NBA Power Rankings 2012: All-Star Break Edition

Another week of basketball has been completed as we inch within a week of the first half of the season being concluded and the All-Star break.

I think we can all guarantee that these guys have been waiting with bated breath for this break to occur. The three games in three nights and the four games in the span of a week have taken a toll on their bodies, and it could have directly caused a number of devastating injuries to occur to the likes of Al Horford, Andrew Bogut and Zach Randolph, who are all dealing with serious ailments.

For those that have remained in action, they look at the All-Star break as a much needed vacation. The majority of these teams will have played 35 games since December 25th, and a short weekend off of playing serious basketball is going to be greatly anticipated.

However, that doesn't mean these players are going to be overlooking next week's games. They might be looking forward to the All-Star break, but don't expect some lackadaisical efforts from players who can't wait for the vacation back home or in Orlando.

We have taken the time to set up power rankings that reflect the games taken place from February 13th to February 18th, which means you will not be seeing games that took place on Sunday, February 19th.

Let's take a look at where all 30 NBA teams stack up this week.

30. Charlotte Bobcats

Week in review

Lost to Philadelphia 98-89

Lost at Minnesota 102-90

Won at Toronto 98-91

This is about as successful a week as the Charlotte Bobcats could get.

For the first time since January 14th, the Bobcats achieved their goal of winning a game. Since that 12-point win against Golden State, the Bobcats had dropped 16 straight games with only six of those losses coming by 10 points or less.

Leave it to the Raptors to end that, as Reggie Williams dropped 22 points and rookie Bismack Biyombo had seven blocks in the win.

However, the Bobcats still haven't scored 100 points since that January 14th win, either.

29. Toronto Raptors

Week in review

Lost at New York 90-87

Lost at San Antonio 113-106

Lost to Charlotte 98-91

An awful week for the Toronto Raptors—there's no other way to put it.

Not only did they give the Charlotte Bobcats their first win in over a month—while ending the 'Cats 16-game losing streak in the process—the Raptors also gave way to Jeremy Lin's top highlight coming by way of a game-winning three pointer.

The Raptors had the game sealed up, but allowed the Knicks to go on a 12-2 run in the final minutes.

After surprisingly beating the Boston Celtics by 12 points two Friday's ago, the Raptors have dropped four straight, with the deficit of the losses combining to only 19 points.

28. Washington Wizards

Week in review

Won at Portland 124-109

Lost at Los Angeles Clippers 102-84

Lost at Utah 114-100

I wouldn't look too much into that win over the Portland Trail Blazers. It was the Wizards best offensive effort by far, yes, but it also came mostly due to the fact that the Blazers lost LaMarcus Aldridge in the first two minutes of the game.

A great effort by the Wizards in that game, but they proved to us in the following two games that they still haven't learned much this season. A 16-point massacre at the hands of the Clippers and a 14-point embarrassment to the Jazz would put the Wizards back into their place.

The team is nearing the end of a five-game road trip and are currently 2-2 with a game against Phoenix remaining.

27. New Orleans Hornets

Week in review

Won vs Utah 86-80

Won at Milwaukee 92-89

Won at New York 89-85

So much for this New Orleans Hornets team needing Chris Paul—they've been playing their best basketball of the year this past week.

Well, I guess we're a little too ahead of ourselves there. The Hornets are still a dreadful team, especially without Paul and Eric Gordon, but give them credit for still giving a solid effort game in and game out.

The Hornets got some quality wins over the Jazz and the Bucks, but it was their win over the Knicks that was the highlight of the season. They forced Jeremy Lin into nine turnovers, held on late in the fourth when New York threatened, and made the plays that needed to be made to solidify a victory.

Credit to the Hornets and Chris Kaman, who has recorded at least 12 points and eight rebounds in the past three games.

26. Sacramento Kings

Week in review

Lost at Chicago 121-115

Lost at New York 100-85

Lost at Detroit 114-108

February started off so well for the Sacramento Kings that we actually began to think they were finally grasping the idea of playing quality team basketball.

So much for that theory.

After securing three straight wins to start the month and winning a game over the Western Conference's top team in the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Kings have dropped four straight, with the majority of them being awful.

It started off with a 14-point loss to Phoenix and eventually turned into a nightmare as the Kings started a six-game road trip with three consecutive losses. Facing the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks was a bit daunting, but there was no excuse for a loss to the Detroit Pistons.

