Heat, Bulls, OKC off to strong starts

It was a particularly dramatic Monday night in the land of the Power Rankings, as the NBA's last two undefeated teams -- conference favorites Miami and Oklahoma City -- were toppled and the Spurs lost Manu Ginobili indefinitely to a broken hand.

While the rest of the action in the first nine days of this lockout-shortened season hasn't been quite as turbulent, the abbreviated training camp, packed schedule and compelling mixture of aging traditional powers and emerging young contenders figure to create more dynamic changes in the week-to-week ordering of teams than occurred in previous years.

Last season's Eastern Conference finalists lead the first regular-season Power Rankings of 2011-12, followed by the Thunder and a tightly bunched handful of teams that could easily contend for the top spot -- or plunge toward the middle of the pack -- in the next week or two. It's going to be that kind of season.

(All stats and records are through Monday, Jan. 2 unless otherwise noted.)

NBA Power Rankings