Updated: December 3, 2007, 12:46 PM ET

Power Rankings: No illusion, Magic grab No. 1 spot

Week:
 
Team:
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

NBA

Ten road wins already. A 1-0 record against Boston. Four measly losses in 19 games to teams with a combined record of 39-12.

Add it all up and there's really no mystery. The most worthy No. 1 in ESPN.com's weekly NBA Power Rankings is the surprising Orlando Magic.

Maybe they can't stay up here for the long term … or even the short term with a tough game Monday night at Golden State. Maybe this doesn't even happen if the San Antonio Spurs don't lose to Sacramento and then lose Tim Duncan to injury … or if Phoenix doesn't offset its season sweep of the Magic by dropping its first two games last week in disconcerting fashion to Golden State and Houston. But make no mistake: Orlando has been our Team of the Season so far, ahead of even the Celtics.

Your comments on the Magic's rise and any other rankings developments are invited here or at the bottom.

2007-08 Power Rankings: Week 5
RANKTEAM / RECORD TRENDINGCOMMENTS
1
2
Last Week: 3		Has the Team of November clinched its division yet? It only feels that way with no one else in the Southeast over .500 as of Monday and the Magic only losing to Detroit, San Antonio and both Phoenix games.
2
1
Last Week: 1		The Suns continue to generate lukewarm reviews in spite of a win total all but three teams on the map would trade for. Is the committee overrating them? Let's see how many other West teams go 2-0 against Orlando.
3
Boston
14-2
1
Last Week: 4		Focus on the fact that they've beaten only four teams with winning records (Raps, Nuggets, Warriors, Lakers) or focus on the fact that they're 9-0 at home with an average winning margin of 20.3 ppg. We choose the latter.
4
2
Last Week: 2		All of San Antonio is obviously on Duncan Alert until it's confirmed that TD's injuries aren't serious. But the Spurs should be OK as long as they're not, with a 10-0 home record and nine of 12 games at home in December.
5
Utah
12-5
--

Last Week: 5		Is this the season Jerry Sloan finally wins Coach of the Year? So far, at least, it appears to be the season Sloan lets his team on the rise run free: Boozer, D-Will and Co. are averaging just under 107 points per game.
6
4
Last Week: 10		After a bizarre run in which they played the antithesis of Deeeee-troit Bas-ket-ball, allowing 100-plus points in five straight games, last week was the flip side. Detroit scored 109, 117 and 118 in Ws over Cavs, Bucks and Nets.
7
New Orleans
12-6
1
Last Week: 8		The Hornets' secret to finally beating Dallas . . . and maybe everyone else? Getting to overtime. Strange but true: Besides going 3-1 since its recent three-game skid, New Orleans is 10-0 in its last 10 games that went to OT.
8
Dallas
11-6
2
Last Week: 6		You can certainly understand losing to the Hornets for the first time since 1999. What you struggle to comprehend is how Dallas has failed to play a single complete game in nine since beating San Antonio on Nov. 15.
9
6
Last Week: 15		Still wondering why Stephen Jackson is now Captain Jack? The Warriors are 8-1 since his return from suspension and closed last season on a 9-1 run. Isn't that 17-2 in Jack's last 19 regular-season games?
10
1
Last Week: 11		Start out at 6-1. Lose six in a row. Hold Phoenix (in Phoenix) under 100 points for the first time in forever. Lose in Sacramento three nights later. What does it all mean? Yup: Houston is No. 1 in the inconsistency rankings.
11
Denver
11-7
2
Last Week: 13		The Nuggets are still trying to re-establish the home-court advantage they had at their Doug Moe best. They're not there yet, as seen in Ls to New Orleans and Indy, but the victory margin in eight home Ws is 19.6 ppg.
12
3
Last Week: 9		The Cavs badly need a pick-me-up after losing LeBron and averaging 75.3 points in the three games since their momentous W over Boston. The best we've got: They have only eight road games left against West foes.
13
2
Last Week: 11		L.A. has suddenly lost five of seven (including back-to-back Sundays at home) entering a stretch in which it plays seven of 10 on the road. So the recent quiet surrounding Kobe's future might only be temporary.
14
--

