Los Angeles Lakers move up NBA Power Rankings

The Los Angeles Lakers have begun their climb up ESPN’s NBA Power Rankings.

The Los Angeles Lakers have faced some adversity this season. Their head coach, Luke Walton, came under fire after a meeting with the president of basketball operations, Magic Johnson. Even LeBron James admitted that the losing early in the season was weighing on him.

However, since that meeting, things have picked up in Los Angeles. Tyson Chandler was signed to help shore up the defense, and the Lakers have taken off since.

Since the meeting was held on Oct. 30, following a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the team dropping to a season-high three games under .500, the team has improved.

The Lakers have gone 5-1 since then, including a perfect 3-0 since Chandler joined the team. They went over the .500 mark for the first time after defeating the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday evening.

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It was a successful week for Los Angeles, who went 3-0 in the fourth week of the NBA season. In addition to defeating the Hawks, the Lakers also exacted revenge on the Timberwolves and beat the Sacramento Kings.

After a tough stretch to begin the season, the Lakers look to be putting things together. They are riding a three-game winning streak, which pushed them up ESPN’s NBA Power Rankings.

Last week, Los Angeles came in right in the middle of the pack, being ranked No. 15. This week, they come in at No. 13.

Here is what they had to say about the Lakers moving up in the rankings.

"The Lakers were one of only three NBA teams to post an undefeated week, with wins over Minnesota, Sacramento and Atlanta. The competition might not have been stiff, but the Lakers were stingy — a welcome turn of events for a defense that leaked like a sieve over the first three weeks of the season. Tyson Chandler’s arrival to the Lakers this weekend was announced with authority on Sunday night when he blocked a potential game winner by Trae Young at the buzzer. — Arnovitz"

The game against the Hawks was a lot closer than it should have been. The play that Chandler made at the end was a great one, as he just got a fingertip on Young’s floater before it began its descent and would have been called a goaltending.

Hopefully, the Lakers won’t need heroics of that nature regularly and can begin closing out some games without giving fans a heart attack each night.

This week is another three-game week for Los Angeles. They will face off with the Portland Trail Blazers for the third time this season tonight at the Staples Center. After that, they head on a three-game road trip that begins with a back-to-back in Florida against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat.

Those are three winnable games for the Lakers, so another good week could be within reach for Los Angeles. Going 2-1 is definitely doable with that schedule, as they are heading into a weaker part of their schedule.

If they are going to start padding their win total and make a push up the standings, now is the time to do it.