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I wouldn’t be going out on a limb here by saying that this week’s NBA Power Rankings didn’t offer many surprises. I suppose that could depend on your point of view, but I personally didn’t see so many.

Oklahoma City underwhelmed while New Orleans played well beyond what they could have hoped for. Meanwhile, there are a couple of teams in the Southeast Division that have better records than the Miami Heat (Atlanta and Orlando).

Below are the NBA Power Rankings for the week of November 3-7. Listed are the team name, their win-loss record and ranking last week in parentheses:

1. Los Angeles Lakers (7-0) (1) Benefactors of a trio of patsy games (Sacramento, Toronto and Portland), the Lakers continue doing what they are best at: winning ball games. You think they’re good now? Just wait until Andrew Bynum returns come the latter part of November. They’re still the kings of the court – and I can’t stand the Lakers.
2. Boston Celtics (6-1) (2) Despite tougher opponents, the Celtics went 3-0. While Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett are the Big Three, it is the work of Rajon Rondo that has saved Boston’s collective butts. The schedule is tough this week as they face Dallas, Miami and Memphis.
3. New Orleans Hornets (6-0) (10) If I didn’t know any better, I’d have to say that this version of the Hornets reminds me a lot of the ones that were ran by current Clevelend Cavaliers coach Byron Scott. They aren’t scoring tons of points, but they’re giving up even less. Apparently, they’re doing something right in the Big Easy.
4. Atlanta Hawks (6-1) (5) They would be ranked a tick higher except that New Orleans’ meteoric rise kind of got in the way. They didn’t do anything wrong per se. It just so happens that the Hornets get a big bump. True, they lost to Phoenix; however, they had to lose sometime – didn’t they?
5. Orlando Magic (4-1) (13) The Magic, like New Orleans, had an outstanding week; but to be fair, they beat Minnesota, New Jersey and Charlotte. They will need to step it up as Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter are hurting. Nelson will be inactive against Atlanta Monday.
6. Miami Heat (5-2) (4) This team will get better – eventually. 5-2 is good for any other NBA team, but the Heat should be at least 4-1 at the very least. they split their games from last week, so they don’t get no love from me. The Miami Superstars Heat face Utah, Boston and Toronto this week.
7. San Antonio Spurs (4-1) (9) Nice week for the Spurs in taking out Phoenix and Houston. And there’s been a Richard Jefferson sighting, to boot. A easy trio of games await San Antonio: Charlotte, the Clippers and Philadelphia.
8. Denver Nuggets (4-2) (12) They split with Dallas and beat the Clippers. They should count their blessings that ‘Melo is still a Nugget because he saved their butts this week. Chicago, Indiana and the Lakers await them. The Laker game should be telling.
9. Portland Trail Blazers (5-3) (3) Losers of 2 out of 3, Portland didn’t muster up much offense this week. Can you imagine how good a team they could be if they had a decent center to back up Marcus Camby? They signed Sean Marks, which isn’t a good sign.
10. Golden State Warriors (4-2) (15) I’ve become a believer of this team. Somehow, Keith Smart is making chicken salad out of chicken poop, to coin a phrase. As long as Stephen Curry can stay relatively healthy, the sky’s the limit. They have a busy schedule, facing Toronto, New York, Chicago and Milwaukee.
11. Dallas Mavericks (3-2) (7) They split with Denver for their week. It would be nice of someone would step up besides Dirk Nowitzki, for a change. And put Jason Terry back on the bench as the sixth man.
12. Utah Jazz (3-3) (16) You wouldn’t know it from the overall results, but this team is slowly gelling. A sign of this came in their double-overtime win over the Clippers. A very tough schedule lies ahead as they go on the road to face Miami, Orlando, Atlanta and Charlotte.
13. Phoenix Suns (3-3) (17) They took two out of three last week and they seem to improving slowly but surely. Steve Nash and Jason Richardson were the team’s saviors; how much longer can this go on? By the way, they need a center. Robin Lopez doesn’t impress me at all.
14. Cleveland Cavaliers (3-3) (23) One telling sign that the Central Division is weak is that Cleveland leads the pack at 3-3 – which is not a good sign. They need Antawn Jamison back ASAP if they expect to remain on top of their division. They get New Jersey twice (back-to-back) and Indiana this week.
15. Oklahoma City Thunder (3-3) (8) I think that the Thunder will right their ship and perform like they did last season. However, it doesn’t help that Jeff Green is hurting right now. Hopefully, Serge Ibaka can pick up the slack for the short-term.
16. New York Knicks (3-3) (19) Perhaps this is a turning point for the Knicks as Danilo Gallinari is getting his game back and the NBA is making it to where Isiah Thomas will not work for the team again. As much as I rag the Knicks at times, they seem to be on the upswing. They have a very winnable slate of games this week in Milwaukee, Golden State, Minnesota and Houston.
