Lakers take over top spot; Spurs, Pistons rise

After a 9-8 start, the Spurs have won 13 of 16 games to move into a tie for second place in the Western Conference. Even scarier for their opponents is that Manu Ginobili still doesn't feel like himself after missing the first 12 games while recovering from surgery on his left ankle.

"I'm not playing like last year," Ginobili, who is averaging 14.6 points in 26.4 minutes off the bench, told reporters Saturday. "I'm not shooting as well. I'm not going to the rim as hard. I don't know if it is mental or physical or what, but there are some things in my game I am just not feeling yet."

Nevertheless, the Spurs have climbed to No. 3 in this week's rankings. Meanwhile, the Cavs have fallen from the top spot, the Pistons are on the rise and someone needs to break up the Timberwolves.

(All stats and records are through Sunday.)

NBA Power Rankings

1 Last Week: 2	Los 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: 1	Cleveland 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: 5	San 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: 4	Boston 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: 3	Orlando 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.
6 Last Week: 6	Denver Nuggets (23-12) Just imagine how good the Nuggets are going to be when they pick up another big man. Denver reportedly has been discussing a deal with Oklahoma City that would net the Nuggets a player from the Joe Smith/Chris Wilcox/Nick Collison troika. Smith is the best fit: He's a solid locker-room presence, can play two frontcourt positions and wouldn't complain if he played 20 minutes or only two.
7 Last Week: 12	Detroit Pistons (21-11) Seven straight wins? Sure, the recent schedule hasn't been daunting, but you have to play the team in front of you. Second-year point guard Rodney Stuckey is averaging 22.9 points and 5.0 assists during the streak.
8 Last Week: 7	New Orleans Hornets (20-10) David West continues to add to his offensive repertoire, but his defense is starting to turn some heads, too. With Brandon Roy sidelined for Portland's game against the Hornets last week, the Blazers tried to use LaMarcus Aldridge to exploit West in the low post. All West did was hold Aldridge to 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
9 Last Week: 11	Atlanta Hawks (22-11) They missed out on a perfect week by blowing a 20-point lead at New Jersey, but a 3-1 stretch that included home wins over Denver and depleted Houston ain't bad. Mike Bibby continues to be the catalyst: Less than 24 hours after playing 48 grueling minutes in a heartbreaking OT loss to the Nets, Bibby coolly knocked down a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to give the Hawks a 103-100 victory against the Rockets. "He's a big-moment player," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said.
10 Last Week: 9	Dallas Mavericks (20-13) A three-game winning streak -- which included a comeback from a 29-point deficit against Minnesota -- ended with Sunday's 20-point loss at Memphis. Jason Kidd (0-of-4) failed to score a basket for the fourth time this season; he went 0-of-3 from three-point range, lowering his season mark to 36.8 percent after he made 46.1 percent in 29 games with the Mavs last season.
11 Last Week: 13	Phoenix Suns (19-12) Is Shaq back? The Diesel is averaging 23.0 points in the last three games, all victories. "I know I like to be heavily involved," O'Neal said to reporters. "I told [Suns president] Steve [Kerr] and I told [coach] Terry [Porter] that I can't be the Shaq you want me to be, shooting four out of five, nine rebounds. I'm known to wreak havoc offensively, make teams double, get my teammates involved. That's what I'm known to do, and I still have the ability to do that."
12 Last Week: 8	Houston Rockets (21-14) There is a bad moon rising in Houston, where the media are beginning to question Tracy McGrady's effort. During a blowout loss to Toronto last Friday, McGrady watched lifelessly as Jamario Moon blew past him for an easy dunk. "Anybody who was watching at the Air Canada Centre or on TV knows it was the precise moment that Tracy McGrady quit on the Rockets," Houston Chronicle columnist Fran Blinebury wrote.
13 Last Week: 10	Portland Trail Blazers (20-14) The bad news: Roy's hamstring injury will sideline him for at least the next week. The good news: Portland's upcoming schedule is light on protein. After facing Detroit on Wednesday, Portland has Golden State, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Charlotte.
14 Last Week: 14	Milwaukee Bucks (16-19) Early in the season, several members of the Bucks told me that if they could just tread water until January, they believed they could make a run at the playoffs. The Bucks survived a brutal two-month stretch to open the season and are looking to capitalize on an easier schedule. That begins Monday night against Toronto, the first of five straight games against teams with sub-.500 records.
15 Last Week: 16	Miami Heat (18-14) Their surprising season might be on the verge of getting even better, as injured reserve forwards James Jones and Dorell Wright are close to returning. Alonzo Mourning has yet to decide whether he will play this season, but Miami coach Erik Spoelstra reported that Mourning has been working out daily and is doing "basketball-related stuff" with the Heat's physical therapist.
