The No. 1 Chicago Bulls sport the NBA's best record entering the final month of the regular season and have likewise earned high marks in Tom Ziller's late NBA Power Rankings.
The Bulls, who sport one of the league's best defenses (88.7 points allowed per game) and better offenses (97.6 points score per game), have a chance of finishing with the second-highest winning percentage in the team's history (ahead of the 1996-97 Bulls, behind the 1995-96 Bulls) in winning percentage -- if they can win out in their final 16 games.
Meanwhile, the No. 4 Miami Heat, who eliminated the Bulls 4-1 in the 2010-11 Eastern Conference Finals, are in the midst of a slide. Two weeks ago, the Bulls were able to beat the Heat 106-102 without their star PG Derrick Rose.
Here is a look at Ziller's top four teams for this week:
| Rank | Team | Record | Last Week | SB Nation Blog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chicago Bulls | 40-10 | W: ORL, TOR x 2 | Blog-a-Bull |
| The Bulls continue to rack up wins even with Derrick Rose bouncing in and out of the lineup. As long as Rose joins the postseason healthy, there's a strong chance Chicago enters an inevitable Eastern finals against Miami as a favorite. | ||||
| 2. | Oklahoma City Thunder | 37-12 | W: POR, LAC, MIN, MIA; L: UTA | Welcome To Loud City |
| Well, that was quite a haymaker thrown by the Thunder on Sunday! The most frightening part of it for everyone watching was that Russell Westbrook was out of sorts. The question is whether the OKC defense can actually handle Miami's offense -- I remain skeptical -- or whether the Heat were just out of sync on the road. | ||||
| 3. | San Antonio Spurs | 33-14 | W: MIN, NO, DAL, PHI | Pounding The Rock |
| When we discard the 2012 Spurs because of the playoff flame-out of the 2011 Spurs, we need to remember that Manu Ginobili was broken in that series against Memphis. He seems OK these days. | ||||
| 4. | Miami Heat | 35-12 | W: PHX, DET; L: OKC | Peninsula Is Mightier |
| Welp. That was not a great performance. | ||||
For updates on the matchup, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage, visit Blog a Bull, and for more news and notes from around the NBA, head over to SB Nation's NBA news hub.
