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It was a tougher call, honestly, than deciding whom to put atop our MVP ballot. Far tougher. These, though, are precisely the sort of complex rulings that the committee (of one) was commissioned to make.

So ...

The Los Angeles Lakers -- on the season's 26th and final Monday for our human, subjective and thoroughly nonautomated check of the league's team-by-team pulse -- claim the No. 1 spot in the farewell edition of ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings, narrowly holding off the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Lakers did so in spite of Cleveland's impressive home trouncing of No. 3 Boston on Sunday, swaying us with its vastly superior record against the rest of the top 10 -- no one else comes close to L.A.'s 21-7 mark there -- and its regular-season sweep of the Cavs. Also boosting L.A.'s case: Andrew Bynum's return at a time so many big names are hobbling, as well as the likelihood that the Cavs face a far tougher path to the NBA Finals.

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

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

Tune in Tuesdays to "NBA Fastbreak" on ESPN to see this week's U.S. Army Power Rankings. The Blazers are the U.S. Army Team of the Week after a 4-0 run that includes a road win in San Antonio and another home defeat of the Lakers to take the race for first place in the Northwest Division all the way to the buzzer.

2008-09 Power Rankings: Week 24
RANK (LAST WK)		TEAM	REC.	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Lakers	64-17	With or without the NBA's best record, life is good. Bynum is back. The East's top three will soon be beating each other up just to get to the Finals. And the team L.A. can't beat -- Charlotte -- can't make the Finals.
	2 (2)	Cavaliers	65-15	It's one of the conundrums of the season. Do the Cavs go for the win Wednesday night against Philly to try to tie the best home record of all-time at 40-1? Or do they give everyone a night of rest for the playoffs?
	3 (4)	Celtics	60-20	You want to talk about coaches getting the scroogie in the COY race? Then let's start with Doc Rivers, because Boston finishing No. 2 in the East with Garnett missing 20 of the Celts' last 24 games is an absolute coup.
	4 (3)	Magic	58-22	The good news: Orlando spent the season forcing us to lower that imaginary line we used to draw under the Cavs and Celts. The bad news: Almost everything we've seen from Orlando since it thrashed the Cavs.
	5 (7)	Trail Blazers	52-28	No team deserves the unexpectedly up-for-grabs No. 5 slot in our farewell rankings more than the young Blazers. The only downside is now expectations will be higher than they should be for the playoff neophytes.
	6 (5)	Nuggets	53-27	No one had this team winning its division. Not even after Chauncey arrived. Yet we are obligated to remind you that Denver's grade for the season still totally rides on getting to Round 2 for the first time since (gulp) 1994.
	7 (6)	Rockets	52-28	Livid as they must be to see San Antonio win in Sacramento on what the league now admits was a too-late triple by Michael Finley, only one thing matters now for the team desperate to get to Round 2: Yao's foot.
	8 (8)	Spurs	52-28	The toughest part to accept about all the injuries that have neutralized the Spurs' odd-years mojo is the likely inability now to capitalize on what might be the best supporting cast Timmy, Tony and Manu have ever had.
	9 (10)	Hornets	49-31	Do you remember October? Back when the Hornets A) were a popular dark-horse pick to win it all, B) went 7-0 in exhibition play and C) didn't need Chris Paul and David West to do everything? Us, neither.
	10 (11)	Mavericks	48-32	Never in league history has a team started 2-7 and finished with 50 wins. But even if the Mavs manage to cling to the No. 7 spot they just swiped, they'll need a playoff resurrection, too, after going 0-4 against Denver.
	11 (15)	Bulls	40-40	Seriously. Why hasn't Reinsdorf come out publicly to say anything about the rookie point guard and the rookie coach and a suddenly .500 team that's finishing stronger than any team in the East outside of Cleveland?
	12 (12)	Hawks	46-34	Maybe you didn't believe us when we said Atlanta dreamed of seeing Philly in the first round. Or maybe you totally get it after D-Wade warmed up by scorching the Knicks for 55 in a preview of the Hawks' worst nightmare.
