It's Magic!  9-2 and first in the Southeast.  The best evidence Orlando is for real, a road 117-116 win over LeBron and the Cavs.  James gets 39-14-13, but Dwight Howard counters with 35 points and 16 rebounds.  Seattle at home and the Nets on the road were blowouts in a 3-0 week.

The Bobcats are at 5-4 and split 4 games last week.  Two home wins, two road losses.  A loss to a good team (Houston) and a not so good team (Atlanta), two wins over the rear guard (Miami and Seattle).  Here's a bigger problem.  Twelve thousand attendance against Orlando, fourteen thousand for the Sonics.

The Celtics (3-0) roll on in the Atlantic.  Up 11 going into the 4th quarter, Boston nearly let Miami off the hook.  Balanced scoring all three games, especially against the Nets (six in double figures).  Pierce and Allen go up and down, Garnett is the constant.

Everybody loves the Central.  Pistons on top, Cavs, Bucks, and Pacers close behind.  Bucks get two of three, Pacers lose 3 of 4.  Memphis and Atlanta were easy pickings, but San Antonio provided a good check of how far the Bucks have come, which is not far enough.  Twenty-five point loss, Redd and Bogut disappeared.  LeBron and the Cavs?  Two and two and not too impressive.

The Hornets run the table in the Southwest.  Five wins, four on the road.  On the other hand, two of the wins were against the 76ers.  The other three wins (Timberwolves, Nets, and Grizzlies) weren't exactly against the cream of the league.  The Grizzlies were especially friendly.  40 points for David West, 28 and 13 assists by Chris Paul, and 17 rebounds for Tyson Chandler. 

Spurs went 3-1, split Texas (beat Rockets, lost to Mavs).  Dallas went 3-0 and hasn't lost a game with Devin Harris starting at point guard.  When Dirk Nowitzki is your #3 scorer, life is good.

The cream is separating in the Northwest.  The Nuggets took 3, the Jazz went 2-2 with road losses to the Cavs and Pacers.  Iverson and Anthony get the press, but Marcus Camby gets the boards, 15 a game last week.  Carlos Boozer is having a monster year, but the Jazz need something more than 12 points from Andre Kirlienko. 

Suns are rising.  Three and oh last week, every win by ten or more points.  Grant Hill has been surprisingly effective.  Hill played 37 minutes or more in each game and is putting up big time numbers.  The good are getting better.

Top Five  The way I figure it; 1. Phoenix  2. San Antonio 3. Dallas, 4. Boston  5. New Orleans.