SB Nation's Tom Ziller released his most recent NBA Power Rankings and the Los Angeles Clippers were still able to hold off the surging Los Angeles Lakers for at least one more week.
The Clippers - with wins over Sacramento and Houston and losses to Minnesota and Phoenix this week - are no. 5 in the Power Rankings with a 22-13 record. Meanwhile, the Lakers - with wins over Minnesota, Sacramento and Miami - are no. 6 with a 23-14 record. But Ziller still can't put the Lakers in the class of the elite until the Lakers prove they can beat top teams on the road. Eleven of the Lakers' 13 losses have come on the road.
ESPN's Marc Stein sees it differently.
In Stein's Power Rankings, he has the Lakers in the no. 5 spot while the Clippers are no. 7. Stein pointed out how much better the Lakers offense is right now and that the Clippers are only 7-6 since Chauncey Billups went down with his season-ending injury.