The Kings have three more road games to go with contests against Cleveland, Miami and Washington waiting.

25. New Jersey Nets

Week in review

Lost at Memphis 105-100

Lost at Indiana 93-88

Won at Chicago 97-85

Who would have guessed that a road game against the Chicago Bulls would help the New Jersey Nets to get off the snide?

After dropping eight straight games to the likes of Minnesota, New York, Detroit on two occasions, San Antonio, Memphis and Indiana, the Nets appeared ready to make it nine as they rolled into the United Center. The Bulls were playing without Derrick Rose, but had been playing quality ball nonetheless.

However, the Nets simply dominated the game from start to finish, with Deron Williams and Kris Humphries leading the charge. It was the best win of the season for New Jersey, as they continue to hope that a miracle trade is made to keep Williams within the organization after this season.

24. Phoenix Suns

Week in review

Lost at Golden State 102-96

Lost at Denver 109-82

Lost to Atlanta 101-99

Lost at Los Angeles Lakers 111-99

A rough week coming in turned out to be a rough week at its conclusion.

The Phoenix Suns were given the task of playing three games in three nights and came away with losses in each game. Not even a game against the Al Horford-less Atlanta Hawks could help, as the Suns dropped that one by two points.

A loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant's 36 points would put an end to a forgetful week for the Suns.

It's pretty much a successful week for the Suns if Steve Nash hasn't asked for a trade.

23. Detroit Pistons

Week in review

Lost to San Antonio 99-95

Won at Boston 98-88

Won vs Sacramento 114-108

Essentially the best week of the season for the Detroit Pistons, the squad got two quality wins and came five points away from a stunning upset over the streaking San Antonio Spurs.

No matter, however, as the Pistons will take two out of three wins any day of the week at this point. The franchise is struggling to get fans in the seats, doesn't have much direction and is pretty much relying on Brandon Knight and Greg Monroe to revitalize this once dynamic organization.

This was a quality week, though, and we'll just focus on that, especially on their win over the Sacramento Kings. The Pistons got 36 points from Rodney Stuckey and 23 points, 10 assists and not a single turnover from Brandon Knight in nearly 39 minutes worth of game time.

22. Milwaukee Bucks

Week in review

Lost to Miami 114-96

Lost to New Orleans 92-89

Lost at Orlando 94-85

Poor Milwaukee. Once again, the team has high hopes of making it back to the postseason but finds those dreams immediately derailed by a significant injury to a key player.

This year, the injury bug happens to have bit starting center Andrew Bogut, who is dealing with a fractured ankle that will keep him out for eight-to-12 weeks.

The Bucks had a good thing going to start off the season, but are in a current free-fall, as they dropped all three games last week to stretch their losing streak to four overall. They lost to the Orlando Magic twice in that streak and fell in a blowout to the Miami Heat, as well as an embarrassing loss to the lowly New Orleans Hornets.

Milwaukee will play the Magic on Monday, which marks the third time the two teams have met since February 11th.

21. Cleveland Cavaliers

Week in review

Won vs Indiana 98-87

Lost to Miami 111-87

Surprisingly enough, the Cleveland Cavaliers aren't as awful as many envisioned them to be this year.

With rookie Kyrie Irving and veteran Antawn Jamison still producing at the age of 35, the Cavs find themselves actually contending for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Although, they may find that seed difficult to grab with the way the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics have been playing.

It was an average week for the Cleveland Cavaliers, however, as they failed to take advantage of a rare three-day stretch with no games. They managed to come away with a quality win over the Indiana Pacers, but were then promptly blown out by the Miami Heat and their new-found mortal enemy in LeBron James.

The Heat rocketed out to a 21-2 start in that game and led by as much as 34. In his first return to Cleveland this year, James had 28 points, five boards and five assists in 30 minutes.

20. Golden State Warriors

Week in review

Won vs Phoenix 102-96

Lost to Portland 93-91

Lost at Oklahoma City 110-87

Lost at Memphis 104-103

Give credit to rookie coach Mark Jackson—he's doing all he can to make sure that this young Golden State Warriors team keeps their head above water.

The only problem is that they're simply not experienced enough to win tight games, as evidenced by their close losses to the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies. Both games were completely winnable by the Warriors, but late execution down the stretch wound up being their downfall.

Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis combined for 69 points in their loss to the Grizzlies.

