By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

Paul Pierce celebrated his NBA Finals MVP performance by shedding nearly 10 pounds over the summer. Ray Allen strutted into training camp far healthier than he did for his first Boston camp, when he was coming off surgery on both ankles. Kevin Garnett, meanwhile, was spotted warming up for an exhibition trouncing of the Knicks last week by bashing his head into the basket standard twice, then standing for most of the fourth quarter to cheer on the Celtics' reserves as if it were a playoff game.

What does it all mean?

To your friendly NBA Power Rankings committee (of one), it means that the Celtics might indeed find it difficult to repeat as champions -- because it's always tough to win back-to-back titles, something this storied franchise hasn't managed since 1968 and '69 -- but we struggle to picture any letdowns coming. If the Celts can't go back-to-back, trust us: It won't be because these guys didn't want it enough.

"They just came back with a great team mentality," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said of his three stars.

The defending champs, as always, start out at No. 1 in the opening night edition of our weekly, fully non-automated pulse check of the league, which is scheduled to appear every Monday from here for the rest of the regular season. Click here to rank the teams yourself or click here to comment on these rankings.

Editor's note: The Record category shows the team's 2007-08 regular-season record. The Last Week category shows the team's ranking in Marc Stein's Training Camp Edition of the Power Rankings.

2008-09 Power Rankings: Preseason
RANK (LAST WK)		TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Celtics	66-16	He hasn't done much in Charlotte, but Michael Jordan has fired up at least one Celtic amid all those doubts about Boston's hunger to repeat. Sayeth Ray Allen: ''MJ told me when you win one, you've just [been] lucky.''
	2 (2)	Lakers	57-25	It's a good thing L.A. is so stacked, because it has some history to overcome along with all that tough comp out West. The losing team in the Finals, remember, hasn't won the next season's title since 1989.
	3 (3)	Hornets	56-26	Too soon to say Posey's arrival is already paying off? The Hornets have already won something -- they were preseason ''champs'' at 7-0 -- and are third favorites to win it all according to the league's annual survey of GMs.
	4 (6)	Cavaliers	45-37	Q: Why are folks like me making such a big deal about the Mo Williams acquisition? A: Because LeBron's Cavs took Boston to seven games in the second round without a No. 2 scorer/shooter in Williams' class.
	5 (5)	Spurs	56-26	Is Pop's long, gray, unruly beard meant to mock folks who have written off the Spurs as too old? Better question: Have you considered how dangerous they might be if Manu is healed and rested come playoff time?
	6 (4)	Rockets	55-27	Who knows how many games T-Mac, Yao and Ron-Ron actually play together? But I question anyone saying Artest might mess up Houston's chemistry. Mess up what? Houston hasn't won a playoff series since 1997.
	7 (7)	Pistons	59-23	Who doesn't think the Pistons are slipping? In that league survey of GMs, more than half (55.6 percent) picked the team that didn't make a major offseason move over Cleveland (44.4 percent) to win the Central Division.
	8 (8)	76ers	40-42	Funny old game, isn't it? You can go to Duke, go No. 1 overall in the draft, play in major media markets with the Bulls and Clips ... and you can still, as Elton Brand would tell you, find a whole new level of scrutiny in Philly.
	9 (9)	Jazz	54-28	An early injury scare with D-Will isn't the best of starts, but he's the last guy I'd worry about in Jazz country. Far bigger question marks, to me, are Utah's suspect D and the pitfalls of having eight potential free agents.
	10 (11)	Mavericks	51-31	Just thinking out loud (again): If they won 51 games last season when everyone in Mavsland was so miserable, shouldn't we hold off on all those obituaries until we see how the Mavs look (and feel) under Carlisle?
	11 (12)	Suns	55-27	Skepticism was a constant in the D'Antoni Era, when the Suns averaged 58 wins over four seasons. Now? With an older team and such a drastic change in philosophy, you can see why skepticism is through the roof.
	12 (10)	Raptors	41-41	There are lots of Jermaine O'Neal haters out there, but we're completely on the other side. Which means we're already sold on the trio of JO, Bosh and Calderon. All our questions, frankly, are about the crew around them.
