All-Star Game hosts finally moving in right direction

The trade deadline has come and gone, with no real effect on the NBA's balance of power. None of the top contenders made any significant moves. But a few teams (the Heat, Nuggets, Cavs, Nets and Hornets) made slight tweaks that could help them down the playoff road.

As for this week's Power Rankings, don't look for much change from last week. Because of the All-Star break, most teams played only one or two games at most. Maybe next week we'll see move movement, especially if some of these traded players start to make a difference with their new clubs.

This week's high riser: ROCKETS (No. 10 from 16)
This week's big drop: WARRIORS (No. 23 from 20)

NBA Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 Dallas Mavericks (42-11) Still the NBA's hottest team, they rallied from 19 down Thursday to defeat the Grizzlies and make it 17 of 18 overall. They also rode their boisterous crowd to a franchise-record 13th straight home victory. 2 3 Detroit Pistons (43-9) Flip Saunders said over All-Star Weekend that despite his team's losses before the break, he felt they were playing as well as ever. They looked it in recent triumphs over the Nets, Hawks and Pacers. 3 2 San Antonio Spurs (41-12) Glad to be back home after that rodeo road trip, they pounded the Sonics on Wednesday to make it 13 of 16 overall as they continue to stay hot on the Mavs' trail. Now they get a chance to cool off Dallas on Thursday. 4 4 Phoenix Suns (36-17) Shawn Marion had a career-high 44 points to go with 15 boards and four steals as they beat the Celtics on Wednesday to make it five straight. But could GM Bryan Colangelo soon be leaving to take over in Toronto? 5 5 Miami Heat (34-20) They added Derek Anderson in a trade deadline deal to help shore up their backcourt depth. Meanwhile, they had won four straight heading into a soft patch of schedule. 6 6 Cleveland Cavaliers (32-22) All-Star MVP LeBron James couldn't rescue them in Wednesday's loss at Philly that snapped their three-game win streak. The King will need more help in this week's home-and-home with Detroit. 7 7 Los Angeles Clippers (30-23) So far the Vladimir Radmanovic acquisition has not led to any victories, as Wednesday's loss at Houston ran their losing skid to five. But with five of their next six games at home, they should get back on track. 8 9 New Jersey Nets (30-23) They traded Marc Jackson to the Hornets for Bostjan Nachbar to add some perimeter shooting. They might be able to get even more firepower soon if they can sign Tim Thomas off waivers. 9 8 Memphis Grizzlies (30-23) They had won four straight before blowing that big lead at Dallas on Thursday. But at week's end they led the league in scoring defense (87.9) while ranking sixth in field goal percentage allowed (43.3). 10 16 Houston Rockets (23-31) Throw out that embarrassing debacle against the Suns right before the All-Star break. The fact is they had won eight of their last 10 through Friday, and Yao Ming has been coming up big.