I missed last week because I was out of the country … and to be honest it was great. Why? Because coming back after 10 non-basketball days makes this sport seem new all over again. It’s been a wild week so far, and here’s my take on the top 10 players.
Biggest Jump: LeBron James (3 spots)
Biggest Fall: Carlos Boozer, Jason Kidd (3 spots)
Hello: Pau Gasol
Goodbye: Carmelo Anthony

Rank	Last Week	NBA.com Rank	Player	TENDEX	Description
1	1	-		29.96	Dwyane Wade (46 games) Looking at the video, I still have no idea what it was that dislocated Wade’s shoulder, and the more I think about it this may be the most inspired idea of Pat Reilly’s ever. A fire has been lit up under the Heat’s collective ass (especially Mr. Diesel) and Wade gets a rest. Anyone else starting to smell conspiracy?
2	2	9		29.95	Kevin Garnett (61 games) KG has had another spectacular week: 28.8 PPG and 12.2 RPG over his last five games. His Timberwolves had another below average week: 2-3. Is Garnett just not good enough to make his teammates better or does KG need better teammates to win?
3	3	1		28.31	Dirk Nowitzki (60 games) Dirk hasn’t had a great week … if you care about individual stats (and, let’s be honest, at a statistical analysis site like NBA Sim, we do). His Mavs, on the other hand just came off another 12+ game winning-streak (17 for the record).
4	7	3		26.95	LeBron James (61 games) Here’s hoping LeBron doesn’t grow up too fast … well, age too fast, anyway. He was out the most recent game this week due to back spasms (and I cringe whenever I hear that now after T-Mac’s woes to this condition).
5	4	5		26.32	Kobe Bryant (59 games) Phil Jackson says there’s a witch hunt aimed at suspending Kobe this season. I would agree there is a hunt since he continually does the same play at the end of games by hitting people in the face. Kobe didn’t readily agree with his coach’s statement … perhaps because he’s been on the receiving end of some dirty end-of-game plays, himself.
6	5	2		26.21	Steve Nash (56 games) Nash is up to his old tricks … leading the Suns to a perfect 5 game schedule and averaging 19 PPG and 9.2 APG. Will all of this individual and team success add up to a championship, though? The Suns stand 3 games behind the red-hot Mavericks.
7	8	6		25.62	Tim Duncan (63 games) Dallas Who-vericks? Duncan has led the Spurs to the current highest game winning-streak with 13. Is it any surprise that the reigning NBA champions (Miami) and the closest thing to a recent dynasty (Spurs) are starting to play their best basketball two months before the playoffs? Everyone else … you’ve been warned.
8	6	16		25.54	Carlos Boozer (54 games) What’s it take to get some love in Utah? Well, for Boozer, anyway. Even though he averaged 16.6 PPG and 12.6 RPG in his past 5 games, Boozer has dropped to 16th in the prestigious Race to MVP feature on NBA.com. To add insult to this oversight, Boozer’s teammate, Deron Williams, has jumped into the top 10!
9	9	8		24.88	Chris Bosh (51 games) This guy can play. I had him pegged as a Garnett-type player when he entered the league but Bosh is really starting to come into his own. This week he went for 24.2 PPG and 7.2 RPG and brought his Raptors to 3-2.
10	10	-		24.80	Yao Ming (31 games) The Great Wall is back … and showing that he’s tougher than people give him credit for. After being out for 30 games with a broken bone, Yao went for 37 points against another dominating center, Dwight Howard. Not bad.