Friday, December 26th, 2008 at 2:30 am  |  73 responses

Links: The Dirty 30

Yes they can! The Lake Show returns to prime time with a big win.

by Lang Whitaker

First of all, happy holla-days to everyone out there. It’s late the night after Christmas, and I’m here at the computer, typing away. And what a Christmas Day it was, with a collection of great games. The main event, Boston and L.A., tipped in L.A.’s favor. This doesn’t mean the Lakers are suddenly absolved from losing in the NBA Finals, but it should provide some measure of relief and, perhaps, revenge for the Lake Show.

Before we get Dirty, one more thing I wanted to mention, mostly in response to some of the comments from week to week: I rank these teams using a combination of criteria, including record, head-to-head, who’s hot, etc. But the overriding criteria in my mind is this: If I was an NBA head coach, which team would I least want to face in a game tonight? That’s my eternal question. What follows is my answer, at least for this week.

(And yes, I am totally slacking on a comment for each team this week. I will say this, though: You lose 13 games in a row, you get the bottom spot. Merry Christmas!)

RANK PREVIOUS TEAM RECORD
1. 2. Los Angeles Lakers 24-5
2. 1. Boston Celtics 27-3
3. 3. Cleveland Cavaliers 24-4
4. 6. Orlando Magic 23-6
5. 7. San Antonio Spurs 19-10
6. 4. Denver Nuggets 18-11
7. 8. Houston Rockets 19-10
8. 10. Atlanta Hawks 18-10
9. 5. New Orleans Hornets 16-9
10. 9. Portland Trailblazers 18-12
11. 14. Dallas Mavericks 17-11
12. 12. Utah Jazz 17-13
13. 13. Phoenix Suns 16-12
14. 17. Miami Heat 15-12
15. 11. Detroit Pistons 15-11
16. 15. New Jersey Nets 14-14
17. 21. Milwaukee Bucks 14-16
18. 18. Philadelphia 76ers 12-16
19. 20. Chicago Bulls 13-15
20. 16. New York Knicks 11-16
21. 19. Toronto Raptors 11-17
22. 22. Charlotte BETcats 10-19
23. 24. Indiana Pacers 10-18
24. 23. Memphis Grizzlies 9-19
25. 25. Los Angeles Clippers 8-20
26. 26. Golden State Warriors 8-22
27. 27. Sacramento Kings 7-22
28. 28. Washington Wizards 4-22
29. 30. Oklahoma City Thunder 3-26
30. 29. Minnesota L-Wolves 4-23
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  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 2:36 am
    Thanks Santa!

  • blackjack Posted: Dec.26 at 2:44 am
    The Celtics should still be #1. They won 19 in a row, they were bound to have a bad night.

  • AZ Posted: Dec.26 at 3:04 am
    Free Chris Paul!

  • Joey Posted: Dec.26 at 3:07 am
    they were bond to have a bad night, but when that’s too a team that has a similar record, it’s hard to argue

  • Joey Posted: Dec.26 at 3:08 am
    wow i need hooked on foniks >.<

  • mhcranberry Posted: Dec.26 at 3:10 am
    I am in no way unbiased about this, but ranking the Lakers above the Celtics when the former lost more games in the last week than the latter has since November– this seems a bit odd to me. One game is one game, no matter how hyped.

  • Tekno Posted: Dec.26 at 4:11 am
    Lang, you’d rather play the Hornets rather than the Hawks?

  • Young Chris MP3 Posted: Dec.26 at 4:30 am
    Agree with blackjack.

  • MyKal Posted: Dec.26 at 4:43 am
    I like this setup. Last week’s Dirrty Thirrty table looked horrible.

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Dec.26 at 4:46 am
    Chris Paul’s streak fizzled along with Boston’s. JVG mentioned something about KG cheap-shotting Vujacic that wasn’t shown on camera. Anyone have more info on this? Besides lame jokes about it?

  • MyKal Posted: Dec.26 at 5:02 am
    the double-double r-r’s were double i-i-in-intentional intentional. <- say real slow and in a deep @ss voice, then add some unnecessary dj scratches. I’m chopping & screwing my comments.