The Warriors are now on a three-game losing streak with contests against the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix before the start of the All-Star break.

19. Utah Jazz

Week in review

Lost at New Orleans 86-80

Lost at Oklahoma City 111-85

Won vs Washington 114-100

Aside from a 34-point effort courtesy of Al Jefferson to defeat the lowly Washington Wizards, it wasn't too spectacular of a week for the Utah Jazz.

In fact, it was pretty awful to say the least. They finished 1-2 on their three-game road trip, which came complete with a pathetic loss to the New Orleans Hornets and a laugher of a contest in their second loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the span of a week.

After surprising us with a solid start to the season, the Jazz have begun to play like the team we expected at the start of the 2011-'12 campaign. Utah has won only three out of 10 games in the month of February with a back-to-back against Houston and San Antonio to come.

They'll finish the first half of the season with a road contest against Minnesota.

18. Minnesota Timberwolves

Week in review

Lost at Orlando 102-89

Won vs Charlotte 102-90

Won at Houston 111-98

I think it's about time to come to terms with the idea that the Minnesota Timberwolves are a good team and are here to stay.

Seriously, no joke, the Timberwolves are good. This is the first time since Kevin Garnett left the team that Minnesota has played quality ball, and it may just end up with the Wolves securing a seventh or eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Of course, it'll be extremely difficult in the competitive West, as they'll be taking on the likes of Denver, Portland, Houston, Memphis and Utah for that final spot.

Thanks in part to the MVP season of Kevin Love, the passing ability of Ricky Rubio and the sudden emergence of Nikola Pekovic, the Wolves are playing great basketball, and it's shown in the past week with two victories in three games.

Those two wins for the Wolves were huge, as it nearly offsets a four-game losing streak that they had coming into the game against Charlotte.

17. Portland Trail Blazers

Week in review

Lost to Washington 124-107

Won at Golden State 93-91

Lost to Los Angeles Clippers 74-71

Win vs Atlanta Hawks 97-77

Yet another up and down week for the Portland Trail Blazers that came complete with embarrassing losses, the end of a stunning streak and the near loss of another franchise player.

Starting off with the near loss, All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge suffered an ankle injury early in the Blazers loss to the Washington Wizards. Aldridge played only two minutes and didn't come back the rest of the game, which enabled the Wizards to score 124 points on 60 percent shooting for a rare win on the road.

The end of a stunning streak happens to be a rare stretch of losses for the Blazers at home. Considered to be one of the more daunting stadiums to win in for an opponent, the Blazers had dropped four straight at the Rose Garden before winning huge against the Hawks.

The embarrassing losses? They certainly were. They blew a chance at victory in a low scoring affair against the Los Angeles Clippers and gave up an unbelievable amount of points to a disorganized Wizards team.

16. New York Knicks

Week in review

Won at Toronto 90-87

Won vs Sacramento 100-85

Lost to New Orleans 89-85

This past week has been a dream for the New York Knicks organization and their fan base.

The upsetting loss at home to the New Orleans Hornets was tough, but it hardly caused a ripple amongst the Knicks. They were too focused on the theatrics and electricity that Jeremy Lin provides to care about one loss. The fact that they had won seven consecutive games prior to that was enough to get the Knicks nation riled up in hysterics.

It was assumed to be a quiet week for the Knicks in terms of who they faced considering they took on three teams that were basically cellar dwellers. However, it turned out to be the complete opposite, as Lin led an unbelievable charge in their win against the Toronto Raptors.

Using a 12-2 run in the final minutes to secure the victory, it was Lin's game winning three-pointer with less than a second left that blew up Twitter, made Spike Lee quit directing to become a full-time mascot and had the city of New York recognize that they had a player to root on for the first time in over a decade.

All these wins have been nice, but a back-to-back against Atlanta and Miami will be the true test for Lin and the recharged Knicks.

15. Boston Celtics

Week in review

Lost to Detroit 98-88

Lost at Chicago 89-80

I keep telling myself that the Boston Celtics are still a dangerous and volatile team that's capable of exploding and playing quality basketball for 48 minutes.

As the days go by and the losses pile up, however, I find that I may be second guessing myself.

The Celtics had a five-game winning streak in the end of January and the beginning of February, but have proceeded to drop four of the last five games. The lone win was a four-point victory over a Chicago Bulls team that was playing without reigning MVP Derrick Rose. They would go on to lose to that same team a few days later. 

