Power Rankings: Pistons can enjoy Christmas in No. 1 spot
Updated: December 27, 2007, 1:12 PM ET
By
Marc Stein | ESPN.com
Week: Team:
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If you hype up a game as much as we and everyone else did, how can you not reward the winner?
Exactly. It was pretty much automatic for the committee (of one) to give Detroit a Christmas bump into the top spot in ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings, after the Pistons went to Boston for the most anticipated game of the season thus far and handed last week's No. 1 team its first home defeat.
Your reaction to the Pistons' return to No. 1 for the first time since the 2005-06 season -- they never got higher than No. 4 last season -- or the latest surprise move upward by the Portland Trail Blazers is welcome here or at the bottom.
• Rank them yourself! Tune into Fastbreak on ESPN to see this week's Army Power Rankings.
| 2007-08 Power Rankings: Week 8 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |  | 2 Last Week: 3 | Besides The Sports Guy, who else won't like Detroit's rise to No. 1? The Pistons just went 12-2 to join Boston in the 20-Win Club, but Chauncey Billups reminded us how they think: ''I love us flying under the radar.'' | |
| 2 |  | 1 Last Week: 1 | The Celtics did just lose their first big test of the season, as well as their perfect home record. But I think they'll live with three Ls in the first 25 games . . . one in OT and the other two by a combined four points. | |
| 3 |  | 4 Last Week: 7 | After following up a 9-2 start with a 7-7 malaise, this looked like a team waiting for some sort of trade or shakeup. At 5-0 since the malaise, Dallas at last resembles the 67-win Mavs for the first time since April. | |
| 4 |  | -- Last Week: 4 | For all the angst about their defense and their collective effort and the Suns' start in general, this team is +8. That's eight more road wins than home losses, while no other team in the West rates better than a +4. | |
| 5 |  | 3 Last Week: 2 | No one in San Antonio will miss December when it's gone. The tone was set at Portland on Dec. 2 when Duncan got hurt. The Spurs have since finished zero games this month with TD, Tony and Manu all healthy. | |
| 6 |  | 2 Last Week: 8 | L.A. needs a 6-1 spurt to match last season's 23-11 start. But even if the Lakers can't follow up this 8-2 surge by winning six of seven, scouts are almost unanimous in calling this the best post-Shaq team L.A. has had. | |
| 7 |  | 3 Last Week: 10 | It's true that the Blazers were due after, uh, 18 consecutive losing months. But due is one thing. Going 10-1 in December -- without Oden and with Aldridge missing five of those games -- is why they're a stunning No. 7. | |
| 8 |  | 1 Last Week: 9 | With a comfortable W in Cleveland, Golden State has posted winning records on two road trips of five games or longer in the same season for the first time since (wow) 1973-74. Make that 16-6 since an 0-6 start. | |
| 9 | New Orleans 17-10 | 3 Last Week: 6 | Just in time for the holidays, New Orleans has won five of six at home after its 3-4 start, backing up Chandler's Weekend Dime claim that ''there's no reason why we shouldn't be a top-five team'' out West. | |
| 10 |  | 5 Last Week: 5 | Rashard is ailing, Stan is calling his team ''soft'' and the magic (they can only hope) is still hiding. We repeat: Can't crow about the Magic's road exploits -- even at 13-5 -- when they're 0-4 at home in December. | |
| 11 |  | 2 Last Week: 13 | To honor his one-year Denver anniversary, Iverson hit Sactown scoring nearly 9 points a game more this month (32.1 ppg) than last. But if Kleiza doesn't hit at the buzzer, AI and Co. are in a first-place tie with Portland. | |
| 12 |  | 2 Last Week: 14 | The studio panelists laughed at ex-Pacers coach Rick Carlisle when he declared on ''NBA Coast to Coast'' that Indy would finish fourth in the East. Now it's nervous laughter with the Pacers at No. 5 on Christmas. | |
| 13 |  | 4 Last Week: 17 | Every week we get e-mails asking, ''Now do you believe in the Hawks?'' My response? They've won 11 of 16 with us repeatedly saying that we're not convinced yet. Our skepticism is working for you, Hawks fans. | |
