Is this man MVP material?

With the All-Star break having come and gone, it’s back to the games that count for all 30 NBA squads. As we saw over the weekend in Vegas, a lot of teams are dealing with key injuries (A.I. in Denver, Nash in Phoenix, J-Kidd in Jersey, Boozer in Utah, Yao in Houston) that have impacted the League’s balance of power. With the NBA getting back to business tonight, here’s our latest power ranking…

30. Milwaukee Bucks — Not only did the Bucks have the honor of letting the Celtics snap an 18-game losing streak against them, Mo Williams and crew got 20-pieced in the process and let a rusty Paul Pierce drop 32 on their collective heads.

29. Boston Celtics — The Truth has stepped back in the booth, and the franchise-record losing streak is over. They better watch out before they play themselves out of the Greg Oden/Kevin Durant sweepstakes.

28. Memphis Grizzlies — Do the Grizzlies fans that want Pau Gasol traded realize that their squad gets immediately worse without him? We like Mike Miller, but he’s not the main option on a good NBA team.

27. Philadelphia 76ers — We recently posed this question to one of our boys who’s a Sixers fan: Which two players would you be most upset about if Philly traded? His answer: “Honestly? None of them.”

26. Charlotte Bobcats — Gerald Wallace scored 30-plus points in two of his last three games. In that third game he scored four. Inconsistent?

25. Atlanta Hawks — Joe Johnson is a beast (25 ppg); it’s just too bad no one gets to see him play. And JJ didn’t help his Q-rating by missing a plane and no-showing All-Star media day. Although we do respect Joe for chartering a $20K jet and trying to make it on time.

24. Portland Trail Blazers — Watching the Rookies get demo’d by the Sophomores over the weekend, we wondered where LaMarcus Aldridge was. Aside from an 18-10 outing against the Wizards a couple weeks ago, the kid hasn’t been playing like a No. 2 overall pick.

23. Seattle Supersonics — We don’t wanna say this team is too reliant on Ray Allen, but he has led them in scoring 15 straight games, and Seattle doesn’t seem to stand a chance unless he scores at least 25.

22. Los Angeles Clippers — Cuttino Mobley is averaging 22 points a night in his last four games, but his team has lost six of its last seven. What happened to that Corey Maggette trade? L.A. needs something to get them going, otherwise they’re falling back into that old laughingstock mode soon.

21. New Jersey Nets — Without Kidd, Jefferson and Krstic, Vince is carrying too much of the load. He at least needs another scorer, and Eddie House isn’t exactly the answer.

20. New York Knicks — Steve Francis scored 13 in his first game back, then dropped 9 assists a couple games later. He’s been solid off the bench, and thankfully, Jamal Crawford can stand in the way of the Francis/Marbury backcourt no one wants to see.

19. Golden State Warriors — Between Monta Ellis, Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson (not to mention the occasionally potent Matt Barnes and Kelenna Azubuike), this lineup is explosive even without Baron and J-Rich. Their problem is defense. Golden State has given up 120-plus points four times in the last three weeks. Was Eddie Jordan showing the East All-Stars game tapes of the Warriors last week?

18. Sacramento Kings — After winning five in a row, the Kings turned around and dropped three straight. Mike Bibby’s name has popped up in trade rumors lately; is it affecting him on the court? Bibby’s averaging just 12 points and 4 assists a night in his last five.

17. Denver Nuggets — Carmelo is playing the best all-around ball of his career, putting up 30 points, 6 boards and 4 dimes per game, all career-highs. He’s got a tough stretch coming up this week, though, with the Spurs, Jazz and Mavs on deck. An Iverson return would be greatly appreciated right now.

16. Minnesota Timberwolves — Rashad McCants is back from microfracture surgery, and after getting a few minutes here and there, he saw 25 minutes of tick in Minnesota’s last game before the break. If McCants is OK, he gives them needed bench scoring.

15. New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets — After working out the kinks in his first game back from the ankle injury, Chris Paul has led the Hornets to a 6-2 record. And he probably should have gotten MVP of the Rookie Challenge; CP3 put up 16 points, 17 dimes and 9 steals, and totally controlled the game whenever he was on the court.

