The Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets climb into the middle tier, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers keep making strides, and the Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers take a couple steps back.
| Ranking | Team | Record | nERD | Last Ranking | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Utah Jazz | 13-13 | 46.6 | 23 | 3 |
| 19 | Houston Rockets | 11-13 | 47.9 | 21 | 2 |
| 18 | Detroit Pistons | 13-9 | 48.1 | 16 | -2 |
| 17 | Sacramento Kings | 12-11 | 48.6 | 17 | 0 |
| 16 | Portland Trail Blazers | 14-11 | 48.9 | 14 | -2 |
| 15 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 13-12 | 49.7 | 19 | 4 |
| 14 | Dallas Mavericks | 12-11 | 51.7 | 13 | -1 |
| 13 | Memphis Grizzlies | 14-9 | 53.2 | 11 | -2 |
| 12 | Los Angeles Lakers | 15-9 | 55.3 | 15 | 3 |
| 11 | New Orleans Pelicans | 13-13 | 55.7 | 12 | 1 |
Risers
The Utah Jazz have not lived up to expectations this season, but they are starting to heat up. They've won five of their last seven, including blowout victories over the Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, and Houston Rockets. Their defensive rating keeps on climbing -- they currently rank 11th at 108.5 -- which is an especially good sign considering that they hung their hat on their second-ranked defense last year.
Worries over the Los Angeles Lakers starting the season 2-5 seem like a distant memory. LeBron and company have gone 13-4 since then, including a current four-game win streak. They play six of their next seven contests on the road and that will be a good measuring stick to see if this recent hot streak is legit.
Fallers
The Detroit Pistons have exceeded expectations so far this season, currently ranking fourth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 13-9. They've won nine of their last 13, but a 2-2 week caused them to lose a bit of ground in our rankings this time around.
The Portland Trail Blazers are reeling. They had a promising 10-3 start to the season, but have gone 4-8 since then, including six losses over their last eight contests. They now sit at 14-10 and in seventh place in the Western Conference, and if they want to get clear of the 1.5-game logjam currently happening between 7th and 12th, they'll need to right the ship soon.