Power Rankings: Lakers, Cavs no longer in Top 2
Week: Team:
The Lakers are in the throes of the first three-game losing streak in the Pau Gasol era. The Cavaliers just played their first game all season without LeBron James.
The result?
A new No. 1 and new No. 2 in ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings.
You have to go back 11 weeks for the last time either L.A. or Cleveland was not in the top two, but Orlando (up from No. 3 to No. 1 for the first time in 2009-10) and Dallas (up from No. 5 to a season-high No. 2 thanks to its 11 consecutive victories) have leapfrogged the NBA Finals favorites with their best respective spurts of the season.
The other significant rankings development is the ongoing rise of the Milwaukee Bucks, who have climbed to No. 11 by virtue of a 15-4 run.
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Also, check out John Hollinger's daily Power Rankings.
Tune in Tuesdays to "NBA Fastbreak" on ESPN to see the week's U.S. Army Power Rankings.
| 2009-10 Power Rankings: Week 19 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |  | 2 Last Week: 3 | Could it be that this whole title chase is more up for grabs than everybody thought? The undisputed biggest threat to Cleveland in the East just dropped the mighty Lakers to 5-8 against the other five division leaders. | |
| 2 |  | 3 Last Week: 5 | Combined winning percentage of Dallas' next three opponents: .226. In other words? Something is really wrong if the Mavs don't tote a 14-game winning streak into next Monday's rankings. Even with Terry sidelined. | |
| 3 |  | 1 Last Week: 2 | You think we're overly panicky? That's fine. The view here remains that LeBron has to be back on the floor before we can restore the Cavs to their rightful spot in the top two. No matter how minor LBJ's ailments might seem. | |
| 4 |  | 3 Last Week: 1 | The Lakers had gone a whopping 185 games without enduring a three-game losing skid before Sunday's loss in Orlando. The new longest active streak? Denver has played a mere 30 games without a three-game skid. | |
| 5 |  | 1 Last Week: 4 | One reason this loss is such a biggie: K-Mart is quietly having what might be his best season, with 21 double-doubles in 55 games. His single-season best is 27 ... and he hasn't had 20 in a season since 2004-05. | |
| 6 |  | -- Last Week: 6 | So what does winning 21 of your past 26 games get you? Not quite enough in Utah's case. The Jazz awoke on this lovely Monday at No. 4 in the West, which would keep them in the Lakers' bracket for the playoffs. | |
| 7 |  | -- Last Week: 7 | The Suns have been targeting these next four days off as a chance to get Nash recharged. Not that you'd say they're dragging as a team, at a tidy 14-4 since Jan. 26, with the havoc Stoudemire has been wreaking. | |
| 8 |  | 1 Last Week: 9 | Take it as a compliment, young Mr. Durant, that you're being pestered by media gnats about your OKC future all the time now. That annoyance is yet another sign that you've crashed the game's uppermost stratosphere. | |
| 9 |  | 1 Last Week: 8 | Legitimate question for Hawks folks: Given all the trouble your lads have had with Orlando this season, wouldn't you not-so-secretly prefer finishing with the No. 4 seed? Even if that means dealing with LeBron in Round 2? | |
| 10 |  | 3 Last Week: 13 | The Celts will be just the third team ever to field four players with 1,000 career games when Finley makes his debut. Didn't get a sense, during my weekend in Boston, that the locals are too geeked about that distinction. | |
| 11 |  | 3 Last Week: 14 | We still can't name him, but the advance scout who tabbed the Bucks as his surprise team of the season in the Weekend Dime isn't looking any less enlightened after the weekend. They're now 9-2 since the All-Star break. | |
| 12 |  | 1 Last Week: 11 | One of the most optimistic things we can say about the Spurs' Parker-less plight: New Orleans is generally considered the team most likely to make a run at their playoff spot ... but CP3 is out at least two more weeks. | |
| 13 |  | 3 Last Week: 10 | We could obviously delve into the Blazers' latest injury nightmare. Or we could give them a rare break and focus on that 4-1 road trip, which made them one of only three teams to win four games on two separate trips. | |