That loss to the Rose-less Bulls wasn't even the worst, though. The home loss to a lowly Detroit Pistons was the worst loss of the season for the Celtics, as they only managed 88 points against a team that allows 96 per game.

It doesn't get much easier for the Celtics. They'll be taking on Detroit, Dallas and Oklahoma City to end the first half of the season with all three games on the road.

14. Denver Nuggets

Week in review

Won vs Phoenix 109-92

Lost at Dallas 102-84

Lost at Memphis 103-102

So much for the idea that this Denver Nuggets team is considerably better without Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups.

After a terrific start to the season, the Nuggets have lost seven of their first 10 games in the month of February, including losing two straight to Dallas and Memphis.

The loss to the Grizzlies was the most disheartening, of course. The Nuggets had the win locked up after Rudy Gay missed a shot to win, but a poor box out by Kenneth Faried allowed Dante Cunningham to tip in the miss with less than a second to go. Denver had worked their way past a 23-point deficit to nearly steal the win.

The Nuggets have had two wins in the past two weeks. They came against a Phoenix Suns team that can't win and an Indiana Pacers team that has been in a free fall of their own.

13. Houston Rockets

Week in review

Lost at Memphis 93-83

Won vs Oklahoma City 96-95

Lost to Minnesota 111-98

In case you haven't noticed, the Houston Rockets had been playing quality ball up until this week, where they dropped two of three games.

Even though they did go 1-2 last week, they managed to offset that with a huge win against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevin Durant had three chances and Russell Westbrook had one chance to give the Thunder a win in the final seconds, but the Rockets defense stifled them into difficult shots, which eventually led to a Houston win.

The losses to Memphis and Minnesota certainly hurt, as well as a loss to Golden State on February 12th, but the Rockets had been playing well up until then. They had won four of their past six games prior to their loss to the Warriors and had actually worked their way back into the playoff race, as they look to contend for a seed at six, seven or eight.

Houston finishes off the first half of the season with games against Utah, Memphis and Philadelphia.

12. Indiana Pacers

Week in review

Lost to Miami 105-90

Lost at Cleveland 98-87

Won vs New Jersey 93-88

The Indiana Pacers had three games last week, and they all happened to come within three nights.

Yes, it became the Pacers turn to take on the daunting task of playing three games in three nights, as they were set to face the Miami heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and New Jersey Nets. They had no excuses for this one, however, as they had two days rest leading up to their game against Miami.

Prior to the back-to-back-to-back, the Pacers had dropped three straight, with losses to Atlanta, Dallas and Denver. It was disappointing to see this from Indiana, especially after a quality first quarter of the season.

The Pacers would stretch that losing streak to five games, as they'd lose to Miami and Cleveland, before ending the streak with a win against the Nets. It was their first win since February 7th.

Don't sleep on the Pacers, though. This is an inspired bunch with shooters that can go off at any given moment. If they're streaking into the postseason, they'd be one of the last teams I'd want my team to face off against.

11. Memphis Grizzlies

Week in review

Won vs Houston 93-83

Won at New Jersey 105-100

Won vs Denver 103-102

Won vs Golden State 104-103

You have to be ecstatic if you're a fan of the Memphis Grizzlies. A team that's playing shorthanded, once again, just had one of the more successful and exciting weeks than any other team in the NBA.

It started off with quality wins against Houston and New Jersey, but the fireworks truly started to fly in their games against Denver and Golden State.

With the Grizzlies down by one against Denver, it appeared all hope was lost as Rudy Gay missed a difficult jumper with the seconds winding down. Turns out that an angel in the form of Dante Cunningham would come to the rescue by tipping in the miss and giving the Grizzlies the eventual victory.

Memphis then moved on to Golden State, where it appeared hope was lost again after another miss by Gay in the final seconds. Once again, it didn't matter, as that same angel turned into Tony Allen and tipped in the miss with five seconds left.

Take note that the Grizzlies are at 18-14 and have had Marreese Speights replacing Zach Randolph for the majority of the season.

10. Atlanta Hawks

Week in review

Lost at Los Angeles Lakers 86-78

Won at Phoenix 101-99

Lost at Portland Trail Blazers 97-77

An unsettling week for the Atlanta Hawks, as they came two points away from being in the midst of a four-game losing streak.

