1. Boston Celtics (20-2) (1) In what was supposed to be a big West showdown, the Celtics made the Blazers look like a second-tier squad by smothering them defensively.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers (19-3) (3) The starters are getting much-needed rest during this win streak, as the Cavs are usually in control by the end of quarter three.

3. Los Angeles Lakers (18-3) (2) The Lakers' suspect D is still a concern, but more so down the road if they should meet up with Boston again.

4. Orlando Magic (17-5) (5) Turkoglu's miracle three against Portland proves to be key in helping Magic start their West swing 2-0.

5. Denver Nuggets (15-7) (6) For the Nuggets to remain contenders, they must improve on a 4-6 record against teams with winning records.

6. Portland Trail Blazers (15-8) (4) From a "guaranteed bust" a month ago to leading all rookies in double doubles with seven in just fourteen games? Not a bad stretch for Mr. Oden.

7. New Orleans Hornets (12-6) (8) The Hornets landed a decent backup for Paul in Antonio Daniels as part of a 3-team trade.

8. Houston Rockets (14-8) (7) Artest is now going down with an ankle injury, putting more emphasis on the Rockets backups to step up.

9. San Antonio Spurs (13-8) (13) The Spurs' offense has suddenly opened up with three straight 100+ point games, including 133 in a double-OT thriller win over Dallas.

10. Dallas Mavericks (11-9) (14) Barea is taking advantage of increased minutes and has had a huge week, averaging 18.3 ppg and 4.7 apg as the Mavs creep back into the division race.

11. Utah Jazz (14-9) (10) With Williams and Boozer still healing, the Jazz are right in position to take over first at just a game and a half out.

12. Miami Heat (12-9) (15) Emeka Okafor, congratulations, you've just been added to Dwayne Wade's poster collection.

13. New Jersey Nets (11-9) (16) Lopez will see a starting job in his immediate future if he keeps performing at a high level.

14. Atlanta Hawks (12-9) (11) For the Hawks to build off their strong start, they must get better production out of their bench.

15. Phoenix Suns (13-10) (12) Trading Bell and Diaw, who are excellent defenders, for another defenseless scorer in Jason Richardson seems like a suspect trade.

16. Detroit Pistons (11-9) (9) With three straight losses to sub-.500 teams, the Pistons are making it tougher on themselves to pick up ground after a slow first quarter of the season.

17. Chicago Bulls (10-11) (22) Hughes is starting to hit his shot, which will be huge for his confidence as the young Bulls continue to push for playoff contention as the season progresses.

18. New York Knicks (10-12) (18) The short-handed Knicks continue to overachieve, as they won in New Jersey for the third consecutive time.

19. Toronto Raptors (9-12) (19)

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