Kevin Garnett is back for the Celtics and in his absence they relinquished the best record in the East to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The big question for the Cavs, is this year's Cavs team good enough to get to the finals? Well in my opinion with the Celtics aging right before our eyes and the Magic shooting three pointers like they are going out of style I have to say I think the Cavs can definitely get there. Lets get into it:

(2)1. Cleveland (34-11)
Cavs are an easy choice at number 1 this week, they have the best record in the east and with Thursday's win over the Lakers they sweep the season series.

(1)2. LA Lakers (33-11)
Kobe Bryant vowed to be tougher with his teammates after the season sweep at the hands of the Cavaliers I can't imagine what Kobe said yesterday after the Lakers loss to the Raptors. The Lakers play five more road games before returning home.

(3)3. Atlanta (28-14)
It will be a tall order for the Hawks to retain the number one seed in the Southeast division with games at Houston, San Antonio and Orlando with one game in between at home against their rivals, the Celtics.

(4)4. Boston (28-13)
Boston will have a chance to avoid a season sweep by the Hawks when they go down to Atlanta this Friday. This is a very tough week for the Celtics as they play the Magic and the Lakers as well.

(5)5. Denver (29-14)
The Nuggets are on a roll winners of six in a row and nine of their last eleven. Carmelo Anthony and Lebron James are in a very tight scoring race separated by a mere 0.2 ppg, Lebron 29.9ppg Melo 29.7ppg, respectively.

(6)6. Dallas (29-15)
The Mavericks got their biggest win in franchise history Sunday beating the Knicks by 50 points 128 to 78. The Mavericks shot 58.1% from the field and made 12 three pointers.

(8)7. Orlando (29-15)
The Magic have shown some life as of late winning three games in a row, prior to their recent success the Magic had lost seven of nine.

(10)8. Portland (27-19)
Nate McMillan has to be receiving some coach of the year attention, what he has done with the Blazers and all their injuries is remarkable.

(7)9. San Antonio (25-17)
Spurs, losers of four of their last five games but they have a four game home stand this week.

(14)10. Utah (25-18)
It is a bit crazy when you think about it, Deron Williams is arguably the second best point guard in the NBA and has never played in the all-star game, hopefully the coaches reward him this Thursday.

(11)11. Memphis (23-19)
Its a shame Rudy Gay probably won't be selected to play in the all-star game but he is having his best season as a pro averaging 20.6ppg and he has been making big shots for the Grizzlies all season.

(9)12. Phoenix (26-19)
You hear a lot about Houston being the team that falls out of the playoff race but you heard it hear first the Suns won't make the playoffs.

(12)13. New Orleans (23-20)
After it looked like they were lottery bound the Hornets have really turned things around 9-4 in January.

(15)14. Houston (24-19)
The Rockets are still hanging tough but with the Western Conference race being so tight, I will be surprised if they are able to hang on.

(17)15. Miami (23-20)
The Heat have been treading water all season but I am worried about their upcoming stretch which has them playing 11 of their next 14 on the road.

(16)16. Toronto (23-22)
Andrea Bargnani's 22 points including 11 in the fourth quarter led the Raptors to a 106 to 105 victory over the LA Lakers. The Raptors lost 13 of their previous 15 games against the Lakers.

(13)17. Oklahoma City (24-20)
Tough weekend for the Thunder, they lost on Friday after Rudy Gay hit a game winner over Kevin Durant and then they give up a nice lead to lose to the Cavs Saturday night.

(18)18. Charlotte (21-21)
The Bobcats lost their last two games and on Monday they begin a six game western conference road trip at Denver.

(19)19. Chicago (20-22)
The Bulls are 2-2 in their last four games which were all on the road. The Bulls play five of their next six games on the road.

(20)20. LA Clippers (20-23)
The Clippers are 6-14 on the road and with a seven game road trip on the horizon I think it is time to write them off.

(22)21. Milwaukee (18-24)
Brandon Jennings had a good game against the Wolves going for 18 points and 13 assists in the win but overall Jennings has struggled with his shooting which is down to 38.3 percent.

(21)22. New York (17-26)
Knicks played without energy and focus and subsequently loss 128 to 78 versus the Mavericks on Sunday. I actually woke up looking forward to this game.

(26)23. Philadelphia (15-28)
On one hand I don't think Allen Iverson should play in all-star game but on the other hand A.I. is obviously what the fans want.

(23)24. Detroit (15-28)
Despite good play by Richard Hamilton as of the late you have to expect him to be traded by the deadline.

(24)25. Indiana (15-29)
Until Roy Hibbert becomes a consistent performer the Pacers will always be an after thought as far as the playoffs are concerned.

(27)26. Washington (14-29)
Three losses in a row for the Wizards. This week they will find out the length of Gilbert Arenas's suspension. My guess is we won't see him this season.

(28)27. Golden State (13-29)
Don Nelson is getting closer to becoming the All-time winningest coach in NBA history despite never winning a championship as a coach.

(29)28. Minnesota (9-36)
Corey Brewer I thought he would be out of the league by now but he is having a decent season averaging 14.9ppg.

(25)29. Sacramento (15-28)
Kings went 0-6 on their recent east coast road trip and have lost 12 of their last 13 games.

(30)30. New Jersey (3-40)
Its really hard to imagine that the NBA has such a bad team in its league, it is just embarrassing at this point.

Follow Ron Campbell on twitter: www.twitter.com/R_thehoopsforum.com