Power Rankings: Pistons hold off KG-less Celtics By Marc Stein ESPN.com The Boston Celtics are a pretty gritty 5-2 since losing Kevin Garnett to injury, which is almost enough to wrest the top spot in ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings back from the Detroit Pistons. Almost. The Pistons are healthier and a little hotter, relying on the league's longest active win streak to hold off the rival Celtics for the second straight week. So that leaves Miami's unexpected climb out of the dreaded No. 30 dungeon -- more because of the Shaquille O'Neal-Shawn Marion trade than anything that the Heat have done on the floor -- and the Los Angeles Lakers' climb to a season-high No. 3 with newly acquired Pau Gasol as the newsiest moves. You can rank the teams yourself or click here or at the bottom to register your approval or disagreement with the order at the top or anywhere else. Tune into "NBA Fastbreak" on ESPN to see this week's Army Power Rankings. 2007-08 Power Rankings: Week 15 RANK (LAST WK) TEAM REC. COMMENT 1 (1) Pistons 37-13 With Commissioner Stern, of all people, naming Sheed as KG's All-Star replacement, we gave deep thought to dropping the Pistons in the midst of an eight-game win streak just to make sure they still feel disrespected. 2 (2) Celtics 39-9 The Celts can't feel too solid until they know exactly when KG will be back, but fair is fair: Boston probably deserves co-No. 1 status after following up their Dallas win without KG by beating the Spurs without him, too. 3 (4) Lakers 33-17 At 5-1 since the big trade and with Kobe clearly energized by the blockbuster move he's been waiting for, there's only one complaint in Lakerland: Pau won't make his home debut until after the All-Star break. 4 (5) Jazz 33-19 Our bad: Korver says that the endless comparisons to Ashton Kutcher are "getting old." Guess we can't argue that, after a 17-3 start to life in Salt Lake City, Korver is rightly prouder to be compared to Jeff Hornacek. 5 (3) Hornets 34-15 So they've wobbled a bit since that fairy-tale promotion to No. 1. The Hornets, however, still lead the mighty Southwest and are on pace to finish 57-25, which would exceed the previous franchise record for wins (54). 6 (6) Suns 36-15 Excellent point by Suns-ex Jalen Rose on Sunday night's NBA Fastbreak: Shaq gives Phoenix something it was sorely lacking and something that hasn't been mentioned much. Championship experience, namely. 7 (8) Mavericks 34-16 The Mavs are watching rivals wheel and deal and possibly thinking that it's best to rely on continuity to counter everyone else's big changes. The committee (of one) will continue to dismiss that thinking as flawed. 8 (7) Spurs 32-17 Even at a mere 4-3 on their famed "rodeo" trip and even with Parker out indefinitely, San Antonio hasn't fallen as far as it seems. Look at how many teams are making moves (Shaq, Gasol, Webber) to match up with Duncan. 9 (12) Rockets 30-20 Don't ask us to explain why a 10-1 surge since T-Mac came back hasn't lifted Houston any higher than a tie for the West's final playoff spot. This stretch has sure hushed all that T-Mac trade talk, though. 10 (9) Warriors 30-20 Losing at home to Chicago in Webber's debut, after a five-day break, was even worse than the recent Minnesota loss. We repeat: The standings say Golden State, even on its 49-win pace, can't afford any let-ups. 11 (14) Nuggets 31-19 The bad news first: Denver lost at home to Utah in what Karl called its biggest game all season. The good news: That's the only L in the last six games for the Nuggets, who bounced back big-time in Cleveland. 12 (10) Cavaliers 28-22 LeBron responded to the Shaq trade by dropping yet another loud hint about how he needs more help. Then again, he'd probably settle for Gooden, Gibson, Varejao and Pavlovic right now, all of whom are ailing. 13 (11) Magic 32-20 Imagine where Dwight, Hedo & Co. -- who are still on a 50-32 pace -- would be if they had a better home record than, say, Milwaukee. Imagine how good they'd be with a dependable tandem in the backcourt. 