Power Rankings: Suns rise while Magic levitate
Updated: November 19, 2007, 11:36 AM ET
By
Marc Stein | ESPN.com
Week: Team:
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The treasured No. 1 slot would have been Boston's if the Celtics could have won Sunday in Orlando, but the Phoenix Suns have seized it instead with a five-game winning streak and an 8-2 start . . . and with help from Dallas' big victory Thursday over San Antonio to knock the defending champs from the rankings summit. The Magic, meanwhile, surpass Boston as the East's highest-ranked team at No. 4, with another 9-2 team -- New Orleans -- rising to No. 6 in one more significant jump.
Your comments on the latest musings from the committee (of one), as always, are encouraged here or at the bottom of the page.
| 2007-08 Power Rankings: Week 3 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |  | 3 Last Week: 4 | I'm getting a feeling that folks aren't too impressed with the Suns so far. Which tells me folks don't realize that only one other team in franchise history had a better record after 10 games: Phoenix was 9-1 in 1980-81. | |
| 2 |  | 3 Last Week: 5 | No argument here: Dallas has looked pretty average on more than one occasion. The Mavs have, however, won their three biggest games so far: opening night in Cleveland and home Ws over Houston and San Antonio. | |
| 3 |  | 2 Last Week: 1 | Duncan is easing into the season like never before -- averaging just 17.6 points and 9.5 rebounds -- but I'll go out on a limb and predict that you won't be reading a Shaq-like flurry of What's Wrong With Timmy? stories. | |
| 4 |  | 4 Last Week: 8 | Remember what we said last week about being more impressed by this start than last season's 13-4 start? Who would argue now when SVG's guys are 6-0 on the road and 1-0 against the new darlings from Boston? | |
| 5 |  | 3 Last Week: 2 | Somebody loves these guys besides Simmons. The schedule-makers, namely. Rebounding from their first L shouldn't be too tough for the Celts when they don't make their first real road trip until the day after X-Mas. | |
| 6 | New Orleans 9-2 | 3 Last Week: 9 | The Hornets lost out to Orlando on Team O' The Week honors, but they'll settle for a 4-0 week and the best start in club history. Better yet: Chris Paul (ankle) should be back for Friday's showdown with D-Will in Utah. | |
| 7 |  | 3 Last Week: 10 | Kudos to every other Laker. They got a little more help with T-Mac going down Wednesday and Chauncey sitting out Friday, but they've also been nails through all the Kobe chatter. Especially compared to Chicago. | |
| 8 |  | 1 Last Week: 7 | We should spend more time dissecting Utah's disappointing back-to-back defeats at Cleveland and Indiana, but we can't take our eyes off the schedule: D-Will's next three matchups are J-Kidd, Chris Paul and Billups. | |
| 9 |  | 4 Last Week: 13 | The teams beaten in this five-game win streak aren't of the highest stock. But don't forget that the Nuggets have already lost two players they were counting on -- Atkins and Nene -- to long-term injuries. | |
| 10 |  | 4 Last Week: 6 | The good news: Detroit finished a road-heavy start (eight of the first 10 games) over .500 despite two injuries already (Billups and Dice). The better news to offset a bad loss in Sactown: Sheed has just one T in 10 games. | |
| 11 |  | 8 Last Week: 3 | T-Mac has his detractors, true, but I'm guessing we can all agree that Houston has big problems without him. The Rockets are 0-3 including the game he got hurt and 11-41 sans T-Mac over three-plus seasons. | |
| 12 |  | -- Last Week: 12 | As covered here recently, LeBron knows by now not to expect sympathy from anyone. But don't you have to feel for him just a little bit when he goes for 39, 13 and 14 against Orlando . . . and it's still not enough? | |
| 13 |  | 2 Last Week: 11 | Losing four of five at home would typically justify panic, but bouncing back from November nightmares is nothing new in the Bosh era. Counting the last two seasons, too, Toronto is 10-30 in the season's first month. | |
