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Earl's NBA power ranking · Week 4, 2026

Houston sits at No. 4 with a 12.829 neutral-field rating, up 0.873 from last week, and has opened 3-0 against a schedule rated 6.684 — this is a legitimate top-five profile, not a soft-start mirage. The rating is already 8.2 points above their 4.626 prior-season mark, so the market's -1.5 vs. the number suggests the spread hasn't caught up to how good this team actually is; that's a buy signal. With zero injury points docked and no key players unavailable, there's no hidden downside baked in, so I'm backing Houston to cover and continue climbing the board.