After one month, Atlantic Division leads the league only in mediocrity

Through the first month of the NBA season, a few trends are starting to develop. Let's take a look at the league, division by division:

Atlantic

Call this the gang that can't shoot straight, as no team has seen fit to stick its head much above .500.

The New Jersey Nets, the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions, have been the biggest surprise, stumbling about, what with three of their top six (Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin and Lucious Harris) hobbled with injuries, and the retirement of Alonzo Mourning.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been the class so far, behind new coach Randy Ayers, with the Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and New York Knicks playing better than expected.

The less said about the Miami Heat and Orlando the better, except that the Magic might not be done shuffling the deck.

Central

Some may consider this blasphemy, but this division might boast the best race, as it has three teams playing .600 or better ball.

Indiana is out to roughly the same blazing start this year under new coach Rick Carlisle that it was last year under Isiah Thomas, but a saner, more composed forward Ron Artest has the Pacers thinking they can sustain this run a bit longer.

After a few rough moments, the Detroit Pistons look like they will be back in the mix.

The shocker here, though, has been the play of the New Orleans Hornets, particularly with Jamal Mashburn out for the entire season with a knee injury. Baron Davis dropped 25 pounds in the offseason and is playing at a Most Valuable Player level.

The weakness in the Atlantic might allow the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors, both significantly improved, to sneak into the playoffs.

Midwest

With four of their next five games against the Los Angeles Clippers, Orlando, Miami and the Chicago Bulls, the San Antonio Spurs should fatten up on some of the league's weaklings to move up in the standings.

The world champions, however, will have to navigate through a couple of teams to get back to the top of the division.

The Dallas Mavericks still look shaky atop the division. And if Dirk Nowitzki, who suffered a leg injury last week, is hobbled for long, Dallas will be in trouble.

The other team to watch in the Midwest might be the Houston Rockets, who are playing improved defense and better half-court offense.