17. Sacramento Kings (3-3) (11) This team is harder to figure out than algebra. The scoring is there, but they have this knack of falling behind early and sometimes winning. Tyreke Evans is doing fine and Sammy Dalembert is starting at center, so a positive does come out of this. They face Minnesota, Phoenix and Detroit so 2-1 is entirely possible here.
18. Memphis Grizzlies (3-4) (25) Yes, they went 1-2 last week, but this team is very talented, in my humble opinion. Yet the trio of Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol should be doing better under the current circumstances. This week’s schedule of Phoenix, Dallas and Boston should speak volumes of this group of underachievers.
19. Chicago Bulls (2-3) (6) This team is puzzling. They have Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah yet they’re under .500, below the Cleveland Cavaliers. So what gives here? Turnovers hurt them this week and they’ll need to improve there. They have three games at home, so that should help, to a degree.
20. Indiana Pacers (2-3) (14) How do you lose to the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks back-to-back? My guess is lack of execution in both games, something that has dogged Indiana for some time. The return of Brandon Rush should help some as the Pacers take on Denver, Houston and Cleveland.
21. New Jersey Nets (2-4) (20) Yup, the Nets got swept last week – by Charlotte, Miami and Orlando, no less. And as expected, not much offense in any of the three games. One has to think that Avery Johnson is not a happy camper right now. And why should he be? 87 points a game just doesn’t cut it. It doesn’t get any better as they face Cleveland twice and Orlando. 1-2 this week sounds about right.
22. Milwaukee Bucks (2-5) (22) Brandon Jennings, through no fault of his own, seems to have taken on other players’ heavy lifting. Besides him and perhaps Andrew Bogut, where is the offense? 88 points a game coming from this group. Scott Skiles has to be very frustrated with this underachieving squad. And this coming after he and John Hammond sign contract extension. That seems to be the trend these days.
23. Philadelphia 76ers (2-5) (28) While they did win a pair of games last week, they paid a price in losing Andre Iguodala. Now it’s up ot the resurgent elton Brand, Louis Williams and rookie Evan Turner to pick up the slack in the short-term. They’re on a road trip this week, taking on Oklahoma City, Dallas and San Antonio. Ouch.
24. Detroit Pistons (2-5) (29) Perhaps Detroit should have infighting more often as they took 2 out of 3 last week. And surprisingly, they were in all three games from a competitive standpoint. We’;ll see if they can make it three in a row when they visit Portland, the clippers and Sacramento. The safe money says they lose at the Rose Garden on Tuesday.
25. Houston Rockets (1-5) (26) The Rockets are unlucky. How else do you explain being able to score points while giving up more than they score AND lose Aaron Brooks? They will have to make do with Jordan Hill at center while using Ish smith at the point for now. Just more growing pains for Kevin Martin and Co.
26. Charlotte Bobcats (1-5) (27) The lack offense is still haunting the Bobkitties Bobcats, which is not surprising considering they went 1-2 last week. And more acrimony in Charlotte as Stephen Jackson decides to channel his past. This is a team in turmoil even at this early stage of the season. They better get it together fast, otherwise, don’t be surprised if Larry Brown walks away from this sinking ship.
27. Washington Wizards (1-4) (21) Yes, Gilbert Arenas is back. But unlike in the past, that isn’t necessarily a good thing in D.C. How can he and rookie John Wall possibly coexist on the same team? For the team’s sake, I hope they can make it work. Unfortunately, I just do not see that happening.
28. Toronto Raptors (1-5) (18) They can score – that much is certain. The problem is that like Houston, they tend to give up more than they score themselves. This is another case of a team trying to find their identity, the end result of losing Chris Bosh to the Miami Heat. The winters just got colder in Toronto.
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (1-6) (24) “Believe it or not, I know the scores of our games don’t show it, but we are actually competitive. We feel like we can win all these games. We know we’re better than what our record shows. It’s just a matter of a young team trying to put it together, trying to find our way and at the same time get through a tough schedule.” Those words came from Michael Beasley. Apparently, he doesn’t know the track record of these Timberpups Timberwolves. There’s talent there, but that sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
30. Los Angeles Clippers (1-6) (30) There is, believe it or not, a bright side to this squad. And that would be Eric gordon, Blake Griffin and Chris Kaman. Baron Davis is so 2005. While it’s still early, don’t think that the Clippers owner, one Donald Sterling, isn’t watching Vinny Del Negro like a hawk.