Power Rankings: Cavs move ahead of banged-up Celtics

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By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

No team has the depth to withstand injuries like the Los Angeles Lakers. That's why it's going to be tough to bump the Lakers out of the top spot in ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings.

But we do have some shuffling in this week's top five, with Cleveland rising back to No. 2 and Orlando moving up to No. 4 thanks in part to the reinforcements those teams just got -- Delonte West for the Cavs and Rafer Alston for the Magic -- while Boston (Kevin Garnett injury) and San Antonio (Manu Ginobili injury) were weakened.

You can click here to rank the teams yourself or click here to comment.

Also, check out John Hollinger's daily Power Rankings.

Tune in Tuesdays to "NBA Fastbreak" on ESPN to see this week's U.S. Army Power Rankings. The Cavs are the U.S. Army Team of the Week, storming back from the All-Star break with two road wins, one home rout of Detroit and a virtual return to full strength.

2008-09 Power Rankings: Week 17
RANK (LAST WK) TEAM REC. COMMENT
1 (1) Lakers 46-10 How deep is the league's deepest team? The Lakers dumped Radmanovic and Mihm to save a little money and are still 9-1 in February ... all without the injured Bynum. A four-point stumble at Utah is the lone blemish.
2 (3) Cavaliers 43-11 KG's injury could be the opening that enables the Cavs -- now that Delonte is back -- to move past the Celts in the race for the East's best record. One disclaimer, though: Eight of Cleveland's next 11 games are roadies.
3 (2) Celtics 45-12 The Celtics are worried about KG's knee troubles lingering, not the next two or three weeks. They've actually been fine without him on a short-term basis, as a 13-2 record this season and last season should tell you.
4 (5) Magic 41-14 The early evidence suggests that Alston, if nothing else, should enable the Jameer-less Magic to hang onto their top-five status here. Which is almost as important as beating Boston or Cleveland in the playoffs, right?
5 (4) Spurs 37-17 There will be no springboard effect for the Spurs from this season's Rodeo Road Trip. Not with Ginobili going down. Duncan, though, sounds eerily confident. Says Timmy: "Right now, I think we're right in the mix."
6 (6) Nuggets 37-19 Draw a line under the top five, but credit the Nuggets for making this spot their own. Whether or not they've got enough size to be a playoff factor, No. 6 is where you've found them for eight of the past nine Mondays.
7 (7) Trail Blazers 35-20 Props to Portland. The Blazers have responded to two fairly significant disappointments -- Oden's new knee injury and a frustrating trade deadline -- with two emphatic home spankings of the Hawks and Clips.
8 (8) Rockets 35-21 If you subscribe to the theory that Yao and Co. will be better without a half-speed McGrady yo-yoing in and out of the lineup and with Alston exiled to Orlando, last week was Houston's best week in some time.
9 (10) Jazz 33-23 We've been wrapped up in their injury issues for weeks, but it all seems so trivial now. True tragedy has befallen this Jazz and all of Utah with longtime owner Larry Miller losing his battle with diabetes at the age of 64.
10 (9) Mavericks 33-22 What's getting them through Jason Terry's extended unavailability? Seeing pretty much every other team in the Western Conference race dealing with at least one major injury absentee is the Mavs' lone consolation.
11 (12) Hornets 32-22 Chris Paul's alley-oop soul mate has returned unexpectedly, but Byron Scott is blunt about what the Hornets need now. Says Lord Byron: "We are dead last in rebounding. That's something we weren't last year."
12 (11) Suns 31-24 The best news we have for the Suns after the roller-coaster week they just endured is that it probably won't take 50 wins to make the playoffs in the West this season. The bad news: No. 8 Utah is on a 48-win pace.
13 (14) Hawks 32-23 The bad news here: Joe Johnson looked flat-out worn out in January and has only picked it up slightly this month. The good news: Atlanta's hold on the East's No. 4 seed hasn't really been challenged yet.
14 (13) Heat 29-26 No one's expecting the Heat to go as far with this O'Neal as they went with the last O'Neal, but the goals are a lot more modest this time, too. Winning a round in the playoffs would figure to make this team's season.
15 (17) Bulls 25-31 It's not like swinging a February deal for KG, Gasol or Amare, but at least the Bulls did something. The slight upgrades they did make (Brad Miller, John Salmons, Tim Thomas) are better than their usual deadline efforts.
16 (16) Bucks 28-31 The flip side to the good news about having only 10 road games left: The injury-riddled Bucks limped back from the break with the league's highest opponent winning percentage (.544) on their remaining schedule.
17 (15) 76ers 27-27 Going into All-Star Weekend, Philly could pretend to ignore how Elton Brand's first season in town unfolded thanks to a 14-4 run. Road losses to Indy and Miami since coming back to work have changed the mood.
18 (21) Knicks 23-32 Congrats, weary readers: You've made it to the final seven days of the Marbury saga. As you've surely memorized by now, Steph's season is basically over if he can't get a buyout from the Knicks before March 1.
19 (18) Bobcats 22-34 If it seems like we wrote a lot early about Charlotte's road-heavy schedule in the second half, now you know why we were so worried: The Bobs have lost six straight road games and play seven of their next 10 games away.
20 (23) Pacers 24-34 The latest paradox from the team that sits way under .500 despite wins over the Lakers, Celtics, Cavs and Magic: Indy's first back-to-back wins of the month come only after Granger joins Dunleavy on the injured list.
21 (20) Pistons 27-27 We all knew integrating Iverson was no snap, but who saw the Pistons struggling to score with AI like they have? They've been held under 80 points seven times this season, second only to the Bobcats (eight).
22 (25) Warriors 20-36 The Dubs are a respectable 10-8 since playing 24 of their first 38 games on the road -- and Nellie just collected his 1,300th win -- but Monta's ankle needing a break already is the (worrisome) headline that grabs you.
23 (24) Raptors 22-36 The Raps finally got the guy they've been wanting for weeks when the trade for Marion went through. But his new job is a big one because his new team is as far out of a playoff spot as it's been all season.
24 (22) Nets 24-32 The nuisance of dealing with daily trade rumors is over for Vince Carter. The problem that remains is a slump which has lasted for nearly 20 games, with weary New Jersey mired at 5-13 since it was last seen at .500.
25 (19) Thunder 13-43 There will be time later to dissect Durant's spectacular February or the dream of seeing Blake Griffin in Thunder colors. First we've got to spend a lot more time on the voided trade for Tyson Chandler, don't we?
26 (26) Timberwolves 18-37 The Wolves' stunning January -- when they rung up more wins (10) than every team except the Lakers, Spurs and Celtics -- looks even more stunning now after what might be the worst February they've ever had.
27 (27) Wizards 13-43 Something (modest) to shoot for in the final 26 games after refusing to trade Jamison or Butler: Washington is one of only two teams this season without a single three-game win streak. The other: Oklahoma City.
28 (30) Kings 12-45 See? Told you that the Kings make you pay attention even when they're an 11- or 12-win outfit. And there's still lots to monitor here post-deadline, starting with Drew Gooden and whether they keep him or buy him out.
29 (28) Grizzlies 15-40 Gotta be honest: We like Rudy Gay's potential, but making him an untouchable in talks with the Suns -- when the Grizz could have been looking at a two-man core of Amare and O.J. Mayo -- is an iffy call at best.
30 (29) Clippers 13-41 Friends and relatives swamped us with e-mails when Steve Blake rung up 14 assists in a quarter against the depleted Clips. No one said a word when they gamely held Blake to three assists in the next three quarters.

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