The Utah Jazz slide into the middle tier, the New York Knicks are trying to work their way out of it, and the Charlotte Hornets are better than you might think.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Los Angeles Clippers | 12-18 | 43.7 | 21 | +1 |
| 19 | Philadelphia 76ers | 14-17 | 46.9 | 16 | -3 |
| 18 | Detroit Pistons | 17-14 | 47.0 | 15 | -3 |
| 17 | New Orleans Pelicans | 15-16 | 47.2 | 17 | Even |
| 16 | Denver Nuggets | 16-15 | 47.9 | 19 | +3 |
| 15 | New York Knicks | 17-14 | 48.7 | 18 | +3 |
| 14 | Utah Jazz | 15-18 | 50.1 | 8 | -6 |
| 13 | Portland Trail Blazers | 16-15 | 50.2 | 13 | Even |
| 12 | Charlotte Hornets | 11-20 | 50.4 | 14 | +2 |
| 11 | Milwaukee Bucks | 16-13 | 51.8 | 11 | Even |
The Expected
The New York Knicks have won four of their last five contests, including notable victories against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Boston Celtics. They are currently ranked 11th in the league in offensive efficiency and 15th in defensive efficiency, and are moving up our rankings just as quickly as they are moving up the standings.
The Milwaukee Bucks have the fifth-best record in the Eastern Conference and the ninth-best in the NBA at 16-13, but their -0.4 point differential and their 21st-ranked defensive efficiency keeps them barely out of the top-10 in our rankings.
The Unexpected
The 15-18 Utah Jazz looked out of place in the top-10 of last week's power rankings, and they still look high on the list at 14th, but at least they're being punished for losing seven of their last nine. Granted, six of those losses came at the hands of current playoff teams and one to the surging Bulls (7-1 over their last 8), but they are in a funk nonetheless, and a series of injuries (namely to Rudy Gobert) are catching up with them.
The Charlotte Hornets have lost 11 of their last 14 contests, including 4 of 6 since the last instalment of this column. Despite this fact, they are climbing up our power rankings and currently sit 12th in the entire Association, even though they sit six whole games back of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference (while having a better nERD than five of the 11 teams ahead of them in the East standings).
The Hornets are a perfect example of wins and losses not properly defining a team, since their 13th-ranked defensive efficiency and mere -2.0 point differential suggest they might be better than your everyday team that's lost twice as many games as its won. They've also had the second-hardest strength of schedule, according to Basketball-Reference.com, so there's a good chance that they manage to climb the standings once they hit an easier stretch. Their 50.4 nERD suggests that they are closer to a team that would hover around .500 than one that only wins a third of its games.