10. Miami Heat (Down 5)

(7-3) Last week: 2-1

The highly bizarre Dion Waiters situation aside, the Heat are humming along nicely. Jimmy Butler has settled into the undisputed Alpha (a role that he relishes), the shooters are doing their thing around him, and in Bam Adebayo, the Heat have a rim running, surprisingly creative with the ball, defensive force. The Heat can feel a little aggrieved at this ranking, but it's only due to the teams above them making waves.

 

9. Houston Rockets (Up 4)

(8-3) Last week: 3-0

After playing at one of the slowest paces on the NBA over the past few seasons, solely to suit James Harden's genius, Mike D'Antoni this season has his team conjuring up memories of his mid noughts Suns squads. That's of course largely down to the Irresistible Force that is Russell Westbrook. Even Harden appears to be joining in on the fun, scoring a career high in transition points this season.

 

8. Philadelphia 76ers (Down 7)

(7-4) Last week: 2-2

A rough period for the Sixers. Joel Embiid suspended, Ben Simmons injured. But that's not the reason for the drop in these rankings. The Sixers just can't shoot the ball right now. Josh Richardson and Tobias Harris – both career 36% from deep – are shooting 28% and 20% respectively. Philly are relying on (checks notes) Furkan Korkmaz for spacing right now. That doesn't seem viable in the long run.

 

7. Utah Jazz (Up 3)

(8-3) Last week: 3-0

The Jazz's defence might be good enough to earn them 45+ wins by itself. The other end of the court is where Utah have improved this week. Donovan Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic continue to impress. The improvements from Mike Conley (scores of 18, 22 and 20 this week)and Rudy Gobert (21.5 ppg in his last two outings) are timely.

 

6. Toronto Raptors (Up 2)

(8-3) Last week: 3-1

Kawhi Leonard's departure was supposed to sound the death knell for the Raps championship contention. Their still here, though, largely through the continued impressive play of Pascal Siakam. But don't forget about OG Anunoby, quietly averaging 12 points and shooting the lights out from deep, to go with his lock down defence The Raptors forward paring is not as good as last season, but it's surprisingly close. Their guard depth, however, will be tested with Kyle Lowry out with a fractured thumb.

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