NBA Power Rankings: Blazers, Nuggets and Pacers on the Cusp of Contention

As we charge into the new year, the pecking order is beginning to be established throughout the league. Most of the preseason favorites have been strong, but they are also being challenged by a few teams many of us didn't see coming.

The Lakers, Celtics and Knicks are all still trying to find some consistency despite lofty expectations, and a few rookies are attempting to raise their teams out of the doldrums. The two groups are like old, legendary actors attempting to stay relevant, while the latter group is more like up-and-comers looking for their first major role.

Check out my newest NBA Power Rankings, with a cinematic twist.

Last Week's Rankings

The Movie Extras (Nos. 30-24)

Last week's rankings are in parentheses, if different from this week.

30. Washington Wizards (0-7): Still winless and still at the bottom, Wizards fans are happy when they can just get a good effort from the team. When rookie Jan Vesely was asked if he was motivated to help the Wizards through their struggles, he said, "I'm not sure that I'm the guy that can make some miracles."

File that under #youarenohelp.

29. (25) Detroit Pistons (2-6): The Pistons are still saddled by big contracts, and little production from Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Greg Monroe and Brandon Knight are like promising young actors in really bad movies.

28. (21) New Jersey Nets (2-7): Without Brook Lopez, or enough talent around Deron Williams, the Nets continue to suffer.

27. (16) New Orleans Hornets (2-6): After a 2-1 start, the Hornets have lost five in a row, and Eric Gordon is out 2-3 weeks. More to come.

26. (23) Sacramento Kings (3-5): The Kings answered a rash of blowouts and a blowup between DeMarcus Cousins and Paul Westphal by firing Westphal.

A 2-2 week isn't that bad, but they have got to start moving the ball on offense.

25. (19) Milwaukee Bucks (2-5): The Bucks are winless on the road at 0-5, and the absence of Andrew Bogut for personal reasons destroys this team.

24. (29) Toronto Raptors (3-5): DeMar DeRozan has taken over as the leader of this team. Their 3-5 record is an improvement, but two road wins this early is startling.

Bit Roles (Nos. 23-17)

23. (26) Charlotte Bobcats (2-6): The Cats have played a rough schedule early on, but they've been extremely competitive in most games this season. They may have to move D.J Augustin to allow Kemba Walker to spread his wings, and possibly add a small forward.

22. (28) Phoenix Suns (3-4): Phoenix scored a big win over the Blazers at home. They jumped on them early and shot it well throughout to hold on.

It may be the Suns' best win all season.

21. (9) Golden State (2-6): The biggest drop of any team, the Warriors have lost four in a row and are simply not a very good team without Stephen Curry. Monta Eliis is doing his best, averaging 23 points per game, but it isn't enough.

20. (24) Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3): Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson have injected some energy into the Cavs, and they are 2-1 at home with an unbelievable 2-2 record on the road. That is great considering they won seven games on the road last year.

19. (10) Houston Rockets (2-6): The Rockets looked impressive with a 2-2 start, owning wins over the Magic and Spurs. They haven't won since, and they have yet to win on the road; the Rockets are 0-5 away from Houston.

18. (20) Dallas Mavericks (4-5): The defending champions make the modest jump this week, but they are starting to play with some pride, especially at home. Check out Vince Carter having flashbacks on this flush in Emeka Okafor's face.

17. Minnesota Timberwolves (2-5): The Wolves had a 2-3 week after starting 0-3. This team has a lot of the core pieces in place, but it will be interesting what they do with Kevin Love and Derrick Williams; Michael Beasley's injury should create some opportunity for Williams.

Character Actors (Nos. 16-10)

16. (14) Orlando Magic (5-3): The Magic are a bit down this week after being blasted at home by the Bulls and going 2-2 overall for the week.

Even though D12 has asked to be traded, he is still giving maximum effort.

15. (18) Boston Celtics (4-4): The C's are up from 18th thanks to a nice string of home games, but getting spanked by the Pacers at home was telling since the Boston Three Party and Rajon Rondo were all in uniform.

