Weekly Magic Power Rankings

Almost across the board, the Magic climbed up the rankings.

It should be noted that their loss to the Warriors is not accounted for, but being defeated by the best team in the world (even without Stephen Curry) likely wouldn’t cause much of a drop. It will be interesting to gauge the Magic’s movement over the next week or two as they conclude a difficult stretch with eight of 10 games on the road.

Have the Magic peaked? Will they climb any higher into the top 10 at any point this season? Debate it below.

ESPN – Magic climb from 14 to 11

Aaron Gordon, who gave us one of the best performances in dunk contest history, leads the league in 3-point percentage this season (55.3). Entering this season, the only player 6-foot-9 or taller to connect on 50 percent of his 3s for a season was Detlef Schrempf in 1994-95 (51.4). -- ESPN Stats & Information

CBS Sports – Magic climb from 13 to 9

The Magic got Elfrid Payton back and immediately blew out a Knicks team missing Kristaps Porzingis. He has an absurd on court net rating of 19.3. When he's healthy, they may be legitimate. -- Chris Barnewall

USA Today – Magic remain at 11

The Magic have come back down to earth a bit, losing three of their last five, but have nonetheless been one of the league's biggest surprises throughout the early portion of the season, ranking in the top 10 in both offensive and net rating, three-pointers made and three-point percentage. -- AJ Neuharth-Keusch

NBA.com -- Magic climb from 13 to 11

Aaron Gordon continues to baffle us with his 3-point percentage (now 55 percent after a 7-for-13 week), but the Magic fell to 0-3 with neither Elfrid Payton (still not 100 percent) and D.J. Augustin (still out) after Saturday's loss in Denver, losing all three games by 16 points or more. They still rank as the league's most improved offensive team, but as their 3-point shooting comes back to earth (they rank 16th from beyond the arc in November), they need to rely more on their improved defense, which ranks in the top six in regard to improvement in both opponent effective field goal percentage (where they've gone from 22nd to 10th) and opponent turnover percentage (from 24th to 12th). -- John Schuhmann

SI.com – Magic climb from 18 to 15

Last year, there were some who thought Magic assistant Chad Forcier might help Aaron Gordon catapult his game to the next level just like he did in San Antonio with Kawhi Leonard. That may be what’s happening this season. -- Kenny Ducey

Sporting News - Magic at 12

Typical of a young team, the Magic’s defensive efficiency at home has been great, 100.1 points per 100 possessions, seventh in the league. But on the road, it’s 105.7, which ranks 16th. -- Sean Deveney

David Aldridge’s Top 15 – Magic climb from 15 to 11

Good news: rookie forward Jonathan Isaac didn’t break his ankle Saturday night. He’ll miss Monday’s game against Golden State, but it could have been worse. – David Aldridge