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Yes! Finally LA step above the Evil Empire, and their minions of doom...
With Malice's Pawaa Rannkingu!
1. LA Lakers (2) - LA Ascendant once more! Thank 'defensive intensity'... and a few Boston losses.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (3) - I don't rate 1 man teams higher than the 2 above them at the moment, and I still don't rate the Samsonites' roster below LeBron Raymone James. If the Cavs an keep up their winning ways through January, then I'll give them due credit. At the moment? Well, they've not started January too well. Haven't hit their tough games and they're already 1-1. A loss to the Wiz? Ugh...
Both LA and Boston are better. Statistically and figuratively. Just thank the Celtics for losing recently for 2nd spot.
3. Boston Celtics (1) - Well, I wouldn't normally recommend pagan idolatry, and I didn't have a fatted calf to sacrifice, but it would seem that my ceremony involving a large steak cooked medium-rare worked pretty damn well. The Basketball gods have answered my prayers: losses in 4 of their last 6 games put the Celtics down to the 3 slot. The Knix-loss was an unexpected boon to Lakers/Cavs-fans.
4. San Antonio Spurs (5) - It was a near thing on who would get the 4 slot this week, but Orlando losing to Toronto nixed it for the Magic. The Spurs are rising... and that scares me.
5. Orlando Magic (4) - The Magic drop to #5 this week, largely due to a loss to the Raptors. Same record as the Spurs, and Orlando exclusively ride the Dwightmare-train. San Antonio are a three-headed beast.
 6. New Orleans Hornets (6) - On one side of the scales of ability, you have that the only teams that the Hornets have lost to in the past month are Boston, LA, Orlando and Denver (and 3 of those were away). On the other side of that scale, you have that the Buzz are unable to beat the teams that should be considered their peers, and the ownership that the Lakers have displayed over them. Have to be a concern in NOLA.
7. Denver Nuggets (7) - Denver are a difficult team to work out, there's not a lot between them and New Orleans. On one hand, they are beating teams like the Hornets, but on the other hand when they lose, at times it's not even close. Part of that is that they didn't get a training camp/pre-season with Billups. I think this is a team still finding itself... working out who they are exactly... but when they do, they'll be right up near the top.
8. Atlanta Hawks (8) - Now that Joe Johnson has proven himself to the the Hawks' falconer, this team can get back about the business of winning.
9. Detroit Pistons (12) - Sheesh... would the Pistons be happy they stuck with Stuckey or what? Definitely a burgeoning young star-in-the-making, he has Detroit climbing. It's amazing to consider that he may have the Pistons leaving their recent tradition of "no-one-man"...
10. Phoenix Suns (13) - Rising Suns. I find it incredible how much teams often resemble their coaches. The now-no-nonsense Suns mirror Terry Porter... how swiftly they metamorphosised!
11. Portland Trail Blazers (11) - Injury woes aside, this is a good team. You have to remember how young this team is. Relying largely on Roy, Aldridge and Fernandez - and you have to include Oden in there - this team is going to be good. But alas, not this year.
12. Dallas Mavericks (10) - Identity crisis anyone? Which team are they: the team that beat Portland in Portland, or the team that lost by 20 to the Grizzlies? Should be ranked lower, but there's no-one in the middling ranks ready to step up.
13. Houston Rockets (9) - Rockets? Rename them Houston Waterford. Handle with care.
14. Miami Heat (14) - Another team that probably don't deserve such a high ranking... but 3 things put them here: the defeat of Cleveland, the fact that everyone below them sucks, and the presence of Dwyane Wade propel them to here.
15. Utah Jazz (15) - There's a lot of talk about what a tough team Utah would be to face if they finish around 6 or 7 in the West... but you have to remember: ON THE ROAD THIS TEAM SUCKS! 7-11 on the road. Elite? Better get a bucket, I'm gonna be sick.
16. Milwaukee Bucks (17) - I wish, I wish, I wish Milwaukee could perform a little more consistently. Beat San Antonio, lose to Houston the next night. Beat Charlotte... you guessed it: lose to Charlotte the next night.
17. New Jersey Nets (16) - New Jersey are currently involved in a complete stink-fest. They are struggling more than a 3-legged dog trying to bury a bone on a marble floor.
18. Philadelphia 76ers (19) - Amazing. Injury to Elton Brand and what happens? The 76ers sometimes look better without him. Doesn't bode well for his future in Philadelphia. I don't know, maybe he just wasn't meant to be a 76er.
 19. Charlotte Bobcats (25) - The Bobcats are a pretty tough team. I know, I know - I'm going to cop some flack over that statement. But most of their losses are single digits, and they've pushed some very good teams. Coming back off a thrashing by Milwaukee, they rebounded the next night and beat that same team. Damn good effort.
20. Indiana Pacers (24) - The Indiana Pacers are, at times, a relatively good basketball team. Just ask the Lakers. Over the last week and a half or so, they've actually produced some pretty good basketball.
21. Chicago Bulls (20) - The Bulls are flattered at 21. This off-season, they really have to find some help for Derrick Rose, because the current roster simply isn't going to get the job done.
22. Toronto Raptors (23) - The win over Orlando... was it a sign of things to come? Or simply an aberration? Only time will tell...
23. New York Knicks (22) - Beautiful. Thank you New York for beating Boston. Hold onto that, and look forward to 2010, because it's going to be a long season.
24. Memphis Grizzlies (18) - Slowly sinking... even tho' at home they're pretty good (just ask Dallas), generally speaking the Grizz manage to lose. Thank the basketball gods for a young, decent roster that could end up being pretty good.
25. Golden State Warriors (26) - Even with the absence of long-since-departed Baron Davis, it's hard to figure out how this roster - which is really pretty good - manages to perform so ineptly. And oh yeah: Nellie, play Ronny Turiaf MORE!
26. Minnesota Timberwolves (29) - 4 wins out of their last 6, and a very good win at Chicago raise this team up the rankings somewhat. Al Jefferson is starting to play like the player he should be. Given who the T-Wolves  looked like being recently, Minnesota-fans should be happy with the way their team is playing.
27. LA Clippers (21) - Just when it looked like the Clippers were starting to come good, they enter their Hoover period.
28. Washington Wizards (28) - Washington, hold onto having beaten Houston, Detroit and Cleveland, because generally the season you're having sucks. Beating those teams would just make it all that more frustrating, living with the knowledge that the team can do it, but doesn't.
29. Sacramento Kings (27) - Despite having won more games than OKC, the Kings are just shy of half-way through a season that's verging on being epic in it's awfulness.
30. Oklahoma City Thunder (30) - An incompetent's wet dream, OKC go from... wait, I don't have an adjective for worse than worst.
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I would disagree with San Antonio over the Magic. The Spurs have a "three-headed monster" however the Magic are defining one now as well with Dwight, Hedo and Lewis.
All I have to say is The East is back. No more jokes about the JV League. It is a great time to be an NBA fan.