| 14 |  | 2 Last Week: 12 | Injury woes for Garbajosa, T.J. Ford, even Bosh after his Team USA pullout in the summer . . . we expected all that. But this part no one expected: Bargnani is averaging 4.0 ppg on 26.8-percent shooting in December. | |
| 15 |  | 4 Last Week: 11 | What do the Wiz want for Christmas? Besides a healed Gil, they wanted a game. Only four teams ever (Dallas at 1-0, Portland at 12-1, Miami at 3-1, Phoenix at 11-4) have better Christmas records than Washington's 14-6. | |
| 16 |  | 1 Last Week: 15 | Anyone else get the feeling that Giricek isn't the only one bugging the coach? After completing nine of 11 games on the road and going 2-9 in that stretch, Sloan said: ''We don't have one defensive thinker on our team.'' | |
| 17 |  | 4 Last Week: 21 | Another less-than-flattering advertisement for the Eastern Conference? The Kings were 0-8 on the road when they left for Boston on Dec. 11 and wound up posting a 3-2 trip after Ws in Philly, Jersey and Milwaukee. | |
| 18 |  | 2 Last Week: 16 | Yao's injuries don't appear to be serious. But everything else? Houston's red alert has to be blaring with T-Mac's health worsening, no help coming from the supporting cast and a 7-14 record since the 6-1 start. | |
| 19 | New Jersey 12-15 | 4 Last Week: 23 | His shooting percentage (.378) and the Nets' home record (6-10) are still ghastly, but Kidd will be the first to average 10, 8 and 10 for a full season since Magic in '82-83 if he keeps this up: 11.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg and 10.3 apg. | |
| 20 |  | -- Last Week: 20 | LeBron came back from injury. Varejao came back from Brazil. But it's clear that the Cavs' playoff chemistry (or at least something resembling it) is still out indefinitely. These guys don't look much better than the Bulls. | |
| 21 |  | 2 Last Week: 19 | We'd say that the Sixers have tumbled all the way back down to Earth after they followed up that four-game win streak with a 1-3 stretch. But then Igoudala pulled out that game-winning jumper in Memphis. | |
| 22 |  | -- Last Week: 22 | Not trying to put more pressure on the kid, but facts is facts: Milwaukee is 3-0 this month when Yi -- who just posted his first two 20-point games -- scores 18 or more. When he doesn't? The Bucks are 1-8 in December. | |
| 23 |  | 5 Last Week: 18 | We heard all season the Bulls didn't want to consider a coaching change until season's end. But they obviously came to the conclusion that they no longer had a choice. These Bulls weren't going to rally if Skiles stayed. | |
| 24 |  | -- Last Week: 24 | Here's some good news, perhaps, for a battered team that needs any boost it can find after Zo's demise: Entering Tuesday's trip to Cleveland, Miami has been a Christmas Day winner each of the last three years. | |
| 25 | Charlotte 10-15 | 2 Last Week: 27 | MJ showing up at practice might have spoiled our claim that NBA Access Charlotte was the peak of their season, but it's also the strongest sign yet that His Airness is highly disappointed by the Bobs' play. | |
| 26 |  | -- Last Week: 26 | As with Arenas in Washington, it can't really be true. But I'm sure we'll start hearing Better Without Pau stuff after the Grizz beat Orlando and San Antonio without Gasol and lose seven in a row with him. | |
| 27 | Seattle 8-19 | 1 Last Week: 28 | Durant might be a Rookie of the Year shoo-in, but he's got some comp in the race for Sonics MVP. Seattle is a stunning 7-7 when our old friend Kurt Thomas starts . . . and 1-12 when Thomas doesn't. | |
| 28 |  | 3 Last Week: 25 | It's not just Elton. It's Cassell. It's Maggette. It's Paul Davis suffering a season-ending injury. Chris Kaman has 12 straight double-doubles, after just 14 last season, but the Clips are way too banged up to enjoy them. | |
| 29 |  | -- Last Week: 29 | More numbers Isiah won't want to hear as he passes the four-year pole at MSG: These Knicks have suffered five losses by 25 points or more; no Knick team has had as many as four such Ls since (gulp) 1964. | |
| 30 |  | -- Last Week: 30 | Antoine Walker must be a faithful viewer of the Adande Lounge on ESPN.com. Adande makes a plea Friday for more player celebrations and, boom, 'Toine hits Indy with six triples and busts out his old shimmy. | |
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