With the Suns and Hawks each losing in New Orleans, the door opened for a new No. 1 in the Power Rankings. The Magic and Mavs made strong cases, but it's hard to look at the Lakers right now and say they're not the best team in the NBA.

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Records are through games of Monday, Nov. 23

NBA Power Rankings Week Of 11/24/2009
Rk	Team	Last Wk	Rise/Fall	High/Low	Comment
1	Lakers	6	(+5)	1/6	(10-3) Gasol's return means L.A. has all its key players. Don't be surprised if current three-game win streak turns into 11, especially with only one road game in that stretch. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
2	Suns	1	(-1)	1/11	(11-3) No one's kept them from scoring triple digits and no one's beaten them at home. But most surprising stat for Suns is that they have more rebounds and blocks than their opponents. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
3	Hawks	2	(-1)	2/12	(11-3) Loss to Hornets cost them elevation to No. 1, but seven-game win streak that preceded it was impressive -- quality Ws against Nuggets, Celtics, Blazers, Heat and Rockets. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
4	Magic	7	(+3)	2/7	(11-3) It should be easy for Stan Van Gundy to be positive. Despite Rashard Lewis's suspension, a raft of injuries and Dwight Howard's relatively slow start, Magic share league's best record. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
5	Mavericks	9	(+4)	5/9	(10-3) Even with some of his best defenders injured (Howard, Marion, Dampier), Rick Carlisle has Mavs playing superb D. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
6	Nuggets	3	(-3)	3/7	(9-4) This week is about as easy as it gets -- Nets, Knicks and Timberwolves (twice). For the players, the key will be staying focused. For the fans, it will be staying awake. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
7	Cavaliers	4	(-3)	2/9	(10-4) Remember all the routs Cavs had last year, with LeBron sitting out fourth quarters? Not this year. Last seven wins have come by 10 points or less. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
8	Celtics	5	(-3)	1/8	(10-4) Will the real Celtics stand up? After dominant 6-0 start, they've been mediocre. Truth is probably somewhere in between. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
9	Trail Blazers	10	(+1)	7/12	(11-5) Oden may be inconsistent, but he's no bust. Games like Monday's win over Bulls (24 points, 12 boards) suggest he may yet become a franchise center. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
10	Bucks	12	(+2)	10/27	(8-4) Defense and Brandon Jennings have keyed surprising start, but Bucks need more offense. Michael Redd's return should help, though his shooting stroke was missing Monday (1-for-6 on free throws vs. Spurs). Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
11	Rockets	11	-	10/14	(8-6) T-Mac's reportedly upset that Rockets don't seem eager to have him back. He ought to look in the mirror and adopt the selfless attitude that's endeared this team to its fans. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
12	Jazz	20	(+8)	10/20	(7-6) Season could have gone sour after 2-4 start and that Carlos Boozer unpleasantness. But Jazz have turned things around and now have long homestand to maintain positive momentum. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
13	Heat	8	(-5)	6/13	(8-5) Fast start was aided by weak schedule. Most likely, Heat will end up around .500. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
14	Spurs	13	(-1)	5/14	(6-6) With three new starters, Spurs have struggled to find chemistry and cohesion. Cavs, Lakers and Celtics have had similar issues with retooled rosters, just not as severe. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
15	Thunder	15	-	14/20	(7-7) James Harden finally had a couple big games, but rookie still has a lot to prove. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
16	Bulls	14	(-2)	13/17	(6-7) After win in Sacramento, circus road trip getting worse and worse -- losses to the Lakers by 15, Nuggets by 19 and Blazers by 24. Two games still to go. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
17	Hornets	26	(+9)	8/26	(6-9) Consecutive wins over Suns and Hawks were keyed by rookie guards Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton, who didn't get much PT under Byron Scott. No wonder new coach Jeff Bower likes them; he's the one who drafted them. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
18	Raptors	16	(-2)	16/19	(6-8) Frontcourt of Bosh, Bargnani and Turkoglu is among NBA's best, at least offensively. Backcourt is below average. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
19	Pacers	18	(-1)	18/24	(5-6) Dahntay Jones has been a revelation, but Granger still has to carry too much of the offensive load. He's averaging 24.2 points but shooting 42 percent. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
20	Pistons	17	(-3)	16/20	(5-9) Pistons did what most teams would do on a road trip to L.A. (Lakers), Portland, Utah and Phoenix. They lost 'em all. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
21	Warriors	23	(+2)	21/26	(4-8) Stephen Jackson trade gives Monta Ellis an opportunity to be the star Warriors are paying him to be. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
22	Kings	19	(-3)	19/30	(5-8) Kings are coming back to earth after four-game win streak, but Westphal's still doing a marvelous job keeping them competitive. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
23	Clippers	24	(+1)	21/24	(6-9) With Eric Gordon returning soon and Blake Griffin coming back next month, Clips may end up being pretty good. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
24	76ers	21	(-3)	14/24	(5-8) Elton Brand's shown signs of life recently. Sam Dalembert hasn't; he's totally lost in Eddie Jordan's system. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
25	Grizzlies	27	(+2)	25/27	(5-9) Marc Gasol's emergence (15.2 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 61.1 FG%) has helped compensate for ineptitude of No. 2 pick Hasheem Thabeet (more fouls than points). It's also making Pau trade look less lopsided. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
26	Wizards	25	(-1)	13/26	(3-9) Antawn Jamison's return produced feel-good win against Cavs but didn't change team's negative mindset, as evidenced by subsequent blowout losses to Thunder and Spurs. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
27	Bobcats	22	(-5)	20/27	(4-9) During seven-game losing streak, Bobcats never scored more than 91 and their opponents never cracked 98. Boring, boring basketball. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
28	Knicks	30	(+2)	23/30	(3-10) Mike D'Antoni is acknowledging he doesn't have the players to run his system, so he's slowing things down and Knicks are playing better. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
29	Timberwolves	29	-	28/29	(1-13) Chance for a rare win slipped away vs. Clippers on Monday. Probably won't get another good chance this week with two games against Nuggets and one vs. Suns. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy
30	Nets	28	(-2)	28/30	(0-13) Worst start in NBA history (0-17) seems likely with four-game West swing, followed by home date with Mavs. Team: Home | Stats | Fantasy