The NBA's Southwest Division is the toughest and closest  

The Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, and the New Orleans Hornets. What do they all have in common? They've all got winning records in the 2009-2010 season so far and they all belong to the Western Conference's Southwest Division. For quite some time already, this has been the toughest division in the NBA. Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston are all playoffs contenders for a long time already while New Orleans has been one of the hottest teams since Chris Paul arrived. The Memphis Grizzlies however is the biggest surprise of the season. Dallas (29-15), San Antonio (25-18), Memphis (24-19), Houston (24-20), and New Orleans (24-20) are all playoffs caliber teams for this 2009-2010 season. Memphis and Houston has been the biggest success stories so far. The Grizzlies are banking on young stars Rudy Gay, OJ Mayo, and surprisingly, the surge of international center Marc Gasol. Veteran Zach Randolph on the other hand, after struggling with the New York Knicks, have regained some of his form and is one of the reasons why Memphis has been overachieving. Maybe a big thanks too for Allen Iverson's departure. Houston on the other hand is groomed to be one of the lottery bound teams after superstars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming all went down with injuries. The departure of Ron Artest also looked too costly for the Rockets even though they got the scrappy Trevor Ariza in return. The result? Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola, and Carl Landry are all playing somewhat near an All-Star caliber level. The Rockets rely a lot on hard work and hustle, reminiscent of the 2004 NBA title winning Detroit Pistons.

These 5 Southwest division teams occupy a spot in the top 12 in the Western Conference and they've got a combined winning average of more than 55%. The sudden surge of the Memphis Grizzlies and the overachieving Houston Rockets makes the Western Conference a lot tougher. Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder should work a lot more harder should they earn their first ever playoffs spot. Same goes to the short handed Phoenix Suns and the MVP forerunner Steve Nash.