NBA Power Rankings Week 7: The revenge of the Los Angeles Lakers
By Corey Rausch
Last Week: Beat Atlanta Hawks 107-99, Beat Denver Nuggets 114-93, Beat/2OT Detroit Pistons 135-129
This Week: 2/8 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 2/10 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, 2/12 vs. Memphis Grizzlies
The Los Angeles Lakers were dominant in two wins against the Atlanta Hawks and the Denver Nuggets before taking on an impressively game Detroit Pistons team who had already beaten them once this season.
LeBron James was continuing to make his case as the Most Valuable Player again this week. He put up 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists on the Atlanta Hawks in a game where Davis, Schroder and Harrell were also rather impressive. Against the Denver Nuggets, James was even better, putting up 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to knock off his fellow MVP candidate.
While being in a close game against the Pistons is less than ideal for a team like the Lakers, that does not make the statistical dominance that the King exhibited any less impressive. He put up 33 points and 11 assists in a double-overtime thriller.
Perhaps the Detroit Pistons are just a weird matchup for the Lakers. Luckily for the champs, Detroit will likely not be anywhere near the NBA Finals. Unless another team finds a way to irritate James and company along the way, this will be just another blip on the radar. Now if only the league would stop announcing All-Star games and upsetting the best player of all time.