1. Derrick Rose Chicago Bulls	G	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	RPG	AST	PTS	PER
		61	37.8	.442	.328	.840	1.0	0.6	4.3	8.1	24.6	22.8
	While the Heat continue to struggle against elite teams, Rose and the Bulls have owned those matchups (11-6). He is top 10 in the league in assists and scoring. (Last week: 1 | Team record: 44-18)

	2. LeBron James Miami Heat	G	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	RPG	AST	PTS	PER
		61	38.4	.493	.336	.758	1.5	0.6	7.5	7.1	26.2	26.9
	Amazing how LeBron can be the best player on the court during a game's first 47 minutes of action, yet continue to fail in the clutch during the final 60 seconds. (Last week: 2 | Team record: 43-20)

	3. Dwight Howard Orlando Magic	G	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	RPG	AST	PTS	PER
		61	37.2	.600	.000	.588	1.2	2.3	13.9	1.2	23.1	26.4
	He was missing in action on Monday against the Blazers, suspended for the contest after picking up his 16th technical foul. Orlando lost the game by four. (Last week: 3 | Team record: 40-24)

	4. Dirk Nowitzki Dallas Mavericks	G	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	RPG	AST	PTS	PER
		54	34.1	.531	.425	.875	0.5	0.7	6.6	2.5	23.0	24.0
	The Mavericks have won 19 of their past 21 games and, of course, Dirk is leading the way. Dallas is 2-7 without its All-Star forward and 44-10 when he is in the lineup. (Last week: 4 | Team record: 46-17)

	5. Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers	G	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	RPG	AST	PTS	PER
		64	33.8	.459	.321	.830	1.1	0.1	5.2	4.8	25.1	24.1
	The MVP race is basically between five players. Can Kobe win the award this season? Probably not, but a top-five finish is definitely not out of the question. (Last week: 5 | Team record: 45-19)

	6. Kevin Durant Oklahoma City Thunder	G	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	RPG	AST	PTS	PER
		58	39.5	.462	.347	.874	1.1	1.0	7.1	2.8	28.1	23.5
	Last season, at the age of 21, he became the youngest player to win the scoring title. He's on pace to win the scoring title again for the Thunder, who are fourth in the West. (Last week: 6 | Team record: 39-23)

	7. Rajon Rondo Boston Celtics	G	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	RPG	AST	PTS	PER
		50	37.9	.505	.323	.546	2.4	0.2	4.4	12.2	10.8	18.0
	The league's best playmaker has a new backup in former Heat guard Carlos Arroyo. While Rondo leads the league in assists, Arroyo is averaging 3.1 helpers per game for his career. (Last week: 8 | Team record: 46-15)

	8. Dwyane Wade Miami Heat	G	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	RPG	AST	PTS	PER
		59	37.2	.499	.310	.730	1.4	0.9	6.7	4.4	25.4	24.8
	The Heat have dropped four in a row and five of six. Time to panic? Regardless of how poor they have been at finishing games, it will be hard to defeat them in a playoff series. (Last week: 7 | Team record: 43-20)

	9. LaMarcus Aldridge Portland Trail Blazers	G	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	RPG	AST	PTS	PER
		63	39.9	.497	.222	.784	1.1	1.2	8.8	2.1	22.3	21.7
	He can defend three positions, and with Brandon Roy banged up he is now the player the Blazers count on to take and make all the big shots at the end of games. (Last week: 10 | Team record: 36-27)

	10. Manu Ginobili San Antonio Spurs	G	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	STL	BLK	RPG	AST	PTS	PER
		63	30.8	.424	.341	.868	1.6	0.3	3.9	5.0	17.8	22.0
	You won't be overwhelmed by his stats, but obviously there is no way to put a value on the intangibles he brings to the Spurs, who have the league's top record. (Last week: NR | Team record: 51-12)

Previous: Dec. 28 | Jan. 11 | Jan. 19 | Jan. 26 | Feb. 1 | Feb. 8 | Feb. 15 | March 1

Love

1. Kevin Love, Timberwolves: Talk about being consistent. K-Love tied all-time great Moses Malone's record of 51 straight double-doubles Tuesday night in a loss to the Mavericks.

2. LaMarcus Aldridge, Blazers: He was overlooked for the Western Conference All-Star team despite averaging career highs in points, rebounds and minutes.

3. Dorell Wright, Warriors: The fact that he is second in 3-pointers made (145) gets him a lot of attention, but he also has shown great improvement on the defensive end of the floor.

4. Nick Young, Wizards: Hard to believe that former teammate Gilbert Arenas had to fake an injury in Washington's preseason home opener so that Young could get some minutes.

5. DeMar DeRozan, Raptors: DeMar can do more than just dunk. The second-year shooting guard has raised his points per game average from 8.6 to 16.5 in an expanded role with Toronto.

Howard

1. Dwight Howard, Magic: Last season, he won the rebounding title by pulling down 13.2 boards a contest. This season, he's grabbing 13.9 caroms a night and still trails Minnesota's Kevin Love for first place by almost two rebounds a game. D12 is also second in the league in rejections .

2. Kevin Garnett, Celtics: The Celtics are giving up just 91.6 points per game this season and No. 5 is the main reason why.

3. Tyson Chandler, Mavericks: The Grizzlies scored 66 points in the paint against the Mavericks last week and the reason why was pretty simple -- the injured Chandler missed the game.

4. Andrew Bogut, Bucks: His interior defense is one of the main reasons Milwaukee is one of the stingiest clubs in the league.

5. Andre Iguodala, Sixers: He does a little bit of everything for the Sixers, recording three triple-doubles in Philly's past seven games and playing lockdown defense.

Terry

1. Jason Terry, Mavericks: At 33 years old, JET has shown no signs of slowing down, averaging 16.4 points and 4.3 assists for the red-hot Mavs.

2. Jamal Crawford, Hawks: Jamal won the Sixth Man of the Year award last season, averaging 18 points per game. His production is down a tad (15 points per game), but he is still one of the league's best fourth-quarter players.

3. Lamar Odom, Lakers: It's not that Lamar does a little bit of everything, what makes him special is that he does a little bit of everything well for the defending champions.

4. Thad Young, Sixers: Bobby Jones (1982-83) and Aaron McKie (2000-01) are the only 76ers players to ever be named Sixth Man of the Year. Young has an outside chance to join that group.

5. Glen Davis, Celtics: He has missed a couple of games with a strained tendon, giving Doc Rivers the chance to give extra minutes to Boston's new additions.