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Last season? We rushed it.

We briefly bumped the Orlando Magic to the top of ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings in Week 5, before they were really ready.

This season? There's no question that the Magic, at the unofficial midpoint of the regular season, fully deserve their promotion to the top spot of our fully non-automated pulse take of the league. Not after they beat each of the West's division leaders on their own floors last week to improve the NBA's best road record to 17-5 and move to 7-3 against the West's top eight.

Cleveland is still unbeaten at home (20-0) and has landed in the No. 2 slot just ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers entering the teams' showdown Monday night at Staples Center, with Boston holding at No. 4. The rest of the big noise in this batch comes from Philadelphia's unexpected rise into the top 10 -- courtesy of a 22-point hammering of San Antonio, Philly's overall seven-game win streak and the injuries impacting Houston and Utah -- and Detroit's slide to No. 18.

You can click here to rank the teams yourself or click here to comment.

Also, check out John Hollinger's daily Power Rankings.

Tune in Tuesdays to "NBA Fastbreak" on ESPN to see this week's U.S. Army Power Rankings. Orlando is the U.S. Army Team of the Week for the second straight week, narrowly holding off the Sixers

2008-09 Power Rankings: Week 12
RANK (LAST WK)		TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (2)	Magic	33-8	They swept their season series with the Lakers and the Spurs. They're 17-5 on the road and 18-4 against the West. And they just beat three division leaders (Spurs, Lakers and Nuggets) on their last trip. Any questions?
	2 (1)	Cavaliers	31-7	Trivia question: What was the historical significance of the Cavs' recent victory in Memphis? Answer: It gave the league four teams that reached 30 wins in less than 40 games in the same season. Which is an NBA first.
	3 (3)	Lakers	31-8	Do the absences of Delonte and Big Z and the Lakers' own issues -- Farmar's absence, Odom's knee, Bynum's rebounding -- make you any less excited to see Kobe duel LeBron on Martin Luther King Day? Didn't think so.
	4 (4)	Celtics	33-9	We'd be more geeked up about the champs' Thursday trip to Orlando if the details were different. Not sure how much of a showdown it'll be with Boston hosting Phoenix on Monday, then hitting Miami on Wednesday.
	5 (5)	Spurs	26-13	We've all been drilled to regard the Spurs as a second-half team that finds its second-half mojo somewhere other than San Antonio. Yet even for Team Duncan, this stretch with 17 of 23 games on the road is a tall order.
	6 (7)	Nuggets	27-14	The Nuggets have to be thrilled with a 5-2 homestand when Melo misses five of those games and when it includes Melo-less victories over Miami, Dallas and Phoenix. The road beckons for the Nuggets now, though.
	7 (6)	Hornets	24-13	We'll continue to leave most of the math to Hollinger, but sometimes even the state-schoolers can spot a trend. No fancy formulas needed to see that the up-and-down Hornets are 18-1 when they score at least 97 points.
	8 (8)	Suns	23-15	You know we don't know (and don't want to know) much about American football, but even we know that there's something wrong with the Cards getting to their sport's ultimate stage before the Suns of the 2000s did. Right?
	9 (9)	Trail Blazers	24-16	Must be tough for Blazermaniacs to take, seeing every franchise center they get (Walton, Bowie, Oden) tormented by injury ... and the one guy they wish had stayed retired (D-Miles) come back to slay them financially.
	10 (20)	76ers	20-20	Elton Brand will soon be rejoining a team that's running again and suddenly winning again ... in a city that's in no mood for another tease after the Eagles fell shy of the Super Bowl. Did someone say pressure?
	11 (12)	Rockets	25-16	The cruel irony: Yao has missed only one of Houston's first 41 games -- after playing in 57 games or fewer for three straight seasons -- but no one ever brings it up because of the T-Mac saga and with Artest out now, too.
	12 (10)	Jazz	24-17	With so much free-agent angst surrounding this Jazz, Sloan committing to next season earlier than usual has to be a boost. But it's hard to get too giddy when Sloan has to coach without Boozer and with Millsap hobbled.
