Orlando Magic News & Notes: More Power Rankings

AP/David Richard

The Basketball Geek has posted new power rankings. The Magic come in at #3. Click here to see all of their rankings.

John Schuhmann of NBA.com has updated has power rankings and the Magic have moved up to first from second.

Pace: 93.6 (22), Off: 106.7 (8), Def: 100.0 (7)
If it weren’t for Michael Beasley’s imitation of Lorenzo Charles on Wednesday, the Magic would have a nine-game winning streak right now. Rashard Lewis appears to be getting his rhythm back, hitting for a season-high 26 points in New York on Sunday.

See his full power rankings here.

The Magic have the best record in the Eastern Conference, but they want more.

“We’re a good team, but we’re not an NBA championship team yet,” Lewis said. “We’re working on that.”

They look at it as just a nice start. It’s a long way until the spring and the postseason for the Magic, who brought in five new players this season. Some assembly is still required for the franchise that made a surprise trip to the Finals last season.

“We all feel like we have a ways to go,” shooting guard J.J. Redick said. “We’re still a work in progress.”

They’ve done what they’ve done despite having their projected starting lineup together for just one game, with coach Stan Van Gundy working around injuries and illnesses.

Brian Schmitz has the story here.

The Magic will take on the Knicks again Wednesday night. The New York Daily News takes a look at the slumping Mike D’Antoni’s Knicks and looks at his surging former team, the Phoenix Suns.

“Mike’s an extremely bright coach,” Nash said following the Suns’ practice yesterday in Manhattan. “Whether they have a winning or losing coach, he’s still a really bright coach. In this business, you’ve got to have players.”

The Knicks lack anything close to a superstar but most NBA executives believe their talent is better than 3-14. Look at it another way: unlike the Nets, D’Antoni’s team has been relatively healthy thus far but they have just three more victories than winless New Jersey.

Read more on D’Antoni here.

Orlando Assistant Coach Patrick Ewing is very interested in the opening in New Jersey.

Knicks legend Patrick Ewing, an NBA assistant coach for the past seven seasons, told The Post yesterday he would love to coach the Nets and hopes to be considered whenever they decide to fill the position permanently.

Lawrence Frank was fired yesterday after an 0-16 start. The Nets extended their losing streak to 17 last night with a 106-87 loss to the Lakers.

“Of course,” Ewing said after his Magic beat the Knicks, 114-102, at the Garden. “I would be back home. I still live in New Jersey. I just want an opportunity. Yes, I would love to coach the Nets.”

You can read that here.

Click here to read Joshua Robbin’s predictions for the rest of the NBA season.

Jon Nichols takes a look at the statistical ratings for each Magic player so far this season here.

(Andrew Melnick Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)