Lakers All Over Power Rankings
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The Los Angeles Lakers are randomly scattered on all the different power rankings. With the various injuries and events recently going down with the Lakers, next week will be even crazier.
Kobe and the Lakers managed to go down to the Charlotte Bobcats early last week, but at least they redeemed themselves by going 2-0 thus far on their 6 game road trips with back to back wins over the Wolves and Grizzlies. With the end of this trip a lot more difficult than the beginning with this week including games against the Celtics, Raptors, and Cavaliers, hopefully the Lakers can remain competitive.
The injury to Andrew Bynum is sure to mess with the Lakers somewhat, but hopefully the presense of Odom, Gasol, and Ariza this time around will benefit this team. Also, Josh Powell is a great player and is sure to help the Lakers stay strong while they miss their young center.
ESPN.com
2008-09 Power Rankings: Week 14 RANK (LAST WK) TEAM REC. COMMENT 
1 (1) Celtics 40-9 How much safer will they be taking a 12-game win streak into Thursday’s home duel with the Lakers than they were toting a 19-game win streak into the Christmas showdown? Does it even matter since Bynum is out? 
2 (4) Magic 36-10 Landing three All-Stars, routing Cleveland, reactivating Pietrus … add it all up and last week might have been better for the Magic than the seven-day span in which they beat the Spurs, Lakers and Nuggets, all on the road. 
3 (3) Cavaliers 37-9 As if the 22-0 record at home isn’t gaudy enough, peep this: LeBron averaged 27.5 points, 9.6 boards and 8.2 dimes in January. The last guy to hit those heights for a full month was Larry Bird … way back in 1987. 
4 (2) Lakers 37-9 Those of you in Lakerland in such a rush to see Odom shipped out see now why your Lakers won’t let him go until the summer. Who has the length and triangle knowledge to plug in for the fallen Bynum better than LO? 
5 (5) Spurs 32-14 Pop sees 100 points on the scoreboard and says: “We’re having too much fun.” But maybe he shouldn’t fight it, since his Spurs have merely won 30 games in a row — that’s 16-0 this season — when they reach triple digits. USAToday.com
Rank Team Prev. Comment 
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Boston Celtics (40-9) 3Celtics have won 11 in a row and retake top spot. 2
Los Angeles Lakers (37-9) 1Lakers hoping Bynum’s knee injury isn’t serious. 3
Cleveland Cavaliers (37-9) 2Mike Brown to coach East in All-Star game. 4
Orlando Magic (36-10) 4Magic a league-best 18-6 on the road. 5
San Antonio Spurs (32-14) 5Spurs finish with NBA’s best record in January at 12-3. NBA.com
1 
Boston (1)40-9 Pace: 89.2 (18), Off: 112.7 (4), Def: 101.6 (1)
The Celtics’ defense has been strong as usual, but their offense has been at a new level (118.9) during their 11-game winning streak. They’ve cut down on turnovers, they’re shooting 50 percent from the field and 48 percent from downtown.2 
Orlando (4)36-10 Pace: 91.1 (10), Off: 112.3 (5), Def: 103.0 (3)
The Magic are 28-0 when Jameer Nelson makes 44 percent of his shots or better, they’re 4-9 when he shoots worse than 44 percent, and they’re 4-1 when he doesn’t play. Talk about a barometer.3 
L.A. Lakers (2)37-9 Pace: 93.2 (5), Off: 115.8 (1), Def: 106.4 (5)
The Lakers (and the rest of the league) await the MRI results on Andrew Bynum’s right knee. Missing their center for an extended period of time would hurt their defense (again), and it’s already inconsistent. After giving up 117 points in that loss to the Bobcats on Tuesday, they beat the Grizzlies despite allowing Memphis to shoot 51 percent.4 
Cleveland (3)37-9 Pace: 88.0 (25), Off: 114.4 (3), Def: 102.8 (2)
Sunday’s win at the Palace was also the Cavs’ first road victory over one of the top six teams in the East (they were 0-5 after Thursday’s loss in Orlando). This Sunday, they’ll get a chance to avenge their loss to the Lakers, and they’ll have Zydrunas Ilgauskas to help them out. He picked up 20 points and 11 boards in his first game back on Friday.5 
San Antonio (5)32-14 Pace: 86.9 (26), Off: 110.5 (11), Def: 106.8 (7)
The defense is still an issue, so the Spurs beat the Jazz, Suns and Hornets with offense, shooting 51 percent in their three games this week. The win over New Orleans gives San Antonio a three-game lead in the Southwest Division, which is a nice cushion to have as they hit the road for the next three weeks.Sports Illustrated
1 
Last Week: 1Los Angeles Lakers (37-9)Bynum is expected to miss 8-12 weeks with a medial collateral ligament in his right knee (he injured his left knee last season). His absence means Lamar Odom will return to the starting lineup at power forward with Pau Gasol sliding to center. That was the starting combination when the Lakers went to the NBA Finals last season.
2 
Last Week: 4Boston Celtics (40-9)Who said they need another shooter? Well, I did. But Eddie House is doing a pretty good job convincing the front office that he is the only long-range threat needed off the bench for the stretch run. After shooting just 29 percent from three-point range in October/November, House improved to 45.2 percent in December and 49.3 percent in January.
3 
Last Week: 2Cleveland Cavaliers (37-9)Center Zyrdunas Ilgauskas is back and another starter may soon follow. Guard Delonte West, who broke his right (non-shooting) wrist Jan. 15, is expected to have the hard cast removed Thursday. Cleveland’s most reliable three-point threat (40.9 percent) is hoping to return before the All-Star break.
4 
Last Week: 3Orlando Magic (36-10)On the heels of a 3-0 week — which included a victory against Cleveland and news that Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis would join Dwight Howard in the All-Star Game — the Magic play five of their next six games at home. They are 18-4 at Amway Arena this season.
5 
Last Week: 5San Antonio Spurs (32-14)With teams hovering around Tim Duncan like bees to a honeycomb, the rest of the Spurs have been getting (and cashing in on) wide-open looks from the perimeter. San Antonio is second in the NBA in three-point shooting (39.5 percent), and Matt Bonner (48.9 percent) and Roger Mason (44.9 percent) rank in the top six in that individual category.
