NBA Power Rankings for four week four of the NBA season…

1. New Orleans Hornets (11-1) -Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets have been dominating lately and there’s no question that they are the best team in the NBA. They only lost once, which was to the Dallas Mavericks. But other than that, they have been beating a whole bunch of solid teams in the league and they are continuing to dominate. David West has also taken a big part in this and with the addition of Jarrett Jack, they are just going to get better.

2. San Antonio Spurs (11-1) – The San Antonio Spurs are bringing back the good old glory days where they used to dominate. The big three of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili are showing that age doesn’t matter and are showing no signs of slowing down.

3. Los Angeles Lakers (10-2) – The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off some huge wins. Pau Gasol is recently coming off a perfect night after the Lakers beat one of the most surprising teams in the West, the Golden State Warriors. Actually, they destroyed them! The Lakers are showing that they are not slowing down after the past year’s successes and are aiming for that three-peat badly.

4. Boston Celtics (9-4) – You could put the Boston Celtics lower since they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder when they didn’t even have Kevin Durant, but every team is going to have those kinds of losses. Give the Celtics credit for whooping those teams they have beaten, most importantly the Miami Heat.

5. Oklahoma City Thunder (9-4) – Russell Westbrook has showed how great of a player he really is. He rallied the Thunder to beat a couple of teams as they didn’t have Kevin Durant in any of them. This team is showing promise and is bringing out the real deal. They look to be on top again with Durant back.

6. Miami Heat (8-5) – The Miami Heat are still building together, but you can’t deny how awesome they have been this season. Now if they lose to the Indiana Pacers today, oh boy. But Chris Bosh has finally stepped it up and the team looks to acquire Erick Dampier this week, which is a major upgrade for them at center. They are starting to improve and they can’t let a shot from Rudy Gay bringing their entire team down.

7. Orlando Magic (9-3) – The Orlando Magic are great, but not that great. They almost got themselves handed to them by the Indiana Pacers on Saturday. Dwight Howard was getting bullied pretty badly by Roy Hibbert in the game. The Magic need to improve more, but they look to rebound from this.

8. Utah Jazz (9-5) – The Utah Jazz always have found ways to win this year, and that is all thanks to Deron Williams and Paul Millsap guiding this team to victory. And they continue to do that, especially off of comebacks still. The Comeback Kings are dominating my friends!

9. Dallas Mavericks (8-4) – Alright, alright, yes, they beat the New Orleans Hornets but they still aren’t an elite team. The Mavericks have been playing great basketball, but it comes down to what they do in the playoffs. But then again, this power ranking is mainly for the regular season. If they prove me wrong and play well another week, I will put them higher. For right now, they stay at nine.

10. Chicago Bulls (7-4) – The Chicago Bulls have bounced back after a struggling earlier into the season. Now they are finally taking control of the Central division like they were supposed to be doing from the start. Derrick Rose is improving more each game and so is the one-two punch of Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson. It’s going to get even better when Carlos Boozer returns from surgery.

11. Atlanta Hawks (8-5) – The Atlanta Hawks struggled against the Dallas Mavericks, and they could have ranked a lot lower on this list. However, they rebounded in the game and almost won the whole thing! The Atlanta Hawks’ record may not be entirely bright, but these guys are showing they are putting up a fight.

12. Portland Trail Blazers (8-6) – It really sucks to be with the Portland Trail Blazers right now. They are plagued with injuries lately, already losing All-Star Brandon Roy now. They lost Greg Oden again. How can things get worse? But the Blazers are fighting very hard in every game, thanks to Nicolas Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge who are really leading this team.

13. Denver Nuggets (7-6) – Man, how about these freaking Nuggets? The Denver Nuggets may be 7-6, but remember, they don’t have their two important rebounding machines in Chris “Birdman” Anderson and Kenyon Martin. So it’s pretty good that they are playing this well with injuries. And with Carmelo Anthony, anything can happen.

