The Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards, and Houston Rockets fail to climb out of the basement yet again, while the Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks both make a play for .500.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Phoenix Suns | 3-11 | 8.0 | 30 | 0 |
| 29 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 2-12 | 22.5 | 29 | 0 |
| 28 | Atlanta Hawks | 3-12 | 23.8 | 28 | 0 |
| 27 | New York Knicks | 4-11 | 29.1 | 22 | -5 |
| 26 | Chicago Bulls | 4-11 | 29.8 | 24 | -2 |
| 25 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 6-9 | 32.5 | 23 | -2 |
| 24 | Washington Wizards | 5-9 | 34.3 | 26 | 2 |
| 23 | Orlando Magic | 7-8 | 35.2 | 27 | 4 |
| 22 | Houston Rockets | 7-7 | 39.5 | 21 | -1 |
| 21 | Dallas Mavericks | 6-8 | 40.3 | 25 | 4 |
Risers
The Orlando Magic are in the midst of a six-year playoff drought, failing to make any real, tangible progress since trading Dwight Howard in 2012. They looked to be well on their way to another lackluster season when they started 2-6, but they've gone 5-2 over their last seven and are suddenly knocking on the door of .500 while sitting eighth in the Eastern Conference. They've got a long way to go, but progress is progress.
The Dallas Mavericks had a perfect 3-0 week, including a 50-point win over the Utah Jazz -- a team many pundits had pegged as one of the top squads in the Western Conference this season. They've won four of their last five and suddenly look like a legitimately competitive team, ranking 12th in the Association in offensive rating (109.5), 10th in defensive rating (108.1), and 11th in margin of victory (1.43). It's worth noting that they are dead last in the league of strength of schedule (-2.87), according to basketball-reference.com, but that shouldn't detract too much from the positive strides they've made recently.
Fallers
The Houston Rockets had a 3-1 week, but still managed to slip a spot in the bottom tier of our rankings. They've even won five of their last seven, but it's hard to look past the fact that they still rank in the bottom-third of the league in offensive rating (107.3, 22nd), defensive rating (111.0, 21st), and margin of victory (-3.54, 22nd). They might finally be on the verge of climbing out of our bottom-10, they're just not there quite yet.
The Minnesota Timberwolves had an acceptable 2-1 week, but they've got a lot of work to do to dig out of the 4-9 hole they dug for themselves over their first 13 games of the season. Finally ending the Jimmy Butler saga should help team chemistry a ton, but replacing his All-Star production won't come easy. On the plus side, most of their losses have come on the road (they're 0-8 away from Target Center this season), and they play eight of their next 10 contests at home.