story after the Brandon Roy retirement and more Greg Oden trouble. They have 6 players averaging double figures led by LaMarcus Aldridge’s 22 per game.

3. Oklahoma City-92- Took losses to Dallas and Portland on back to back nights this week. Durant is averaging almost four ppg less this year than last, which is actually good for this team. They’re getting a big contribution from James Harden who’s averaging 17 ppg.

2. Chicago-95- The Bulls are picking up where they left off last season. They’re dominating at home, they can play an up-tempo game and they can play lockdown defense. They have all the pieces of a championship team, but they’re just one step behind…..

1. Miami-96- Watch The Throne. LeBron is averaging almost 30 per game and rookie Norris Cole is kicking in some solid contributions. Another game with Atlanta looms this week, we’ll see if they can exact some revenge.

That’s all for now. Until next week, keep your eye on the Sizzle.