The midway point of the season is here. How has your favorite team fared? Below are grades for all 3

The midway point of the season is here. How has your favorite team fared? cheapest car rental in france Below are grades for all 30 teams. cheapest car rental in france Note: Grades take into account performance relative to preseason expectations. (All stats and records are through Jan. 23.)
One of the biggest offseason winners hasn t been bad on the court, either. The Hawks are firmly in the playoff picture and should remain cheapest car rental in france there even after losing the electric Lou Williams to a season-ending knee injury. Josh Smith s uncertain cheapest car rental in france future hangs over this team, but general manager Danny Ferry must be pleased with how well his value-oriented offseason moves played out.
Is there anything working like it s supposed to in Boston? The good news: So many players have underperformed in so many ways that there s not just one whipping boy. Kevin Garnett can only play so many minutes; Paul Pierce is marginally worse than he was last year on offense; cheapest car rental in france Rajon Rondo has been infuriating more often than he s been game-changing; none of the new veteran parts (Jason Terry, Courtney Lee and Leandro Barbosa) have stood out in good ways; and the above-average defense hasn t been quite good enough to cover up for the below-average offense. Coach Doc Rivers has seemingly played every motivational card in his deck just to keep his team near .500. It s possible Boston s season hinges on its first-round playoff opponent more than anything else; if it draws Miami, New York or Chicago (with Derrick Rose), one-and-done seems like a foregone conclusion.
Careful grading the Nets: They look like an A team some weeks (including this one) and an F team other weeks (just ask Avery Johnson and Avery Johnson Jr.). Their current record represents the upper bound of expectations and it s particularly impressive considering the defense is still below average and Deron Williams, by his own admission, cheapest car rental in france hasn t played like the All-Star that he s paid to be. They ve avoided potential pitfalls serious injury to Brook Lopez, an arrest for Andray Blatche and have come together after their crisis point. That counts for something. The violent swings this team has endured from month-to-month are cause for wariness, but they have some quality wins (Thunder, Pacers, Knicks twice, Clippers) that suggest they will be a postseason factor.
There s just no sugar-coating going 37 days between victories, as the Bobcats did from late November until New Year s Eve. That s bad, really bad. Still, the Bobcats have been worse just look at last year. This year s group has hope, thanks to guard Kemba Walker, who has improved his Player Efficiency Rating from 14.9 as a rookie to 19.2 this season, and rookie forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, a blue-chip stud. Five of Charlotte s 10 wins have come against others East also-rans Toronto, Washington (twice), Orlando, Detroit and the Bobcats rank in the bottom three in both offensive and defensive efficiency. The talk of hope here is meant in the long-term sense.
Chicago s relatively weak 13-11 record at the United Center has been the subject of much discussion. Overlooked, perhaps, is Chicago cheapest car rental in france s 20-6 record against the East and 12-5 record cheapest car rental in france on the road, both tops in the conference. Considering that Rose s return from knee surgery is sure to lift Chicago s offense and its home crowd s excitement level, cheapest car rental in france shouldn t the Bulls conference dominance and road success be read as extremely promising cheapest car rental in france postseason indicators? In Rose s absence, Joakim Noah s All-Star play on both ends has been the highlight, Carlos Boozer s re-emergence has been the pleasant surprise and who knew Marco Belinelli, of all people, would have such a flair for late-game dramatics?
This grade might seem generous for a team with only 11 wins, but it s what results when averaging Kyrie Irving s A+ with the F of everything around him. In all seriousness, cheapest car rental in france this Cavaliers season basically boiled down to Irving s development: Would he be able to stay healthy and progress from an incredibly impressive rookie season? So far, the answers have been for the most part on the former (he missed 11 games with a broken finger) and yes on the latter. He s surely headed to Houston for the All-Star Game , which should be the first of a decade s worth of appearances. While the Anderson Varejao season-ending blood clot  was a crushing blow, Tristan cheapest car rental in france Thompson hasn t gotten enough love for stepping up in his absence. In January, Thompson is averaging cheapest car rental in france 14.7 points and 11.6 rebounds cheapest car rental in france while shooting 51.1 percent from the field.  That s promising, and the Cavaliers can use all the promise they can get.