14. (22) Utah Jazz (5-3): The Jazz have been playing well, especially at home, where they are 4-0. The schedule hasn't hit a really tough spot yet, but Tyrone Corbin has the youthful and veteran mix working early.

13. (8) New York Knicks (4-4): Carmelo Anthony has put up big scoring numbers, but the the Knicks still have far too many defensive lapses. They struggle with teams they should beat, and their schedule has been largely soft to this point.

Here Melo abandons the play Mike D'Antoni called for and takes the pull-up three that doesn't fall with 17 seconds left.

12. (17) Memphis Grizzlies (3-4): The Grizz's rough start got a little rougher when Zach Randolph went down with a torn MCL. The team has responded pretty well since, showing some surprising depth, but how long will they be able to hold out?

They suffered a beatdown in Chicago when Z-BO was injured.

11. Philadelphia 76ers (5-2): The Sixers are on the verge of making a major move here.

They feasted on subpar teams for four wins in a row against a short-handed Warriors team, the just plain bad Pistons, a Hornets teams and a young Raptors squad.

Still, the Sixers may be the best team in their division. Big games loom this week against the Pacers and Knicks.

10. (7) Los Angeles Lakers (5-4): Kobe is trying to do it all. Despite his injured wrist that he is taking pain injections for before every game, he's firing away. Kobe seems to be playing angry, and his body language is bad right now.

Watch Kobe as Pau Gasol doesn't run the play the way he wants. Also watch him in Mike Brown's huddle; does he look like he's paying attention or tuned in?

Finally, watch him with the circus shot.

Supporting Actors (Nos. 9-5)

9. (13) LA Clippers (4-2): "Lob City" has moved up a bit after a 3-1 week. Getting Chauncey Billups back has been big for them, as has keeping DeAndre Jordan out of foul trouble.

Blake Griffin continues his onslaught with this filthy slam on Ersan Ilysova.

8. (15) Atlanta Hawks (6-3): The Hawks are so hard to figure out. They handed the Heat their first loss, then they had a huge lead over the Bulls on the road and blew it. They lost to the Heat in triple OT, without Wade and LeBron, and then they blew the Bulls out.

What a week.

7. (12) Indiana Pacers (6-2): Indiana is for real. They play good defense, they have a nice mix of youth and veterans, and their win over the Celtics was huge.

6. Denver Nuggets (6-3): Denver has been surprising, and had they not played without Nene twice, they could be higher. The loss to the Spurs on Saturday night was especially hurtful, considering.

Still, the Nuggets are among the three or four best teams in the West so far.

5. (4) Portland Trail Blazers (5-2): The Blazers are down one spot this week after they were beaten handily by the Suns. It was obviously a fatigue loss, but every team is facing these types of stretches.

Portland still looks great and exceptionally balanced.

The Leading Men (Nos. 4-1)

4. (5) San Antonio Spurs (6-2): Up one spot, the Spurs have shaken off Manu Ginobili's injury and played outstanding basketball.

Daniel Green has filled in admirably for Manu, and Tony Parker has picked it up as well. I'm not sure if they can sustain it, but the Spurs are looking good right now.

3. (1) Oklahoma City Thunder (7-2): Down from the top spot after two losses, the Thunder are still my pick for the NBA Finals from the West. I still believe they would be better off trading Russell Westbrook, but right now they have earned this spot.

2. (3) Chicago Bulls (7-2): The Bulls were poised to take the top spot in my power rankings until they laid an egg at Atlanta on Saturday night. They looked dead tired and will get one day off before they host the Pistons on Monday. Derrick Rose and the Bulls had won six straight.

1. (2) Miami Heat (8-1): Claiming the top spot is the Heatles.

The Heat have been awesome so far, but the most impressive win came on the road in Atlanta with John and Paul—err, I mean LeBron and Dwyane Wade out.

Chris Bosh went off with some help from Mario Chalmers, and they pulled off the improbable triple overtime victory thanks to shots like this one from Bosh.

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