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Ranking the Rankings, Week Three: Settling in?

The top of the pack is evening out, the middle is still crazy, and the Mavs are tucked in between.

By Rebecca Lawson
Ronald Martinez

Our weekly look at the power rankings has arrived! My apologies for it being a little late today -- real life, etc. etc.

If you're just tuning into this series, we're looking at the power rankings from the various bigger sites from week to week to get a feel for where the Mavs stand in the big picture of semi-arbitrary lists. Let's see what madness is in store this week!

The Rankings

Mmb_power_rankings_2013-14_wk_3_medium

Some Observations

  • As you see, the Mavs eked up just a bit, with most rankers putting them around 11. In the Western Conference, that puts them 8th. In real life rankings, as of this writing, they're in 7th, with the Timberwolves trailing. So, about where we expected, no?
  • With one or two exceptions, everyone seems to pretty much agree on a top 5 of Spurs, Pacers, Heat, Clippers and Warriors in some order.
  • The Nuggets have shot up, and are the biggest gainers of the week. The Suns, Sixers, Wizards and Pistons all fell around five spots. I guess the Wizards are a little bit of a surprise on that list, but otherwise, that seems about right to me.
  • This week in "Nobody Knows What To Do With This Team": well, all the teams in the middle, basically. Rankers didn't seem to have a great feel for the Bobcats, Lakers, Magic, Raptors or Pistons. I would expect the Lakers to get a bounce as soon as Kobe comes back, probably.
  • Poor Jazz. :(

Quotables

SB Nation:

The Mavs have been a juggernaut at home on the young season, scoring 114.3 points per game in four victories. Monta Ellis has had it all at American Airlines Center, averaging 24.8 points and 6.5 assists while shooting 55.7 percent from the field.

NBA.com:

After seeing his role shrink over his last two years in San Antonio, DeJuan Blair is having a bit of a renaissance as the third big in Dallas. The Mavs still lack depth up front, but Blair and Samuel Dalembert have formed an adequate offense/defense combo next to Dirk Nowitzki. Dallas has been pretty potent with Blair (who had 18 points in Orlando on Saturday) and Nowitzki on the floor together.

ESPN:

The sleeve on Dirk Nowitzki has the locals almost as jittery as the up-and-down Cowboys, but leave it to my man @BallinWithBryan to do the math and compute that No. 41 is shooting .512 from the field (22-for-43), .563 on 3s (9-for-16) and averaging 21.7 PPG since slipping it over his left knee.

Sources

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