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It ranks as the great internal debate for the committee (of one) through the opening third of the season: Detroit … or Boston.

Fortunately 2008 delivers an early difference maker at the summit of ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings. The Pistons and Celtics meet Saturday night in Motown in a rematch of Detroit's two-point win at Boston on Dec. 19, with both teams also scheduled to play and travel Friday night.

The Pistons' victory in the teams' opening showdown and their own month-plus of lopsided victories enabled them to retain the No. 1 ranking for a second successive week, despite Boston closing its first four games-in-five nights sequence on the road with a dominant flourish that took down the Jazz and Lakers over the weekend.

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 Fastbreak on ESPN to see this week's Army Power Rankings.

2007-08 Power Rankings: Week 9
RANK (LAST WK)		TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Pistons	23-7	Winning in Boston is only one justification for the Pistons' claim to the No. 1 spot. For all you margin-of-victory devotees, here's No. 2: Detroit is on a 15-2 run and has racked up 13 double-digit wins in that stretch.
	2 (2)	Celtics	26-3	The Sports Guy claims that they're three plays away from being the first 29-0 team in history. Whether or not you buy that, give it up to the Celts for their road exploits after all that noise about their soft early schedule.
	3 (4)	Suns	22-9	It probably won't have any effect, but this should temper some of the local panic that follows every Suns defeat: Phoenix was forced to play 19 of its first 31 games on the road. Try to see the sunny side, people.
	4 (5)	Spurs	21-8	Repeating has always been their problem, true, but has it ever been this painful? Brent Barry is the latest Spur to go down -- joining Manu on the shelf -- for a team that can only hope it's seeing all its injury woes early.
	5 (6)	Lakers	19-11	Even with Kobe buying in, Phil freshly re-signed, Bynum drawing daily raves and the bench booming, this quality start could have been even better. In four of its 11 losses, L.A. squandered a fourth-quarter lead.
	6 (9)	Hornets	20-10	With five W's in a row by an average of 18 points, Paul's Hornets have tied the best 30-game start in club history. So we presume that the schedule makers are already resolving to get him on national TV more in 2008.
	7 (7)	Trail Blazers	18-12	Just a hunch, but we're guessing McMillan and Roy have an OK shot at coach of the month and player of the month in the West. Seriously: Isn't any team that wins THIRTEEN games in a row a serious playoff contender?
	8 (3)	Mavericks	20-11	You've probably heard the oft-recited Dampier line from Nowitzki: ''When he's dominant, we're a different animal.'' But the Mavs might not even need dominance; they're 7-0 when Damp scores a mere seven points or more.
	9 (8)	Warriors	18-13	If they get through January in decent shape, look out. The Warriors have only one road game in February and just improved to 18-7 since that 0-6 start after posting their first winning December (10-6) since 1992-93.
	10 (10)	Magic	21-11	For all their recent woes -- Rashard's ailing neck and that 2-7 skid, namely -- Orlando has rallied back to .500 this month (7-7) and still sports one of the league's top-four ratios of road wins to home losses at +8.
	11 (11)	Nuggets	18-12	The good news: Iverson and Melo have combined to average more than 55 ppg in December. The bad news: Denver was a mere 8-5 for the month in spite of all that scoring, failing to capitalize fully on Utah's struggles.
	12 (14)	Raptors	16-15	On an unusual seven-game road swing through the West, given the five-day break between the fourth game and the fifth game, Toronto naturally peaked in San Antonio, holding the champs to 73 points at home.
	13 (15)	Wizards	15-14	Funny how these things work out. When the season began, Eddie Jordan was on a lot of hot-seat lists. After Skiles' demise and with a 12-9 record since losing Arenas, he's suddenly the East's longest-tenured coach.
	14 (13)	Hawks	15-13	With more home wins (10) in the East than anyone but Boston (14) and Detroit (12) and a 13-7 record with Anthony Johnson starting at PG, this will be the first joyous New Year in the ATL since (no joke) 1999.
	15 (18)	Rockets	15-15	The Rockets' final game in 2007 pits them Monday night against the anti-Rockets: Golden State has turned its season around after an 0-6 start and Houston is still trying to pull out of a 9-14 slide since its 6-1 start.
	16 (16)	Jazz	16-16	No team in the league awoke on the final day of 2007 having played more road games than Utah's 19. The Jazz, though, suddenly have ground to make up on two teams in their division alone thanks to Portland's rise.
	17 (12)	Pacers	15-16	Indy just slipped below .500 for the first time in three weeks and must sit a better-than-ever Tinsley because of hammy issues. With 10 of the next 14 games on the road, let's see if the Pacers can surprise us yet again.
	18 (20)	Cavaliers	14-17	The (formerly) defense-first Cavs have six losses already by 18 points or more, but at least they picked a good season to start so meekly. You expect a Cavs rally when 2008 begins with Atlanta at No. 4 in the East.
	19 (19)	Nets	14-16	More on J-Kidd's attempt to average at least 10 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists for the entire season and distract us from the Nets' home woes: Oscar did it three times, Magic did it once ... and that is the list.
	20 (21)	76ers	13-17	The Sixers won't have to wait long for their Korver reunion thanks to Wednesday's visit to Utah. The bigger issue: How much longer can they realistically flirt with .500, with eight of the next 10 games on the road?
	21 (23)	Bulls	11-17	Funny how these things work out. When the season began, venerable Chicago Tribune columnist Sam Smith wrote that the Bulls were the stablest of the East contenders. It made sense then, but now look.
	22 (17)	Kings	11-18	The Kings are a passable 9-10 with Artest in the lineup. But now he might need elbow surgery, while Martin and Bibby remain out. So it's little wonder Sac-Town just dropped four in a row at Arco after starting 7-3 there.
	23 (22)	Bucks	11-18	Remember when the Central Division was regarded as the beastliest in the East? Detroit is the only Central resident with a winning record, with Milwaukee (at 4-11 in December) atop the list of underachievers.
	24 (27)	SuperSonics	9-21	We don't like to nitpick Durant when he has so little help in Year 1, but it would appear that a 20-shot limit has benefits for the rook and his team. Seattle is 0-7 when Durant takes more than 20 shots and 9-14 otherwise.
	25 (25)	Bobcats	10-18	Anyone still picking these guys to make the playoffs? The Bobs are 4-14 since their 6-4 start, dropping them into New York/Miami territory with 26 of their final 41 games on the road (as we're obliged to repeat).
	26 (24)	Heat	8-23	The week began with Shaq suggesting Miami could upset Boston in the playoffs as long as it finds a way to finish No. 8 in the East. It ended with the reality jolt of three more losses and Shaq's first injury of the season.
	27 (26)	Grizzlies	8-22	The closest thing to good news in Graceland, where the locals continue to turn on an ailing Pau: Memphis has only one game left with the Hornets. In the teams' last two meetings, Paul has hit them for 83 points.
	28 (28)	Clippers	9-19	Looks like the injury-ravaged Clips will be found in the bottom five for the foreseeable future. They haven't won a home game since Nov. 21 against Denver and still haven't shot 50 percent from the floor in any game.
	29 (29)	Knicks	8-21	Not much for Knicks fans to celebrate in Times Square. Not with Isiah's 8-21 Knicks barely avoiding the worst start in club history, just two seasons removed from a 7-21 record entering the new year under Larry Brown.
	30 (30)	Timberwolves	4-25	Back surgery during the season? It sounds serious, but how scary could surgery be for Wittman compared to the standings? Despite that stunning home W over Phoenix recently, Minnesota is on an 11-71 pace.