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How can a team with no collective playoff success as a group -- a team that no one picked to win the championship -- sit atop ESPN.com's NBA Power Rankings?

The better question, given how the New Orleans Hornets are playing and what's happening in the league, is how can they not be No. 1?

In a season of surprises that suddenly finds the mighty West with 10 playoff-worthy teams and no clear-cut favorite, Chris Paul's Hornets have forced their way to the top of our weekly poll for the first team since the Stein Line committee (of one) began ranking teams weekly in the 2002-03 season. They got there with the best road (16-5) and overall (31-12) records in the conference as of Monday morning, punctuated by a 24-point road rout of the defending champs from San Antonio on Saturday to extend the league's longest active winning streak to eight games.

Boston slips to No. 2 after a two-loss week that also featured Kevin Garnett's first injury as a Celtic. LeBron James has powered Cleveland back into the top seven. And Minnesota -- with unexpected wins over Golden State and Phoenix and a near upset in the Wolves' first-ever game against Garnett -- makes a stunning (if temporary) climb to a season-high No. 21. Call it an unofficial reward for Minnesota's Team of the Week status.

Rank the teams yourself or click here (or at the bottom) to register your approval or disagreement with the order at the top or anywhere else.

Tune into "NBA Fastbreak" on ESPN to see this week's Army Power Rankings.