They started off last week with a 20-point defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat and then went on to their three-game West Coast road trip. The trip was short but daunting, as they looked forward to taking on the L.A. Lakers, Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers.

The Hawks failed miserably. They limited Kobe Bryant to only 10 points, but managed to score only 78 points in an eight-point loss. They then barely skated by a miserable and downtrodden Phoenix Suns team that's on their way to the basement of the Pacific Division.

As for that loss to Portland? I think it'd be best if we don't speak of it.

It seems that the loss of Al Horford is finally beginning to affect the Hawks. The usual high-octane offense of Atlanta has scored 90 points or less in four of the past five games.

9. Philadelphia 76ers

Week in review

Won at Charlotte 98-89

Lost at Orlando 103-87

Lost to Dallas 82-75

The past two weeks for the Philadelphia 76ers have been wildly unsettling.

The surprise of the first quarter of the season, the Sixers had no trouble in getting to 20 wins and having a firm standing atop the Atlantic Division. However, they have since seen that lead dwindle, as they continue to drop games while the New York Knicks continue to surge their way to the top.

After winning three of four to start February, the Sixers have lost four of their past six with the lone two wins coming against Cleveland and Charlotte. All four of those losses came against quality opponents in San Antonio, the L.A. Clippers, Orlando and Dallas.

Those are tough for a team that's looking to compete deep into the playoffs. It doesn't do much for your confidence when you're beating up on the inferior teams, but losing to the teams that are actually worth beating.

Philadelphia has a three-game road trip to end the first half with games against Minnesota, Memphis and Houston waiting.

8. Los Angeles Lakers

Week in review

Won vs Atlanta 86-78

Won vs Phoenix 111-99

A quiet week for the Los Angeles Lakers, as they only played in two games between Monday and Saturday.

Both of those games being easy wins for the Lakers, as they took down the visiting Atlanta Hawks and Phoenix Suns.

Kobe Bryant went 5-for-18 for 10 points in the Lakers win against Atlanta, but came back with yet another huge effort against the Suns, as he totaled 36 points on 14-of-25 shooting. For some reason, Bryant has always seemed to have a vendetta against the Suns. If you remember, he had a season high 48 points against them earlier in the year.

Hope the Lakers got enough rest, because the next week's worth of basketball is scary. They'll be taking on Phoenix and Portland in a back-to-back and will get another back-to-back with road games against Dallas and Oklahoma City waiting.

7. Los Angeles Clippers

Week in review

Lost at Dallas 96-92

Won vs Washington 102-84

Won at Portland 74-71

Lost to San Antonio 103-100

An up and down week for the Los Angeles Clippers that could have very well been a successful one if not for one of the strangest plays in the NBA this year.

In a game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Clippers were up by three points and with possession. All the Clippers needed to do was inbound the ball, get fouled, make some foul shots and win. Instead, the ball was inbounded to Chris Paul, who promptly threw the ball away to San Antonio Spurs shooter Gary Neal, who made the shot to tie it.

The game would go to overtime, and the Spurs would win. It was the most disappointing and befuddling loss of the year for a Clippers team that's attempting to move on past Chauncey Billups' devastating injury, as well as being scorned by J.R. Smith.

Not getting Smith means the Clippers are still without a quality shooting guard and another addition to a weak bench.

The Clippers played four games last week and won half of them. Not too bad, but not too good, as they could have easily won all four.

6. Orlando Magic

Week in review

Won vs Minnesota 102-89

Won vs Philadelphia 103-87

Won vs Milwaukee 94-85

Riding a five-game win streak, including winners of five of their past six, the Orlando Magic may finally be getting this offense thing down.

With Dwight Howard doing his thing in points and boards, it's become customary for him to be double and triple teamed by every one of the Magic's opponents.

With so much attention being focused on Howard, the Magic's numerous three-point shooters have been lights out, as they lead the league in three-pointers made per and third in overall three-point percentage. The team has three shooters hitting 40 percent or better of their shots from beyond the arc.

Hedo Turkoglu and his 37 percent shooting from deep happens to be the only shooter below the 40 percent threshold.

The Magic continued their winning streak with a 3-0 record. They needed a comeback to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks, but beat up on solid teams in Minnesota and Philadelphia that started off another successful week.

