By Lauren Brill

What is the Lenovo Stat?
The Lenovo Stat shows the power of teamwork. It's a way of showing the best-engineered/best combination of players on the court. The Lenovo Stat is a plus/minus statistic that looks at the point differential when players are both in and out of the game, to see how the team performs with various combinations. The Lenovo Stat can look at a variety of combinations – including the best two-player, three-player and even five-player combinations for each game.

Here is a look at the top Lenovo performers through Feb. 14, 2008:

	+ 226	A. McDyess, R. Wallace, C. Billups, R. Hamilton, T. Prince
	+ 213	K. Garnett, R. Allen, P. Pierce, K. Perkins, R. Rondo
	+ 153	P. Sotjakovic, M. Peterson, T. Chandler, D. West, C. Paul

Did anyone really think it could last? With Kevin Garnett out with an abdominal injury, it was not a matter of if the Celtics lost the top spot but a question of when. Detroit's starting five stepped in to claim the hot seat with a +226 Lenovo Stat. Four of the five Motor City starters are averaging double-digits with Antonio Mcdyess falling short by less than a point. Helping them pad their stats to insure a first-place seed, the Pistons have won all four of the games they played this past week.

	+ 262	S. Jackson, B. Davis, A. Biedrins, M. Ellis
	+ 259	S. Nash, S. Marion, R. Bell, A. Stoudemire
	+ 252	R. Wallace, C. Billups, R. Hamilton, T. Prince

Despite a rocky 0-6 start to the season, a Golden State clan has assumed the top slot a in the Four-Player combo category. A diminutive squad that depends on its speed and ability to shoot from the field, Golden State has demonstrated that their strategy is working well as they defeated the notoriously quick and sharpshooting Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, 120-118. With balanced scoring and Baron Davis running the show, this northern California foursome continues to surprise onlookers with their superior athleticism and perseverance down the stretch.

	+ 324	K. Garnett, R. Allen, P. Pierce
	+ 312	R. Allen, P. Pierce, R. Rondo
	+ 302	S. Nash, R. Bell, A. Stoudemire

Irrespective of The Big Ticket's absence, Boston's Big Three impressively hung on to first place in the Three-Player category. Clearly the league's most potent trio, it is going to take more than a few missed games for another threesome to catch the Celtics' veterans, whose Lenovo Stat is at +324. Notably, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are members of both the first and second place Three-Player combinations.

	+ 396	K. Garnett, P. Pierce
	+ 386	P. Pierce, R. Rondo
	+ 377	R. Allen, P. Pierce

The top three in the Two-Player combo section looks to be more like a game of musical chairs than a list of the best player combinations throughout the league. With boys from Beantown occupying all three spots, it appears multiple Celtics pairs can make a very positive impact. So what does this mean for the 41-9 squad? To state the obvious, they are a very good basketball team.

	+ 505	P. Pierce
	+ 448	C. Billups
	+ 433	K. Garnett

Chauncey Billups passed both Steve Nash and Kevin Garnett to make an appearance in the Top Performers category. With Detroit winning all three matchups this week, the second place top individual performer averaged 26.5 minutes to improve his Lenovo Stat to +448. Still trailing the first place finisher's Lenovo Stat by 57, he will have to have a string of successful weeks to outshine P-Squared.