Jamal Crawford and Chris Paul have the Clippers battling for the West's best record. (USA Today Sports)

The Los Angeles Clippers' franchise-record winning streak came to an end last week at 17 games. But the Clippers' reign atop the Yahoo! Sports' NBA Power Rankings continued for the third straight week, which is the longest by any team this season.

The Clippers' record win streak was followed by road losses to the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors, but L.A. responded with strong home wins against the Lakers and the Warriors.

Records are through Monday.

1. Los Angeles Clippers (27-8, previous ranking: first): Expect injured Clipper forward Grant Hill to make his debut pretty soon. Clippers guard Chauncey Billups also isn't too far from returning.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (26-8, previous ranking: second): What was supposed to be a big showdown is now just another game when the Thunder travel to Los Angeles on Friday to play the struggling Lakers, who will be missing Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol.

3. San Antonio Spurs (27-10, previous ranking: third): What was

Even after winning a franchise-record 17 consecutive games, the Los Angeles Clippers know they still haven't completely won their decades-old battle for respect, especially within their own arena.

The Clippers are staring down at the Los Angeles Lakers in the Pacific Division standings these days. Could they eventually lord over their Staples co-tenants in stature, too?

"The Clippers have been looked at as the little brother for so long," said Clippers forward Matt Barnes, who played for the Lakers the previous two seasons. "Now that we're really doing something, everyone says it's still early in the season. It's like, 'Oh, it doesn't matter.'

"I think we use that as fuel because we still have yet to prove anything."

[Also: $100 million Knicks player never learned to play defense]

Clippers point guard Chris Paul is one of the top MVP contenders this season. (AP)More importantly, the Clippers have learned that they don't have to compete with the Lakers' aura. They can build their own identity, and it doesn't have to be tied to their history of futility,

Blake Griffin and Chris Paul have kept the Clippers unbeaten since Nov. 26. (AP)

The Los Angeles Clippers are still sailing ahead of the rest of the NBA in Yahoo! Sports' weekly Power Rankings, but they could encounter some troubled waters ahead.

The Clippers entered 2013 with a NBA-best 25-6 record after winning a franchise-record 17 straight games. The league's longest winning streak ever is 33 games held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.

The Clippers also face four strong tests this week with back-to-back games in Denver (Tuesday) and Golden State (Wednesday) and then back-to-back contests at home against the Lakers on Friday and Warriors on Saturday.

The Clippers have not lost since Nov. 26.

Records are through Monday's games.

1. Los Angeles Clippers (25-6, previous ranking: first): The Clippers went 16-0 in December to join the 1995-96 San Antonio Spurs, which included coach Vinny Del Negro, and 1971-72 Lakers as the only teams to go undefeated in a month.

2. Oklahoma City Thunder (24-6, previous ranking: second): Former Seattle

SAN FRANCISCO – Kevin Garnett signed a three-year, $36 million contract in the offseason, but admits there was a time when he wondered whether he wanted to continue playing this deep into his career. Now 36 and in his 18th NBA season, Garnett has played in more than 1,400 games, regular season and playoffs combined. And he made clear in an interview with Yahoo! Sports that he won't stick around just to stick around if he feels he can't play at a high level.

Kevin Garnett is in his sixth season playing for the Celtics. (AP)Question: Have you ever thought seriously about retiring?

K.G.: "Absolutely. Absolutely. There was a time where I felt like, 'Can I still be productive? Can I still bring something to the table?' I look at myself in the mirror from a real perspective. …I still can play and I still can bring something to a team."

Q: You don't appear to be the type of player that will continue playing if you can't at a high level. True?

K.G.: "Performance is something we all strive to be better at. I'm no different than that. Who wants to

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The question has hung over Carmelo Anthony nearly since the first day he joined the New York Knicks, and it will likely be debated once again in the coming days.

Can he and Amar'e Stoudemire play well – and win – together?

There's no denying that Anthony has played his best, as have the Knicks as a whole, while Stoudemire has been sidelined the first two months of this season. But with Stoudemire now expected to return on Tuesday, Anthony is quick to roll his eyes at the thought that New York can't be a better team with the former All-Star forward back on the floor.

"We need him," Anthony told Yahoo! Sports after the Knicks' 106-105 loss to the Sacramento Kings. "I know we are playing well, but the more bodies, the better, especially at this point where guys are doing well. …We are ready for him."

Stoudemire has yet to play this season after having surgery on his left knee in late October. He's expected to practice with the Knicks on Sunday and Monday.

WASHINGTON – John Wall can't go anywhere without someone asking him when will he make his season debut for the Washington Wizards. Wall, who is recovering from a knee injury, doesn't have a specific game in mind, but he has pinpointed a month.

January.

"My timetable is some time in January," Wall told Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday night. "The way I am feeling with no pain, working out and doing it three [days straight] and it has no pain, I'm feeling good. I feel like I am taking the right steps and I haven't had no pain the last couple of days after workouts."

John Wall is increasing his workout workload in preparation for his return. (AP)

The determining factor for clearance to play?

"When I feel like I can run and do everything like I used to, cut, jump like I used to, run fast like I used to," Wall said. "And I feel like I am getting closer and closer to those steps."

Wall has missed the entire season due to a stress injury to his left patella. He says he has never considered shutting it down this season. He has been living in the

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers beat the New York Knicks for their biggest victory of the season, but coach Mike D'Antoni wasn't breathing a sigh of relief on Christmas.

"You know the NBA season … it spirals out of control easily and we got high expectations," D'Antoni said. "We just got to keep getting better."

The Lakers are better off than they were a couple weeks ago. Despite a slow start to the season that saw Mike Brown fired and D'Antoni chosen over Phil Jackson to replace him, the Lakers have used a five-game winning streak to improve to 14-14. With Steve Nash back running the offense, D'Antoni is still hopeful of delivering on the championship aspirations befitting a roster this talented.

"It's not an easy position to be in," Nash said of D'Antoni taking over the Lakers. "Everyone expects the world out of this team.

"On paper it looks easy, but it's not. But no training camp and with a team that wasn't really in position to play [up-tempo], let alone

The NBA's top two scorers will share the court on Christmas Day when the New York Knicks visit the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant, however, thinks the Staples Center floor might as well be replaced with a boxing ring when he and Carmelo Anthony square off.

Kobe Bryant leads the NBA in scoring while Carmelo Anthony ranks second. (Getty Images)"He's a weight class above," Bryant said. "But I know where to fight at.

"It's a very interesting puzzle. You have to prepare for him a lot more than anybody else with his bag of tricks to go to. You have to be extremely, extremely prepared."

Bryant leads the NBA in scoring this season with 29.7 points per game while Anthony is averaging 28.3 and shooting a career-best 43.7 percent from 3-point range. Preparing for Anthony – who can shoot from any range or post inside – has never been tougher than now. He has played like an MVP and led the Knicks to a 20-7 record while Amar'e Stoudemire has been sidelined.

[Also: Clippers lead NBA Power Rankings]

Anthony has been criticized throughout his career for caring too much about