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It's Week 11 of the NBA Power Rankings and it's absolutely no surprise these days that the Miami Heat are a gosh darn good basketball team. After the rough start, their momentum since crushing the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland has pretty much been untamable. They're again on a winning streak, this time having snatched nine in a row. Every fan that doesn't live in Miami probably hates LeBron's guts, but not those silly, silly basketball gods. They love them some LeBron guts.
Despite how good the Heat are, the pesky San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics continue to nip right at their heels. All three teams are the only three teams without a double-digit loss total, and the Celtics are doing it all with half of their roster banged up. Kevin Garnett has missed the last seven games, Rajon Rondo also had a period of seven missed games, and starting center Kendrick Perkins still hasn't played this season.
The Orlando Magic have made a good run of it themselves. Though their recent nine-game winning streak was snapped by the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night, the Magic have gained some of their swagger back since trading for Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson, and Hedo Turkoglu. Turkoglu -- who's apparently allergic to playing effective basketball anywhere outside of Florida -- has posted a triple double and a 17-assist game since the trade. Arenas, however, has been pretty ineffective overall -- not that it's mattered.
The New York Knicks are turning up the heat again, winning six of their last nine, including victories over the playoff-contending Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Spurs, and Portland Trail Blazers. Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton continue to put up gaudy stats and create disbelievers of the so-called "Steve Nash Effect."
And in local news, the Phoenix Suns have become a downright unwatchable basketball team, a team that seems to have forgotten what offensive concepts like "ball movement" and "good shooting" mean. The 2010-2011 Suns offense sets include "Steve Nash dribbles for 20 seconds, then the team spends four seconds finding a terrible shot to take" and "Steve Nash passes the ball to Vince Carter, who dribbles into a double-team and takes a terrible shot." In terms of fun and chemistry, this year's team is the 180-degree opposite of last year's team. At least we have Steve Nash trade rumors to read about until the end of February!
And now onto the rankings:
SBNation.com | NBA Power Rankings: Heat Take Top Spot, Knicks Fly Up The Charts
The Heat have captured the top spot in SBNation.com's NBA Power Rankings, with the usual suspects giving chase. Meanwhile, the Knicks vault up the list as a slew of teams scurry behind them in the shallow East.
NBA.com | Miami's run finally gets them to the top
The Heatles are No. 1 in the NBA.com Power Rankings for the first time this season, and maybe we waited too long for the coronation.
ESPN.com | NBA Basketball Power Rankings
Confession time: I like the nickname "Heatles." Wherever it came from. You don't have to agree, though, to join the committee (of one) in seeing that there was no other choice for the top spot in the latest edition of ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings.
SI.com | Miami Heat ranked No. 1, Spurs take No. 2 in NBA Power Rankings
While their rivals for best team -- Boston, San Antonio, Dallas and the Lakers -- have been waylaid recently by injuries and/or upsets, the Heat have won 21 of 22 (Orlando, an exception to that group, has won nine in a row and is on the rise). And for the first time during the regular season, Miami has climbed to the top of the Power Rankings.
FOXSports.com | NBA Power Rankings - Top 30 NBA Basketball Teams
It's a difficult week in the rankings world as not much separates the top teams. Until Dirk Nowitzki comes back and proves he's healthy, there are five teams that seem a step above the rest. And until LeBron and the Heat actually lose a couple, it's hard to keep them out of the top spot. They're not there yet, though, and Boston won't surrender the top spot without a fight. Stay tuned; the real fun is just beginning.
ProBasketballTalk.com | NBA Power Rankings, where the Heat has finally risen to the top
Our weekly NBA Power Rankings, where the effect of LeBron James’ decision is the difference between No. 1 and No. 30.