Power Rankings: Champs retake the throne
Updated: January 26, 2009, 8:04 PM ET
By
Marc Stein | ESPN.com
Week: Team:
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After back-to-back weeks at a season-low No. 4, Boston is back up at No. 1 in the so-called "human" edition of ESPN.com's NBA Power Rankings.
The Celts' bitter rivals are right behind them, too.
The defending champs and the team they toppled in this past June's Finals have underlined the interchangeability of the top four by quickly returning to the summit of our weekly NBA pulse-take. Boston has done so by responding to its recent 2-7 skid with an eight-game win streak, posting the last six of those wins by double digits. The Los Angeles Lakers made their own bid for No. 1 with home wins in the past week over Cleveland and San Antonio, missing out largely because the Cavs weren't at full strength and because the Celts swept one of the league's tougher back-to-back sets on the road, winning Wednesday in Miami and Thursday at then-No. 1 Orlando.
Other notable changes include Houston's return to the top 10 at No. 7 in spite of all its injury woes, as well as unexpected jumps for Miami (from No. 13 to No. 10) and Minnesota (from No. 21 to No. 16) that were helped by the ongoing struggles of three perennial powers: Phoenix, Dallas and Detroit.
You can click here to rank the teams yourself or click here to comment.
Also, check out John Hollinger's daily Power Rankings.
Tune in Tuesdays to "NBA Fastbreak" on ESPN to see this week's U.S. Army Power Rankings. Boston is the U.S. Army Team of the Week after handing Orlando its first home loss since Nov. 22.
| 2008-09 Power Rankings: Week 13 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |  | 3 Last Week: 4 | It's not just the way they smoked Phoenix, smothered Orlando and disassembled Dallas in a span of seven days. The champs are back up here for how firmly they've hit back at this season's first dose of adversity. | |
| 2 |  | 1 Last Week: 3 | So do you think the Lakers -- fresh off toasting the Spurs and fully healthy for the first time in weeks -- are secretly freaked because they've played more home games and fewer roadies than anyone else? Us, neither. | |
| 3 |  | 1 Last Week: 2 | Clutch as the Cavs have looked on the road since MLK Day -- with Ws at Portland, Golden State and Utah -- it sure looks as though they have the depth to survive the Delonte and Big Z injuries if they'd rather not make a trade. | |
| 4 |  | 3 Last Week: 1 | There is a small downside to starting 33-8, sweeping the Spurs and Lakers, winning 17 of your first 22 road games and going 18-4 against the West. All that magic is a lot to live up to in the next 41 games. | |
| 5 |  | -- Last Week: 5 | How stunning was that loss at Staples? Stunning for only one reason: Minnesota -- yes, that 'Sota -- holds onto the league's best record in 2009 at 9-2, with the Lakers moving into second at 10-3 and the Spurs stuck at 9-3. | |
| 6 |  | -- Last Week: 6 | Can't promise that Melo's hand injury won't cost him a spot in the All-Star Game. Also can't wait to see how much longer Denver can maintain its division lead without him, with 10 of its next 12 games on the road. | |
| 7 |  | 4 Last Week: 11 | Rick Adelman isn't going to win the COY hardware. But he'd better get some votes if this keeps up: Houston has had Yao, T-Mac and Artest in the lineup together just 22 times ... and still finds itself 11 games over .500. | |
| 8 | New Orleans 26-14 | 1 Last Week: 7 | Chandler is out until the All-Star break. West is dinged up, too. And Byron Scott wasn't even happy when his bigs were healthy, accusing the Hornets of "fat lady syndrome" ... which translates to "satisfied with last year." | |
| 9 |  | -- Last Week: 9 | It's true Portland lost the one the locals really wanted when LeBron made his annual visit. Yet we suspect they all took some measure of solace from Oden's 24 and 15 against the Bucks, plus 18 and 14 against the Wiz. | |
| 10 |  | 3 Last Week: 13 | Joined in on a fun talk-show hypothetical with our man Israel Gutierrez in Miami: What happens if D-Wade gets this team with a rookie PG and no center to 50 wins? LeBron's MVP trophy might not be so automatic then. | |
| 11 |  | 4 Last Week: 15 | Guilty as charged: Joe Johnson is the only Hawk going to Phoenix, but those of you upset that Mike Bibby wasn't properly acknowledged as a worthy candidate on our list of All-Star reserve picks make a good point. | |
| 12 |  | 2 Last Week: 10 | Wondering where the Sixers are on that list of best teams in 2009? They're tied for a heady fourth at 8-3 with Cleveland, Orlando and Denver, which is why you're starting to hear some All-Star support for Andre Iguodala. | |
