Heat surge; Celtics climb to No. 1

Midway through Monday's game against New Orleans, LeBron James chased after a ball he had dribbled off his leg. Falling out of bounds with the shot clock about to expire, he twisted in midair and launched a rainbow over the corner of the backboard. It barely tickled the twine as it fell through the hoop.

It's been that kind of December for the Heat, who have won nine straight games, all by double-digit margins, since a loss at Dallas on Nov. 27 put them just a game above .500 and had their naysayers suffused with schadenfreude.

The Heat's recent rampage is what many expected when James and Chris Bosh elected to join Dwyane Wade in South Beach. There have been tremendous feats of athleticism performed with an almost casual brilliance. When the three players were on the floor together during the 2008 Olympics, their suffocating defensive pressure sooner or later generated a flurry of turnovers that resulted in easy transition baskets. The competition is stiffer in the NBA, and the trio's Miami teammates are less talented, but those explosive runs, keyed by steals, blocks and other defensive stops, remain the most indelible signature of the Heat style.

Right now, the team is in near-perfect alignment, with the Big Three accounting for 75 points in four straight games and the revolving door of big men, led by veterans Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Erick Dampier, helping to erase the notion that you can attack the paint against the Heat. (On the contrary, Miami has allowed the lowest field-goal percentage and the second-fewest makes on shots at the rim this season, according to Hoopdata.) Inevitably, there will be slippage and slumps anew. But now that the Heat have unlocked their enormous potential over an extended period, the specter of the season's becoming an embarrassing debacle has been removed.

In other words, the pressure of being shamed is much diminished in Miami. Except for the Heat's opponents, of course.

Miami has made a predicable leap in the Power Rankings, to No. 6. Meanwhile, after the Mavericks' loss to Milwaukee on Monday, the new team at the top is the Celtics, who, among their many impressive accomplishments so far, have defeated the Heat twice.

(All stats and records are through Dec. 13.)

NBA Power Rankings