2007-08 Power Rankings: Week 13
RANK (LAST WK)		TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (2)	Hornets	31-12	We repeat: How could you deny them No. 1? The Hornets are 11-1 in 2008 after spanking the Spurs (in San Antonio!) and have won six straight by at least 14 points. That's happened only four other times in NBA history.
	2 (1)	Celtics	34-8	Fret, if you wish, about the Celts' 5-5 record since starting 29-3. Or their 6-5 record against the Southeast Division and 28-3 mark against the rest of the league. As long as KG's injury is minor, Boston can live with it all.
	3 (3)	Mavericks	30-13	Don't think they've got a 37-2 finish stored up to match last season's 67-15. But Dallas is the only team out there placed in the top 10 in scoring (No. 9 at 101.1 ppg) and scoring defense (No. 9 at 96.3 ppg).
	4 (4)	Suns	32-13	It's true the Suns get nitpicked more than anyone, in spite of the West's highest win total. But that's partly because their rare losses have been headline-makers, like the two in Minnesota and one at home to Miami.
	5 (5)	Pistons	31-13	Pistons and Celtics, can't mention one without the other. Just like Boston, Detroit is just 5-5 since the East's top two dueled in Motown on Jan. 5, with a third straight L to Chicago and a home-and-home split with Orlando.
	6 (8)	Spurs	28-14	Funny thing about the annual Rodeo Road Trip that often sparks the Spurs' annual second-half surge: They went only 4-4 on last year's and won it all anyway. So this season's nine-gamer might be make or break. Or not.
	7 (10)	Cavaliers	24-19	Bouncing back from an 18-point blown lead at home to Phoenix to eke out a win in drippy Los Angeles, with LeBron outdueling Kobe, reinforced the idea that the Cavs are suddenly playing the best ball in the Least.
	8 (9)	Trail Blazers	26-18	The 12-game home winning streak has perished. But it's still too soon to say bubbles are bursting in Portland after a 3-4 showing on that East Coast trip and a tidy 6-0 mark in games decided by three points or less.
	9 (6)	Warriors	27-18	All the Webber hoopla can't mask the fact that Golden State started its most favorable stretch of schedule in disconcerting fashion, squeaking out two-point home Ws over the Nets and Knicks after a home L to Minnesota.
	10 (13)	Jazz	26-18	Hated excluding D-Will from our All-Star reserves list in the impossibly crowded West. Then I felt even worse when he said he gets why: "I'd be a little less disappointed this year just because our record's not as good."
	11 (7)	Lakers	27-15	The Lakers face their own Spurs-like journey: Nine straight roadies. Phil Jackson is trying to keep things light -- "It's just doom from here on out," he jokes -- but no one in L.A. is laughing too loud with Bynum out.
	12 (14)	Magic	28-18	With four straight wins, Orlando is back over .500 at home at 11-8. And with his buzzer-beater to beat Boston, Turkoglu made He-Do jokes trendy again. Which didn't hurt Hedo's unlikely All-Star campaign, either.
	13 (16)	Raptors	24-19	They're not going to erase a 10-1/2 game deficit to retain their Atlantic Division title. But the Raps did get the Celts' attention with that comeback in Boston and emergence in the Damon Stoudamire sweepstakes.
	14 (11)	Wizards	23-19	We're convinced here at Stein Line HQ that Butler and Jamison will both be in New Orleans as East All-Stars. The real worry for them is the killer schedule Washington faces between now and then. Check it out.
	15 (15)	Rockets	24-20	The latest problem for Houston in a season filled with them: 48 wins is the current pace for eighth-seeded Portland, after it took only 42 wins for a playoff berth in the West last season. The Rockets' current pace? 45-37.
	16 (12)	Nuggets	26-17	Melo's injury isn't supposed to be a long-term thing. But you can forgive the Nuggets for reacting skeptically to anyone who tries to point out the silver lining in an injury report in yet another season of ill health.
	17 (17)	Kings	19-24	With Kevin Martin healed, Brad Miller rejuvenated, Salmons and Garcia improving and a free-agent find like Udrih, Sacto might have more of a core than anyone expected . . . before we even get to Bibby and Artest.
	18 (19)	Hawks	18-22	The early flood of ''Now do you believe in the Hawks?'' e-mails has dried up after a 4-9 start in 2008. But Atlanta has managed to hang in somehow at No. 7 in the East . . . and not exactly facing a push from Nos. 9 through 15.
	19 (18)	Bobcats	17-27	The Bobs didn't have much time to celebrate their third road win of the season because they lost the next night at home to Philly. Not the most uplifting sendoff heading into a (gulp) five-game West Coast swing.
	20 (24)	Bucks	18-27	The good news: Bogut has been an 18-and-10 guy since the calendar flipped to 2008. The bad news: Milwaukee has surrendered 110 points or more 11 times this season (0-11) and four times already this month.
	21 (29)	Timberwolves	8-35	Just when you thought this might be just the fourth team in NBA history to go a full season without winning two games in a row, Minnesota stuns Phoenix again and falls one basket in Boston shy of a 4-0 week.
	22 (22)	76ers	17-28	If the Sixers still have any playoff delusions, they must make their move now. Eight of the next 10 games at home, plus Philly faces seven sub-.500 teams in that span and only road dates in Atlanta and Minnesota.
	23 (26)	Knicks	14-29	The numbers make for more unpleasant reading for Marbury, but facts is facts: Isiah's Knicks are 6-18 this season when Steph plays . . . and a passable 5-3 since Steph last played in a Jan. 11 loss to Toronto.
	24 (21)	Bulls	17-26	A couple of 30-point games from Hinrich can't offset injuries to Deng and Gordon or prevent the Bulls' post-Skiles record under Boylan from slipping to 8-9. Worst of all, Chicago has only one game left with Detroit.
	25 (23)	Pacers	19-26	Hard to see Indiana hanging onto the No. 8 slot even with such a limited push coming from Nos. 9 through 15. But it's harder to believe, even in the Least, that the eighth seed is only on pace to win 35 games.
	26 (20)	Nets	18-26	No wonder Kidd wants out. After a fall-from-ahead loss in Minnesota sealed an 0-6 road trip, Kidd's Nets are having the worst season on the Hudson. Especially since they're also 0-3 in the season series with the Knicks.
	27 (27)	Grizzlies	13-31	Forget the Clippers' shared status as one of the West's bottom-feeders. Beating them in OT was a big one in spite of L.A.'s rep because the Grizz, remember, are still just 1-9 in games decided by three points or less.
	28 (25)	Clippers	13-27	Elton Brand's possible return has been upstaged by the return of vintage Donald Sterling. Who else could suggest his coach's job is in jeopardy less than half of one injury-riddled season into a 4-year, $22 million extension?
	29 (28)	SuperSonics	9-35	Care to predict where Seattle's next win comes from? If the Sonics don't win one of the next five games, they'll tie the longest losing streak seen in the past five seasons: Orlando dropping 19 straight in 2003-04.
	30 (30)	Heat	9-33	The committee (of one) doesn't know much about commercials, but it's fair to wonder, in the midst of Miami's misery, why we're seeing D-Wade's "My five is hot" spot more now than we did when it debuted last season.