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After a franchise-best 10 straight wins, the Los Angeles Clippers are nearing the top of a majority of NBA Power Rankings, while the middling Lakers are struggling to stay afloat.
ESPN's Marc Stein has the Clippers slotted at No. 2 behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, up two spots from No. 4 in last week's poll. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports also has the Clippers up two spots to No. 2 in this week's poll.
The surging Clippers made a sizable jump in Matt Moore's rankings for CBS Sports, climbing to No. 2 after being slotted at No. 7 in last week's poll. SB Nation's Seth Rosenthal has the team at No. 4, trailing the Thunder, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
While the Lakers struggle to find direction and an identity, they've remained stuck in the middle of most power rankings. Stein has the Lakers staying put at No. 15, while Spears has Mike D'Antoni's squad down two spots from last week's poll and slots them at No. 20. Moore also has the Lakers down two spots from No. 21 to No. 23 in his weekly rankings, and Rosenthal is the lone rankings guru to give the purple and gold a boost in this week's rankings, pushing them up one spot to No. 19.