	13 (14)	Magic	52-30	The Magic are big favorites to win their division ... but there's a reason we call it the Southleast. Dangerous as Rashard, Hedo and Dwight are, doubts persist when the starting guards are Jameer Nelson and Mickael Pietrus.
	14 (13)	Trail Blazers	41-41	I know, I know: Oden had a rough preseason and eight of Portland's top 10 players are 25 or younger. But after the Blazers played .500 ball without Oden and Rudy Fernandez, where's the fun in preaching patience?
	15 (18)	Nuggets	50-32	George Karl keeps trying to tell us that the Nuggets won't fall as far without Marcus Camby as most media pests claim. Of course, even if he's right, No. 8 in the West is realistically the highest Denver can finish.
	16 (15)	Wizards	43-39	Someone asked me the other day if the Wiz can stay competitive while Arenas is out, as if that would be sufficient. After re-upping Gil for $111 mil? Proving they can continue to win without him isn't much consolation.
	17 (17)	Bulls	33-49	Maybe rookies Rose and Del Negro can overcome Chicago's low-post limitations and guard glut to lead a return to the playoffs. But who wants to go out on that limb after last season's team underachieved so badly?
	18 (20)	Warriors	48-34	With Baron Davis in L.A., Monta Ellis out indefinitely and unmistakable tension in the front office, Golden State is asking its famously patient fans to be understanding again. At least there's some good young talent here.
	19 (19)	Clippers	23-59	On paper? Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby are an intriguing fivesome. On hardwood? Hard to say when Camby didn't play any exhibition games and Baron played in one of eight.
	20 (22)	Hawks	37-45	It's true they played the Celts far closer in the playoffs than the Lakers did. Yet it's also true that the Hawks, beyond their solid starting five, have no depth to combat that much tougher competition for the East's No. 8 seed.
	21 (16)	Bucks	26-56	We normally don't like to make too much of preseason results, but the Bucks' 1-7 showing suggests that we might have underestimated the size of the task Skiles and new GM John Hammond have taken on here.
	22 (25)	Pacers	36-46	You know by now that the committee (of one) never tires of trotting out our pet Indy .500 line, but the sense here remains that the Pacers will wind up below it again, even if Dunleavy shakes his early knee problem.
	23 (24)	Heat	15-67	With the holes they have at point guard and center -- and a serious lack of depth, too -- let's be honest: D-Wade might have to be better than he was in the '06 Finals if he wants to take the Heat to the '09 playoffs.
	24 (28)	Timberwolves	22-60	The theory, if you subscribe, is that the Wolves have flanked Al Jefferson with multiple quality shooters ... and that players named Kevin (Love, in this case) tend to do well in this town. We haven't subscribed yet.
	25 (21)	Bobcats	32-50	If you noticed that the Bobcats went 0-8 in exhibition play and then found yourself wondering why Larry Brown ever agreed to take this job after his Knicks nightmare, here's your answer: It's the only job Larry could get.
	26 (26)	Knicks	23-59	I, for one, am fascinated to see how long it takes D'Antoni and Walsh to bring winning back to MSG. But Marbury's still here, which sadly will be all anyone talks about (along with the latest Isiah episode) until Steph goes.
	27 (27)	Nets	34-48	As if a full-on rebuilding project isn't tough enough for Nets die-hards to digest, now we're being told that arena construction in Brooklyn is on hold indefinitely. Do we even bother mentioning LeBron without Brooklyn?
	28 (23)	Kings	38-44	Like the way Adande said it recently: The scrappy Kings will give you everything they've got, but unfortunately that (probably) won't be a whole lot. Especially early, with Brad Miller suspended for the first five games.
	29 (29)	Grizzlies	22-60	With the highlight-reel potential Gay and Mayo have, Memphis had a real shot to rank as my favorite lottery-bound team this season. Then the Kings inked our guy Bobby Brown over the summer, denying the Grizz yet again.
	30 (30)	Thunder	20-62	Might be misleading to say that Kevin Durant and Co. have nothing to play for in their maiden season in Oklahoma City. You have to figure they've got a shot to be crowned Most Raucously Supported Bad Team in NBA history.