Piston Powered NBA Power Rankings: Week 5

8-10. Previous: 12th. New York Knicks. 20. team. 27. The New York Knicks have dropped four game in a row, but the schedule looks to be easing for them in the short-term. The Knicks will play the Sixers, the Nets and the Bucks in their next three games, all of which are quite winnable. While I’m still skeptical about this team, it seems like they should be able to stay in the playoff mix in the east at least through the New Year. Kristaps Porzingis is still a revelation, and the rookie is averaging 13.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks while playing 28 minutes per game. He’s certain to continue to climb the Rookie of the Year rankings.

86. The Minnesota Timberwolves simply refuse to go away, and maybe at this point they shouldn’t. The young Timberpups have won three of their last four games, with one of those being a 99-95 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, who they have now swept in their season series. The Wolves are led in scoring by Andrew Wiggins, who is averaging 21.8 points per game, and rookie big man Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns has been a revelation for Minnesota, and is averaging 14.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in just 27.8 minutes per outing. He’s also shooting 52.6% from the floor. The Timberwolves have been full of surprises to the point where maybe these aren’t surprises, maybe they’re just actually pretty decent.. 8-9. Previous: 22nd. Minnesota Timberwolves. 19. team

66. The Phoenix Suns can run and score the ball, but they don’t play a lick of defense. The Suns play at the fastest pace in the NBA, averaging 102.7 possessions per game, and they score 102.4 points per 100 possessions. Those numbers are cool, but they have the seventh-worst defensive rating in the NBA at 103.5. This defensive deficiency might be something that costs them a chance at the playoffs, but you can’t deny that the Suns are fun, especially in the backcourt. Former Piston Brandon Knight is off to a career-best start, scoring 21.5 points per game and shooting 44% from the field and 39.6% from long-range. His running mate Eric Bledsoe is also putting together a career season, scoring 22.6 points per game to go with 6.3 assists, and he’s shooting 46.8% from the floor and an excellent 40.8% from three-point range. While the Suns might be on the decline in these NBA power rankings, they probably won’t stop being fun to watch.. 8-9. Previous: 15th. Phoenix Suns. 18. team

118. The Utah Jazz dropped out of the top-10 defenses in the NBA after playing the Golden State Warriors on Monday, but that’s not atypical for a team that has to face the Warriors. Ask the Memphis Grizzlies about that, but more on that later. The Jazz pushed the Warriors harder than just about anybody has so far this season, which at this point is one of the best things you can have on your résumé this season. They’ve played something of a murderer’s row the past seven games, facing the Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans and the Warriors, and they’ve gone a respectable 4-3 in that stretch. The Jazz will play the Orlando Magic on Thursday and Indiana Pacers on Saturday to wrap up the week.. 8-7. Previous: 19th. Utah Jazz. 17. team

64. Good luck figuring out the Detroit Pistons. They have beaten four of the current top six teams in the Eastern Conference, and they’ve lost games to the lowly Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets. They’re unpredictable, and they have a hard time scoring against everybody but the ridiculous Houston Rockets, who they dropped 116 points against on Monday. They’re still one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA, but they’ve got Andre Drummond, who covers a multitude of ills for this team. Drummond is averaging 18.4 points and a fairly absurd 16.9 rebounds per game through the first 18 games of the season, and he is unquestionably the most valuable player on the Pistons.. 9-9. Previous: 17th. Detroit Pistons. 16. team