16 Last Week: 15	Utah Jazz (19-15) Paul Millsap's return couldn't have come at a better time. The Jazz fell to the Lakers last Friday, but Millsap (16 points, 17 rebounds) proved that he appears to be fully recovered from a knee injury. That's good news for the Jazz, who expect to be without Carlos Boozer until after the All-Star break.
17 Last Week: 17	New Jersey Nets (16-18) When a team builds an entire offense around one player and that player gets hurt, the team is going to struggle. That's what happened on Saturday, when the Devin Harris-less Nets lost 101-96 in overtime to the Heat. The Nets say Harris is day-to-day with a sore hamstring.
18 Last Week: 18	Charlotte Bobcats (12-22) The Adam Morrison era in Charlotte may be nearing an end. The third-year forward is averaging only 4.9 points (on 35.5 percent shooting) in 15.7 minutes, and his three-pointer in the first half against Milwaukee on Saturday snapped an 0-for-14 drought from the field.
19 Last Week: 21	Indiana Pacers (12-21) Lo and behold, Mike Dunleavy is nearing his season debut. "I'm on the mend," Dunleavy said of his knee injury. "I'll be back soon." Danny Granger will certainly welcome the help. Granger (25.1) is averaging almost 10 more points than Indiana's second leading scorer, Marquis Daniels (15.7).
20 Last Week: 23	Toronto Raptors (14-20) They have reportedly been shopping everyone but Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon. Former No. 1 pick Andrea Bargnani may be first to go. A difficult fit in Toronto, Bargnani may have boosted his value by averaging 21.0 points as a starter in the last three games (a loss to Denver and victories against Houston and Orlando).
21 Last Week: 20	Memphis Grizzlies (11-23) They snapped a 13-game losing streak against the Mavs (and four-game slide overall) with Sunday's victory. Memphis improved to 9-10 at home, pulling within five victories of last season's total at FedEx Forum.
22 Last Week: 19	Chicago Bulls (14-20) Vinny Del Negro, you are on the clock. The Bulls have lost six of seven -- including three of four last week, the worst being a home loss to Minnesota -- and their rookie coach last week fined Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and Larry Hughes for conduct detrimental to the team. On the positive side, the Bulls play home games against Sacramento, Washington and Oklahoma City this week.
23 Last Week: 25	New York Knicks (13-19) In Phoenix, Steve Nash, Boris Diaw and Raja Bell were considered Mike D'Antoni's favorites. In New York, a new fave is emerging: Wilson Chandler. The versatile Chandler has played multiple positions this season, and his 31 points on Sunday lifted New York to a stunning win over Boston.
24 Last Week: 22	Philadelphia 76ers (13-20) Center Samuel Dalembert would be prime trade bait in February ... if he wasn't owed $23.6 million over the next two seasons and regressing by the day. Dalembert, a double-digit scorer and 50-percent-plus shooter in each of the last two seasons, is averaging just 5.7 points on 46.3 percent shooting this season.
25 Last Week: 29	Minnesota Timberwolves (8-25) What's gotten into them? After starting 0-8 under Kevin McHale, the Timberwolves have won four of their last six -- and they gave away that 29-point lead in a loss at Dallas. "Kevin wants to simplify the game," assistant GM Fred Hoiberg said. "He wants the team to run more and he's always looking to exploit mismatches."
26 Last Week: 24	Golden State Warriors (10-25) The Warriors might want to consider skipping summer league next year. In 2007, Marco Belinelli led the Las Vegas summer league in scoring, only to average 2.9 points during his rookie season. Anthony Randolph was the talk of the town last summer, but now he's been buried by coach Don Nelson, who has questioned the rookie forward's work ethic. "Can't do anything about what somebody thinks, I can't control somebody's thoughts," Randolph told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I just go out there and do what I'm doing. If I get my minutes, I play hard, like I do every game."
27 Last Week: 28	Washington Wizards (7-25) The Cavs should be glad that they are likely not going to have a fourth straight first-round playoff series with the Wizards. After a narrow loss to the Cavs on Christmas, Washington rebounded to stun Cleveland at home Sunday. Hey, the Wizards deserve some good news in what has been a nightmare season.
28 Last Week: 27	Sacramento Kings (8-26) Kevin Martin's return is a welcome sight. Martin scored 45 points off the bench in Saturday's loss to Indiana, a Sacramento-era record for points in a reserve role. That followed back-to-back 20-point performances in a victory against the Clippers and a loss at Detroit.
29 Last Week: 26	Los Angeles Clippers (8-25) The silver lining to an 0-4 week was the play of rookie first-round pick Eric Gordon, who led the Clippers in scoring in three of the four games, including a 31-point effort against Detroit on Sunday. The Clippers have shot below 50 percent in every game this season.
30 Last Week: 30	Oklahoma City Thunder (4-30) The Thunder recently brought in former Bulls aide Ron Adams to help rebuild their crumbling defense. Here's hoping Adams is a miracle worker: Oklahoma City ranks 25th in points allowed and 29th in field-goal-percentage defense.

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