14 (15) Raptors 27-22 Ticked as the Raps were by a home L to the Clips, they can't stay too down with T.J. Ford back suddenly, Bargnani awakening at last and Bosh getting more love for that All-Star commercial than anything he's ever done. 15 (13) Trail Blazers 28-22 This is still a feel-good story, but don't you have a feeling that Portland is out of the West's top eight for good? Seven of its final 25 games are against the teams (Lakers and Suns) that just made major moves. 16 (16) Kings 23-26 Getting their whole team back has led to an impressive 8-4 run that would be even more uplifting if the Kings A) hadn't thrown in a home loss to Seattle and B) weren't reading daily "trade me" requests from Artest. 17 (18) Hawks 21-26 Going 7-13 in 2008 doesn't exactly equate to a playoff drive. Yet as we keep saying, Atlanta ain't exactly facing a threat from the teams below. Besides Chicago, do you see anyone capable of taking its playoff spot? 18 (22) Nets 22-29 Anyone surprised that the banged-up Mavs' visit to Jersey on Sunday was the Nets' finest home performance of the season? No surprise, either, that J-Kidd tried to claim that "there was no added meaning to this game." 19 (21) 76ers 21-30 Korver is far more valuable with a good team like Utah that was only a shooter away, but the Sixers will need another shooter eventually judging by their failure to hit more than five 3s as a team in 28 straight games. 20 (17) Wizards 24-26 What happens when an injury keeps Caron away from a team that had learned how to win without Arenas? You suddenly get a Leastern Conference that's down to five teams with winning records, that's what. 21 (24) Bulls 20-30 How will it go over in the Windy City if the Bulls' lone big move before the trade deadline -- after the tease of Kobe wanting to be there and a year's worth of links to Gasol -- turns out to be buying out Viktor Khryapa? 22 (25) Pacers 21-30 Something for your memory banks, courtesy of Jermaine O'Neal: "Next year, wherever I'm at, whether it's Indy or wherever else, I'm not going to miss the All-Star [Game] and my team is not going to be struggling." 23 (19) Bobcats 18-33 The Bobcats' next W in a road-heavy February will be the first. But it's even worse than it sounds because the Bobs haven't been competitive yet this month, sliding to 13th in the East with no loss closer than 14 points. 24 (20) Timberwolves 10-39 Even if their 0-3 week means the honeymoon in the No. 20 range is over, it was still a fun ride. The Wolves managed to get to the magical 10-win mark faster than Miami, and gave KG's new team two certifiable scares. 25 (23) Knicks 15-36 Marbury might be done for the season, but the Knicks can no longer claim that that's any sort of plus. They endured an eight-game losing streak in November with Steph and just suffered through another one without him. 26 (27) SuperSonics 13-37 The Sonics quietly went 4-1 before a narrow L in Phoenix on Friday night. Surprise No. 2: They had legit reason to be disappointed in the desert after blowing a lead against a distracted Suns team in pre-Shaq limbo. 27 (28) Clippers 16-32 We repeat: As long as there's a chance that A) Brand comes back this season, B) Maggette gets traded or C) Cassell winds up playing on the same team with Rondo after their tangle in Boston, we'll stay tuned. 28 (26) Bucks 19-32 Actually got a few e-mails last week protesting Milwaukee's drop below New York. Given Redd's recent extended absence and Saturday's home L to the Knicks with Redd in uniform, we don't expect the same this week. 29 (30) Heat 9-40 There were some promising flashes in Marion's debut with D-Wade, but Sunday's loss to the Lakers made it official: Pookie will report for All-Star duty in N'awlins with the lowest winning percentage for a starter. Ever. 30 (29) Grizzlies 13-37 The Heat have some hope again. Not this season, granted, but long-term hope. And since we like how the Heat fared in their big deal better than the Grizz, Memphis drops into the cellar in spite of Miami's 1-22 collapse. --

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