In the words of Sam Hinkie, every game is a data point. And as each week passes, we learn a little more about the 30 teams in this NBA of ours.

Take the Detroit Pistons, for instance. Ten days into the season, the Pistons were 4-0, looking much improved under new coach Dwane Casey and with the super shooting and playmaking of Blake Griffin. Their four wins were by a total of 13 points, three of them were at home and the other was against the Chicago Bulls, but 4-0 was 4-0. Now, the Pistons are 4-4, and we the point-differential context of those first four games looks important.

Dig into some numbers to know from the latest edition of our Power Rankings.

Speaking of point differential, the Charlotte Hornets are up to their old tricks. The team that has had a losing record and a positive point differential in each of the last two seasons (they were the only team with that distinction last season) is 5-5, with the point differential (plus-7.6 per game, sixth best in the league) of a team that should be 8-2. The Hornets have three wins by 29 points or more (the rest of the league has six total), but are 1-4 in games that were within five points in the last five minutes.

Charlotte and Detroit were expected to compete for the Eastern Conference playoff spot vacated by LeBron James when he left for L.A. Now, the Washington Wizards may be making room for both of them, but the Hornets-Pistons comparison should be fun to monitor all season long. Both teams go into Week 4 with .500 records and they'll meet for the first time on Sunday in Detroit.

The top two teams in this week's rankings, meanwhile, will meet for the first time on Thursday in Oakland.