Don't mention the Celtics record. 5 wins come from teams over .500. That's it. Sure, they have a 25 point margin of victory at home. That's impressive, no one would deny that, but maybe the conference gives them a bit of an edge. The same for Orlando. Most of their losses have come from Western Conference teams. Only 5 teams are over .500 in the East. 9 in the West, not to mention 4 of 9 are in the Southwest Division.

Now that i got that out of the way, the defending champions are contnuing to show their excellence in the NBA. WESTERN conference, and in the TOUGHEST divsion in the NBA, this team has pulled off a 17-3 start to the season. Not to mention, defeating BOTH the Jazz and Mavericks, top seeded teams, without Tim Duncan; their 9-time All-Star. Yeah. The Spurs of this year look like the strongest West team since the Lakers in their era that nearly hit 70 wins. In the West, that is near-to-impossible. I can tell you the Celtics might easily cruise to 70 wins playing all the crap East teams 3-4 times in the year. I don't mean to hate on Boston, they're a hell of a squad nonetheless, and i am predicting Boston-San Antonio in the Finals (and don't make a fuss, the match-up is WONDERFUL: Duncan vs. KG; Bowen vs. Allen... Parker and Pierce running the offenses... delightful). The Spurs are showing their dominance, even with Duncan out... or sometimes scoring as low as 5 points (vs. Bucks), they have continued to show their talent as a team and thus you see one of the best starts in team history. If i had to pick a Spurs team to repeat, despite a few roadbumps, this team can make it happen.

With that said-- Statement made: The San Antonio Spurs... are #1. (For now).

Here's my top teams so far a quarter through the season:

[top 4 stick out pretty obviously]

1. San Antonio (17-3) < Champs look like what they are, of course.

2. Boston (16-2) < Let the truth be told. They aren't kidding.

3. Phoenix (16-4) < Western conf. showdown with S.A.?

4. Orlando (16-5) < Eastern conf. showdown with BOS?

5. New Orleans (13-7) <Great start for CP3 and the Hornets.

6. Detroit (13-6) <This team won't go away, will they? (lol)

7. Denver (12-8) <Well, they'll make the playoffs.

8. Dallas (12-8) <67-15 last year? If they keep playing this crappy, they'll be lucky to reach 55.

9. Lakers (11-8) <A couple great wins. A so-so start for L.A.

10. Golden St. (10-8) <You all can hit me for this, but remember: This team started out 0-6. [pending game vs. Heat]

I'll review the teams again once we head to New Orleans for the good ol' fashioned All-Star Game! Have a great weekend on the Q!