The Heat are dominating; that's no surprise. Neither is the success of the Bulls and Thunder. But the first half of the NBA season has been full of the unexpected, both good and bad. Here are 10 of the biggest surprises and disappointments.

The Linsanity phenomenon is one of the most extraordinary, out-of-nowhere, feel-good stories of any NBA season. To say his emergence is a surprise is a massive understatement. He's been a revelation for the Knicks, the NBA and the sports world.

Before Jeremy Lin actually made everything grand again in Madison Square Garden, Anthony was supposed to. But the Knicks didn't get any better after his ballyhooed trade last year. And this season he took (and deserved) much of the blame for New York's 8-15 start because of 40 percent shooting and selfish play. Now the question is whether he can adjust his game to mesh with Lin. Who ever imagined that?

The Spurs were supposed to be done, especially when Manu Ginobili broke his left hand in the second week of the season. But with Tony Parker's brilliant play, a still-effective Tim Duncan and contributions throughout its 10-deep roster from the likes of Gary Neal (14) and Danny Green (4), San Antonio surged to the second-best record in the Western Conference in the first half of the season.

It's no shock that the Bobcats are the worst team in the NBA, given their injuries and overall lack of talent. But one of the worst teams ever? With just four wins through 31 games, Charlotte may become just the second team that fails to win 10, along with the 1972-73 Sixers. Granted, the season is just 66 games instead of 82. But still ... yuck.

Minnesota has improved from the league's worst team to a playoff contender thanks largely to the dynamic debut season of Ricky Rubio (pictured) and the immense production of Kevin Love. But the real surprise is they've done it with less-than-expected contributions from Michael Beasley and Derrick Williams, both former No. 2 overall draft picks. Instead, lumbering center Nikola Pekovic has emerged as the team's second-leading scorer.

The No. 1 overall pick in 2010 showed a lot of promise as a rookie, but he hasn't shown improvement in his second NBA season. His assists and steals are down. His turnovers are up. And he still can't shoot from the outside, having made just two 3-pointers all season. Was he working on his game enough during the lockout?

It's been five years since Kobe last won a scoring title, something that seemed unlikely to happen in his 16th NBA season. After all, only Michael Jordan, who did it at 33 and 34, has won scoring titles at such an advanced age. But Kobe, 33, is still staring down younger defenders and scoring 29 points per game. It may help his cause (but hurt the team's) that Bryant is the only capable perimeter scorer on the Lakers.

Ron Artest wasn't very good last year, but he was a heck of a lot better than Metta World Peace. The decline isn't a shock, considering his play has deteriorated since he signed with the Lakers in 2009. But the dropoff since his offseason name change is colossal. He's missing two-thirds of his shots and is averaging career lows in virtually every category. Two more years left on that contract, Lakers fans!

Without anything resembling a superstar, the Sixers have surged ahead of the Celtics and Knicks in the Atlantic Division thanks to depth, defense and team chemistry. It's a testament to their balance that their only All-Star representative, Andre Iguodala, is the team's fourth-leading scorer, while their top scorer, Louis Williams (23), doesn't even start.

With virtually no training camp and a compressed season, injuries figured to be an issue. But that doesn't make it any less disappointing that we've seen significant injuries to the likes of Chauncey Billups (pictured), Zach Randolph, Manu Ginobili, Andrew Bogut, Al Horford, Eric Gordon and Danilo Gallinari. Reigning MVP Derrick Rose also has a balky back that has caused him to miss 10 games. And don't even ask about Greg Oden...