Denver's Nick Van Exel makes two of his 34 points on Monday, shooting over Eric Snow.

OK, Lakers fans, it's time to give you your props. You are No. 1. Now don't mess it up.

The way the Lakers beat the Trail Blazers and have constructed a pretty impressive six-game winning streak makes them tops in our Power Rankings for the first time this season. Kobe Bryant, whether he starts or not, gives that team more options on offense and defense and frankly, makes them hard to beat. You can still complain about Shaq at the line, but it's getting overrated because the Lakers are so good.

The Spurs held the top spot last week but then lost to Detroit and Toronto and escaped New Jersey with a two-point win. They drop to No. 3. The Kings lost in New Jersey Monday night, and also fell in Atlanta on their road trip. Why don't they drop? Nobody else deserved to be No. 6. Youth wins out -- for now.

The biggest complaints in the past week via e-mail were about two young teams that had big weeks. The Nuggets -- an excellent home team but 0-5 away from home and all double digit losses -- just won in New York and Philly. And the 76ers, despite losing to Denver, were rewarded this week as well for winning games without Allen Iverson.

At the bottom, the four worst teams in the NBA have lost 35 straight games combined. Think about that for a moment.

Anyway, here are the ESPN.com Power Rankings as of Dec. 7. Check out Jason Jackson, Fred Carter and the other nice people on NBA 2Night on Tuesday as they discuss these rankings more in-depth.

When you don't agree with our rankings, which we expect, let us know your thoughts by clicking here and giving us a few Rank Comments of your own. But please remember that these rankings were compiled Tuesday morning and anything that happens beginning Tuesday night will not be reflected.