The latest Power Rankings are out, and since I’m too lazy to do one myself, I’ll just link you to theirs. A couple of notes:

• The Celtics are back to No. 1. Yay. I just love the Celtics, with overglorified players like KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Please, LA or Cleveland, please beat them in the playoffs.
• The Nuggets are No. 6. How is it that one good point guard can change a team around so much? No AI, insert Chauncey, and this team is rolling.
• At 23-19, the Heat are No. 10. I know they’ve been surging, but c’mon. No. 10?
• In the same conference and same division, and three games up on the Heat, the Hawks are No. 11. This is the power Dwyane Wade has on a team.
• Beware the 76′ers, who sit at No. 12. After their terrible start, they’ve come on strong and are looking like the playoff threat they were last year.
• At No. 30, is there really any hope for the Kings? They don’t have the worst record, at least, which belongs to No. 26, the 9-35 Thunder.

When Joe Dumars’ Detroit Pistons lost to Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals last year, he warned the team that no one was safe. And when he meant no one, I think he really meant no one.

In a move that has me scratching my head like I’ve got a bad case of lice, the Pistons have dealt Chauncey Billups, one of the best point guards in the league, to Denver in return for Allen Iverson, one of the bigger ball-hogs in the league that has pretty much proven he can’t win a championship.

“We just felt it was the right time to change our team,” Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars told The Associated Press. “Iverson gives us a dimension that we haven’t had here and we really think it’s going to help us.”

Maybe this thing really, really works out. Maybe having AI’s scoring with Sheed’s ability to shoot from wherever and Rip’s offensive prowess… well, it sounds good on paper. Maybe they’re trying to be the Big Three much like Boston’s Big Three, only Boston’s Big Three is much, much better, and plays much, much more defense.

On the flip side of that trade, I’ve gotta believe Denver betters itself by getting a guy who can score but, more importantly, someone that can really be a setup guy for ‘Melo, something they lacked while AI was in town.

It’s probably not the new Dream Team — I mean, how can you beat Hakeem, Clyde, Charles, Scottie and MJ? — but it’s as formidable a crew as the U.S. has put together in a long, long time. The 12 man team was named today, and it lists some pretty good names.

The team is headlined by the likes of Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, but joining them will be Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, and Carmelo Anthony.

Though I’d leave a few of those off — there’s got to better player than Redd, Prince, and Kidd — it’s a solid squad. The starting five will more than likely be Paul, Kobe, D-Wade, LBJ, and D. Howard. That leaves guys like Jason Kidd, Deron Williams, and Chris Bosh coming off the bench, which is about as good a sixth, seventh and eighth man as it gets.

Oddly, not a single player from the World Champion Celtics. No one in LA’s complaining about that one.

The Pistons relieved themsleves of Larry Brown a few years ago, and now they appear to be doing the same thing with Flip Saunders, who was released today by the Detroit Pistons.

“There are 25, 26 teams that would love to be where we are, but good has not been good enough,” Dumars said. “I appreciate everything that Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown and Flip Saunders have done, but I also know they were handed some great teams.

“It’s not like they had to take bad teams and make them good. The next coach is going to inherit a good team.”

To be fair, Flip had a good team. To be more fair, Doc Rivers had a better team. Franchises are quick to release a coach after a tough playoff exodus, but at the end of the day, KG, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are better than Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace.

Rumors are that Avery Johnson is their first choice to replace Saunders, and if they’re looking for a coach who can take talent and win it all, well, Avery may not be the best selection. And that’s coming from someone who likes Mr. Johnson.

It was the first time since the playoffs started that the Celtics didn’t require seven games to move on, and the fans and players in Boston are plenty happy about that. After last night’s 89-81 victory over the Pistons, the Celtics have advanced to the Finals for the first time since 1987.

“It’s kind of surreal,” Garnett said. “Probably hasn’t even hit me yet because we haven’t slept in about four days, going on five days now. Going to the Finals, I’m just hoping to get some sleep.”

