Last Place Update - January 1

Happy New Year and welcome to the first Last Place Update of 2013.

   The 4-24 Washington Wizards are this week's Kings of the Cellar. The Wizards are 1-9 in their last ten games and 2-11 in their last 13. They lead the 7-25 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 7-23 New Orleans Hornets by one and two games respectively.

   This week's honorable mention goes to the 12-19 Dallas Mavericks. They are 1-10 in their last eleven games, losers of six straight. They beat out the Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic, who also lost six straight and Orlando lost to bad teams.

   And what happened to the defending Kings of the Cellar champion, the 8-23 Charlotte Bobcats? They win a game and nearly pull themselves off the Update's radar. Even if it is one game, way to go Bobcats!

   Since the last update, Washington went 1-2, beating the Magic. New Orleans went 2-1 with wins over the Bobcats and Magic. Although Cleveland wasn't covered in last week's Next Loss, the Cavs went 1-2, with their lone win coming against the Wizards.

  The Bobcats were 3-25 after 28 games last season, as were the 1973 Philadelphia 76ers at the same point.

Next Losses...

   Washington hosts honorable mention Dallas today, then goes to Indiana to play the Pacers tomorrow. The Wizards host the  Brooklyn Nets on Friday and finish the week by going to Chicago to play the Bulls on Saturday. This could be an 0-fer, but if the Mavericks continue their losing ways, the former Bullets can go 1-3. If the Wizards put a couple of good games together, they could go 2-2, but chances are, it's an 0-fer or a 1-3 run.

   Cleveland hosts the Sacramento Kings tomorrow and then go to Charlotte to beat, uh, play the Bobcats on Friday. The Cavaliers wrap up the week with a home game against the Houston Rockets. Cleveland should go 1-3, but could have an 0-fer if Charlotte does to them what they did to the Bulls.

   New Orleans hosts the Atlanta Hawks today and then spend the next couple of games in Texas. They go to Houston to play the Rockets on Wednesday and finish the week by playing the Mavericks in Dallas on Saturday. Based on the Hornets' youth and the way their opponents have been playing, New Orleans should go 1-2, but could go 2-1 again and if they play to potential, they could even have a 3-fer.

   Charlotte has a short week. They host Cleveland on Friday and then go to Detroit to play the Pistons. This should be an 0-fer, but if they play like they did against the Bulls, the Bobcats could go 1-2.

Other Thoughts...

   The Los Angeles Clippers now have the best record in the NBA. Hats off to an historically hapless team who now plays like champions. The 25-6 Clippers won their last 17 games.

   With all the NFL firings, the one surprise is the Chicago Bears sacking Lovie Smith. He led his team to a 10-6 record after a mediocre 8-8 record last season. He was the best head coach the Bears had since Mike Ditka and was the only one, other than Ditka, to lead the Bears to a Super Bowl. Smith will be a head coach somewhere next season.

   Now that head coach Sean Payton is back, some New Orleans Saints fans are calling next season The Wrath of Sean. If the Saints can improve on their worst ever defense..well, anything is an improvement...they could surprise some teams.

  During the Wild Card round, it's fun to guess who could make an impact further in the playoffs. In the AFC, it's a toss-up between Houston and Baltimore, with the nod going to the Texans. In the NFC, it's a toss-up between Green Bay and Washington. Although the Packers would make the greater impact, the Redskins are the true wild card in the playoffs. They have a 5-3 road record and won their last seven games. However, their three road wins in that streak are against teams with losing records. Then again, that's why they play the game.

   Happy New Year and have a great day!!!