1. San Antonio Spurs (20-3): Five straight wins and the best record in the league sound like top spot material.
2. Dallas Mavericks (19-4): With twelve consecutive victories you could easily argue this is the best team in basketball. Dirk Nowitzki is playing as good as ever, and the veteran Jasons (Kidd and Terry) are playing very well. Tyson Chandler, though, brings an element that makes this team truly dangerous, and a presence they’ve never had: athleticism around the basket, length, strength, power, rebounding, and putback dunks. In years past it's been Erik Dampier strolling around and missing layups and generally sleepwalking through games. Brendan Haywood is okay, but Chandler is a tremendous athlete that changes Dallas' game.
3. Boston Celtics (19-4): These top three teams are scorching hot and interchangeable in these rankings, really. Boston has won ten straight and held the Bobcats to 62 points in their last game, a record for a team playing on the road in the shot clock era.
4. Miami Heat (17-8): After falling completely out of our Top Ten at one point, the Heat is rising, all the way into the Top Five. This resurgence has been powered by eight straight wins, though against admittedly inferior competition. They beat the Wizards, Pistons, Cavs, Hawks, Bucks, Jazz, Warriors, and Kings; the Hawks and Jazz are the only really nice victories. Still, it must feel good for this team to get the media to back off a bit as it was getting pretty tense when they were 9-8.
5. New York Knicks (16-9): The Knicks have been amazingly hot lately, and this streak buys them a little insurance in the top heavy Eastern Conference just in case they go on a slide. They should be able to waltz into the playoffs, even if they might be a lower seed. At present, they’ve won eight straight games, thirteen out of their last fourteen. Amare Stoudemire is playing like a top MVP candidate. And I’m not so sure this team should trade Danilo Galinari and Wilson Chandler for Carmelo Anthony. Those are two young, talented, versatile players, they don’t have the jaded, me first outlook that Melo does, and they are very nice complements to Stoudemire. If I were New York, I would let this young group of players grow together. They haven’t been competitive in a decade; don’t blow up the first successful team in years.
6. Los Angeles Lakers (17-7): After an 8-0 start LA has gone just 9-7. They raise a bit this week in the rankings because after losing four in a row, they’ve put four of their last five in the win column.
7. Chicago Bulls (14-8): 5 straight wins, including a nice victory over the Lakers, put the Bulls in the Poll for just the second time this season. Derrick Rose is an MVP candidate, Carlos Boozer is fitting in nicely, and Joakim Noah may be the most improved player in the league. Luol Deng has been the slasher they need, and they also have good three-point shooting. This team really is put together nicely, and I think they could be poised to rattle off some serious winning streaks.
8. Atlanta Hawks (16-9): They claim eighth place because they are 8-2 over their last ten games, including wins at the Knicks and Magic. They’ve got four guys scoring between 15 and 17 points, which is really nice balance that gives them a chance in every game, because you know somebody out of that four will have a big game.
9. Utah Jazz (17-8): Are Deron Williams, Al Jefferson, and Paul Milsap a true big three? Maybe in the regular season, but I don’t think this group is playoff ready.
10. Oklahoma City Thunder (17-8): Most nights, against most teams, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are going to be enough. Against the elite teams, they need a third and fourth scoring option to step up. James Harden has to score more, and Jeff Green has been really good thus far, but I don’t know if he can keep it up.
--from Adam
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