Orlando Magic Power Rankings Roundup: Our own little tier

The Orlando Magic have found themselves playing poorly enough to be out of the Playoffs but probably too well to be considered in the basement.

The Eastern Conference standings have a clearly established pecking order when you get to the bottom.

The Heat and Nets are fighting for the seventh and eighth seeds. There is a cluster of teams chasing them in the Pacers, Celtics, Pistons and Hornets. At the bottom, the Knicks and 76ers seem to have a running bet on who will get the worst record in the league.

And then there is the Magic kind of stuck in the middle.

Orlando at 19-42 are probably too far out from the cluster fighting for the eighth spot in the East but they have enough breathing room (and talent) to avoid that race to the bottom beneath them. The Magic just kind of are.

In the bigger picture of things, the Magic have the fifth best lottery odds at this point. That could change depending on how the Lakers and the Timberwolves play down the stretch. The Magic are losing some distance on the checked-out Nuggets and the Kings ahead of them in the standings barring another win streak.

So the Magic are kind of in their own little bubble.

A small win streak is not going to affect their standings placement too much. Neither would a small losing streak (like the team’s current three-game skid).

So . . . the Magic can play out the string, developing some of their young players while still trying to get a few wins.

At least that is the story this week.

Next: Marc Stein, ESPN.com