Power Ranking the NBA: Week 4

Chutes and ladders this week. Teams are starting to get into the swing of things.

(Last week in parentheses)

1. San Antonio Spurs (2): 4-0 last week, including a 18-point win over new power, Orlando.

2. Boston Celtics (1): Close call against Charlotte, but at least now we know who take the last shot (Sorry Paul).

3. Phoenix Suns (3): 8 game win streak, but most of that came against cupcakes.

4. Utah Jazz (5): Lossless week against three likely playoff teams (New Jersey, New Orleans, and Detroit)

5. Dallas Mavericks (4): Started the week well, ended it badly, relying too much on Jason Terry in the clutch.

6. Orlando Magic (7): A 4-1 week in which your only loss comes against the Spurs is pretty good. Surrounding Howard with shooters seems to be brilliant.

7. Cleveland Cavaliers (14): Lebron has decided to put the Cavs on his back, morphing the Cavs into a rich man's version of Kobe's Lake show.

8. New Orleans Hornets (6): Chandler is still day-to-day, without him in there, they don't hve post presence to keep teams off Peja.

9. Houston Rockets (8): T-Mac is back and the Rockets are off of their skid, but not before an embarrassing loss to the Heat.

10. Denver Nuggets (9): AI and Carmelo are stll performing, but they aren't getting what they need out of Kleiza and K-Mart (Because they are injured).

11. LA Lakers (10)

12. Detroit Pistons (12): I'm pretty sure the Pistons have one of the worst stengths of schedule in the league.

13. Toronto Raptors (11): TJ Ford is out, but Jose Calderon is more thn maing up for his absence (35 assists in his last 3 games). Chris Bosh is suddenly beastly as a result (110 points, 48 rebounds in his last 4 games).

14. Milwaukee Bucks (16): Momentary leaders of the Central Division with big wins over the Cavs, Lakers, and Mavs (all above them in the standings). Still somehow have a negative point differential though.

15. Indiana Pacers (20): JO is out again, and... the Pacers are good again? With Granger and Dunleavy at the helm, they've rolled off wins against the Hornets and Mavs, and only prevented against beating the Cavs by an explosion by Lebron. Trade him (to the Bulls).

16. New Jersey Nets (19): How good is Jason Kidd right now? (So good.) He leads the team in rebounds, assists and steals.

17. Memphis Grizzlies (22): Juan Carlos Navarro is throwing his name into the hat of Rookie of the Year talks after seizing a starting slot and running away with it (28 points vs. the Wizards)

18. Portland Trailblazers (13): 5-1 at home, 0-7 on the road. They have a homestand to lok forward to this week.

19. Charlotte Bobcats (18): The heartbreaker against Boston left stunned Bobcats lying on the court. Gerald Walace stayed there as he's day-to-day.

20. Washington Wizards (17): Gil is out, but Jamison and Butler more than make up for it. Look for Blatche to make a splash don the road too, as he is starting to shine.

21. LA Clippers (15)

22. Atlanta Hawks (25)

23. Miami Heat (21): A good win against a depleted Rockets squad. When Shaq and Wade come to play...they might be halfway decent.

24. Golden State (28): On a 2 game winning streak, but I can't exactly say why.

25-30 Every other team in the league: Every team down here (Knicks, 76ers, Kings, Sonics, TWolves, Bulls) is so bad, that they are almost undifferentiable from each other. Does it really matter if the Sonics can beat the Bulls or if the Knicks can beat the Kings? Only in the fight for Derrick Rose.