NBA Power Rankings: Surprising Jazz earn top spot; Nets jelling without Kyrie Irving; Lakers hit rock bottom

1

After a meandering first couple of weeks of the NBA season, it's about time things started to look more like we expected.

2

The Brooklyn Nets are moving up in the standings with Kevin Durant as unstoppable as ever, averaging 30.8 points per game.

3

The Boston Celtics are destroying teams, with All-NBA talent Jayson Tatum improving on a nightly basis.

4

The Milwaukee Bucks win machine just keeps on rolling, no matter who's in the lineup. And Giannis Antetokounmpo averaging 31.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per game.

5

Oh yeah, and of course, the Utah Jazz are the best team in the Western Conference thanks to early MVP candidate Lauri Markkanen and his merry band of trade filler.

6

Yes, believe it or not, at 10-3 the Jazz are the best in the West after picking up four more quality wins this week, and they show no signs of slowing.

7

Kyrie Irving Returns to Nets for Upcoming Lakers, Kings Games. Kyrie ready to help Nets reach the top of the Eastern Conference.

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On the other end of the Applause-O-Meter are the Los Angeles Lakers, who appear to be in treacherous water after losing four straight games this week to fall to 2-9.

9

They plummeted nine spots this week, only because they couldn't drop any further -- they're dead last.

10

The aforementioned Nets were the week's biggest jumpers, moving up from second-to-last to 13th, while the Clippers improved by seven spots on the heels of some brilliant play from Paul George.

NBA Power Rankings this week

1. JAZZ 2. CELTICS 3. BUCKS 4. TRAIL BLAZERS 5. HAWKS

*Please keep in mind that our NBA Power Rankings are based on weekly performance, not the whole season.