NBA Power Rankings Week 21: Heat Lonely At the Top (Top 10 Edition)

10 Brooklyn Nets (38-28, Last Week: 9): The Nets hang on here only because the Knicks have lost four in a row, and have dropped out of the Top 10.

9. Atlanta Hawks (37-29, Last Week: 15): Following a three-game losing streak, the Hawks have went 3-0 recently.

8. Los Angeles Lakers (36-32, Last Week: 10): The Lakers have won six of their last seven games, have won two in a row virtually without Kobe Bryant (Kobe didn’t score in the Lakers’ victory over the Indiana Pacers, and are closing in on the seventh playoff spot in the West.

7. Indiana Pacers (40-26, Last Week: 7): Despite losing their last two games–one of which came at the hands of the Lakers–the Pacers hold on here, largely due to their overall record.

6. Los Angeles Clippers (46-21, Last Week: 6): The Clippers remain in sixth due to their recent losses against the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies.

5. Memphis Grizzlies (44-21, Last Week: Tied for 5th): The The Grizzlies have lost two games in a row–including a loss to the Denver Nuggets.

4. Oklahoma City Thunder (50-17, Last Week: 2): A recent loss to the Spurs drops the Thunder here.

3. San Antonio Spurs (51-16, Last Week: 3): The Spurs went 3-1 last week, but lost to the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves. They have certainly lost some steam without their best player: Tony Parker.

2. Denver Nuggets (45-22, Last Week: Tied for 5th): When it comes to Power Rankings, momentum is the name of the game; and only one team in the league has more momentum than Denver as the Nuggets have won 11 in a row. Additionally, during that stretch, the Nuggets have defeated the Lakers, Thunder, Clippers, and Grizzlies.

1. Miami Heat (51-14, Last Week: 1): The Heat have won 22 games in a row. There’s nothing more to say than that.