(Last week's rankings in parentheses)
1. Phoenix — Nash playing like MVP again and Hill likes it’s 1997 (5)
2. L.A. Lakers — Bynum looks like an All-Star, but can he stay healthy? (2)
3. Boston — Rasheed showing maturity by accepting bench role (1)
4. Cleveland — Cavs are rumored to be interested in Stephen Jackson (7)
5. Miami — Key to Heat’s season is Jermaine O’Neal’s health (6)
6. Denver — Call me Earl, no wait JR, come on Smith make a decision (3)
7. Portland — Blazers like having a (Travis) Outlaw come off the bench (9)
8. San Antonio — Spurs got a steal in IUPUI’s George Hill (8)
9. Atlanta — Bibby said his scoring would go down, but shouldn’t his assists be up? (12)
10. Orlando — Rashard Lewis eligible to comeback for Monday’s game (4)
11. Dallas — Erick Dampier making sure Drew Gooden stays on the bench (11)
12. Houston — McGrady talking about coming back this month (10)
13. Milwaukee — Brandon Jennings is a stud, who needs college? (23)
14. Toronto — Turkoglu playing well, but that contract is still bad (15)
15. Chicago — Joakim Noah making Chicago writers eat their words, literally (13)
16. DETROIT — Jerebko playing well in place of Prince, he’s a rock star in Sweden (21)
17. Philadelphia — Elton Brand deal is going to doom this franchise (16)
18. Indiana — Danny Granger carrying this rag-tag group right now (24)
19. Sacramento — Kings have won four straight since losing Martin (29)
20. Utah — If Jazz continue to struggle, could this finally be the end of Sloan in Utah? (14)
21. Oklahoma City — Former 1st-round pick DJ White has played a total of 16 minutes (20)
22. Washington — Return of Jamison and Miller will be huge for the Wizards (19)
23. Charlotte — Larry Brown’s group playing like a bunch of strangers right now (18)
24. L.A. Clippers — Eric Gordon out with groin injury, can this team catch a break? (22)
25. New Orleans — Fired their coach and then saw Chris Paul get hurt, not good (17)
26. Golden State — Warriors scoring over 109 points a game, but giving up nearly 112 (25)
27. Memphis — If being drafted by the Grizz wasn’t bad enough, Thabeet breaks his jaw (26)
28. Minnesota — Oleksiy Pecherov staring for Wolves, enough said (27)
29. New York — Knicks playing musical chairs with staring lineup, this week’s flavor Toney Douglas (28)
30. New Jersey ·— Could we have our first 0-82 team on our hands? (30)