  • Darksaber Posted: Dec.26 at 6:48 am
    Oh?? the lakerboys won a regular season game and stopped a celtics streak? Meh.

  • COME ONE Posted: Dec.26 at 7:10 am
    here we go Lakers here we go!!!

  • j4zz m4n Posted: Dec.26 at 7:14 am
    i told you lakers would win.now ley’s not get ahead of ourselves and keep the streak alive for at least 7 games

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 7:14 am
    Lang’s Dirty 30 system should replace the BCS.

  • Simon S.Y Lawy Posted: Dec.26 at 7:23 am
    yes we can, i luv the kobe’s dunk… go go lakers

  • Darksaber Posted: Dec.26 at 7:31 am
    Belated Christmas greetings to the Slam-Fam. Hope y’all digested the turkey well.
    X-Mas day games were off the HOOK. (apart from N’awlins caving in against the Magic). Shaq even brought out some vintage moves against TD, he sure loves playing the T-Robot. And Dallas (smallllll ballllll + on fire Dirk = wins.) dissected Portland from allover the court, yessss. Josh Howard, wtf man? Wanna get traded, SAY IT. The altercation with Joel was so unnecessary.

  • blackice87 Posted: Dec.26 at 8:45 am
    this has nothing to do with anything….but this link is hilarious. I probably wouldn’t have posted this if the raptors didn’t suck……this girl is probably lying anywayys. anyhoo enjoy http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhA938S4b13Tu4Opqf

  • Bostwik Posted: Dec.26 at 10:55 am
    So the Lakers beat the Celtics, but how come everyone seems to have forgotten about the 2 consecutive losses to the Florida teams?

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Dec.26 at 11:01 am
    I’d much rather play the Lakers than the Celtics.

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 11:13 am
    @Bostwik:Because they won’t be playing Orlando or Miami in the Finals.

  • Static Posted: Dec.26 at 11:37 am
    Great da in bball…the most profound was Shaq hitting free throws once the Spurs went Hack-a-Shaq and Phoenix still manages to lose…and for some reason I’m not sure how the refs managed to not catch Ariza out of bounds both times he “saved” the ball…at least all the games weren’t decided until late so plenty of good ball to watch all day

  • Static Posted: Dec.26 at 11:37 am
    *day…duh

  • 007 Posted: Dec.26 at 11:38 am
    Fluke..C wins it. bet…?

  • Bigi Posted: Dec.26 at 11:38 am
    Yes We Can…Go Lakers!If You’re scared…

  • 007 Posted: Dec.26 at 11:40 am
    NBA..where fixing to make it interesting happens..

  • DUHON IS GOD Posted: Dec.26 at 12:09 pm
    orlando has to be on top of cleveland… lebron didnt show up so the refs played for the cavs. cheap game and washington won that game in my mind. orlando beats new orleans by 20 and beat L.A.? their lookin pretty nice right now

  • DUHON IS GOD Posted: Dec.26 at 12:09 pm
    orlando has to be on top of cleveland… lebron didnt show up so the refs played for the cavs. cheap game and washington won that game in my mind. orlando beats new orleans by 20 and beat L.A.? their lookin pretty nice right now

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 12:15 pm
    I didn’t watch enough of the Cavs game to know what the refs did but Orlando is right there in the East.

  • Young Chris MP3 Posted: Dec.26 at 1:27 pm
    Ray Allen and Eddie House will never go 3 for 114 from 3 again.

  • Young Chris MP3 Posted: Dec.26 at 1:27 pm
    3 for 14. Sorry

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 1:52 pm
    They will with Bynum in the lineup holding down the paint. When you don’t have to worry about giving up uncontested layups you tend to play a lot better perimeter D.

  • Static Posted: Dec.26 at 2:00 pm
    Too bad Bynum isn’t quite holding down the paint like he should. All Boston had to do was watch film and see that once you get in the paint he’s gonna bite and he hasn’t figured out how to stay out of foul trouble when these guards are flying at him

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 2:24 pm
    Your right Static, Doc Rivers just wasn’t nearly as observant as you where last night. If only you where an assitant coach for the Celtics, you could’ve tipped him off or something.

