Power Rankings: Pau! Lakers get big boost
Updated: February 4, 2008, 11:19 AM ET
By
Marc Stein | ESPN.com
Week: Team:
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The Detroit Pistons have seized the No. 1 spot in ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings for the third time this season, helped along by a five-game winning streak and the fact that they're one of the few elite teams at full strength these days.
But that's not the big story at committee (of one) headquarters.
The Los Angeles Lakers made this week's most notable jump. Having sunk to No. 11 when Andrew Bynum went down with a long-term knee injury, L.A. is back up to No. 4 almost solely because it stole Pau Gasol away from the Memphis Grizzlies. Pau hasn't even played for the Lakers yet and you can see what the trade did for their energy in road routs of Toronto and Washington.
New Orleans' drop to No. 3, Utah's rise to No. 5 and the push from Orlando and Houston to climb back into the top 10 are the other major developments on this Monday. You can rank the teams yourself or click here or at the bottom to register your approval or disagreement with the order at the top or anywhere else.
Tune into "NBA Fastbreak" on ESPN to see this week's Army Power Rankings.
| 2007-08 Power Rankings: Week 14 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |  | 4 Last Week: 5 | The Pistons might not stay here long since it's so hard for them to maintain a regular-season fire. Yet they're the healthiest top team going and answered a brief 3-5 slump with wins over the Magic, Lakers and Mavs. | |
| 2 |  | -- Last Week: 2 | The Celts completed a back-to-Earth month on a high with the KG-less win over Dallas. But they were denied a return to No. 1 more because of Garnett's uncertain health than their 7-5 record since winning in Detroit. | |
| 3 | New Orleans 32-14 | 2 Last Week: 1 | Go ahead. We know nothing we can say will convince you otherwise, so blame us for jinxing the Hornets by bumping them up to No. 1 for the first time since the committee (of one) took over these rankings in 2002-03. | |
| 4 |  | 7 Last Week: 11 | The steal, er, deal that envious execs and media types can't stop talking about -- Gasol for none of the Lakers' top 10 players -- was summed up best in all of three words by Dallas' Avery Johnson: ''Merry Christmas, L.A.'' | |
| 5 |  | 5 Last Week: 10 | On your eventual list of trade-deadline winners, don't forget to throw Utah on there just because the Kutcher, er, Korver trade was in December. The Jazz are 14-2 since and back where they belong in the West's top four. | |
| 6 |  | 2 Last Week: 4 | This week? With no more Super Bowl distractions? The locals are fretting about the Lakers' big trade, another torturous loss to San Antonio and the Suns' 5-8 record against the other nine West teams with winning records. | |
| 7 |  | 1 Last Week: 6 | The performance in Phoenix was the first time in weeks that they've looked like the Spurs. But the usual concerns about age and athleticism and their January slump are all secondary to what's happening with Parker's health. | |
| 8 |  | 5 Last Week: 3 | Harris' injury is getting more pub than Dallas' tie with Utah for the league's best home record (20-3). But let's face it: There's only one story in Mavsland until Feb. 21 hits with J-Kidd still hoping for a trade here. | |
| 9 |  | -- Last Week: 9 | Of the 16 teams that would qualify for the playoffs if the season ended today, only one of them doesn't have an All-Star. Which we believe is actually great news for the Warriors, who thrive on the whole disrespect thing. | |
| 10 |  | 3 Last Week: 7 | LeBron is making a hard MVP push . . . and luckily didn't sprain anything laughing at Donyell Marshall's unintentional striptease. But LBJ might have to pick it up another notch with Varejao and Pavlovic unavailable again. | |
| 11 |  | 1 Last Week: 12 | More evidence to support the idea that Hedo deserves an All-Star spot in the East more than, say, Atlanta's Joe Johnson: Orlando hasn't led its division this late in the season since Shaq's last season there in 1995-96. | |
| 12 |  | 3 Last Week: 15 | Not much we can do to get Houston unstuck from its long stay at No. 10 in the West, but we can concede that we've had the Rockets too low lately. They're rolling on the road now and 7-1 since a bad loss to Philly. | |