14. Indiana Pacers (5-6) – The Indiana Pacers have playing extremely well for a team that has one of the weakest power forward rotations in the league. With Roy Hibbert, the Pacers are continuing to find ways to win and are showing a lot of promise. But this week is going to determine how tough they really are, starting off with the Miami Heat. Many guys are showing the Pacers love, and so am I. Indy is playing strong, and if Danny Granger can put up big numbers this week and if Darren Collison is healthy, Indy could be good to go.

15. Memphis Grizzlies (5-9) – The win over the Miami Heat showed that the Memphis Grizzlies are back on track to roll this season. Rudy Gay made quite an amazing shot. Memphis fell so completely short last year of the playoffs. Can they make this year? I think they can.

16. Milwaukee Bucks (5-8) – The Milwaukee Bucks need Andrew Bogut, John Salmons, and Corey Maggette healthy and if they are for this week, the Bucks could be good to go. Brandon Jennings is still there, and the Bucks look to improve after a very slow start to the season.

17. Golden State Warriors (7-6) – The Golden State Warriors have been a surprising team this season. They are 5-1 at home and they continue to improve. David Lee will be healthy soon and they got Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis on the squad. The Warriors just hope to improve a lot better after a terrible game versus the Los Angeles Lakers last night.

18. New York Knicks (6-8) – The New York Knicks finally have played a solid game, coming off a 123-114 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Could they still be in play for a playoff spot? Yes, they can. Amare Stoudemire had a breakout game with 39 points and eleven rebounds. Hope is still there for the Big Apple.

19. Phoenix Suns (6-7) – The Phoenix Suns haven’t been playing well at all. Now they lost Robin Lopez for a little bit. But once Steve Nash returns, maybe things can go back on track.

20. Charlotte Bobcats (5-8) – The Charlotte Bobcats really got to the Phoenix Suns, scoring 123 points on them! The Bobcats could be going back to last year’s playoff run, led by Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace, and such. Can they improve off of some pretty successful games lately? We’ll see.

21. Houston Rockets (3-9) – The Houston Rockets have been playing pretty good for a team that started 0-5 and a team that has been hit by injuries to Aaron Brooks and Yao Ming. Luis Scola is making the magic happen, along with Kevin Martin. Ever since the win over the Indiana Pacers, the Rockets have been rolling.

22. Toronto Raptors (5-9) – Whoa! Wait a minute here…the Toronto Raptors beat the Boston Celtics!! They got them 102-101 in a close victory. They’re lucky Paul Pierce’s shot didn’t count. But losing Jarrett Jack could be a problem.

23. Cleveland Cavaliers (5-7) – I like the fight these Cavaliers are showing, but it’s not enough. LeBron James is gone and they just can’t be that good anymore. But they are close to .500, so there is hope for this year. Daniel Gibson is a huge reason the Cavs have been succeeding lately.

24. Sacramento Kings (4-8) – The Sacramento Kings played very very well against the New Orleans Hornets last night, falling 75-71 after a huge comeback from Nawlins. But the Kings showed they can play against the top teams in the league. Nice to see the fight in them.

25. Detroit Pistons (5-8) – The Detroit Pistons need to let go of 2004 with Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, and Richard Hamilton. They aren’t as good anymore. They started off 0-5, and they have really improve since, I must say. But still, it’s not all that great in the Palace.

26. New Jersey Nets (4-9) – The Nets have been improving and potential All-Star for this year, Brook Lopez, has been playing solid this year. The Nets have played great in their last five games, despite they were losses. But they were decided by five points or less. So it ain’t all that bad for them.

27. Washington Wizards (4-8) – So what if John Wall is injured. He’s still got my vote for Rookie of the Year. The Washington Wizards can’t be all that bad, but I could be edging to put them at 29 next week if they do in fact struggle this week. Andray Blatche, where’s your defense?

28. Philadelphia 76ers (3-10) – The Philadelphia 76ers are too talented to be playing this bad. ‘Nuff said.

29. Minnesota Timberwolves (4-10) – Did you hear that Jonny Flynn is heading to the D-League. The T-Wolves are awful..again.

30. Los Angeles Clippers (1-13) – At least they got Blake Griffin to look at.