  • Josh D Posted: Dec.26 at 2:40 pm
    Watch out for the Spurs,they’re joint 2nd in da west and they haven’t even had they’re post All Star break run yet

  • Eboy Posted: Dec.26 at 2:43 pm
    B. Long, overconfident and sounding stupid as always. Did you get rings for last night game? Or a trophy….or just a move up on Lang’s list?

  • Cheryl Posted: Dec.26 at 2:51 pm
    I’m loving Orlando right now. I hope Jameer can keep up the hot streak. And I hope it’s actually that he has improved his game and not a “hot streak” at all. And are the Spurs in the Suns’ heads or what?!?

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 2:51 pm
    @E:Not Quite? 8-)

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 2:56 pm
    @E: Not Quite?

  • bbfan Posted: Dec.26 at 3:01 pm
    where’s the post up? wanted to read about the other games

  • Bryan Posted: Dec.26 at 3:32 pm
    Greetings from NY.It was an excellent game by the Lakers. The Celtics were bound to have a bad night but their night wasn’t really bad, Kg was hitting everything, Paul Pierce played ok Ray Allen just had some d in his face because of the presence of Bynum it doesn’t change the world but they can build on this. These Lakers seem like the team that turns on and off the switch which is a dangerous game to play especially when the Celts don’t seem to have an off switch on their intensity. Hopefully this game will help them realize not to take anymore nights off and maybe they’ll rip off 15 in a row or something.

  • riggs Posted: Dec.26 at 4:17 pm
    nice home cooking by the refs, loved it how when the celtics “fouled” it was called on, but when the lakers fouled it was “the refs are letting them play it out” f*cking BS

  • Anton Posted: Dec.26 at 4:48 pm
    it’s a cold day in hell when the Pistons are ranked below the Mavs

  • Chris21 Posted: Dec.26 at 5:06 pm
    Yes, the celtics had a bad nite, but why is evry laker fan saying how “good they are now”? People who are laker fans are saying how bynum -yes bynum- will own the defensive paint!! its bullsh**, if he owns the paint, then they wouldnt have suffered stupid losses against sacremento and miami!!!, at least boston have lost against good teams!! lets just remember what happened in the playoffs game 6…..completely demolished is an understatement

  • MalevolentKing7242 Posted: Dec.26 at 5:18 pm
    The streak is snapped for Boston get over it you Celtic crybabies. You won 19 games in a row and its just one loss in the REGULAR season…(No bad feelings to Cs fans) To bad for CP3s Steal streak though…

  • Myles Brown Posted: Dec.26 at 5:31 pm
    Its all over! The Lakers are gonna trample the rest of the league! Told you! Nyah, nyah! Oh….what? It’s still December? Well then. Carry on.

  • BETCATS Posted: Dec.26 at 5:57 pm
    #22 to #1`will be the biggest jump in Dirty 30 History. Count on it.

  • Anton Posted: Dec.26 at 6:07 pm
    Celtics will still get home court in the finals so Lakers are screwed anyway.
    A narrow win at home isn’t exactly “revenge”. Coming back from 24 point deficit and winning a game is. Winning game 6 by 37 is.

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 6:31 pm
    @Chris:The Pacers are a good team?
    @Anton: Who was the white girl again?
    The Lakers have a long ways to go but yesterday was a good win for them, no more, no less. Just remember, THIS IS NOT LAST YEAR.

  • Ganchan Posted: Dec.26 at 6:32 pm
    It’s a lose/lose situation for the lakers, they won but it was at home and they didn’t dominate the game in the least so I think Lang is the only one that truly believes they are ranked higher than the Celtics. If they had’ve lost they would be ranked in a lot of our minds lower than Cavs/Orlando so all in all they did their job and got the W at home and they are still in the upper echelon, right where they should be. Celtics 1a Lakeshow 1b

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 6:39 pm
    Ganchan is the only sane person posting today.

  • Orlando Green Posted: Dec.26 at 6:39 pm
    It felt so good to see the Lakers burn the celtics, win, stop the streak and most importantly, last year’s Rockets streak is still number 2.

  • Anton Posted: Dec.26 at 6:42 pm
    @ B.Long I was paid by ESPN to start drama

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.26 at 6:44 pm
    @Anton:Do you also give Stuart Scott ebonics lessons for them?

