1 Boston Celtics They are the reigning kings of the East, and will be until Miami can dethrone them officially. With the Knicks chirping at their feet, Boston has a chance to reassert their dominance over their division rivals on Wednesday night in Madison Square Garden.

2 Miami Heat Oh me, oh my, what can we do? The Heat are rolling, and it looks like they won’t stop until Christmas Day. Where the Lakers will win, and then the Heat will turn their attention to Boston revenge. Barring injury, I don’t expect a ton of speed bumps anytime soon for Miami.

3 San Antonio Spurs It was written that the Spurs are off to the “quietest 20-3 start of all time,” and it is absolutely true. But that is because everyone knows about these Spurs. At some point this season they will start shutting down their superstars in preparation for the playoffs. They will lose some games. But their start should be a warning for how they can finish.

4 Dallas Mavericks Dallas is getting it done because they have improved their defense ten-fold since last season. Part of that can be credited to the play of swat-master Tyson Chandler, but it has been a full team commitment to the defensive end of the floor that has them riding high two months into play.

5 Los Angeles Lakers Goodbye Sasha, hello Joe Smith. The Lakers welcome the No. 1 pick from the 1995 NBA Draft. Welcoming another vet to the squad puts the Lakers in dangerous territory – looking eerily similar to the 2004 Lakers. Now, before you go on telling me how they don’t compare at all – understand I am just calling it a strange look for this team. But if the result is similar, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

6 Chicago Bulls Good god don’t let Derrick Rose get hurt. The Bulls need him, but we (the fans of the NBA) need him more. This team can be very, very good when healthy. But if the Bulls have to play without Rose AND Joakim Noah, Chicago loses their primary catalyst from each end of the floor.

7 Utah Jazz After finishing November on a hot streak, the Jazz have been fairly predictable recently. They beat bad teams, and lose to good teams. Sounds like the makings of a four seed and a second round playoff exit. I’m not saying there is a ceiling on this team, but it probably sits around 50 wins.

8 New York Knicks The time for talk is over and the Knicks will have their chance to prove something against the Celtics in MSG on Wednesday night. If Amar’e puts up another 30+ point game and the Knicks knock off the Eastern Conference leaders – we have a rivalry. If Boston blows them out in front of their home crowd – it will take some time (or a Melo) to make them competitive.

9 Oklahoma City Thunder Who’s overrated? The Thunder have shaken off the dust from an early slide and bounced right back. It is the kind of thing that separates a flash in the pan from an annual playoff contender. The Thunder are trying to make a statement, and they are right back to doing so.

10 Denver Nuggets In the same way that the Magic’s loss on Tuesday was so telling for the state of their team, so was Denver’s win. Anthony looked like far more than a man ready to be traded, and even without Billlups on the floor the Nuggets were able to create some offense. They are getting better, but it is hard to make any bold predictions until we see what the Nuggets can get for #15.

11 Orlando Magic The Magic are imploding right now, and I can’t explain why. There are no real injury problems, they haven’t had difficult matchups, but they are not doing anything they do well. There is no activity on offense and not nearly the effort to get the ball inside to Howard. On defense, their strength, they have suffered a drop off in the last handful of games. All in all, something has to change quickly – or that other team in South Florida will soon take command of the state. If they haven’t already.

12 Atlanta Hawks For a while, the Hawks looked like they could keep it up without Johnson on the floor. Granted, must be difficult to know that a max contract is in street clothes, but it does bode well for the Hawks as they try to make a case for being legitimate Eastern Conference contenders, but losing by 23 to the Pistons is no way to do that.

13 New Orleans Hornets Chris Paul’s health and the Hornets hot start had Monty Williams dubbed a hero and New Orleans basketball exciting again. Their slump back into mediocrity is looking unavoidable right now, and Jarrett Jack will be the curse that can put the city in jeopardy of losing the team once again.

14 Memphis Grizzlies One of the biggest reasons for Memphis’ improvement as of late has been their bench play. Being able to continue the high-energy play when the Grizzlies’ starters take a breather allows Lionel Hollins more flexibility with lineups and countering opponents’ matchups. All good news for Grizz fans.

15 Portland Trailblazers

16 Milwaukee Bucks The Bucks finally caught got healthy and started finding a way to score more than their opponents. Granted: that is winning basketball in the simplest form, but the offensive struggles in Milwaukee were significantly hampering the team’s development. Now they might be pulling it together to be the team we expected at the beginning of the season.

17 Phoenix Suns Losers of three straight, the Suns are in serious trouble heading into the upcoming week. Facing Dallas, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, and Miami all before Christmas Day is no easy task. Steve Nash just hopes he can make it to Boxing Day without a seven game losing streak.

18 Indiana Pacers After all that talk of a revival in Indianapolis, the Pacers have sputtered a bit as of late. Much of that can be attributed to the first real road swing for this young team, but they will need to prove it so with a homestand before the new year. If the Pacers can back on track before 2011, they could be playoff-bound come late Spring.

19 Houston Rockets Daryl Morey made another signature mid-season trade, and now the Rockets get another young talent in Terrance Williams. Williams, if you remember, dominated in his brief stint in the D-League, which is no promise of professional production – but does show the kind of offensive skills he can display when utilized correctly.

20 Philadelphia 76ers WHO has won six of their last eight? The Sixers? Coach Collins has things clicking in Philadelphia right now, and it is starting on the defensive end. The Sixers have held their opponents to 83.3 points in those victories, and the boys in Philly are starting to believe in themselves. Not ready to contend, but at least enough to provide some hope moving forward.

21 Charlotte Bobcats Their name was tossed around briefly in the Carmelo discussions, but there doesn’t seem to be as much weight to it as there was this weekend. The Bobcats’ defensive efficiency has dropped since last season, and what few easy baskets they used to get off turnovers aren’t coming as often. They almost certainly will make a trade at some point, just no idea who for – or how it will change the team.

22 Toronto Raptors Jerryd Bayless will soon become one of the breakout stars in the NBA. He is a fluent and natural scorer who has tremendous upside. Which is why Toronto gets the nod for one of the best in-season moves getting him for Jarrett Jack. His 31-point explosion was not the last time he will go for 25+ this season.

23 Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry’s absence from the floor is clearly hurting the Warriors. Not as bad as David Lee’s absence derailed their hot start, but still, that rare distributor/scorer role is unique and perfect for this team. Need to get him back soon.

24 Detroit Pistons Who was this Pistons team that showed up against the Hawks? Detroit stepped into a hot tub time machine before facing Atlanta, and played about as good a game as they have in the tank. Great to see for Detroit after the four game slide, but I wouldn’t expect it many more times this season.

25 Minnesota Timberwolves Thanks to Andrew Sharp for pointing out this bit of Minnesota hilarity.

26 Washington Wizards The number one draft pick has already missed 8 of 23 games, and his injury-prone nature is starting to become contagious. If the Wizards can’t get healthy, they can never expect to pull into playoff contention. Even in the East.

27 Los Angeles Clippers Donald Sterling can yell all he wants to, after all he owns the team. But someone needs to tell him that what little glimmers of hope exist in the Clippers locker room are being extinguished by his negativity.

28 Sacramento Kings Their best player has a nagging injury that has a history of never really going away. Not a great sign for a team that lacks leadership and direction.

29 New Jersey Nets Eight game losing streaks are a fast way to remind everyone why the Nets were unable to attract any of the major free agents this offseason. Also, a fantastic way to scare of ‘Melo.