Some of the Pacers current ranking success needs to be attributed to our scheduling against the bottom 5 teams. Through 42 games the number of games combined against Cleveland, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Phoenix are as follows. The Pacers rank number one in this category with at least 3 more wins available versus Boston, Milwaukee, Phillie and Toronto. Miami is interesting as they may still catch us as the schedule evens out in the second half of the season. :

13 Indiana (3 each against the four East teams and 1 against Phoenix)

11 Charlotte

10 Milwaukee, OKC, Boston, Brooklyn

9 Golden State, Washington

8 Toronto, Denver, Phillie (10 after 44 games), Miami, Dallas, Detroit, Orlando

2 Utah, Phoenix

Utah have had a brutal schedule with only 1 game against Phoenix and 1 game against Cleveland in their schedule so far. They should get a huge power rankings boost in the second half of the season by playing the lower ranked sides.