Kevin Garnett only had 16 points and 6 rebounds, but the slack was picked up by Paul Pierce, who dropped 27 points on 8-12 shooting. What won the game, though, was the Celtics D, who suffocated Detroit’s offense, holding Tayshaun Prince to 10 points on 3-10 shooting, and Rasheed Wallace to 4 points on 2-12 shooting.

I hate to be the Atlanta Homer fan right now, but given that the Hawks took the Celtics to seven, and won all of their home games, rather than one of their home games, would it be fair to say that, maybe, just maybe, the Hawks are better than the Pistons?

Don’t answer that.

Anyway, Game 1 of the Finals is about two months away (starts on Thursday, really). It’s Kobe Bryant vs. the World, and while I want to say the Lakers win, I feel without homecourt advantage, and with the Celtics seeming to gather some momentum, the C’s will take this thing in 7.

With the Spurs a single game away from elimination — and three games away from moving on, I guess — their chances of repeating look dim. To put it this way, the Spurs would have to win their game tonight in LA, go back and win in San Antonio, then win again in LA, an especially hard feat given their inability to win in LA yet, even with a 20 point lead in the third quarter.

There’s that hope I have that the Spurs pull this off and I don’t have to see a duel between Kobe Bryant, whom I hate, and KG/Paul Pierce/Ray Allen, whom I also hate, but those hopes are dim as well.

To make matters worse, Vegas says LA by 7 1/2, and Vegas never seems to be wrong. When they are wrong, they’re off by a couple of points, and 5 1/2 isn’t helping their cause right now, either.

At any rate, it shouldn’t be long before the NBA gets what they want and we get seven games of Boston/LA, and Bill Walton and every other announcer can talk about how this is Bird vs. Magic, part II, only Bird isn’t white, he’s black, and he’s not quick, he’s pretty fat, and his name isn’t Bird at all, it’s Paul Pierce.

The Celtics got a scare, and nearly dropped their second straight home game, but were able to hold on to a 106-102 victory to take a 3-2 series lead over the Pistons.

Ray Allen finally decided to show up, scoring 29 points in this one and hitting a 2-point jump shot with under a minute to play, just after Detroit had pulled the game within one. KG finished with 33 points, Paul Pierce with 16, and Kendrick Perkins had 18 points and 16 boards.

Chauncey Billups scored 26 points for the Pistons, but struggled from the field and shot only 7-17 in the game. Rip Hamilton had 25, Rasheed Wallace had 18, and Rodney Stuckey continued to provide a spark off the bench with 13 points.

Game 6 will be Friday night, and we’ll just go ahead and jump to Game 7, which will be on Sunday (probably evening). Given that the Celtics have been involved in nothing but 7-game series, we’ll just presume they’ll lose on the road — again — and then win this thing at home, again.

Here’s the dunk I was talking about, which seemed a lot sicker when I was drunk. Odd how that happens.

Highlights from the Pistons/Celtics Game 3. Somehow, though, they don’t have Maxiell’s dunk in here, which was freaking sick.

After shocking the world and actually winning a road game, Boston went back to its uncompetitive self away from home, losing to Detroit 94-75.

The Celtics kept the game reasonably close in the first half, but then were outscored by 15 in the second half, thus giving the 19 point lopsided victory. Chauncey Billups continued his terrible shooting, going 3-12 for 10 points on the night, but the 33 year-old Antonio McDyess picked up the slack, putting in 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Richard Hamilton scored 20 for the Pistons, and Jason Maxiell came off the bench with 14, including a ridiculous dunk on a fast break opportunity. The Big Three for Boston combined for only 43 points on a horrid 11-38 shooting.

The series is tied at two now with it shifting back to Boston. This thing will go seven — what Boston series won’t go seven? — with Detroit advancing to play the Spurs in the Finals.