Bynum's play bodes well for Lakers

Look out, NBA: If the Andrew Bynum of last week is the one we are going to see for the rest of the season, the Lakers will waltz to their 15th championship. Bynum has notched three straight double-doubles, including a 42-point, 15-rebound explosion against the Clippers.

"It's a hell of a team," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich told reporters after the Lakers dismantled the Spurs on Sunday. "They're young, athletic, long and deep."

They're also No. 1 in this week's rankings.

(All stats and records are through Sunday.)

NBA Power Rankings

1 Last Week: 4	Los Angeles Lakers (35-8) Their NBA-low total of 17 road games is about to increase in a hurry. After Tuesday's game against Charlotte in Los Angeles, the Lakers play their next six games on the road. That trip ends with visits to Boston and Cleveland.
2 Last Week: 2	Cleveland Cavaliers (34-8) All the big shots LeBron James has made in his career, it's amazing that his jumper to knock off Golden State was his first buzzer-beater. That helped the Cavs to a 3-1 West Coast trip, with the only loss to the Lakers. Meanwhile, the Cavs can scratch Michael Redd (season-ending knee injury) off the list of potential acquisitions; the Bucks' sharpshooter was believed to be on Cleveland's radar leading up to the Feb. 19 trade deadline.
3 Last Week: 3	Boston Celtics (37-9) Coach Doc Rivers acknowledged Sunday what many already believed: Rajon Rondo is the key to the Celtics' success. In Boston's victories, Rondo is averaging 11.9 points (on 54.6 percent shooting), 8.2 assists and 2.5 turnovers. In its losses, his numbers dip to 7.0 points (on 32.4 percent shooting), 7.3 assists and 3.1 turnovers. Said Paul Pierce: "When he's on, we're unbeatable."
4 Last Week: 1	Orlando Magic (33-10) Say this for the Magic: They take losses well. Standing in front of his locker after a loss to Boston last Thursday, Dwight Howard burst into song about Jameer Nelson. "Jameer, I love it when you take those threes," Howard crooned. "They make me so happy." The Magic have another chance at an Eastern power when Cleveland comes to town Thursday.
5 Last Week: 5	San Antonio Spurs (29-14) Who would have thought midway through the season that Phoenix would be holding opponents to a lower shooting percentage than San Antonio? The Spurs are an un-Spurs-like 16th in field-goal defense (45.5 percent). "We're not going to outscore anybody," Popovich said. "We have to outdefend people."
6 Last Week: 6	Denver Nuggets (29-15) One benefit of Carmelo Anthony's injury is that other players are showcasing their offensive prowess. Linas Kleiza has led Denver in scoring in two of the last four games. J.R. Smith has scored at least 19 points in each of the last three games, including a 22-point, six-assist effort in Sunday's win over Utah.
7 Last Week: 9	Houston Rockets (28-17) Typical Houston. Two stars return, another sits out. Both Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest were back in the lineup Sunday, helping Houston edge Detroit. Yao Ming, however, was not, as he missed his second game of the season with a sore knee. The good news: Yao isn't expected to miss much time.
8 Last Week: 8	New Orleans Hornets (26-14) Dangerous time for the Hornets. Tyson Chandler (sprained ankle) is expected to be out until after the All-Star break, David West (back spasms) has missed the last three games and second-year forward Julian Wright needed a clear-the-air meeting with coach Byron Scott to discuss his role last week. On the plus side, the Hornets play seven of their next eight games at home.
9 Last Week: 10	Portland Trail Blazers (26-17) Don't look now, but Greg Oden is starting to show flashes of dominance. The rookie center celebrated the week of his 21st birthday with a 24-point, 15-rebound effort against Milwaukee and followed it up two games later with an 18-point, 14-rebound performance against Washington. "He makes the game a lot easier for all of us," Brandon Roy told the The Columbian of Vancouver, Wash.
10 Last Week: 7	Phoenix Suns (24-18) Amare Stoudemire's late charge into the All-Star starting lineup was a rare bit of good news for them last week. Consecutive losses to the Celtics (understandable), Knicks and Bobcats (not so much) had coach Terry Porter's seat warming beneath him. Sunday's victory at Atlanta cooled it down, but Porter may need a strong second half to save his job.
11 Last Week: 13	Miami Heat (23-19) Here's why many NBA types believe the Heat will eventually be successful: Despite a rookie coach who is learning on the job, the players are fully aware that Erik Spoelstra has the full support of president Pat Riley, who in turn has the backing of owner Mickey Arison. If you think that doesn't count for much, just take a look at what's going on in Memphis.
12 Last Week: 15	Atlanta Hawks (26-17) After weathering an ugly stretch that included back-to-back losses to Orlando, Atlanta has won three out of four. Defense has keyed their success all season: The Hawks are 21-5 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 points. Meanwhile, center Al Horford (knee) could return to practice later this week.
13 Last Week: 16	Philadelphia 76ers (21-21) Winners of eight of their last nine games, the Sixers on Saturday began the process of incorporating Elton Brand back into the lineup. But don't expect Brand to start commanding the ball in the post anytime soon. Before his victorious return against New York on Saturday, Brand reportedly told his teammates, "Let's go. Don't let me come back and lose. Let's win."
14 Last Week: 14	Dallas Mavericks (25-19) Mark Cuban's comparing his choice to hang in with Dirk Nowitzki with the Celtics' decision to stick by Pierce in the lean years is not without merit, but how many blowouts can the Dallas owner endure before pushing the panic button? The Mavs lost to Milwaukee and Boston by a combined 58 points last week.
