NBA Power Rankings Week 7: The revenge of the Los Angeles Lakers

Last Week: 2/1 at Denver Nuggets (POSTPONED), Lost to Utah Jazz 117-105, Lost Phoenix Suns 109-92, Lost 2/OT Los Angeles Lakers 135-129

This Week: 2/9 vs. Brooklyn Nets, 2/11 vs. Indiana Pacers, 2/12 at Boston Celtics

Early on in the week, the Detroit Pistons seemed to be facing a disaster. Having their game against the Denver Nuggets postponed for contact tracing was cause for concern but ultimately it was just a false positive and no one missed additional time.

Two not so close losses followed against the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns and then the trade rumors came out. It was confirmed that the Detroit Pistons and Derrick Rose agreed a trade was best for both parties, hence the reason he had not played yet this month. A trade feels imminent, with the reported favorite landing spot being the New York Knicks. The rebuild is certainly gaining momentum for the Pistons.

The game against the Los Angeles Lakers felt great, even though it wound up resulting in defeat. The Pistons already beat the Lakers earlier this year and were without the aforementioned Rose, Blake Griffin and Wayne Ellington. Josh Jackson (28 points) and Jerami Grant (32 points) were special down the stretch for the young team.

There may not be too many wins this season for the Pistons but they prove week in and week out they are going to push every team to the limit. They are annoying. They are physical. Some of them even have terrible nicknames (never will Beef be part of Isaiah Stewart’s name in this column). But if this is tanking, it is one of the more enjoyable tanks to watch.