| 13 |  | 5 Last Week: 8 | The roller coaster rolls on. After losing Oden, starting 5-12 and then going 17-1, Portland has hit a 5-6 dip. So while Rip City's team is still on pace for 48 wins, these guys would be in the lottery if the playoffs started today. | |
| 14 |  | 2 Last Week: 16 | Whether or not you share our views on Camby's All-Star worthiness, you have to like his honesty. Asked how the Nuggets resist greeting each new injury with a ''Why us'' lament, Camby said: ''We do say that.'' | |
| 15 |  | 2 Last Week: 13 | Stoudamire's return to Toronto would have been fitting in the season of Shaq-and-Penny and Webber-and-Nellie. But the Raps should be fine if T.J. Ford's return, as described by GM Colangelo, is ''no longer a matter of if.'' | |
| 16 |  | 1 Last Week: 17 | With so many surprise teams in the West alone (Hornets, Lakers, Blazers) it's hard for the Kings to get any pub. But they're on the road back to relevancy whether or not they move Bibby or Artest before the deadline. | |
| 17 |  | 3 Last Week: 14 | Arenas is chirping about making his much-anticipated return in ''20 to 30 days.'' You suspect that the Wiz would be happy to let Gil take more time if they could just get their newly hobbled Butler back to full strength. | |
| 18 |  | -- Last Week: 18 | There is perhaps no greater indictment of the Leastern Conference's collective underachievement this season than the Hawks starting 5-11 in 2008 and facing not a single threat yet to their top-eight slot. | |
| 19 | Charlotte 18-30 | -- Last Week: 19 | We didn't believe it either when the Bobcats claimed they were signing Boykins for their playoff ''push,'' especially since the schedule will have them on the road for 17 of the next 25 games. But it is the Least. | |
| 20 |  | 1 Last Week: 21 | Another two-game win streak, Foye is finally back from injury and McHale is suddenly being hailed for his KG deal compared to what Memphis got for Pau. So, yes, Minnesota stays in the 20 range for at least one more week. | |
| 21 |  | 1 Last Week: 22 | Andre Miller rarely says much -- and the Sixers keep insisting they don't have to trade him -- but Miller does appear to be quietly marketing himself, posting 15 games with at least 20 points after only five last season. | |
| 22 | New Jersey 20-27 | 4 Last Week: 26 | Unlike Dallas or Portland, teams that actually could get sidetracked by J-Kidd trade chatter, how much worse can the Nets' season get? As RJ says: ''Maybe it will distract us from losing all these damn games.'' | |
| 23 |  | -- Last Week: 23 | First Magic Johnson said so. Now it's our pal J-Levy, who coaches at sizzling Cal State Fullerton, insisting that the Knicks can still make the playoffs. In related news, Team Isiah just capped an 0-5 trip by losing at Seattle. | |
| 24 |  | -- Last Week: 24 | What a conference. The banged-up Bulls split a home-and-home with Minnesota, watch Pau join Tyson Chandler and LaMarcus Aldridge on the list of big men that got away . . . and gain ground on the East's No. 8 spot. | |
| 25 |  | -- Last Week: 25 | You heard lots early in the season about how much better Indy was playing without Jermaine O'Neal. Now? The Pacers might be 13-20 when JO plays . . . but they're also 1-8 in the last nine games he's missed. | |
| 26 |  | 6 Last Week: 20 | Don't apologize to anyone, China. We feel the same way here at Stein Line HQ as Saturday night's estimated 200-plus million TV viewers felt: Yao versus Yi is, was and will always be bigger and better than the Super Bowl. | |
| 27 | Seattle 12-35 | 2 Last Week: 29 | Looks like things have evened out a bit for the young Sonics after those heartbreaking home Ls to Houston and Sacramento. With Parker and LeBron out injured, Durant and Co. stunned San Antonio and Cleveland. | |
| 28 |  | -- Last Week: 28 | Give our Clips this much: Thanks to the Sterling-Dunleavy war of words, ongoing trade interest in Cassell and Maggette and Brand's apparent insistence on playing this season, they're still forcing us to pay attention. | |
| 29 |  | 2 Last Week: 27 | Have to wait until summer to see whether the Grizz can really prove (zillions of) doubters wrong by turning their newfound ''flexibility'' into a new team. Until then, Darko and Kwame are Pau's replacements. | |
| 30 |  | -- Last Week: 30 | As if there hasn't been enough pain and suffering in Miami this season, we wonder whether D-Wade realizes that all these spots with The Chuckster have probably sentenced him to a lifetime of being called ''Pookie.'' | |
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