  • tealish Posted: Dec.26 at 7:11 pm
    Chris21: The reffing wasn’t *that* one-sided. Home-cooking for sure, but they’re the Lakers –you expect a little of that even on the road.

  • tealish Posted: Dec.26 at 7:12 pm
    It was a nice W for the Lakers. I just don’t think it puts them above the C’s though… Whatever!

  • MeloMan13 Posted: Dec.26 at 7:33 pm
    that game didnt mean anything. the celtics clearly didnt care about it as much as the Lakers. Phil played his starters like the whole game…Doc’s not worried. he know that this means nothing compared to the games in June…..LMAO lakersfans actin like they won the Chip

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Dec.26 at 7:36 pm
    Melo – no, Lakers fans just acting like they beat Boston on Christmas Day, with every real basketball fan watching. Rondo got Bynum’d. And KG played out of his mind, and the Celtics STILL lost. But the real deal is – can L.A. win in Boston? We’ll find out in February.

  • tealish Posted: Dec.26 at 7:59 pm
    I wouldn’t say KG played out of his mind. He shot well. Didn’t dominate as he can, at all. Pierce was average. Ray Allen was off. Rondo marginalized with some foul trouble. Meh, even from that game, C’s still look too good for the Lakers in a 7 game series.

  • Anton Posted: Dec.26 at 8:39 pm
    That Hornets loss stung more. Those guys need to get intense and consistent, fast.

  • BETCATS Posted: Dec.26 at 9:05 pm
    i watched the Magic game (terrible second half after very intresting 1st half), the Suns game (Shaq can still play, the Suns will be dangerous even though they lost), and the last 5 minutes of the Cavs game (IT WAS A CHARGE, WIZARDS FANS GET OVER YOURSELVES). And yet i missed the best game of the day. Silly me. Also the first 10 points the Blazers scored convinced me they were gonna win, i turned off the TV and went to bed. Silly me agian.

  • Anton Posted: Dec.27 at 12:34 am
    now we gotta wait until Feb for the re-re-rematch and sweeps month for good quality games

  • Mike Posted: Dec.27 at 1:04 am
    looks like the celtics are working a new kind of streak

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Dec.27 at 1:48 am
    How bout them Celtics? Not so invincible anymore, eh?

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Dec.27 at 2:11 am
    The Lakers game meant so little to the Celtics that it completely threw them off course and it led to a loss to the Warriors.

  • B. Long Posted: Dec.27 at 9:06 am
    ^lmao

  • Caleb Posted: Dec.27 at 6:15 pm
    That Lakers win didn’t really mean a whole lot. I mean, the Lake show did beat Boston 2 out of 3 times during the Finals when the games were in LA. It was a hell of game entertainment wise, and probably meant a lot the the players themselves… but I disagree with all the pundits who think it really showed us anything about these two teams. There’s still way too much basketball to play. On a different note… the Hornets getting beatdown was painful for me, but they rebounded against Houston and controlled that game last night. They ought to be ranked above Houston and Atlanta in my mind.

  • BETCATS Posted: Dec.27 at 7:42 pm
    EMEKA POSTERIZED RYAN ANDERSON ON FRIDAY!!!

  • Jacob Posted: Dec.27 at 7:54 pm
    you should start calling the thunder the oklahoma city blunder

  • BETCATS Posted: Dec.27 at 7:58 pm
    OKAFOR JUST DUNKED ON YI THEN STOPED YI’S DUNK ATTEMPT! THAT IS 2 NIGHTS 2 POSTERS!!! WHATS A OKAFOR? DUNKING ALL OVER NJ!!

  • uptown kid Posted: Dec.28 at 12:04 am
    isnt he the same guy that got tea bagged by d wade the other night…that makes 3 poster…

  • Joey Posted: Dec.28 at 12:53 am
    Boston lost to GSW
    these rankings look a lot better now

  • BETCATS Posted: Dec.28 at 9:00 am
    yeah, JJ Hickson and Wade got him. But he got Ryan Anderson (the not so great white hope) and Yi (the dude ESPN called ’50 cent’ on draft night)

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