Ray Allen's Opener

Allen opened up against his former team well, scoring 19 points in 31 minutes.  The most intriguing part of the night was the fact that the Heat ran no plays for him.  Most of us are used to seeing the Celts offense of last year where Allen would go around a number of screens just to get an "open" jumper.  That won't be happening this year in South Beach.  With three clearly entrenched offensive options, Allen will mostly be working off cuts, catch and shoot, and the occasional pick and roll.  This is what we saw tonight and I won't be surprised to see Allen fending for himself on offense most of this year.

NBA Power Rankings: The Second Tier

Manú is excited that his team is 4th in the DTA power rankings

We continue the power rankings series with the teams just below the top three.  Teams that aren't quite elite yet or just fading from the top.  If you missed part 1 click here.


4. San Antonio Spurs
As long as Gregg Popovich is in charge and the Spurs will always be somewhat of a contender.  This team has been the number one seed in consecutive years, but lost in the playoffs twice.  Lets face, San Antonio will be a top three seed in the west.  Manú and Parker will still run pick and rolls and Duncan will still shoot his bank shot.  Once again, R. C. Buford has assembled a cast of role players whose skills blend perfectly with the big three's.  There is no doubt this team can beat anybody, but we all saw what happened against OKC last year and Memphis the year before that.

5. Boston Celtics
Out with Ray Allen, in with Jason Terry and Courtney Lee.  With the exception of the Jeff Green deal, I loved everything Boston did this offseason.  Terry and Lee can be versatile scorers that can start or come off the pine.  To grab top 7 talent Jared Sullinger with the 21st pick was also huge.  I doubt that the Cs will be able to knock off Miami in the East, but they came as close could last year and should again this season.

6. Indiana Pacers
Another team a whisker away from knocking off Miami was the Pacers.  The Brendan Haywood for Darren Collison trade and the Roy Hibbert max deal were questionable moves.  The Pacers backcourt depth will be limited this year, but an intimidating front line should help that.  The organization knows they are not going to beat the Heat using small ball, Indiana's only chance is to outsize them.  With the expected jump from Paul George, this team should be sitting right where it wants to come playoff time: near the top and ready to make some noise.

Monday: 4 gunning for the four seed