	13 (14)	Heat	22-18	Going 4-3 on a seven-game trip will definitely do -- even if wins at Minnesota and Milwaukee were the best Ws -- given all the off-the-floor chatter (regarding trades and Wade) that Miami has been dealing with.
	14 (15)	Mavericks	23-17	The Mavs must miss all those questions about whether their window has shut. The questions they're getting now are far more uncomfortable. As in: Can you avoid finishing ninth in an eight-team playoff bracket?
	15 (13)	Hawks	23-16	Maybe he hasn't made a major step since last season, but you can already see how much Horford (knee) is missed. The Hawks' only wins in 2009 came against teams (Rockets and Clips) more banged up than they are.
	16 (16)	Bucks	20-23	You hear a lot about what Bogut doesn't do after three seasons and change as a pro ... until an injury takes him out of the lineup. Then you start to hear and see how much the Bucks miss him when he's not around.
	17 (17)	Bobcats	16-24	After adding Diaw, Raja and Juwan Howard to Okafor, Wallace and Felton, what could spoil a 5-2 surge that has Larry looking smart? A second half much like last season's: 26 of Charlotte's final 41 games are roadies.
	18 (11)	Pistons	22-17	Folks are bound to overlook how easy the schedule was during the recent win streak and keep blaming the new guy. But facts is facts: Detroit is 0-4 since Rip returned, no matter how much you want to pin this all on AI.
	19 (21)	Pacers	15-25	You can only find one small forward in the whole league performing at a higher statistical level than Indy's Granger. Which suggests that Danny needn't fret over his chances of joining LeBron as an East All-Star.
	20 (23)	Bulls	18-23	Good news: Hinrich is back to ease Rose's burden ... and build up some trade value. Bad news: Chicago has suddenly lost five of eight at home, even if you include that impressive late rally that stunned the LeBrons.
	21 (22)	Timberwolves	12-26	It was easy to scoff at McHale's 5-0 start to 2009 when you totaled the records of the five victims: 69-137. It's less easy after Shaq was rested in Denver to deal with Al Jefferson, and the Wolves won in Phoenix anyway.
	22 (19)	Nets	19-22	Devin Harris' career year continued last week when pictures of his Playmate girlfriend began to circulate, but we wonder: Don't East coaches have to save an All-Star spot for Jameer Nelson before Harris gets one?
	23 (18)	Raptors	16-26	All that Jermaine trade speculation. All that suspense generated by Calderon's 79 consecutive makes at the free-throw line. Show us another team that's 10 games under .500 that can keep us tuned in like our Raps.
	24 (24)	Knicks	15-24	You get an idea how much the Knicks' lack of reliable marksmanship from the outside is torturing the new regime when D'Antoni is already telling the Gotham hype machine that Gallinari qualifies as "our best shooter."
	25 (25)	Warriors	12-29	The long homestand they've dreamed about is off to a decent start, with wins over Indy and Atlanta sandwiched around a painful triple-OT loss to Sac-Town . . . and Monta improving the Dubs' mood just by practicing.
	26 (28)	Thunder	8-34	Halfway through the schedule, OKC can finally look at the standings without cringing. The Thunder rolled into 2009 with a mere four victories, but check out the L10 column now: 5-5 in the past 10 games is no misprint.
	27 (26)	Grizzlies	11-28	Things change fast in the league. No longer do we obsess over Darius Miles' getting through a 10-day contract on that right knee. The question now is how many teams will try to sign him away from the Grizz this week.
	28 (27)	Kings	10-31	The Arizona Cardinals of the NBA? According to ESPN Research, it's the Kings. This franchise, dating to its Royals days, has persisted for 57 seasons without a title, just shy of the Cards' 61-season title drought.
	29 (29)	Wizards	8-31	Fitting metaphor for what kind of season it's been in the nation's capital: D.C. is in the throes of the most exciting week there in who knows how long ... and the Wiz have to be out West for a four-game roadie.
	30 (30)	Clippers	9-30	The losing streak has ended after 28 days without a win ... but the stubborn injury streak has claimed Camby in the midst of his recent stat-fest. Not that the line of teams lusting to trade for Camby will get shorter.