The Oklahoma City Thunder have climbed into top spot of the TSN.ca NBA Power Rankings, overtaking the previous No. 1, New York Knicks, and the Memphis Grizzlies, both of whom remain strong contenders for the theoretical crown.
After slow starts, the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks both appear to be rounding into form and jumped from the teens into the Top 10 this week, settling at seven and eight, respectively.
Even though they are missing some rotation regulars, the Golden State Warriors have surged, winning five of seven, with their losses coming at Oklahoma City and Denver, so they vault from 20 up to 13.
In perhaps the oddest rankings movement, the Minnesota Timberwolves jumped from 19 to 14, despite losing their last five games. Credit the return of Kevin Love, who makes the Timberwolves a more competitive club, no matter the immediate returns.
Heading in the wrong direction, both of L.A.'s teams have slipped.
The Clippers dropped the last three games on their recent road trip to slide from four to 10, while the Lakers' ongoing mediocrity saw them fall from seven to 12.
Three straight losses also dropped the Milwaukee Bucks, early overachievers, from eight to 17.
Those Masters of Heartbreak, the Toronto Raptors, dropped from 25 to 26 following a week in which they lost two one-point games and a third in overtime.
Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook.