NBA Power Rankings: January 21st

Last Week's Hottest: Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Hornets

Last Week's Stinkers: New Jersey, Miami, and Seattle

Last Week's Most Notable: Miami Heat, losers of 13 straight

1. New Orleans Hornets (27-12)

Surprise, surprise—the Hornets are No. 1 this week.

The Hornets have won four straight games, going 3-0 last week.  With that said, don't count on them staying No. 1 for long.

New Orleans is tied atop the Southwest Division with Dallas.

Interesting schedule coming up for the Hornets—they face Portland, San Antonio, Denver, and Golden State in four of their last six games this month.

2. Phoenix Suns (29-12)

Three straight wins, including a victory against the Lakers, who held the top seed in the West last week, moves the Suns from No. 8 to No. 4.  Phoenix now owns the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Suns have now won 14 straight games at home, and routed New Jersey last night in Phoenix.  

Steve Nash was almost perfect against Minnesota Friday, shooting 6-6 from the floor and handing out 13 assists.  The only thing that messed up his stat line was one turnover. 

But hey that's, perfect enough.

3. Boston Celtics (32-6)

Still the only team with single-digit losses—but the Wizards have the Celtics' number, as the only team to beat them twice.

The fact that Rajon Rando has only played once in the team's last four games doesn't help.

Kevin Garnett will go up against his former squad on Friday—but too bad it's in Boston.

4. Dallas Mavericks (27-12)

Dirk Nowitzki has scored at least 20 points in his last nine games, and averaged 23.4 during that span.

Josh Howard is also averaging 20 PPG, making him and Dirk one of seven tandems scoring at least 20 PPG apiece.

The Mavs have quietly moved to the second seed in the West.

5. Detroit Pistons (29-12)

Two straight losses and only one win last week moves Detroit down a spot.

The Pistons were outplayed by Sacramento and Chicago last week, and it wasn't pretty.

6. San Antonio Spurs (25-13)

After losing two straight games, the Spurs have fallen to the third spot in their division, trailing Dallas and New Orleans.

If the playoffs started today, the Spurs would be a sixth seed, which means they would have to go up against the Hornets.

7. Los Angeles Lakers (26-12)

The Lakers shockingly held the top seed in the West last week—probably the first time that's happened since Shaq left L.A.

With Andrew Bynum out for eight weeks, the road ahead doesn't look much easier.  L.A. has Denver, San Antonio, Dallas, Cleveland, and Detroit on the slate before the end of the month.

8. Portland Trail Blazers (24-16)

The Blazers are currently 2-3 on their seven-game road trip, and have fallen to the seventh seed in the West.

Talk about homers: Portland is 7-13 on the road and 17-3 at the Rose Garden. 

Brandon Roy deserves to be on the All-Star roster as a reserve—and since coaches choose the reserves, it could happen.

9. Denver Nuggets (24-15)

Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony were hot last week—but where did Linas Kleiza come from?

He scored 41 points against Utah on Thursday, and has been an underrated piece for the Nuggets this season.

10. Cleveland Cavaliers (21-18)

That's right, the Cavs have made their way back into the top 10 after a six-week absence.

The Cavs have won three straight, including a victory over San Antonio in a Finals rematch.

The team seems to be rounding back into form, and I wouldn't be surprised if they climbed up to third in the East.  They're currently fifth. 

On The Outside Looking In

Golden State Warriors

Orlando Magic