Power Rankings: Northwest Division, home of the elite -- wait, what?

Minnesota's 2-3 so far, but Ricky Rubio has his teammates and Wolves fans on their toes. (Getty Images)

Updated Jan. 3

OK, we've actually seen some games we can use to measure teams, so the insanity of last week has largely passed. The Lakers have righted the ship, even if they look far from world-beaters. The Celtics have devoured some weaker prey to get their self-respect back. The Mavericks still are struggling but starting to pull it together. Things are starting to make sense.

We're also marveling at the Northwest Division right now. Three teams in the top six, and the Wolves -- believe it or not -- are an up-and-coming team.

In other notes, Denver fell mostly because of its schedule -- their play has been great at both ends.

The Lakers, who are winning ugly, rise mostly because of the projected impact of Bynum.

The Clippers got a big win against Portland, but still look like a work in progress that may take a while to take effect.

You can pretty much swap the top three and bottom four any way you want.

RANK	TEAM		MOVE (LW)