Last Week: 14		Over the Moon? With Jamario, yes. But it's tough for the short-handed Raps to get too giddy about one out-of-nowhere rook or even a 2-1 week under duress when the guys ailing are Bosh, T.J. Ford and Garbajosa.
15
3
Last Week: 18		If you had Indy at .500 after 18 games, you're fibbing. Ditto if you had Indy coming within three points of sweeping a four-game trip out West or going 4-8 with Jermaine O'Neal in the lineup and 5-1 without him.
16
1
Last Week: 17		The Wiz are a heady 5-4 since Arenas last played and loving Caron's new trick: 53.5 percent on 3-pointers from a career 30.3-percent shooter from deep. The challenge, of course, is keeping this up until Gil's March return.
17
New Jersey
8-9
1
Last Week: 16		Don't think Jersey will miss November. Not with Krstic's comeback suddenly on hold and the Nets sporting a 4-6 record at home, where they've already faced a slew of double-digit deficits at the newly renamed Izod Center.
18
11
Last Week: 7		Normally we scoff at all that Power Rankings Jinx stuff. But maybe no team in rankings history has handled a big bump as badly as the Bucks, who feted their rise to No. 7 with Ls to the Sixers, Hawks and (gulp) Knicks.
19
6
Last Week: 25		There's been some well-chronicled resistance to the new coach and Artest has missed eight games already, but give Theus this: Sacramento's last three wins were recorded against Detroit, San Antonio and Houston.
20
7
Last Week: 27		The Bulls are no longer worst in the East after beating Atlanta and Charlotte. But this is still staggering: Chicago's 3-10 mark in the opening month dropped its record to 26-93 in November since MJ left in 1998.
21
3
Last Week: 24		The good news: Navarro is the surprise No. 2 scorer among rookies at 10.7 ppg, behind only Durant. The bad news: Conley, just like his pal Oden, is out of Portland at Memphis on Monday night thanks to injury.
22
1
Last Week: 21		The mere notion of playoff contention, like it or not, is fantasy basketball until the Hawks cease being roadkill. Entering a must-win trip Tuesday to Philly, Atlanta is 26-104 in road games since the start of the '04-05 season.
23
Miami
4-12
--

Last Week: 23		Anyone else starting to get the feeling -- after the Heat opened a six-game swing through the West with a 26-point loss at Denver -- that the '06 champs won't be going to the '08 playoffs no matter what D-Wade does?
24
5
Last Week: 19		Kaman is a certain Most Improved Player candidate -- and an even stronger contender for Most Improved Look with that haircut -- but facts is facts: That 4-0 start is a memory for L.A.'s other team with a 2-9 mark since.
25
5
Last Week: 20		How did the skidding Bobs respond to the heartbreak of losing to Boston by a point at home? By losing both games last week -- roadies spaced out by five days against struggling Miami and Chicago -- by an average of 18.
26
2
Last Week: 28		The Sixers were one of just four teams in November to start the same lineup every game: Miller, Green, Dalembert, Evans and Iguodala. Of course, what's left of Philly's fan base wants Lou Williams to replace Miller.
27
5
Last Week: 22		Roy's response to getting routed by a team that lost Duncan before halftime: 'This is definitely the lowest point.' Our response: That's probably wishful for a team that has endured 18 straight losing months.
28
2
Last Week: 26		You have to dig deep for silver linings in Gotham, but this will have to do for Isiah: With so much focus still trained on Zeke's future after the Boston debacle, who even has time to ask about Zach and Curry co-existing?
29
Seattle
3-15
--

Last Week: 29		The Sonics finally have their first home W, with Durant capping his first month as a pro with a 20.6 ppg scoring average. In serious danger, then: Bob Rule's Seattle rookie record of 18.1 points per game in 1967-68.
30
--

Last Week: 30		Seven of the Wolves' first 11 losses were single-digit defeats. Almost as soon as that stat began to circulate, however, Minnesota dropped its next two games by an average of 22 points to reclaim the league cellar.
  • Biggest Jump:
  • 7
  • Biggest Drop:
  • 11

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