| 13 |  | 5 Last Week: 8 | Couldn't sum it all up better than our man Paul Coro wrote it in the Arizona Republic before Sunday's bounce-back win in Atlanta: "The results and effort coming out of the Phoenix Suns are no longer recognizable." | |
| 14 |  | -- Last Week: 14 | How do you win at Philly on a Dirk buzzer-beater, spank Detroit in Detroit and fly home feeling shame? When you lose by a total of 58 points to the Bucks and Celtics in the other two stops on the trip, as the Mavs just did. | |
| 15 |  | 3 Last Week: 12 | Sloan is the last guy who'll ever moan about injuries, but here's a glimpse of the toll they've taken here: Only Memphis (0-10) and Washington (0-9) are worse than Utah (1-10) on the second night of a back-to-back. | |
| 16 |  | 5 Last Week: 21 | So do you think that Al Jefferson was trying to send a message to the keepers of the Weekend Dime with that 39-point eruption Sunday night that, along with Kevin Love, took down Chicago in overtime? Us, too. | |
| 17 | Charlotte 18-26 | -- Last Week: 17 | Even as we acknowledge the brutal second-half schedule awaiting Larry Brown's Bobs, it would appear he's doing in Charlotte what we all thought he'd do in New York. Make a bad team respectable, in other words. | |
| 18 |  | -- Last Week: 18 | Blame it all on Iverson's arrival if you wish. Our theory is that the Pistons know management has its eye on the future and have caved as a result. Either way, they're just not firing. Too often, Detroit no longer brings it. | |
| 19 |  | -- Last Week: 19 | Don't want to worry you too much, Pacer People, but there have been five players with higher scoring averages than Granger who didn't make it to the All-Star Game. (The full list is coming soon. We promise.) | |
| 20 |  | 4 Last Week: 24 | The Knicks haven't had an All-Star since 2001 and that's not going to change now. Yet you might want to hold off on dismissing their playoff chances after victories this month over Boston, New Orleans and Phoenix. | |
| 21 |  | 5 Last Week: 16 | There's never a good time for a torn knee, but our beloved Redd was having a monster January -- with a home-heavy schedule awaiting the Bucks in the final 35 games -- when his knee buckled. It's not fair. | |
| 22 | New Jersey 20-24 | -- Last Week: 22 | We put it to you, Nets Nation. If you could put only one Net on the East's All-Star roster, who would it be: Devin Harris or Vinsanity? Or should we stick to the usual line of questioning about why Jersey can't win at home? | |
| 23 |  | -- Last Week: 23 | Why does everything in life seem so easy for the league's Most Disappointing Team -- as the Raps are known on all those midseason lists folks are compiling -- when Calderon steps to the free throw line? | |
| 24 |  | 1 Last Week: 25 | A new kind of ouch: The injury-riddled Dubs would be looking at a 7-0 homestand if they hadn't lost to Sacramento by two in triple OT and if Jeff Green and LeBron James hadn't both beaten them with buzzer-beaters. | |
| 25 |  | 5 Last Week: 20 | Rose is lucky Mayo's Grizz have gone to pieces, because the atmosphere in Chicago ain't exactly breezy. If all this negativity doesn't blow over, Rose's ROY chase might be the only thing that the Bulls wind up playing for. | |
| 26 |  | -- Last Week: 26 | Why does Durant have no All-Star shot when Bosh and Granger are seen as locks from sub-.500 teams? KD's Thunder are starting to look legit, but the Raps and Pacers are on the playoff fringe. There's a difference. | |
| 27 |  | -- Last Week: 27 | Grizz fans are brave souls. Three of the five coaches with the worst win percentages ever coached their team: No. 1 Brian Winters (36-148, .196), No. 4 Sid Lowe (79-228, .257) and No. 5 Marc Iavaroni (33-90 .268). | |
| 28 |  | 2 Last Week: 30 | If there's a regular resident of the bottom five that has ever looked as good on paper as these Clips, we can't remember it. Tell me you're not imagining Baron, Camby and Zach on the floor with Eric Gordon. | |
| 29 |  | -- Last Week: 29 | A couple weeks back, when asked if he was still planning to come back this season, Gilbert Arenas said: "Would you?" With each passing day -- and each Wiz defeat -- it sounds more and more like a rhetorical question. | |
| 30 |  | -- Last Week: 30 | The good news: Brad Miller hasn't done his trade value any harm by averaging 13.4 points and 9.5 rebounds in January. The bad news: Kings opponents are rumbling for (gulp) 113.8 points per game in January. | |
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