| 14 | Charlotte 30-31 | 4 Last Week: 18 | Funny old game, huh? Charlotte just took its record against Dallas to 0-12 lifetime ... and 7-2 against the Lakers since February 2006. Cleveland is the only other team with a winning record against L.A. in that span. | |
| 15 |  | 5 Last Week: 20 | If you're just looking at rosters, wouldn't Miami have to be the team you'd pinpoint to finish fifth in the four-team race for the bottom four playoff spots in the East? But who would dare suggest D-Wade won't find a way? | |
| 16 |  | 1 Last Week: 17 | The 1-8 start when they were still trying to get used to life with Iverson is one thing. Good luck explaining/rationalizing how the Grizz have managed to lose eight straight home games ... while winning six roadies in a row. | |
| 17 |  | 5 Last Week: 12 | It's not our style to be hyperbolic (yeah, right) but everyone sees it: Noah is the second-to-last player D-Rose's Bulls can afford to lose at a time when the fifth through ninth seeds in the East are so tightly bunched. | |
| 18 |  | 2 Last Week: 16 | The post-Olympics euphoria is going to wear off eventually. Good thing, then, that Bosh is finally back after a seven-game absence that saw the Raps lose all their mojo under the cover of Canada winning hockey gold. | |
| 19 | New Orleans 31-32 | 4 Last Week: 15 | This is already Chris Paul's most painful season yet in terms of games lost to injury, easily topping the 18 games he lost -- mostly to a bad ankle -- in the 2006-07 season. The '09-10 Hornets are 10-15 without him. | |
| 20 |  | 1 Last Week: 19 | All Scola has to do is keep this up -- 21.3 points and 18.0 boards over his past three games -- and Houstonians will (eventually) get over the fact that their Rockets had to surrender Landry in the Kevin Martin deal. | |
| 21 |  | 2 Last Week: 23 | Probably not the advised path if you're angling to secure the public's support in demanding Philly: Eddie Jordan's beleaguered crew has been strangely more competitive on the road (13-20) than at home (10-19). | |
| 22 |  | 1 Last Week: 21 | Why were the Mavs and other contenders so hopeful that the Clips would buy out Drew Gooden after facilitating the three-way deal that landed Jamison in Cleveland? Since landing in L.A., Gooden is averaging 16 and 10. | |
| 23 |  | 1 Last Week: 22 | It's been that kind of season in the nation's capital: Gilbert Arenas has played in a mere 32 of 59 games, last suited up for the Wiz on Jan. 5 ... and still leads this not-so-pass-happy squad in total assists with 230. | |
| 24 |  | 2 Last Week: 26 | Our beloved Casspi was back in Dallas on Friday night for the last time as a rookie, while the committee [of one] was on a plane bound for Dorkapalooza. Which is the only bad thing we can say about the weekend. | |
| 25 |  | -- Last Week: 25 | This week's guest taunt, er, tweet comes from the Power Rankings-loving Sports Guy: "Have the Pistons supplanted the Lions as the most depressing team in Detroit? I can't believe that team was intentionally assembled." | |
| 26 |  | 2 Last Week: 24 | Any Pacer People out there remember that 5-3 start? Or shall we rephrase the question: Any Pacer People out there prepared to raise your hands? Tough times unless you happen to be watching the new Reggie Miller doc. | |
| 27 |  | -- Last Week: 27 | Interesting wrinkle in what looks like a two-rook ROY race between the Dubs' Steph Curry and the Kings' Tyreke Evans: Records don't really factor in when the two teams are on pace for 23 and 27 wins, respectively. | |
| 28 |  | -- Last Week: 28 | That groan you just heard came from New Yorkers who don't want to read or hear a word about how tough the No. 6 Jazz have it. Every ugly loss that the Knicks pile up only sweetens that first-round pick bound for Utah. | |
| 29 |  | -- Last Week: 29 | Hard to see our man K-Love making a real push in the Sixth Man Award race with the Wolves getting thumped anew, but it is worth noting he's tops in the league in double-doubles off the bench with a solid 14. | |
| 30 | New Jersey 7-55 | -- Last Week: 30 | Extending Memphis' home losing skid to nine would give the Nets their first back-to-back wins of the season. Which would also somehow give them four straight Ws on the road. Which is why our tone is so skeptical. | |
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