NBA Power Rankings: Thunder, Spurs Flex Muscle

1- Miami Heat (21-7) My biggest fear for the Heat is that boredom could set it in. They need to stay focused for at least one more day because they play Milwaukee Bucks Monday night. I heard a rumor the Bucks are petitioning the NBA to get their name changed to "Heat Slayers".

2- Oklahoma City Thunder (21-6) Thunder takes this spot over the Bulls because they beat better teams this past week on the road. They have a rematch vs. the Jazz Tuesday night that I am really excited to see.

3- Chicago Bulls (23-7) Derrick Rose’s back injury is not at Threat-Level Midnight for the Bulls. Thankfully for them the only tough game they have this week is the Celtics on Thursday night. Someone needs to pass along a note to coach Thibodeau that says, "Are you going to play D-Rose 40+ minutes vs. bad teams when he gets back from injury? Please circle Yes, No, or Maybe".

4- San Antonio Spurs (19-9) So the team that everyone, myself included, thought was too old and slow to contend this season just keeps winning. Now their best scorer (Manu Ginobili) is back in the line-up. If the Thunder weren’t already looking over their shoulder they might want to start. To quote Harold Finch from Person of Interest: "Only the paranoid survive." The Thunder should post that in their locker room.

5- Los Angeles Clippers (17-8) They beat the Magic and Sixers on the road and those games were big eye openers for me. Especially the win vs. the Sixers. Being able to beat a good team on the road after losing one of your better players (Chauncey Billups) to a season ending injury is a pretty big deal. In case you were one of those people who did not know what all the Chris Paul hype was about, you are now seeing what everyone else in the world was talking about.

6- Philadelphia 76ers (19-9) The Sixers are 7-3 in their last ten with wins over the Bulls, Magic, and Lakers. Their 3 losses are to the Heat, Clippers, and Spurs. They can beat good teams; they just cannot beat elite teams.

7- New York Knicks (13-15) LINSANITY! SUPER LINTENDO! The Knicks are the hottest team in the league right now thanks to the Mark Zuckerburg’s new Facebook friend. Yes, they are under .500 but many of the other teams that would usually find themselves here are dropping fast so we get the Knicks. I do fear that when they finally lose a game that New York City as a whole is going to go all Sunnydale and crumble into the earth.

8- Indiana Pacers (17-10) After a good home win vs. the Jazz, Leslie Knope’s favorite team has hit a skid. This team is better than the past three games have shown us. They need a Ron Swanson pep talk. Those always do the trick for me.

9- Atlanta Hawks (18-10) Just keep plugging along beating some good teams and getting dominated by good teams. And by good teams I mean the Heat.

10- Orlando Magic (17-11) You can flip-flop the Magic and the Hawks. Magic are playing a lot better and look like they have be able to get back their will to live after the Celtics stomped it out of them. And Dwight Howard looks like he actually kind of enjoys playing basketball again. Almost.

Player of the Week:

Jeremy Lin PG New York Knicks

All he does is LIN! LIN! LIN! In his last five games he has put up 26.8 pts, 4.2 reb, 8.0 ast, 2.0 stl, .515 FG%

Best Game of the Week:

Heat at Pacers (Tuesday 6:00 pm CST):

The Pacers have a chance to beat the best team in the NBA.

Worst Game of the Week:

Hornets at Bucks (Wednesday 7om CST):

The Hornets will be finding themselves on the list a lot this season. For Bucks fans you need to watch this game because the clock is ticking on your chances to see Brandon Jennings play for your team.