NBA Power Rankings: Thunder Struck

If the playoffs began today, the Thunder would be in the conversation. Kevin Durant is within percentage points of leading the league in scoring, and has led his team to wins over the previously red-hot Nuggets and Hawks in the past week. As such, Oklahoma City finds themselves moving all the way up to the six spot in this week's Rankings.

The Cavaliers, of course, are still on top, but there was plenty of movement otherwise. Read on to see where your favorites ended up this week.

1. Cavaliers (39-11) | Prev.: 1
Winners of nine straight, the Cavs are once again running away with the league's best record. But they did that last year too, and were dropped by the three seed (Orlando) in the Conference Finals. The Hawks are the early favorites (talent-wise) to be this year's Magic, and the Cavs will know exactly how they match up right before the postseason starts: they play Atlanta twice over the final 12 days of the regular season. -- BP
2. Jazz (29-18) | Prev.: 3
Remember those Jazzmen earlier this season? They were busy losing twice to Minnesota, and everybody was wondering where Carlos Boozer might go in a trade. Not so fast. Utah has won 10 of 11 and has stunningly moved into the No. 4 spot in the West, just a half game behind No. 3 Dallas. The Jazz took care of the Mavericks 104-92 Monday despite Boozer missing his second straight game with a calf problem. The Jazz is playing so well that West coaches couldn't give Deron Williams his annual All-Star snub. -- Chris Tomasson
3. Nuggets (33-15) | Prev.: 2
Star forward Carmelo Anthony is likely to return Wednesday against Phoenix after missing five games due to a sprained left ankle. Good news? One thinks. Still, it must be noted the Nuggets, who have won 10 of their last 11, went 4-1 without Anthony. They're 7-3 overall this season when Anthony doesn't play. No disrespect to Melo, but Denver's MVP this season has been point guard Chauncey Billups. The Nuggets are 3-5 without him. -- CT

4. Magic (33-16) | Prev.: 9
Starting to figure things out after their slump. Wins over Boston and Atlanta as part of a four game winning streak. It would be nice if they could find room for Bass and Gortat, since they're in the tax because of them. -- Matt Moore

5. Lakers (37-12) | Prev.: 4
How nice it must be to be so good a 5-3 road trip is a disappointment and the league's second-best record is underachievement. It's been clear for two years now that these Lakers -- Kobe+Pau -- operate on a different plane than most teams. But you wouldn't know it from listening to any party involved, each of which seems to constantly grind an axe, however subtle or nuanced it may be. Right now, Kobe's gunner tendencies are at issue, and nuance has actually disappeared this time. We'll see, I suppose, just how mature a teammate Kobe has become over the last couple years based on his physical, on-court reaction to the talk. -- Tom Ziller

6. Thunder (27-21) | Prev.: 11
Any day now, Kevin Durant looks ready to be your new NBA scoring leader. Durant trails Anthony by a meager 29.74 to 29.69 points per game, Durant has scored 25 or more in 22 straight games, leading the team in 21 of them. It's no surprise the Thunder has gone a solid 14-8 during Durant's magnificent stretch. While we're at, it throw Scott Brooks' name in the mix as a possible Coach of the Year. -- CT

7. Hawks (30-17) | Prev.: 7
They have trouble with OKC's rowdy youngsters, but the Boston win was huge for the franchise, who will now be aiming for the C's in the postseason. The fact that Orlando owns them has to be problematic, though. Josh Smith became the youngest player to reach 1,000 blocks. He should hit 2k by oh, next week. -- MM

8. Trail Blazers (29-21) | Prev.: 10
Talk about the one of the craziest 50-point games in NBA history. Portland's Andre Miller followed up his 52-point outing from Saturday with eight against Charlotte on Monday, a 44-point drop. But the Trail Blazers are doing everything they can to stay afloat with all of their injuries, and they were able to win both when Miller scored 52 and when he got eight. The triumphs stopped a three-game losing streak for Portland, which has been without injured star Brandon Roy the past seven games. -- CT

9. Mavericks (30-18) | Prev.: 5
Starting to slide a bit, losers of three straight. The offense, defense, transition and rebounding games are all suffering. Plus they let Phoenix win on TNT. FOR SHAME. -- MM

10. Suns (29-21) | Prev.: 18 It's good to know nothing has changed for the Suns: when they're good, they are really good. When they're bad, you'd think they should be contracted. So goes Phoenix's impressive three-game win string: beating Dallas (the TNT curse is over!), Houston and a Paul-less New Orleans. The Suns have trouble ahead, with a road-heavy month featuring visits to Denver (tonight), Memphis, San Antonio, Dallas and Oklahoma City. The trade deadline is wedged right in the middle of all that, so Steve Kerr might end up rolling the dice without knowing which version of the Suns this team actually is. -- TZ

11. Celtics (30-16) | Prev.: 6
This sure looks now like an aging team in denial. They lost seven of 13 games in January. They have won only two of their last six home games, and they are breaking down physically and mentally. Point guard Rajon Rondo has been hinting at a lack of team cohesion, and now Paul Pierce has a sore left foot to go with Garnett's still sore knee. Fortunately, they play the Nets this week. -- Tim Povtak

12. Grizzlies (26-22) | Prev.: 8
Just finished up the most brutal part of their schedule for a while. February features games against New Jersey, New York, and Washington. The Cleveland loss is forgivable on the back end of a back to back, and that win over the Lakers gives them store credit to last them a month. -- MM

13. Raptors (26-23) | Prev.: 19
This team is too talented to be this bad defensively, allowing the Indiana Pace Makers to score 130 points. This is why Chris Bosh is the most likely of the high-profile free agents to change teams this summer. It's going to take a strong finish and a playoff upset in that first round to change his mind. -- TP

