The Lakers 10 game winning streak came to an end on Saturday as they were visibly rattled by the hostile Utah crowd but the loss is the least of the Lakers concern. Kobe Bryant broke his index finger on his shooting hand Friday night versus Minnesota. Kobe is tough but I don't know if he can play and be as effective with a broken finger on his shooting hand.

The Boston Celtics have won 10 in a row and are 11-1 on the road. The Celtics have only started this well on the road twice in their history and both times they won the Championship.

(2)1. Boston (19-4)
“It was softer than I expected,” he said. “I knew I was going to get hit, going back to last year. I anticipated contact. It wasn’t as hard as it probably seemed. I think he tried to go for my face, but I’ve been hit harder.” Rajon Rondo on being taken down by Brad Miller.

(1)2. LA Lakers (18-4)
The Lakers lost to Utah on Saturday, Kobe Bryant went 7-24 from the field and only scored 16 points. The Lakers play their next four games on the road against Bulls, Bucks, Nets and Pistons.

(7)3. Atlanta (17-6)
The Hawks won all three of their games this week by an average of 26.7ppg which is incredible. The big reason for the wins are the Hawks bench who scored 66 points against the Bulls, 55 points against the Raptors and 43 points against the Nets.

(3)4. Orlando (17-6)
The Magic went 2-2 on their four game road trip dropping their last two at Utah and Phoenix. The Magic have a pretty full schedule this week with games at home against the Pacers, Raptors, on the road at Heat and back home Saturday to play the Blazers.

(4)5. Cleveland (17-7)
Mike Brown's offensive game plan worked to perfection on Sunday versus the OKC Thunder as Lebron James went out and scored 44 points. The Cleveland Cavaliers playbook is limited to give the ball to Lebron and let him make things happen.

(8)6. Dallas (17-7)
How about Erick Dampier the 34 year old center has scored 34 points and grabbed 35 rebounds in the Mavs last two wins.

(5)7. Denver (17-7)
The Nuggets lost to the Pistons 101 to 99 this week and as surprising as it may sound the Denver Nuggets haven't won in Detroit since 1995.

(6)8. Phoenix (16-8)
The Suns are the NBA's only undefeated home team, they are 8-0 at home. On Saturday night Steve Nash was mauled by Nene but the refs never called the foul and the Suns lost the game. The Suns were up 17 and allowed the Nuggets to get back into the game.

(9)9. Utah (14-9)
Despite the Jazz terrible fourth quarter performance against the Lakers on Wednesday where they only scored six points they managed to get home wins over the Magic and the Lakers to wrap up the week. The Jazz are winners of seven of their last nine.

(14)10. San Antonio (12-9)
Richard Jefferson is having a hard time in San Antonio thus far. The 8-year pro is averaging 13.6ppg the lowest since his rookie year. Like a teenage girl with low self-esteem Jefferson is trying way too hard to fit in, instead of just being himself.

(11)11. Oklahoma City (12-10)
Despite having the best season of his career and being the second leading scorer in the NBA Kevin Durant finds himself currently in fifth place among western conference forwards in all-star voting. Although he may not start Durant should expect to play in the all-star game this February.

(12)12. Houston (13-10)
There is a chance that Tracy McGrady will start in the all-star game come February. If McGrady does eventually start and play it will be a real slap in the face to his teammates who have done just fine without McGrady in the lineup.

(10)13. Portland (14-11)
The Blazers played all four games last week on the road and came out of that 1-3. Brandon Roy is shooting a career low 44.3% from the field and a career low from behind the three point line of 32.6%. I attribute this to the addition of Andre Miller, Miller has effectively taken the ball out of Roy's hands and now Roy has to get used to getting different types of looks.

(16)14. Milwaukee (11-11)
Brandon Jennings has cooled off a bit but he is still very clutch. This was evident on Saturday night when Jennings made big shot after big shot including the winning lay-up to lead his Bucks past the Blazers.

(13)15. Miami (11-11)
The Heat have lost six of their last eight games and have gone 5-10 after starting the season 6-1. Dwayne Wade might want to pass the ball a little more as he is shooting a career low 42.5% from the field.

(22)16. Detroit (11-12)
Just when it appeared as though they were lottery bound the Detroit Pistons pulled off five wins in a row. Rodney Stuckey has really stepped up his game during the five game winning streak averaging 25.0ppg and 5.8apg in the five wins.

(15)17. Sacramento (10-12)
The Kings four game losing streak came to end when the Minnesota Timberwolves came to town. The Kings play four of their next five games on the road.

(17)18. Charlotte (9-13)
The Bobcats beat the Nuggets convincingly in the beginning of the week but dropped two on the road to the Spurs and the Mavericks.

(19)19. New Orleans (10-12)
The Hornets had their three game winning streak snapped by the New York Knicks on Friday. The Knicks have swept the season series against the Hornets. Chris Paul's scoring is down since returning from injury. Paul is averaging 14.8ppg since returning from injury down from his season average of 21.2ppg.

(21)20. Memphis (10-13)
Zach Randolph sets four franchise rebounding records in a 102 to 94 loss to Oklahoma City. Most rebounds in a quarter with 13, most offensive rebounds in a game with 11, most offensive rebounds in a quarter 7 and most rebounds in a half with 16.

(20)21. Toronto (11-15)
The Raptors are the second worst defensive team in the NBA allowing 108 points per game but when they hold their opponents to under 100 points they are 8-0.

(25)22. New York (8-15)
Nate Robinson hasn't played in the Knicks last five games and in those five games the Knicks are 4-1 including four wins in a row. Toney Douglas is receiving all of Robinson’s minutes. The Knicks play the Bobcats twice this week they also have games against the Bulls and Clippers.

(18)23. LA Clippers (9-13) Blake Griffin should be back for the Clippers in early January and he should provide a big boost to the Clippers in the scoring and rebounding columns.

(24)24. Washington (7-14)
What a sad week for the Wizards they lost four games in a row by an average of two points, in their defense they were robbed on Saturday at home when the refs called a touch foul with 0.1 seconds left on the clock.

(26)25. Indiana (8-13)
Mike Dunleavy minutes are still being limited since returning from injury but he has been showing some life. On Saturday Dunleavy had 24 points in 27 minutes in the Pacers 114 to 113 victory over the Wizards.

(23)26. Chicago (8-14)
I am surprised head coach Vinny Del Negro is still employed by the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls have lost 10 of their last 12 and in those 10 losses they lost by an average of 18.8 which is unacceptable.

(28)27. Golden State (7-16)
Monta Ellis has had to bear the scoring load for the Warriors since they traded Stephen Jackson but is accuracy has suffered in December, Ellis is shooting 42.2% from the field.

(27)28. Philadelphia (5-18)
Allen Iverson is back but the losing hasn't stopped for the 76ers as they are currently at 12 consecutive losses. To make matters worse Iverson might not play Monday as he is recovering from having fluid drained from his left knee and has a stress reaction in his right shin.

(29)29. Minnesota (3-21)
Al Jefferson is looking more and more like the Big Al we are used to seeing. In December Jefferson is averaging 18.0ppg and 12.1rpg.

(30)30. New Jersey (2-22)
The Nets got their second win of the season with a victory over the Bulls but dropped the next three.