	13 (10)	Jazz	47-33	The Jazz were supposed to be the team no one out West wanted to see in Round 1. No one's saying that now after indefensible home Ls to the Wolves and Warriors that suggest it's a team coming apart at the seams.
	14 (13)	Heat	42-38	The old Heat Hater chants will surely return when D-Wade is not named MVP . . . even though Kobe ('05-06) and LeBron ('07-08) were treated to the same kind of voting when they went statistically nuts for 45-win teams.
	15 (14)	Pistons	39-41	The official tally as the weary Pistons reach the merciful end of this circus-like season with Iverson: They're 22-28 when A.I. starts, 2-2 when he comes off the bench and 15-11 when he's away from the team.
	16 (17)	Suns	44-36	This tidbit sums up the lottery-bound Suns' frustrations rather well: Phoenix is the first team to shoot 50 percent from the field in back-to-back seasons since Jordan's title-winning Bulls in 1990-91 and 1991-92.
	17 (16)	76ers	40-40	Are they trying to slide to No. 7 based on some half-baked idea that Boston is vulnerable because of KG's situation? Or is there a reasonable explanation for Philly responding to clinching a playoff berth by going 0-5?
	18 (20)	Pacers	35-45	The good news: Granger kept getting better after getting the contract extension. The bad news for Pacer People: Not once during the regular season did the standings allow us to use our pet Indy .500 line.
	19 (19)	Bobcats	35-45	Larry's coaching and the deal for Diaw and Raja gave them an unexpected shot, but the Bobs remain one of only two teams in the four major leagues -- along with the NFL's Houston Texans -- to never taste the playoffs.
	20 (18)	Raptors	31-49	A promising 3-0 start. A teasing 7-4 finish. And so much frustration and disappointment in between for the team and the fans in one of our three favorite countries that we're sure to be talking about Bosh all summer.
	21 (21)	Nets	33-47	Make that three big questions looming for the Nets. Does Vince Carter get traded? Does Coach Frank get fired? And do they actually miss all of our old Titanic Division jokes, since they were rulers of the division back then?
	22 (26)	Warriors	29-51	We ask the most loyal fans in the NBA: Do you take any comfort knowing you never saw anything close to the Dubs' full roster in this season of turmoil? Or that they have the assets to trade for a good vet? Do you?
	23 (22)	Grizzlies	23-57	Lionel Hollins should not be seen as an interim coach. The Grizz didn't pull him out of Milwaukee in the middle of the season to coach 40 games. But finishing strong, as the kids have for Hollins, certainly can't hurt.
	24 (23)	Bucks	33-47	We ask again: Is something wrong with the world when Charlie Villanueva's Twitter account generates way more coverage than all the injuries and everything else that's happened in Milwaukee this season?
	25 (25)	Knicks	31-50	D-Wade just became this season's third player to score at least 50 points against the Knicks. D'Antoni just became the sixth coach in history to win 50 games one season and lose 50 the next. Is it July 2010 yet?
	26 (28)	Timberwolves	24-56	Anyone else starting to get the vibe that owner Glen Taylor -- who we're pretty sure would never fire McHale -- won't exactly be heartbroken if McHale decides in the next week that he doesn't want to coach anymore?
	27 (24)	Wizards	19-61	If you've invested $111 million in Arenas, you probably have to hire an offensive-minded coach. Which is why Flip makes the most sense after this season from hell . . . unless the Wiz want to rehire Eddie Jordan.
	28 (27)	Thunder	22-58	Was this the one and only season in the Durant Era that the good folks of OKC had to stomach a ranking that was always in the 20s? The answer is YES unless the whole league is guilty of overhyping this situation.
	29 (30)	Clippers	19-61	No one saw this coming. Even Corey Maggette can't claim that he expected the Clips' season to sink to these depths when he said back in camp that our man Baron was in for "a rude awakening" in his homecoming.
	30 (29)	Kings	16-64	Even if the Kings re-hire Eddie Jordan and win the Blake Griffin lottery, they're looking at a l-o-n-g climb back. Even in all those dreadful years, Sacramento never endured a season worse than 23-59. Until now.