No Mo Williams, no Delonte West.  It’s been no problem for the Cavs.  Excellent production from JJ Hickson and Boobie Gibson has kept Cleveland in their winning ways.  Oh yeah, that LeBron guy?  He’s playing pretty well still.

The Nuggets have now extended their winning streak to 7 and continue to win even with Melo on the bench.  Melo-less wins over the Bobcats and Rockets speak to the strength of the bench.  Not J.R.’s bench actions, clearly.

The Lakers have shown in the last week that they are human.  Well, at least human-ish.  They are still better than most of the NBA and just because they dropped two road games in four days doesn’t mean that they have weaknesses.  They are just getting used to the other time zones in the Association.

Averaging north of 113 points in their last five games, the Utah Scat (formerly known as Jazz) have turned into one of the most offensively dominant teams in the league.  Pair that with a continued dominance when playing in Salt Lake City, and this is a team that you want to try and bump down to the 5 spot if you are in the West.

Everyone has seen Mike Woodson’s eyebrows at this point right?  Well that kind of fun seems to be contagious in Atlanta.  The Highlight Factory has been cruising as of late, and if they can keep all the pieces healthy, they will continue to lurk in Cleveland’s shadow – ready to strike.

Doc Rivers came out and said he was “looking forward” to the tough three game stretch the C’s have against the Magic, Hawks, and Lakers.  They have yet to face a tough team since getting KG back, but they will certainly get their wish in the next week.

Memphis Grizzlies

In my personal opinion it is going to be a travesty if Zach Randolph is not selected to the All-Star team.  But it is also my personal opinion that he is not the reason for the Grizz’s most recent success.  The increased offensive productivity of Conley keeps defenses honest and allows the rest of the free flowing machine to take it’s course.

The honeymoon is over in Orlando.  The spark and chemistry that propelled this team past the Cleveland LeBrons in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals is now back to being a confused, occasionally apathetic team that relies on Dwight and the occasional three.  That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of time to straighten that out, I’m just sayin…

Wins over the Lakers and Heat in the last few days have me severely overrating this team (and I am openly admitting that).  But with Bosh and Bargnani causing matchup problems and somehow not getting torched on defense, you can’t help but like their chances to spread a team out and steal wins.

Chicago’s current four game win streak has brought them to 8-2 in their last 10 and finally back at .500.  It was not long ago we thought Del Negro was done, Noah was being shipped, and Rose was going to have a sophomore slump.  Damn, we were wrong.

The Blazers’ fans are longing to have Brandon Roy back in the lineup.  You know, Greg Oden longing for him back in the lineup.

Second quarter of the game with Cleveland might be the best 12 minutes of the season.  That loss paired with losing Beasley against the Raptors on Wednesday don’t necessarily scream hope.  Three games against the Pistons, Bucks, and Bucks are just what the doctor ordered though.

Tony Parker needs a new left lower leg.  He left the Atlanta game after re-spraining the same left ankle that kept him out during the beginning of the season.  He has also been playing through plantar fasciitis for most of the season. Not a rap sheet you want for your second-leading scorer.

The slide continues, and the Amar’e trade talks continue, and things could not be looking worse right now for Phoenix.  The much-hated Mavs come to town on Thursday, we’ll see how they respond.

The homestand was so impressive, everyone was singing the Bobcats’ praises.  Now comes the harsh reality of the road trip.  They were lucky to catch the Suns on the slide and take them to overtime.  Now if they can win the games they should win (Sacramento and Golden State), they can call the trip a mild success at 3-3.

New Orleans Hornets

Winning 4 out of their last 5 with a loss only to the Nuggets, the Hornets have not given up on this recent surge to put themselves back into the Western Conference playoff picture.  Perhaps inspired by their pigskin counterparts, the Buzz have shown a particularly impressive amount of fight in the last week.

People keep pumping up the Rockets and praising them for their hard work and “making the most of what they have,” but they have lost three straight and fallen to last place in their division.  Regardless of how difficult the division may be, that is not a Top 15 team.

Like the Rockets, a former Top 10 here in the Power Rankings has slipped as of late.  Problem with the Thunder has been shooting themselves out of games.  They opened the fourth quarter against the Bulls on Wednesday with 14 straight missed shots.  They’ll get back on track soon, hopefully.

Just when the Bucks are finally hitting that win-some/lose-some hang around .500 stride, they are about face the Heat twice and Orlando in the same week.  Jennings plays with the consistency of truck stop fireworks.  But all you need is to get a couple of explosive ones to have a good time.

50-point losses don’t exactly scream confidence.  I was high on the Knicks last week, excited for their potential in catching the Lakers a night after Cleveland.  They did a great job of hanging with LA, and then came the Dallas game.

Having Camby healthy (ribs) is going to be necessary if the Clippers are really going to be fighting for a playoff spot.  Kaman has had a fantastic season, but having that shot blocking compliment will keep them from getting burned inside.

I started to suspect Wednesday night that Jim O’Brien might be trying to tank the season.  With Granger playing well and the Pacers starting to win games every now and then (5-5 in their last 10), O’Brien started Troy Murphy at Center with four wing players against the Lakers.  Here’s a surprise, they got burned.

Philadelphia 76ers

The trade rumors continue to swirl regarding Andre Iguodala.  Whether it ends up being Houston, Cleveland, or another team; it will most likely result in short term disadvantages with the freedom of not having his remaining $56 million on the payroll.

Tayshaun Prince and John Kuester do have their worst blow ups behind close doors, I wonder if the Pistons have their own fight club.  Call me when Bynum and Stuckey are throwing down.  I will purchase a plane ticket tomorrow for that.

If Kevin Martin does get traded, they better get a talented swingman for him.  For whatever reason Jason Thompson has decided to check his gutsy play into a hotel for the better part of the last month.  Tyreke/Omri are my favorite rookies in the league, the Kings better not screw them for the rest of the season.

Dell Curry:Stephen Curry::Bob Dylan:Jacob Dylan. (Props to Matt Moore on that one)

With everyone talking about the suspensions, the next week will be hard for Washington to stay focused and win.  As opposed to a normal week, when it’s just hard to win.

#FreeJonnyFlynnandKevinLoveinsteadofAlJefferson.  There you go tweeple, lets start that trend.

Nets got a standing ovation for their victory over the Clippers.  There was a Kris Humphries sighting!