From Dennis Velasco,
Your Guide to Basketball.
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Note: Overall record and previous week's ranking in parentheses

1. Dallas Mavericks (12-4; 2): The Mavs keep rolling, winning 12 games in a row thus far, including three in the past week. Starting tonight they have back-to-back matchups on the road against the Washington Wizards and New Jersey Nets. When will the steak end? If they can win the next two games, they'll tie the club record for most wins in a row.

2. Utah Jazz (14-4; 1): Despite going 2-2 for the week, they did lose to a strong Los Angeles Lakers team and hot Orlando Magic team. The win against the San Antonio Spurs was a big statement in their legitimacy thus far in the season.

3. Orlando Magic (13-5; 5): Power forward Dwight Howard is the biggest beast in the East (sorry, Shaq) and so is his team.

4. San Antonio Spurs (12-5; 3): It's good to see Tim Duncan fully healthy again as he is one of the classiest players in the league. If only Manu Ginobili could stay healthy for the whole season that would be good because he's a joy to watch on the court. Unfortunately, one of the reasons I like seeing him play is that he attacks the basket, which inevitably always gets him hurt.

5. Phoenix Suns (9-6; 11): Umm, speaking of health, Amare Stoudemire is looking like the paragon of it right now. That's not good news for the rest of the league as the Suns also boast having MVP Steve Nash and the underrated Shawn Marion on the team. All three could be MVP candidates this season. Yes, I'm paying my respects to the Matrix.

6. Denver Nuggets (7-4; 10-5; 7): I find myself rooting for the Nuggets and a lot of it has to do with Carmelo Anthony. Melo has been a scoring machine of late, but as much as I like his scoring, I like his leadership by example a lot more.

7. Los Angeles Lakers (11-5; 9): The Lakers went 3-1 this past week with their lone loss to an absolute sick performance by Michael Redd who scored 45 points in helping the Bucks win. However, Kobe Bryant did better than Redd with a 53 point effort in a dominating 132-102 win over the number two ranked team this week.

8. Detroit Pistons (11-6; 4): Having their eight-game winning streak stopped by the Charlotte Bobcats isn't as bad as you might think considering the Bobcats did beat the San Antonio Spurs at San Antonio. However, after tomorrow night's game against Portland Trail Blazers, the Pistons go on the road against the Mavs and Magic. Talk about tough.

9. Houston Rockets (11-5; 6): Tracy McGrady is hurting, but is still finding a way to produce on the court. The Rockets are looking like legit contenders, especially if Yao Ming, himself, can stay healthy.

10. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-7; 8): The LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers take a bit of a dip in the rankings after going 1-2 in the past week losing to the Rockets and lowly New York Knicks.

11. Sacramento Kings (8-7; 10): They've lost two in a row, but it was to the Mavs and Spurs, both on the road. Did Ron Artest really come off the bench against the Mavs after scoring 28 the game before against the Los Angeles Clippers? Well, doesn't matter now as he has a sore lower back and is now day-to-day.

12. New Jersey Nets (7-9; 17): They lost to giant killers, the Charlotte Bobcats earlier in the week, but recovered with two wins in a row against division rivals, the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. They still seem a little off, but it's still early. Rookie Marcus Williams is looking like a good backup. Say "hello" to the next Shaun Livingston as far as situation (young, PG of the future, coming off the bench, showing flashes of brilliance) is concerned.

13. New Orleans Hornets (8-8; 13): The Hornets are on a five-game skid and are missing two of their top offensive players in SF Peja Stojakovic (missed the past three games with a lower back strain) and PF David West (missed the last nine with a strained forearm). The losing streak will be hard to end as their next game is in L.A. against the Lakers.

14. Chicago Bulls (7-9; 25): There's no better remedy to stem a losing streak than playing the New York Knicks, whom the Bulls beat in consecutive games and started a four game winning streak as Da Bulls then beat the Hornets and Washington Wizards. So, now, can we all focus on the season and not headbands?

15. Indiana Pacers (9-9; 14): Had five games last week... all on the road. They lost three and won two. All things considered, that's acceptable.