14. Spurs (27-19) | Prev.: 14
The momentum is increasing for a drastic move. A win over a second-game-of-a-back-to-back Grizzlies team doesn't make up for the Denver lost where they were down for much of the game. Even being good isn't good enough, they're supposed to be title contenders. They may not even be division title contenders. -- MM

15. Bulls (23-23) | Prev.: 12
Derrick Rose will be a busy man come All-Star weekend, and with good reason. His January averages of over 23 points, six assists, and four rebounds per game are a big reason why the team was able to win five straight on the road, all over teams with winning records. Of course, those five wins were bookended by losses to the Clippers, but fortunately for the Bulls, they don't have to face that apparent matchup problem again the rest of the season. -- BP

16. Bobcats (24-23) | Prev.: 15
6-18 on the road is pretty rough, but with the way Larry Brown's team is playing defense, you have to figure they're better suited for postseason. With a sale on the Cats imminent,it looks like big things are afoot for the "bleakest" team in the league. -- MM

17. Rockets (26-22) | Prev.: 13
February's schedule looks merciful compared to their other months. Trevor Ariza may be the worst signing of the offseason outside of Allen Iverson, but Carl Landry is making an incredible push for both sixth man of the year and most improved. -- MM

18. Hornets (26-22) | Prev.: 16
Hey, 6-4, big win over Memphis on the road in a comeback win. Lookin' pretty good...oh, wait, they lost CP3 for two months. I've seen how good Collison is. They're still screwed. -- MM

19. Heat (24-24) | Prev.: 17
Hey, what's that smell? Oh, that's the fire on the back of the bandwagon. Wait, there's a fire on the back of the bandwagon?! Do something! No, don't jump off! What, you think you'll just get up again? How many times have you done that, seven, eight? (See what I did there?) -- MM
20. Clippers (21-27) | Prev.: 20
With every loss Marcus Camby is closer to HoopsHype. And there have been plenty lately, with the Clips dropping games to both the Nets (!) and Wolves (!) last week before getting smoked by the Cavs. Baron Davis is back to his bad habits (shooting 37 percent over the last 10 games) and nagging injuries have taken L.A.'s best players out of the line-up at odd times. -- TZ

21. Bucks (21-26) | Prev.: 22
Al Horford got the call as the backup All-Star center for the Eastern Conference, but what about Andrew Bogut? He has higher averages in points, rebounds, and blocked shots than Horford. And even though the Bucks are five games below .500 and the Hawks are 13 games above, one could argue that Milwaukee would be worse off without their center than would Atlanta. -- BP

22. Knicks (18-29) | Prev.: 21
Veteran guard Larry Hughes really wants out, but GM Donnie Walsh insists no trade is coming, even as the Knicks keep swirling down the drain. There is no market, either, for Nate Robinson. Maybe John Starks can still fit into a uniform and teach this team how to play with some passion. Otherwise, these last 35 games are going to be painful. -- TP

23. Pacers (16-29) | Prev.: 23
Fire Jim O'Brien? Indiana put up 130 points and got a win over a Raptors team that had previously won five straight, and seven of its last nine. Lester Connor coached the team to victory, while O'Brien was out of town dealing with a personal family matter. -- BP

24. Sixers (16-31) | Prev.: 24
Allen Iverson already is losing interest. Andre Iguodala could be playing for a contender before the trade deadline passes. Guys are complaining about the playing rotation and the inconsistent minutes. They barely beat the Nets recently, which really tells you something. This is another unhealthy situation. -- TP

25. Pistons (15-28) | Prev.: 25
Detroit halted a five-game losing streak on Tuesday with a win over the historically bad Nets -- but it wasn't easy. It was the first time the Pistons had a full roster in quite a while, but with offseason acquisitions Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva combining for just seven points in a total of 22 minutes, it's clear that not everyone is back to 100 percent. -- BP

26. Wizards (16-31) | Prev.: 28
In good news, their star point guard is suspended the rest of their season and the Rockets won't trade a big-boned Argentinian hustle-player for their third best guy and their center, even though they start a 6-7 guy at center. Jeez, Louise. -- MM

27. Warriors (13-34) | Prev.: 27
The Warriors are no longer on track for 24 wins, which means Don Nelson is no longer on track to claim the all-time coaching wins record this season. Hmm. Nellie has promised he'll stick around to finish his contract, which extends through next season, but no one ever really believes Nellie. But I will say this: if he doesn't hit 24 this year, he will definitely try to come back for the 2010-11 campaign. Provided the Warriors let him. -- TZ

28. Kings (16-31) | Prev.: 26
Thank goodness January is over. The Kings, full of life at the New Year, began the month with that heart-wrenching loss to the Lakers and ended with a 2-13 record. Oof. Since Kevin Martin returned 10 games ago, he and Tyreke Evans have put together simultaneous good outings twice, calling into question the backcourt's ability to mesh. Evans missed the Kings' near-win in Denver Monday, and while the Sacramento front office holds that Martin is not and will not be on the market this month, all eyes continue to focus on whether this thing's going to work. Stay tuned. -- TZ

29. Timberwolves (11-38) | Prev.: 29
While New Jersey has been stealing away attention for futility, the Timberwolves quietly have gotten to double figures in wins. They've done it with a two-game winning streak, their second of the season. Next up for the Timberwolves? They look like strong candidates to pass Golden State to have just the league's third-worst record. Big men Al Jefferson and Kevin Love remained determined to show they can play well together. -- CT

30. Nets (4-43) | Prev.: 30
This is really going to be fun as the season winds down, and they contend with the 1972-73 Sixers, who hold the record for worst record (9-73) in history. How do you think Courtney Lee feels, going from the NBA Finals last spring to a historic basement? Come to think of it, this whole Atlantic Division is a mess right now. -- TP