Power Rankings!

Now this is meant with no disrespect but it definitely feels good to be on top. It hasn't always been this way, nor will it always stay this way but P Diddy and I are sittin 1 and 2 right now. Obviously I think of Sam but he finds himself in a very different situation...

RANK (LAST WK) TEAM REC. COMMENT
1 (2) Cavaliers 29-6 The new No. 1's thorough trouncing of the defending champs in the second-most anticipated game of the season so far -- without Big Z, don't forget -- made us forget about the whole crab-dribble controversy. Almost.
2 (4) Magic 30-8 This'll get you Team of the Week status: Orlando throttled Atlanta twice, then won in San Antonio and tossed in one of the week's better quotes, too. Says Coach SVG: "If you don't think we're good, that's fine."
3 (1) Lakers 30-6 Are we grading them too hard? Not really. We can pardon the loss to the Hornets, but three shaky victories (Golden State, Indy and Miami) and three injuries (Farmar, Walton and Odom) isn't a good combination.
4 (3) Celtics 30-9 This season's first 30-game winner? Doesn't have quite the same ring as all the 70-win talk before Christmas, but the Celts will take it after that 2-7 swoon. Six of those L's were on the road, so do we cut them any slack?
5 (5) Spurs 24-12 There's no better second-half team than these guys, but this will be tough sledding even for the Spurs: After going 0-2 against Orlando, they still have to play Cleveland twice, Boston twice and the Lakers three times.
6 (8) Hornets 22-11 Discouraging as it was to see the Hornets virtually no-show in Utah in the latest Chris Paul-Deron Williams duel, methinks you have to put more weight on the performance 24 hours earlier in Hollywood. Agreed?
7 (6) Nuggets 25-13 Slashing some $20 million off the payroll to get under the luxury-tax line and improving dramatically anyway -- thus re-energizing their frustrated fan base -- will get the Nuggets through Melo's absence. (Or should.)
8 (9) Suns 21-13 Before you shut that window on the Suns, be advised that Shaq's growing bid for an All-Star berth saw him sink 12 free throws out of 12 in his past two games. I can hear KG screaming: "Anything is posss-ahhh-buuulll!"
9 (12) Trail Blazers 22-14 Great line on the D-Miles saga by one of our heroes. David Aldridge on NBA.com: "Greg Oden can relax. [Portland has] ensured that no one will be interested in the trials and tribulations of their rookie center for a while."
10 (15) Jazz 22-15 Questions of the day in the SLC: Can this Jazz still contend if Boozer isn't back until after the All-Star break? And who knew, before this wild flurry of D-Miles e-mails, that there were two Larry Millers in the NBA?
11 (10) Pistons 22-13 They moved back into the top 10 on the strength of what our pal Professor Hollinger provocatively suggested might be "the worst seven-game win streak in NBA history." Maybe we did promote them prematurely.
12 (14) Rockets 24-15 Make that an even 10 in a row for the Rockets. Ten consecutive games in which Rick Adelman has been forced to trot out a different starting lineup from the previous game. How are they almost 10 games over .500?
13 (7) Hawks 22-14 Talk about premature. The Hawks couldn't have followed up last Monday's 50-win chatter in this space much worse than they did: two losses to Orlando, one loss at home to Philly and (gulp) an Al Horford injury.
14 (11) Heat 19-17 Four games remain on the daunting seven-game trip confronting the East's first-half Cinderellas ... but none of them look super scary if D-Wade & Co. can be as gritty as they were against the Lakers on Sunday night.
15 (13) Mavericks 22-15 It's looking as if we won't see the proposed three-way trade, but bank on the Mavs doing something. And soon. Going 20-8 since a 2-7 start, when you really examine the wins and losses, isn't as good as it sounds.
16 (16) Bucks 18-21 The talks with Memphis about swapping Sessions and Alexander for Conley are, by all accounts, legit. No word yet on which team would be footing the bill for redoing Alexander's video campaign to get into the dunk contest.
17 (20) Bobcats 14-24 Everyone assumed that they traded for Diaw and Raja Bell to then ship them to Mike D'Antoni's Knicks. That won't be so easy for the Bobs if they keep playing .500 ball (or thereabouts at 7-8) with Diaw in the lineup.
18 (18) Raptors 16-22 To say that the Raps are shopping Jermaine O'Neal is probably pushing it. To say that they'll eventually wind up trading him because O'Neal and Bosh haven't meshed like the Raps hoped ... we can agree with that.
19 (17) Nets 18-19 Looks as if Yi Jianlian won't quite be voted in as an Eastern Conference All-Star and it's unlikely he'd be able to play even if it did happen. In the Nets' latest injury blow, Yi is out at least a month with a busted pinkie.
20 (26) 76ers 17-20 For the first time all season, with shots finally starting to fall and the two Andres starting to ball, Philly wouldn't mind a little brotherly love. Not that the Sixers have much hope now that the Eagles are the new Phillies.
21 (22) Pacers 13-24 I feel fairly certain that Granger is going to the All-Star Game no matter what Indy's record is. I'm less sure that we'll ever totally get why the Pacers continue to look so good every time they play the Lakers or Celtics.
22 (24) Timberwolves 11-25 Undefeated in 2009? Longest active win streak in the league? One blown 29-point lead away from an 8-1 record since Christmas? You can look it all up if you don't believe this is all about Kevin McHale's Wolves.
23 (23) Bulls 16-21 You're saying that we've been expecting too much from a team relying on a rookie point guard, breaking in a first-year coach and dealing with injuries? Wait a minute. This is sports. You're expecting us to be rational?
24 (19) Knicks 13-22 No one ever said that the wait for 2010 was going to be easy. Not when the current crew consistently has trouble with outside shooting, passing and scoring in general. Pretty pivotal concepts in the D'Antoni system.
25 (25) Warriors 11-28 If you're going to make the case that the schedule -- having to play 24 of the first 38 games on the road -- has hurt the Warriors as much as their injuries, they've got to show something at home for the rest of the month.
26 (21) Grizzlies 11-26 Who knew that a Jazz-at-Grizz game in January would be such a big deal? But Friday's figures to be, because that looms as the magic 10th game for D-Miles this season, putting all of his money back on Portland's cap.
27 (28) Kings 9-29 Kevin Martin is back in a big way. Pete Carril is back, too. Throw in a big comeback at home over Dallas -- taking a cue from Memphis' home rout of the Mavs -- and they're starting to look a little like the Kings again.
28 (30) Thunder 6-32 Two wins and two two-point losses in 2009. A decent four-man core of Durant, Westbrook, Green and Krstic. Loads of draft picks and cap space to use in trades. Add up all that data and 6-32 doesn't sound so bleak.
29 (27) Wizards 7-29 It's the quote Wiz fans don't want to read but had to be expecting. Says Gilbert Arenas about coming back at some point this season: "I mean, seven wins? Would you? And truthfully, right now, I'm not even close."
30 (29) Clippers 8-29 Although expectations certainly have to be lowered if Baron Davis and Zach Randolph aren't playing, tell us: Isn't it reasonable to expect more than three wins at home from the new No. 30 ... when Oklahoma City has four?