Piston Powered NBA Power Rankings: Week 5

The upwardly-mobile Orlando Magic have won three games in a row, with two of those victories being of the blowout variety. On Friday the Magic beat the Bucks 114-90, and on Sunday they beat the Boston Celtics 110-91. The defense has really come around, and is now eighth in the NBA with a defensive rating of 99.3. Evan Fournier is still leading the Magic in scoring with 17.2 points per game and shooting well with splits of .446/.390/.796. The Magic will play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday in a matchup of young up-and-comers, and will play the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers on the road to wind up the week.. 9-8. Previous: 20th. Orlando Magic. 15. team. 38

Previous: 18th. Boston Celtics. 14. team. 18. The Boston Celtics are good, right? Probably. Nobody is sure, and if they are, nobody is sure just HOW they’re good. They do have a good defense, with a defensive rating of 96.6, so that answers some of the question. They also play the fifth fastest pace in the NBA, with 101.18 possessions per game. They’ve won three of their last four games, although it’s tempting to remove the 84-80 home win last Wednesday against the Sixers from the ledger entirely. They have beaten the suddenly-reeling Washington Wizards by a 111-78 score, and the Miami Heat by a 105-95 margin, with a big 110-91 defeat against the surging Magic sandwiched in the middle. It’s hard to know what to expect from the Celtics on a game-to-game basis, but this is probably a playoff team, and maybe even a top four or five seed.. 10-8

Dallas Mavericks. 13. team. 79. The Dallas Mavericks were expected to pay a rare visit to the basement of the Western Conference standings this season, and they held off fate pretty well for a while. They jumped out to a 9-4 start, but it looks like reality is starting to set in for the Mavs. They’ve lost four of their last five games, with their only victory coming against the disastrous Denver Nuggets. They might be able to hold off fate a little while longer, as their next four opponents are the Portland Trail Blazers, the Houston Rockets, the Washington Wizards and the New York Knicks, all of which are eminently winnable games.. 10-8. Previous: 7th

12. team. 170. Perhaps inexplicably, the Charlotte Hornets are still good, and they’re fun. They feature the fifth-best offensive rating in the NBA, scoring 104.3 points per 100 possessions, and they have the 10th best defensive rating in the NBA at 99.7. The corresponding net rating of +4.6 is the seventh best net rating in the NBA. Kemba Walker has been wonderful for the Hornets this season, posting a career high average in points per game with 18.4, and his shooting splits of .463/.397/.805. Kemba is a 39.9% shooter from the field for his career, and shoots 32.2% from three-point range, so these numbers are absolutely outstanding for the young point guard. The Hornets will be without the services of Al Jefferson for the next two-to-three weeks, due to a calf injury.. 10-7. Previous: 11th. Charlotte Hornets

Los Angeles Clippers. 11. team. 77. The Los Angeles Clippers seem to have gotten their groove back, having won four of their last five games. The Clippers have preyed upon the bottom-dwellers of the Western Conference to do this, with victories over Denver, New Orleans and Portland, with the closest thing to a quality win in that stretch being a 107-99 home win against Minnesota, but wins are wins and the Clips needed to string some together. Blake Griffin is putting up MVP numbers, averaging 25 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting 54.1% from the floor.. 10-8. Previous: 16th