/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58111449/usa_today_10480503.0.jpg)
It has officially happened. The Magic have hit the very bottom of the NBA power rankings.
Having lost 19 of their last 22 games, and now without their three leading scorers, the injury-ravaged Magic have been ranked last in the league by two publications, edging out teams such as the rebuilding Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks. Click on each publication for the full rankings.
ESPN - Magic fall from 22 to 27
The Magic have lost eight in a row and are 3-19 since a surprising 8-4 start. To add injury to insult, Nikola Vucevic is expected to miss 6-8 weeks after breaking a bone in his left index finger. -- Michael Schwartz
CBS Sports - Magic fall from 27 to 30
Give the Magic free season passes to Disney and a time machine to go back to October -- Chris Barnewall
Bleacher Report - Magic fall from 26 to 29
No disrespect intended (which means disrespect is, in fact, imminent), but when Mario Hezonja is leading the way in the points column, it's a bad sign for the Orlando Magic.
Hezonja, whom the Magic gave up on when they didn't pick up his fourth-year option, was pressed into duty this week amid myriad injuries to Orlando's rotation wings. He scored a career-high 28 points on 8-of-12 shooting from deep during Sunday's 114-110 loss to the Detroit Pistons. That result was loss No. 5 in Orlando's ongoing six-game slide.
The injury pileup cost Aaron Gordon (calf), Evan Fournier (ankle) and Jonathan Isaac games this week. Against the Bulls on Wednesday, Isaac re-sprained the ankle that kept him out for over a month earlier this year. That's on top of the fact Terrence Ross is shelved indefinitely with a sprained MCL and tibial plateau fracture.
One positive: Jonathan Simmons is a fun grab-and-go transition weapon. Only Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James corral defensive boards and push the ball coast-to-coast for layups or dunks more often, per Nylon Calculus. -- Grant Hughes
NBA.com - Magic fall from 28 to 30
Mario Hezonja is playing a little more consistently and Elfrid Payton has shot 64 percent over the last five games, but Payton is now the Magic's only healthy opening-night starter, with Nikola Vucevic having broken his hand on Saturday. They've been outscored by just 17 points in 818 minutes with at least three of the original starters on the floor and by 171 points in 817 minutes with two or fewer on the floor. As they struggle through their sixth straight season as a below-average team on both ends, not only are they on an eight-game losing streak, but they've held a lead for just 51 total seconds over their last 21 quarters and have trailed by double-digits for 71 percent of their last four games. -- John Schuhmann
SI.com - Magic fall from 25 to 28
There’s no reason Mario Hezonja should be playing fewer than 30 minutes in a given game. We (and the Magic) need to fix this.-- Kenny Ducey