The most interesting question facing the Mavericks down the stretch: How many thousands of dollars in fines will they accrue cheapest car rental in france for whining about the referees in close losses? Owner Mark Cuban and Shawn Marion cheapest car rental in france have both been popped already. Such is the state of disappointment and frustration in Dallas. The season was lost before it even began when Dirk Nowitzki went down and there wasn t enough talent in place to maintain positive momentum. cheapest car rental in france The Mavericks remain only 2½ games out of the No. 8 seed, but a rush up the charts to barely qualify for the postseason will only earn them a quick dismissal cheapest car rental in france by the Thunder, Spurs or Clippers. No wonder Nowitzki is contemplating where this is all headed .
Denver deserves kudos for survival. cheapest car rental in france The Nuggets have had the third-toughest schedule and have played 25 road games, the most in the Western Conference. Even so, they are firmly in second place in the Northwest, right where you would expect them to be, and in the mix for the No. 4 seed. Not bad at all. Look for their No. 7 offense to rise with many Mile High home games left on the schedule.
This has been another in a long line of pointless seasons for the Pistons, who are  stuck in the below-average muck thanks to questionable decision after questionable decision and bad contract after bad contract from management. The worst part of this season has been the franchise s handling of Andre Drummond. One of the most promising cheapest car rental in france and productive rookies in the 2012 class has played 30 minutes or more just twice even though he is averaging 13.6 points, 13.4 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and 1.6 steals per 36 minutes. There s no explanation for that. Making matters cheapest car rental in france worse, Brandon Knight and Greg Monroe the Pistons other two building blocks haven t taken significant steps forward either.
The temptation here is to ride the hype wave all the way to an A+ because Golden State is clearly the breakout team of the first half. David Lee and Stephen Curry are playing the best basketball of their careers, and coach Mark Jackson has handled the absence of Andrew Bogut and the loss of Brandon Rush far better than could have been expected. Even with the deadly Curry/Lee pick-and-rolls, the credit goes first to the team s marked improvement on defense (from No. 26 last season in points allowed per possession to No. 11 this season). If there s a concern heading into the postseason, it s that Golden State does everything well but nothing exceptionally well. That said, winning a playoff series looks like a very legitimate possibility, and only the most optimistic folks would have said that in September.
cheapest car rental in france The Rockets, going wherever James Harden took them, rushed out to an excellent start before fading back to .500 in recent weeks. Regardless, .500 is still excellent for a team that many considered in the running for worst in the West. Chandler Parsons is legit, Omer Asik has proved worth the Rockets investment in restricted cheapest car rental in france free agency and the Royce White saga finally  appears to be nearing its end .
The Pacers record looks gaudy, but it s been inflated by one of the softest schedules in the league. Indiana has played the NBA s best defense, but will that continue once the schedule catches up? Will Danny Granger s return from a knee injury disrupt the team s solid chemistry? Are there enough shots for Granger, David West and the new-and-improved Paul George? Those are the questions. Until they play out, enjoy George s sensational two-way play and the level of discipline and awareness this group displays on a night-to-night basis.
There were plenty of combustible variables for the Clippers entering the season: Matt Barnes had legal trouble over the summer; Jamal Crawford was coming off of a down year; Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill were aging and nursing injuries; Lamar Odom had conditioning issues; Blake Griffin and Chris Paul both had minor offseason surgeries; cheapest car rental in france former GM Neil Olshey left for Portland; and Vinny Del Negro was still the coach. Out of those toxic ingredients has come sweet brew. The Clippers are deep, talented, intelligent, opportunistic on defense and cold-blooded late in games. They play as well together even with so many new parts as any team besides the Thunder and Spurs. They are a blowout waiting to happen every night if their opponent isn t prepared, cheapest car rental in france and they appear to be one of the league s strongest championship contenders.
cheapest car rental in france The Grizzlies have a sort of Poor Man s Thunder thing going on. Not for their style of play but for the fact that the important rotation pieces have remained together for a number of years now, making for fairly predictable results. The Mike Conley/Tony Allen/Rudy Gay/Zach Randolph/Marc Gasol starting five is one of the league s best, it fits well together, it gets the damn thing done on defense and it s jelled cheapest car rental in france to the point where the record fits almost perfectly in line with expectations. This is a very good team that will be a tough out in the playoffs for the third straight season, even after dumping multiple cheapest car rental in france rotation pieces in the name of luxury-tax savings.
It s easy to knock the Heat for taking their foot off the gas pedal this season. A little too easy. Miami remains No. 1 in the East , right where it should be, and LeBron James remains the most dominant player in the league, even with Kevin Durant doing everything he can to make that a two-man conversation. The world-beating level of play Miami produced during the 2012 postseason simply cannot and should not be attempte