Lakers Take Over Power Rankings
-
After a great recent stretch for the Lakers of beating the Hornets, Celtics, Blazers, and Jazz, they are the only remaining team in the league with only 5 losses.
The Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and even Orlando Magic have managed to lose to sub .500 teams dropping them below the Lakers. The Lakeshow is now in control of their own destiny while the others trail for home court advantage. It’s early in the season, but the Lakers finally seem like they are back on track and serious about winning in double digits every game.
Meanwhile, here are the breakdowns from various sources of the power rankings. As you can see, the Lakers have moved up to the #1 spot in every one of them.
ESPN.com
2008-09 Power Rankings: Week 10 RANK (LAST WK) TEAM REC. COMMENT 
1 (1) Lakers 27-5 Throw out a winter trip to Florida that went awry and the Lakers are 10-0 since the Dec. 9 debacle in Sacramento. And so they’ve reclaimed the league’s best record along with the top spot where it matters. (Yes, here.) 
2 (3) Cavaliers 27-6 It happened to the Lakers in Sacramento. It happened to the Celtics in Oakland. And now everyone in this season’s runaway top three has been beaten by a bottom-feeder after the Cavs’ stumble in the nation’s capital. 
3 (2) Celtics 29-6 Rajon Rondo says the Celtics are absolutely, positively “not in a slump.” And he’s right. After a 27-2 start, I’d say losing four out of six for the first time ever in the KG-Pierce-Allen era ranks as more than a slump. 
4 (4) Magic 26-8 The Magic are on pace to exceed last season’s 27 wins on the road by two and are a sparkling 14-4 against the West. They’ve still got some work to do in the East, though, at a mere 2-3 against the rest of the top eight. 
5 (5) Spurs 22-11 Aren’t they supposed to be the boring, boring Spurs? To go with those three Ws in double OT, Saturday’s win over Philly was their second in eight days — first Mason, then Parker — on a walk-off bucket at the buzzer. NBA.com
TEAM (LAST WEEK) REC. BREAKDOWN 1 
L.A. Lakers (2)27-5 Off: 114.5 (1), Def: 103.9 (4)
Thanks to some upsets in the East and an impressive win over the Blazers, the Lakers are back to having the best record in the league. They’re also the most efficient offense for the first time this season. As much as the Pau Gasol trade helped the Lakers last season, the deal they made for Trevor Ariza last November is looking pretty good too.2 
Boston (3)29-6 Off: 111.4 (5), Def: 100.4 (1)
The Celtics’ 19-game winning streak has been followed by four losses in six games, including a 12-point defeat in New York on Sunday. Even against bad defenses like Golden State, Portland and New York, Boston’s offense has been ugly for extended stretches. Stephon to the rescue!3 
Cleveland (1)27-6 Off: 114.2 (2), Def: 100.9 (2)
When Anderson Varejao scored a career-high 26 points against the Bulls on Friday, it didn’t look like the Cavs were going to miss Zydrunas Ilgauskas (out for a month) much. Varejao isn’t the offensive liability that he used to be. But then Cleveland went and had their worst offensive game of the season Sunday in Washington … and LeBron got called for a travel.4 
San Antonio (5)22-11 Off: 109.9 (10), Def: 106.2 (7)
Tony Parker hit the buzzer-beater against the Sixers on Saturday, but Tim Duncan shot an incredible 19-for-24 in the Spurs’ two wins this weekend. Sometimes, we need a reminder of how good he is. San Antonio lost to the Bucks (again) this week, but they’ve won seven of their last eight.5 
Orlando (4)26-8 Off: 110.1 (9), Def: 102.4 (3)
Dwight Howard scored a season-high 39 points, but Sunday’s loss in Toronto was one of the Magic’s worst defensive games of the season. You you could probably chalk that up to the early start, because their defense has been excellent of late otherwise.CNN Sports Illustrated
1 
Last Week: 2Los Angeles Lakers (27-5)There aren’t many causes for concern in Lakerland, but one of them has to be center Andrew Bynum. The Lakers’ prodigy hasn’t embarrassed himself (he is averaging 11.9 points and 8.3 rebounds), but he hasn’t found the groove he was in before his knee injury last season. “He has gone through a lot of games now,” coach Phil Jackson told reporters. “I think some of it is power and going through the motions and getting the power [back in his knee].”
2 
Last Week: 1Cleveland Cavaliers (27-6)Their momentum was temporarily slowed by the news that center Zydrunas Ilgauskas will miss at least one month with an ankle injury. That means more minutes for rookie J.J. Hickson, who had a personal-best 13 points and six rebounds in last Friday’s victory against Chicago. Hickson shot only 2-of-6 from the field in Sunday’s loss at lowly Washington, a game in which LeBron James hit 11-of-22 and the rest of the team went a combined 17-for-49 (34.7 percent).
3 
Last Week: 5San Antonio Spurs (22-11)Tony Parker’s pirouetting, 15-foot fadeaway at the buzzer beat Philadelphia on Saturday and gave the Spurs their seventh victory in eight games. Parker is making a strong case for the All-Star team, averaging 23.8 points (on 51.5 percent shooting) and 7.8 assists in his last eight games.
4 
Last Week: 4Boston Celtics (29-6)Is there a book out on Boston? The skidding Celtics have lost four of six as opponents have taken to defending Rajon Rondo with bigger guards and turning Boston’s entire bench into jump shooters. “Tony Allen gets a lot of criticism [for his shooting woes] because everyone thinks of James Posey, but it’s the entire second unit that is struggling,” an NBA scout said. “Besides Eddie House, not one of them can shoot.”
5 
Last Week: 3Orlando Magic (26-8)A loss to the lowly Raptors on Sunday isn’t exactly the way the Magic wanted to head into a big week that includes a home-and-home with division rival Atlanta. Still, Orlando has to be happy about its ability to take care of business at home: Last Friday’s win against Miami was the Magic’s ninth straight at Amway Arena.
USAToday.com
Rank Team Prev. Comment 
1
Los Angeles Lakers (27-5) 3Portland’s McMillan: Lakers are “on a mission.” 2
Boston Celtics (29-6) 1Celtics’ run at top spot here ends after losing four of last six. 3
Cleveland Cavaliers (27-6) 2With Varajao, West and Wallace, they’re also All-Hair. 4
Orlando Magic (26-8) 4Three of top four teams in power rankings lost Sunday. 5
San Antonio Spurs (22-11) 5Roger Mason continues to be solid addition for Spurs.
