Welcome back to the Internet's most accurate power rankings, where in this biweekly installment we will sort the NBA Cup's eight-team field of quarterfinalists into so perfect an order it cannot be questioned.
Gone from this list are the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. In their place are the surging New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks, the upstart Atlanta Hawks and the injury-ravaged Orlando Magic — maybe the only teams capable of keeping Cleveland and Boston from meeting in the Eastern Conference finals.
If the East contingent does not inspire our hopes that the NBA Cup's single-elimination stage can salvage a confusing start to the tournament, get a load of the West, where the conference's four best teams may have advanced to the quarterfinals (though the Memphis Grizzlies will not get to make their statement).