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Power Rankings Roundup: Epitome of youth

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Jan 12, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) goes up for a basket against the Chicago Bulls during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 12, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) goes up for a basket against the Chicago Bulls during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /
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Victor Oladipo, Orlando Magic
Jan 18, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) drives to the basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Amway Center. Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Orlando Magic 127-99. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Neil Paine, FiveThirtyEight

. Previous: . Golden State Warriors. 1. team. 41.

24. team. 118. . . Previous: . Utah Jazz

. Previous: . Orlando Magic. 25. team. 38.

147. . . Previous: . Brooklyn Nets. 26. team

Uh oh, FiveThirtyEight is throwing their statistical hats into the Power Rankings ring.

Neil Paine and the statistics-based site introduced a power rankings based on Real Plus-Minus that seeks to predict the next week for each team. The Magic actually project better defensively than offensively this week and have a projected win total of 30.2 wins. So that sounds like progress.

Then you remember the Magic play at the Pistons (who are playing really well of late), at the Knicks (dumpster fire) and home vs. the Pacers this week. All three figure to be winnable games. So this is a pretty good chance for the Magic to keep building on positive momentum.

Those Playoff odds? 3.6 percent chance of getting in.

We will be interested to see how these rankings do during the rest of the season.

Next: Matt Moore, CBS Sports