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Layne Murdoch Jr./Getty Images

20. Portland Trail Blazers (16)

Fun fact: The Blazers lead the league in points per transition play, but only the Spurs get out on the break less frequently.

A little more pace could do wonders for Portland's offense, which completely stalled out in Wednesday's 92-83 loss to the Grizzlies. CJ McCollum scored 40 of the Blazers' paltry total in that one, and Jusuf Nurkic was Gasol'd into a 1-of-15 shooting night.

The Blazers are 3-8 over their last 11 games and haven't won on the road since Nov. 20.

19. New Orleans Pelicans (20)

Anthony Davis hit the Thunder for 44 points and 18 rebounds in Wednesday's 118-114 home win, giving him two straight nights of 40-plus and underscoring for the millionth time that his night-to-night greatness is necessary for the Pels to be even remotely competitive.

New Orleans outscores opponents by 7.2 points per 100 possessions with Davis on the court and gets smacked to the tune of a minus-8.8 net rating when he sits.

As ever, the Pels (2-2 this week and 15-15 on the year) need otherworldly efforts from their best player to survive. I wonder if Davis will consider that unfair burden when deciding on an extension offer this summer...

18. San Antonio Spurs (23)

The Spurs just completed their first rankings session with a winning record since October, thanks mostly to a defense that finally woke up this week. San Antonio resolutely climbed out of a 15-point hole to beat the Lakers on Friday before holding the Jazz and Suns under 100 points later in the week. The Clippers only got to 87 on Thursday, falling by 38 in San Antonio's biggest win of the season.

"I think it's just the beginning of what we can be," Rudy Gay told reporters after the win over Utah. "People forget we're still learning. We're trusting each other and we're continuing to be a pretty good defensive team."

Maybe the Spurs, now 14-14, aren't washed?

17. Minnesota Timberwolves (12)

The road was rough on the Wolves, who went 0-3 against Portland, Golden State and Sacramento this week to fall to 13-15 on the season. It may seem strange to leave them just outside the top half of our rankings after a stretch like that, but keep in mind that the Wolves are still 9-7 with a plus-4.0 net rating since cutting ties with Jimmy Butler.

That earns Minnesota some slack.

16. Houston Rockets (13)

A scheme based on switching necessarily puts defenders at a disadvantage. Bigs have to chase smalls, and smalls have to wrestle with their larger counterparts underneath. Rockets' opponents, after floundering last year, are now exploiting those mismatches with confidence.

Houston routinely gets crushed on the glass, as guards too often wind up having to wrangle rolling bigs. And though Clint Capela is better than most centers on the defensive perimeter, it's unreasonable to ask him to stick with ball-handlers as often as he's had to this season.

With wing depth a glaring weakness, the Rockets now also lack James Ennis, who'll miss a week or two after aggravating a hamstring he already strained once this year, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Decline finally seems to have come for 33-year-old Chris Paul. He's no longer an elite stopper and is posting his lowest effective field-goal percentage and scoring average since 2011.

James Harden's 50-point triple-double gave Houston a 126-111 win over the Lakers on Thursday, creating hope that an upswing is imminent. But 27 games into the season, the Rockets are still under .500.