NBA Power Rankings: The Clippers keep coming

Find the big movers, up and down, in this week’s edition of our NBA Power Rankings.

Whether it was the Houston Rockets deploying through secret tunnels to confront Austin Rivers in the Clippers locker room or Orlando Magic guard Arron Afflalo throwing a haymaker at Minnesota Timberwolves forward Nemanja Bjelica, this week was a wild one.

We’re past the halfway point of the NBA season, and the top ten teams are starting to separate themselves from the rest of the league. The trade deadline is quickly approaching, and teams need to decide soon whether they want to compete for the playoffs or compete for the best odds at drafting Luka Dončić or Marvin Bagley with the first overall pick in the draft.

Let’s check out some fight — I mean power — rankings.

The Magic snapped their seven game losing streak with a suprise victory over the Timberwolves, who were on a five-game winning streak, using a 35-point fourth quarter to help them pick up a 108-102 victory. Evan Fournier had 32 points, D.J. Augustin had 18 points, and Bismack Biyombo picked up a double-double as the Magic simply outworked the Timberwolves down the stretch. They fought tooth and nail against the Cavaliers, and nearly won the game on a miraculous shot by Aaron Gordon off a jump ball that was waived off by the referees due to a violation.

The Magic ended the week with a win as well, beating the Boston Celtics on the road, 103-95. Kyrie Irving scored 40 points for Boston, but the Magic outscored the Celtics 32-12 in the third quarter to give them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish the remainder of the game. Apparently they can only beat the top teams in the Eastern Conference, because they’ve only won three out of their last 20 games.