Orlando Magic Power Rankings Roundup: Staring into the abyss

(34-6). Previous: . Golden State Warriors. 1. team. 41. The Cavs will have something new to deal with in Monday’s rematch with the Warriors. Through their first 35 games, the Warriors ran a Curry-Durant pick-and-roll just 2.6 times per contest, and they didn’t run it once in Cleveland on Christmas. Over their last five games, they’ve run it 7.0 times per game, and it’s produced 1.35 points per possession in that stretch. The Cavs have had a lot of success containing Stephen Curry, but the Kevin Durant element in those pick-and-rolls is another story. According to SportVU, the Warriors still run the fewest pick-and-rolls (39.0 per game) in the league.

22. team. 27. The Knicks have lost 10 of their 12 games, blew a 10-point lead with less than five minutes to go in Philadelphia on Wednesday, and trailed Sunday’s game in Toronto by 38 points (scoring seven in the third quarter). But the off-court nonsense has somehow been worse than what’s been going on on the court. Derrick Rose went AWOL for Monday’s loss to New Orleans, and the relationship between <strong><a rel=. (18-23). Previous: . New York Knicks

Previous: . Orlando Magic. 23. team. 38. The Magic held the Blazers to just 40 percent shooting in Friday’s win in Portland and have the fifth best defense (105.6 points allowed per 100 possessions) against the league’s top-10 offenses. But, after Saturday’s loss in Utah, they’re just 2-10 against that group, with games against the No. 11, No. 8 and No. 2 offenses this week. They’ve won six of their last seven first quarters (each of the last two by 13 points), but have been the league’s second worst team after the first quarter (scoring less than 94 points per 100 possessions) in that stretch.. (17-25)

The Wolves’ first three-game winning streak of the season featured improved defense (holding Dallas, Houston and Oklahoma City under a point per possession) and 46 assists from <strong><a rel=. (14-27). Previous: . Minnesota Timberwolves. 24. team. 86