Be afraid, Western Conference. Be very afraid.

In the wake of their theft of Pau Gasol from Memphis, the Lakers look like a juggernaut that can’t be stopped. Los Angeles won nine of its first 10 games with Gasol manning the middle, even though nine of the contests were on the road. With Gasol, L.A. scored at least 103 points in every game except one — a loss to Atlanta on the second night of a back-to-back. They avenged their lone defeat in the stretch with a 122–93 mangling of the Hawks last week.

Thanks to their recent hot stretch, the Lakers have taken over the best record in the West. And the news gets worse for their rivals. L.A. has done all this without the services of promising young center Andrew Bynum, who hurt his knee in January and has been slow to recover. The prospect of the Lakers showing up in the postseason with Gasol and a healthy Bynum has to scare opponents — especially when that duo is joined by Kobe Bryant and the league’s deepest bench.

It should be a downhill run to the top seed in the West from here. L.A. only has 10 road games left all season and one is “at” the Clippers, with whom they share the Staples Center. But for a one-week stretch in March, they don’t leave the Pacific time zone the rest of the regular season.

The only potential fly in the ointment is Bryant’s dislocated pinkie on his shooting hand. The team is recommending surgery so he can be back and healthy in time for the playoffs, but he’s trying to play through the injury. He’s played extremely well with it thus far, but all that may change the next time the digit is hit on a foray to the rim.

For now, however, L.A. looks like the team to beat out West. And thanks to Boston’s three-game losing streak, the Lakers have taken over the top spot in this week’s power rankings:

1. LOS ANGELES LAKERS (39–17) (LW:4): In 10 games as a , . points per game and shooting 63.0% from the field. So I guess he’s fitting in okay.

2. DETROIT PISTONS (41–15) (2): The postscript to the deadline-day trade for Juan Dixon is that the Pistons waived Flip Murray, a rare free-agent flub by team president Joe Dumars who never fit in with Detroit.

3 BOSTON CELTICS (42–12) (1): The Celtics are the one weeks leading up to the trade deadline, but they’re in hot pursuit of recently waived Brent Barry — as are Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

4. UTAH JAZZ (36–20) (4): The Jazz haven’t faced much tough competition lately, but showdowns this week against the Pistons and Hornets should let them know where they stand vis-a-vis the other contenders.

5. SAN ANTONIO SPURS (37–17) (6): Manu Ginobili has been ridiculous in his past five games, averaging 32.4 points per game while shooting 63.2% from the field, helping San Antonio move into a tie for the Southwest division lead.

6. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS (37–17) (5): The Hornets had a rough weekend, losing to division foes Houston and San Antonio. Fortunately for them, five of their next seven games are against losing Eastern teams.

7. HOUSTON ROCKETS (36–20) (9): The Rockets’ win streak is at 12 with lopsided wins against Hornets and Bulls; with light schedule ahead, streak could be at 16 when they go to Dallas on March 6.

8. TORONTO RAPTORS (30–24) (10): The best team nobody knows about is “just” 7–5 in its past 12 games — but all seven wins were by at least 17 points. As I keep saying, victory margin is a huge indicator of quality, and despite their record and second-tier rep, these guys are quality.

9. DALLAS MAVERICKS (37–19) (8): The Kidd era began with a whimper as Chris Paul schooled him in a loss to Hornets, but the Mavs righted the ship against Western dregs Minnesota and Memphis.

10. ORLANDO MAGIC (36–22) (12): They have held opponents under century mark in four of five games since Stan Van Gundy called out Dwight Howard for his inattention to defense.

11. PHOENIX SUNS (38–18) (7): Pistons 116, Suns 86. Nice trade. Suns also lost big on the Mike Bibby trade, by the way — they own Atlanta’s first-round draft choice, which is likely to come far later than they imagined now.

12. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (32–24) (14): Underrated aspect of the Cavs’ huge deadline day trade is that it helps them hold down the fort while Anderson Varejao and Daniel Gibson are on the shelf. Reportedly, the team beat the deadline for a deal by one minute.

13. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (33–22) (11): The Warriors’ month-long homestand ends this week with three seemingly easy wins (Sonics, Sixers, and Blazers). Here’s betting they mail in at least one of them.

14. DENVER NUGGETS (33-22) (13): A two-game road trip to Chicago and Milwaukee wasn’t supposed to end 0–2; if the Nuggies miss the playoffs, they’ll look back on this weekend as the reason.

15. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (25–32) (15): Most locals know Philly crushed the Knicks by 40 on Wednesday. What they may not know is that the Sixers sleepwalked through a 16-point loss to the lowly Wolves the night previous. How’s that for a turnaround?

16. SACRAMENTO KINGS (26–29) (20): They managed to win three out of four even with Mike Bibby departed to Atlanta, keeping alive hopes of pulling out a .500 season.

17. WASHINGTON WIZARDS (26–29) (17): With Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas both sidelined indefinitely, the team in a 2–10 slump, and a rough two weeks of schedule ahead, Eddie Jordan’s seat is once again getting warm.

18. PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS (29–27) (16): The Blazers have not only fallen off the playoff pace, but they’re now threatening to fall below .500 and slip behind Kings into 10th place in West. Brandon Roy’s ankle sprain doesn’t improve things any.

19. ATLANTA HAWKS (22–31) (18): With the last Western trip of the season behind them and Bibby era ahead of them, Hawks have great shot at outlasting the other pretenders for the East’s final two playoff spots.

20. NEW JERSEY NETS (25-31) (19): The Nets better hope Devin Harris gets back soon, because they’re about to hit a schedule buzz saw at the start of March. Regardless, last week’s wins against Bulls and Pacers were crucial to their playoff hopes.

21. CHICAGO BULLS (22–33) (21): The Bulls are bringing Luol Deng back slowly, playing him 19, 20, and 23 minutes in his first three games back. That number needs to get closer to 40 fast if they hope to make a playoff run.

22. INDIANA PACERS (22–34) (22): They had to be disappointed by their inability to unload Jermaine O’Neal at the trade deadline. Shocking stat of the year: He’s only third on the team in scoring.

23. LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (19–34)(23): Rookie Al Thornton scored 27 in an upset win over Utah, continuing a strong February in which he’s averaged 17.1 points and 5.6 boards.

24. MILWAUKEE BUCKS (21–35) (29): Left for dead, the Bucks suddenly looked lively in wins against the Nuggets and Pistons. But they’ll need to beat the Nets in the swamp on Thursday to have serious shot of making postseason.

25. NEW YORK KNICKS (17–39) (26): It is possible that no team in history has had worse chemistry than the 2007–08 Knicks. Well, except maybe the 2006–07 Knicks. Or the 2005–06 Knicks … oh, just forget it.

26 MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (11-43) (25): Knicks fans may think they have it bad, but with Isiah of the North steering the ship, the T’wolves are a full five games behind the ‘Bockers in the standings.

27 SEATTLE SUPERSONICS (15–40) (27): Kevin Durant should have a lot more help soon — the Sonics’ deals not only give them an improved cap situation, but also six first-rounders in the next three years and a whopping 13 picks overall.

28. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS (19–37) (24): High-flying forward Gerald Wallace sustained a serious concussion on Friday, his fourth in three years, and one wonders if he’ll be back on the floor this season.

29. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (14–42) (28): The biggest trade deadline surprise was that Mike Miller and Kyle Lowry both stayed put. Not that it helped — the Grizzlies lost all four games this week, and only one of them was close.

30. MIAMI HEAT (9–44) (30): The champs to chumps story keeps getting worse: The Heat are an unthinkable 1–26 in their past 27 games and have won by more than seven points just once all season.

jhollinger@nysun.com