The Nets have won four straight, two with Deron Williams, two without. They are, over the past five games, the best rebounding team in the league and are second in scoring. Not enough to move them up in the power rankings though.

John Schuhmann moves them up one place to #24 but notes that big challenge that is the Celtics. "With Deron Williams, the Nets won two straight with offense. Without Williams, they won two more with defense. Williams is back on Monday, but they'll have to beat the Celtics to make it five straight, which they haven't done since they still had Jason Kidd (Jan. 2008) running the point."

Marc Stein keeps them at #24, but gives The Hump big ups. "Kris Humphries' life-changing season continued against Blake's Clips: Elias says he's just the third player ever to shoot 8-for-8 (or better) and snag 20 boards ... next to Wilt (nine times) and Dikembe."  His colleague, John Hollinger, has the Nets at #27, the worst of the group.  Fellow stats guru Jeff Sagarin has them at #25.

• Playoff picture coming into focus - John Schuhmann - NBA.com
• Power Rankings: Lakers hold off Bulls - Marc Stein - ESPN
• 2009-2010 Hollinger Power Rankings - Week 20 - John Hollinger - ESPN Insider
• The Jeff Sagarin's NBA ratings - Week 20 - Jeff Sagarin - USA Today
• NBA power poll: Nuggets, sans Melo, climb up the ranks - Sean Deveney - Sporting News