5. Dallas Mavericks

Week in review

Won vs Los Angeles Clippers 96-92

Won vs Denver 102-84

Won at Philadelphia 82-75

After a poor start to the season and dealing with a three-game losing streak to February, you'd expect the Dallas Mavericks to be having a poor campaign after their championship season.

Like the Mavericks of last year, this team is resilient and have done a terrific job at moving on to the next game and getting their bearings in order. It shows as they have won their past six games after dropping three straight to start the month.

All of those wins were quality, as they defeated Denver, Minnesota, Portland, the L.A. Clippers, Denver again and Philadelphia in that stretch. Only one of those wins was by more than 10 points. It was the Mavericks simply getting the job done.

Dirk Nowitzki appears to be getting his jump shot back in working order, while Lamar Odom seems to be finally getting adjusted to the lifestyle of being a Dallas Maverick.

No word on if Khloe is, however.

4. San Antonio Spurs

Week in review

Won at Detroit 99-95

Won at Toronto 113-106

Won at Los Angeles Clippers 103-100

You thought your team's success was being overlooked because of the "Linsanity"? I suggest you start feeling for the San Antonio Spurs and their fanbase, who haven't heard a peep out of the media during the run they've been run on.

The Spurs are on a 10-game winning streak and have yet to lose in February. They've secured quality wins against Oklahoma City, Houston, Memphis, Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Clippers, but have received little to no attention or focus during this streak.

Not even the return of Manu Ginobili could get some attention and media focus. The fact that this team has been playing so well with Tim "I can't feel my legs" Duncan, Ginobili sitting out a large chunk of the season and relying on the likes of Danny Green and Gary Neal speaks hugely of how well coached and balanced this team truly is.

Also, Tony Parker has been playing like an MVP. He's scored at least 30 points in consecutive games and has four games of 30 points or more in the month of February alone.

3. Chicago Bulls

Week in review

Won vs Sacramento 121-115

Won vs Boston 89-80

Lost to New Jersey 97-85

We knew eventually that the Chicago Bulls run on victories without Derrick Rose would come to a stop.

However, we didn't expect it to come at home against the New Jersey Nets, of all teams. After tearing up the Boston Celtics only a few days prior and beating the Nets by 21 only a week prior, the Bulls had a major letdown, as they allowed Deron Williams and Kris Humphries to have a field day.

Don't look too much into it, though, as the Bulls are patiently waiting out the return of their MVP. He has been sidelined by nagging back spasms that have caused him to sit out 10 of the Bulls' 33 games this year. The Bulls haven't had too much of a problem, as they continue to win games with their defense.

Two weeks ago, the Bulls held three teams below 90 points, including two below the 70 point threshold.

Last week wasn't too bad outside of that loss to the Nets. They survived a comeback against the Sacramento Kings and took some revenge on the Boston Celtics after losing to them earlier in the week.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder

Week in review

Won vs Utah 111-85

Lost at Houston 96-95

Won vs Golden State 110-87

With only three losses in the month of February, the Oklahoma City Thunder have earned their spot as the second best team in the NBA.

Unfortunately, two of those three losses were to teams that were extremely inferior. The first defeat came at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, which was excusable, but losses against Sacramento and Houston aren't the type of games you want to drop.

That loss to Houston was especially disappointing, as the Thunder had quite a few chances to secure a victory but missed four shots in the final seconds to come up a point short.

Oklahoma City did make up for it, however, with two huge wins against the Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors.

The Thunder have a difficult schedule to end the first half of the season. They'll take on Denver, New Orleans, Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers. Fortunately for them, every one of those games is at home.

1. Miami Heat

Week in review

Won at Milwaukee 114-96

Won at Indiana 105-90

Won at Cleveland 111-87

It's becoming tougher and tougher to argue against the Miami Heat not being the best team in basketball.

In fact, there isn't an argument. While the majority of the population has been caught up in the hysteria surrounding Jeremy Lin, many have failed to notice the absolute path of destruction the Heat have been on the past two weeks.

In the middle of a five-game winning streak, the Heat became the third team in the NBA to sweep a back-to-back-to-back. However, the Heat did more than just win a few games, because that three-game sweep also happened to come with each game on the road.

Still not good enough? They beat each team by at least 15 points and had each game decided by the start of the fourth quarter.

Miami has two losses in February and have won the past five games by at least 15 points, with the victories coming against Washington, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Indiana and Cleveland.

Also, LeBron James is still shooting 55 percent.