15 Last Week: 11	Utah Jazz (25-20) Tough week for the organization. The team dropped three of four games and, more important, learned that longtime owner Larry Miller needed to have both his legs amputated six inches below his knees, a complication from type 2 diabetes. "Larry is doing well and is expected to continue to recover in the coming weeks and months," Miller's oldest son, Greg, told reporters. Best wishes on a speedy recovery.
16 Last Week: 12	Detroit Pistons (24-19) The early returns on Rip Hamilton's new bench role haven't been encouraging. The Pistons are 1-2 since the lineup change, including a 112-91 home loss to the Mavericks. Hamilton did score 27 points in 31 minutes in Sunday's loss to Houston. The longtime starter called coming off the bench "probably one of the weirdest things I've dealt with since I've been in the league."
17 Last Week: 17	Milwaukee Bucks (22-25) Redd's injury likely ends their playoff chances and places the bulk of the scoring burden on Richard Jefferson. With Charlie Bell and Ramon Sessions expected to inherit Redd's minutes, Jefferson, the team's second-leading scorer with 17.3 points, could see his numbers explode.
18 Last Week: 18	Charlotte Bobcats (18-26) Am I the only one who thinks Emeka Okafor might actually deserve an All-Star spot as the East's backup center? He is averaging 15.9 points (on 58.2 percent shooting) and 11.3 rebounds in the last 21 games.
19 Last Week: 21	Minnesota Timberwolves (15-27) Al Jefferson has received most of the attention, but credit a balanced attack for their recent surge. Ryan Gomes is averaging 13.7 points in his last 11 games, Randy Foye is putting up 20.1 ppg in his last 16 and Craig Smith is adding 12.0 ppg in his last eight. Then there is Jefferson, whose 39 points carried Minny to a one-point win over Chicago on Sunday, its ninth victory in 11 games.
20 Last Week: 20	New Jersey Nets (20-24) With Redd out of the picture as an option for the Cavs, expect the Vince Carter-to-Cleveland rumors to start percolating. Carter has scored at least 20 points in three straight games since that second-half benching against Boston. The Nets have lost five of their last six to fall out of the top eight in the East.
21 Last Week: 22	Indiana Pacers (17-27) Despite the Pacers' poor record, it's going to be hard to keep forward Danny Granger (26.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.4 bpg) off the All-Star team. But the Pacers have bigger plans for Granger than just a free trip to Phoenix. "I want Danny to make the All-Star team, but I'd rather see him represent our country in the next Olympics," team president Larry Bird told The Associated Press. "That's when you know you made it, because those are all the best players in the world."
22 Last Week: 22	Toronto Raptors (18-28) Is the season salvageable? They played with their full complement for two straight games last week and won both. The Raps may have even solved their problem at backup point guard, as starting shooting guard Anthony Parker has been picking up minutes behind Jose Calderon.
23 Last Week: 24	New York Knicks (18-25) Dwight Howard leads the league in double-doubles. Quick, who is No. 2? That would be David Lee. The Knicks' hustling forward has 32 double-doubles (one behind Howard), and is averaging 21.3 points and 13.3 rebounds over the last three games.
24 Last Week: 19	Chicago Bulls (18-27) They dumped four in a row last week to extend their overall losing streak to five, and they play their next six on the road. Ben Gordon had a public spat with Vinny Del Negro, and there is talk that the first-year coach may shake up the starting lineup this week.
25 Last Week: 27	Golden State Warriors (14-31) Monta Ellis scored 20 points in his season debut (a loss to Cleveland) and followed it up with 10 points in Sunday's victory against the Clippers. Ellis, who played 34 and 22 minutes in those two games, sounds eager for more. "I can go four days [straight] if I have to," he said.
26 Last Week: 26	Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti is reportedly leaning toward retaining interim coach Scott Brooks, who is 8-23 after taking over a 1-12 team. Keeping Brooks would be an interesting decision, considering the wealth of experienced coaches (Avery Johnson, Flip Saunders and Jeff Van Gundy, among others) who could be available after the season.
27 Last Week: 29	Washington Wizards (9-34) What happened to JaVale McGee? The rookie center has bounced in and out of the rotation under interim coach Ed Tapscott. McGee had 18 points and five rebounds against the Lakers last Thursday but played just six minutes against Portland two nights later. "The game is more than running and dunking," Tapscott told The Washington Post. "There are a lot of different subtleties and intangibles to being an effective player for sustained minutes."
28 Last Week: 30	Los Angeles Clippers (10-33) The good news? They won a game last week, edging Oklahoma City behind 41 points from emerging rookie Eric Gordon. The bad news? They also lost three times, twice by double figures. In Clipperland, that qualifies as a pretty good week.
29 Last Week: 25	Memphis Grizzlies (11-32) The O.J. Mayo point-guard experiment may begin sooner than next season. GM Chris Wallace said he expects Mayo to see some time at the point in the second half of the season. Mayo, however, won't have Mo Cheeks as a tutor; the former Philadelphia coach reportedly turned down an offer to join new coach Lionel Hollins' staff.
30 Last Week: 28	Sacramento Kings (10-35) "The Kings are the NBA's feel-good team," a Western Conference scout said. "You play them, and you leave feeling good." Lose seven out of eight, like Washington or Toronto? Face Sacramento and get a win. Lose by 30 on Friday to Atlanta, like Milwaukee? Play the Kings on Saturday and wipe that memory away.

Got a different view than Chris?

SUBMIT YOUR OWN POWER RANKINGS