14. Orlando Magic — Dwight Howard got low-balled in the Dunk Contest, then overshadowed (20 pts, 12 rebs) in the All-Star Game due to his team getting pieced. It’s been that way for Dwight recently. He’s putting up 25 ppg, 11 rpg and 2 bpg in his last five and shooting 81 percent from the field, but that hasn’t stopped the Magic from falling off from their hot start.

13. Chicago Bulls — Did you notice how Scott Skiles lobbied for Ben Gordon (21 ppg) and Luol Deng (18 ppg, 7 rpg) to get into the All-Star Game, yet Ben Wallace (6 ppg, 10 rpg, 2 bpg) wasn’t even in the discussion? We’re guessing the Bulls expected more out of their big-money investment.

12. Miami Heat — If Shaq stays healthy the rest of the year, the Heat are right back in the thick of the championship race. Miami has won seven of their last eight; we’d put them higher on the list, but consider five of those Ws came against the Blazers, Celtics, Bobcats and Bucks (twice).

11. Washington Wizards — Arenas continues to entertain, Caron continues to produce, but Washington needs Antawn Jamison back. They’ve lost four of their last six. One bright spot is that youngster Andray Blatche has been getting decent clock with Jamison out; the kid’s been good for about 9 points and 8 boards a night lately.

10. Los Angeles Lakers — Five losses in a row and a 4-11 record in their last 15. Would Scottie Pippen be of any help? You know he knows the triangle like the back of his hand.

9. Toronto Raptors — Don’t be shocked. Toronto is 12-3 in their past 15, and T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon are currently the best point guard duo in the League. Ford is putting up 11 ppg, 8 apg and almost 2 spg in his last five, while Calderon is dropping 11 ppg and 7 apg in that same span.

8. Indiana Pacers — What’s with all the talk of trading Jamaal Tinsley? He’s been healthy this year and killing; in his last five, Tinsley’s averaging 13 points, 10 dimes and 2 steals a night. Meanwhile, J.O. is plugging along with his usual 20-10-3 per night.

7. Cleveland Cavaliers — Five wins in their last seven, including one over Miami and two Ws over the Lakers. Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic have shown they can be legit second scoring options to LeBron.

6. Detroit Pistons — Their seven-game win streak was snapped right before the break against the Spurs, but this is still the best team in the East. Chris Webber’s transition into the system has been almost seamless; he’s reminding us that he’s arguably the best passing big man in the game right now.

5. San Antonio Spurs — Tim Duncan didn’t do much in the All-Star Game, but Spurs backers won’t mind so long as he’s rested up for the stretch run. Duncan’s still putting up his customary 20 points and 10 bounds a night. Has anyone active in the League been more consistent over a lengthy career? The only other guy you could argue for is Elton Brand.

4. Houston Rockets — Why is no one talking about T-Mac for MVP? He’s putting up 24 ppg, 5 rpg and 6 apg and, without Yao for a long stretch, has kept the Rockets among the League’s upper echelon with a supporting cast that includes guys like Rafer Alston, Dikembe Mutombo and Juwan Howard, who aren’t even locks to start on a few other NBA teams.

3. Phoenix Suns — Steve Nash could be back for Tuesday’s game against the Clippers, and Phoenix needs him, too. They’ve lost three in a row, two of them to Lottery-types Seattle and Atlanta. Amare has been killing lately, averaging 29 points and 11 boards in his last five and dropping 29 in the All-Star Game.

2. Utah Jazz — Deron Williams is putting up 20 points and 10 dimes a night in his last five, had a career game in his last outing against Cleveland (33 and 12), and was dominant at will in the Rookie Challenge. It looked like he could have had 20 and 10 in the first half had he wanted. Meanwhile, the Jazz have won six in a row. However much longer Carlos Boozer will be out, someone has to convince him to keep dressing like Phillip Michael Thomas on the bench.

1. Dallas Mavericks — The Mavs are 30-2 since Dec. 13, and are riding a nine-game win streak. Did you see that David Hasselhoff gave Dirk Nowitzki his MVP vote? Well, that settles that argument.

Related posts:

1. The D-League Hot Hand List
2. NBA Hit List power ranking, 12.31
3. NBA Hit List Power Ranking, 12.22