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They are undeniably aging. They are routinely (and unfairly) dismissed as boring. They are the frequently forgotten San Antonio Spurs, who also happen to be the only proven championship commodity in the most competitive Western Conference of all time.

So with the Spurs reclaiming first place in the West over the weekend, it's the right time to move them back to the top of ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings.

The Los Angeles Lakers responded to a rare blip at Portland by recording an impressive home defeat of Dallas on Sunday. Houston somehow managed to hang onto its top-five status for another week in spite of the crushing loss of Yao Ming for the rest of the season. The Spurs, though, still stand out with a nine-game winning streak of their own and a healing Tony Parker, earning them a return to No. 1 for the first time since Week 6 and their 17-3 start.

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 18
RANK (LAST WK)		TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (3)	Spurs	41-17	More evidence to suggest that less is wrong with the reigning champs than advertised: San Antonio is 28-9 when Duncan, Ginobili and Parker are all playing ... and just 13-8 when at least one of them is missing.
	2 (1)	Lakers	42-18	The latest pearl of Zen wisdom from Phil Jackson: "40 before 20." Translation: You must win 40 games before you lose 20 to be seen as an elite team ... and these Lakers just did so for the first time since Shaq left.
	3 (4)	Celtics	46-12	Questions for Bostonians: Is there even more pressure on the Celts now after the Patriots' demise? Can you live with a mere 65-win pace? Will 38 (same age for Cassell and P.J. Brown) turn out to be their magic number?
	4 (2)	Pistons	43-16	We used this line in the '05-06 season but it's even truer now: After blowing an 18-point lead in Utah for their sixth straight L to the Jazz, you know whom the Pistons dread seeing if they get all the way to the Finals.
	5 (5)	Rockets	39-20	We're not trying to be killjoys, but facts are facts: 13-0 in February cannot be considered a perfect month if your best player -- and Yao is the Rockets' undisputed No. 1 at this point -- schedules season-ending surgery.
	6 (6)	Jazz	38-22	The Jazz haven't lost at home since Dec. 29. But if this goes down as yet another year in which Jerry Sloan fails to win COY honors, Utah's 13-19 road record (worst among the West's top eight) is an obvious culprit.
	7 (8)	Mavericks	39-21	After the Mavs' narrow road L's to the Spurs and Lakers -- and a coach's refusal to play Kidd for the final half-minute in San Antonio that we'll never grasp -- at least they've turned Devean George into a non-story again.
	8 (7)	Hornets	39-19	Even if it's not really the case, whispers are bound to circulate anew that the Hornets are about to make their annual stretch-run fade after losing twice in a week to a Wizards team without Gil Arenas or Caron Butler.
	9 (10)	Cavaliers	34-26	We all knew they had to do something to appease LeBron when Kidd and Bibby landed elsewhere. But here's an unspoken reason for the big trade: The Cavs badly need bodies with Varejao, Gibson and Pavlovic all ailing.
	10 (9)	Suns	39-20	Was a home loss to Philly secretly part of the deal to get the Sixers to waive Giricek early enough to be playoff-eligible in Phoenix? If not, Suns fans might be justifiably panicky (for once) about the Shaq deal.
	11 (11)	Magic	38-23	Just how the coach drew it up? Hard to argue that when the famously porous Magic have allowed only two of their past eight opponents to crack triple digits since Stan Van publicly scolded The New Superman.
	12 (12)	Warriors	36-22	The Mavs must still see these guys in their nightmares. Check out the standings: No. 8 Golden State is only one behind Dallas in the loss column and has lost two games in a row only once since that 0-6 start.
	13 (17)	Trail Blazers	31-29	Another example of how wild, wild, wild this West is: Portland and Houston are the West's only two teams with winning streaks spanning at least 13 games ... and Yao's injury might mean neither makes the playoffs.
	14 (14)	Nuggets	35-24	George Karl's snapshot of what life's like in the wild, wild, wild West: "Last year we were one game over .500 at this time and thought we were in OK shape. Now we're [11] games over .500 and we're worried."
	15 (16)	76ers	27-33	Maybe this is why Philly was reluctant to trade Andre Miller: He's scored 20 points or more 22 times -- compared to five times last season -- and is averaging career highs in ppg (17.1) and FG percentage (.496).
	16 (13)	Raptors	32-26	As much as we love to praise El Calderon, as Arenas calls him, we know the score: Toronto needs Bosh back before its upcoming trip out West if it wants the East to have at least five teams with winning records.
	17 (15)	Kings	27-32	Nine of the Kings' final 23 games are against fellow Pacific Division residents. We bring this up because Sacto is strangely 0-7 in divisional games, which so far is the difference between a winning and losing record.
	18 (21)	Wizards	29-30	The Wiz have no set timetable for Caron's return and, sadly for them, no games left with the Hornets. But this is still the Leastern Conference, where a 3-1 week gave them a four-game cushion over No. 9 Atlanta.
	19 (18)	Hawks	24-33	It's tough to defend Woodson when the Hawks, once 17-17, are 7-16 since we last saw them at .500. Yet we find it harder to believe that Billy Knight really thought it should be his call whether Woody stays or goes.
	20 (19)	Nets	26-33	The Nets are a passable 3-3 since dealing Kidd and scoring eight more points per game without him: 101.7 to 93.6. But check back after they complete a five-game trip that hits every city in the Southwest Division.
	21 (20)	Bulls	23-36	The bad news: Boylan regards Skiles as his ''best friend'' and is a mere 14-20 since replacing him. The good news: Chicago was still somehow just three games out of a playoff spot Monday morning. What a conference!
	22 (23)	Pacers	24-36	Still alive for the playoffs, still in constant trouble with the law. Quote of the Season contender from Larry Bird after an arrest at Shawne Williams' home: "We don't want our players hanging around with murderers."
	23 (24)	Bucks	22-38	As much as we share Bucks fans' thirst for Simmons to run their front office -- imagine all the stories he'd leak to us! -- Jerry West could take over and it wouldn't matter as long as Sen. Kohl was still the owner. Sad but true.
	24 (22)	Clippers	19-38	The chattiest Clipper ever is Boston-bound. But what does Sam I Am leave behind? The coach (Dunleavy) and owner (Sterling) who rode Cassell to L.A.'s best season ever aren't even speaking to each other these days.
	25 (26)	Knicks	18-41	March 12 marks the one-year anniversary of Isiah's contract extension. Yet why would you even think about raising questions about Isiah's job-security status when the Knicks are 22-56 since he got the extension?
	26 (25)	SuperSonics	16-43	Six first-round picks in the next three drafts sounds pretty comforting ... except that Durant's Sonics face the more immediate concern of getting through six more games on their current seven-game road trip.
	27 (27)	Timberwolves	12-46	If he leaves the Wolves now, Antoine Walker won't be eligible to play in the playoffs for someone else. The best Toine can hope for now is helping Minnesota stay at least one win ahead of his old friends in Miami.
	28 (28)	Bobcats	20-39	The Bobs began March well by thumping the Bosh-less Raptors, but they're obviously not going to recover from a February in which they totaled as many concussions for Gerald Wallace (one) as victories (1-11).
	29 (30)	Heat	11-46	So how do the Heat celebrate their first two-win week of the season? By blowing a 69-49 lead in Sacramento to become the first Pat Riley team -- ever -- to lose a game after leading by 20 or more at halftime.
	30 (29)	Grizzlies	14-45	The Grizz drop into the cellar after starting the new week 23½ games out of fourth place in the mighty Southwest Division ... while getting roughly zero sympathy after what was seen as a Pau donation to the Lakers.