| 14 | Charlotte 5-4 | 3 Last Week: 17 | The Bobs are one of just four East teams with a record over .500 and one more W will secure a new franchise record for wins in November. The best previous November in team history was a 5-11 mark in 2005-06. | |
| 15 |  | 5 Last Week: 20 | Yi's omission from the All-Star ballot isn't a huge problem. If his Chinese fans are determined to get their rook to New Orleans, there's a write-in slot available. The real problem: Milwaukee is 3-24 on the road in 2007. | |
| 16 |  | 8 Last Week: 24 | All four victims in Washington's revival streak are sub-.500 teams. But the Wiz can't be picky with Arenas missing Saturday's win over Portland . . . and missing a lot of shots on that still-ailing knee when he does play. | |
| 17 |  | 5 Last Week: 22 | Bold prediction: The only team in the East yet to win a home game will finally do so this week. As bad as the Heat looked in that humbling home loss to Seattle, D-Wade's return has already restored a hint of credibility. | |
| 18 |  | 3 Last Week: 15 | Given that the five teams they've beaten -- Warriors, Sonics, Bulls, Pacers and Knicks -- began the new week at a combined 12-35, perhaps it's time to scale back some on the Clippers Don't Miss Elton nonsense. | |
| 19 |  | 1 Last Week: 18 | With all the Kobe-Knicks-Chicago madness going on, here's a wild one you might have missed: Indy ends a six-game skid by scoring 117 points to hammer Utah by 20 . . . with J. O'Neal going for eight points, five boards. | |
| 20 |  | 5 Last Week: 25 | First he's named a team captain. Next . . . a few MVP votes? Given how jacked up Golden State looked while S. Jackson was suspended (1-6) and how much better things look already with Jack back, how crazy are we? | |
| 21 | New Jersey 4-6 | 7 Last Week: 14 | Carter was struggling mightily when he was healthy, at a mere 17.0 ppg on .395 shooting, but now look. New Jersey has scored just 77 ppg in its last four outings and is 0-5 without VC including the game he got hurt. | |
| 22 |  | 6 Last Week: 16 | Just like Milwaukee, Portland can't buy a road win and can't seem to lose at home. The difference? Three of the young Blazers' home wins are of the highest quality, coming against New Orleans, Dallas and Detroit. | |
| 23 |  | 4 Last Week: 27 | Didn't see this coming: The only King yet to clash with the new coach might be Artest. That said, Sacramento has already generated a few surprises in the Theus Era, going 3-2 since Udrih became Reggie's QB. | |
| 24 |  | 5 Last Week: 19 | No one was expecting the Hawks to match what they did in the preseason and start 7-1, but we had a right to expect more than six losses in the past eight games after they beat Dallas on opening night. Didn't we? | |
| 25 |  | 4 Last Week: 21 | Of all the long November trips that the Bulls have taken since MJ retired, this might be the longest. Deng is out now, for starters, and they'll just be going home to more 'Ko-be, Ko-be' chants when it finally ends. | |
| 26 |  | -- Last Week: 26 | The AI comparisons are way premature. But if Louis Williams insists on being called Lou, that's the least we can do after his encore to a 21-point second half vs. Toronto was a 19-point second half to beat Portland. | |
| 27 |  | 1 Last Week: 28 | After stunning Houston, Memphis lost each of the next three games by three points or less. Plus Pau is still out of sorts and, with Navarro heating up, wasn't even the Grizzlies' most dangerous Spaniard by week's end. | |
| 28 | Seattle 2-9 | 2 Last Week: 30 | One game to go on the first extended road trip of Durant's pro career. Through four games, Seattle is 2-2 and Durant is at 16.3 ppg on 21-for-59 shooting (.356) . . . offset by that buzzer-beating 3 in OT that sunk Atlanta. | |
| 29 |  | 6 Last Week: 23 | Peter Vecsey calls him 'Steph Infection' for a reason: Minnesota (50), New Jersey (52) and Phoenix (60) all won at least 50 games in their first season after Marbury left. The Knicks, meanwhile, have yet to win 40 with Steph. | |
| 30 |  | 1 Last Week: 29 | We agree: Antoine Walker is not a guard and thus stands out among West guards on the All-Star ballot. But we repeat: League rules say each team must have three guys on the ballot. So Toine had to take Ricky Davis' spot. | |
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