NBA Rankings - 28 Mar

The Bulls and Lakers are both getting hot at the right time, and with the way they've been playing since the All-Star break, it would be no surprise to see the two of them face off in the NBA Finals this June. Both are led by star guards with MVP credentials and have multiple All-Star quality big men surrounding them, and they appear to be on a crash course. Here are the latest rankings, with team name followed by weekly record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

1. Chicago (4-0) (53-19) -7.01 (4)

2. Miami (3-0) (51-22) -6.92 (1)

3. LA Lakers (3-0) (53-20) -6.72 (2)

4. San Antonio (1-3) (57-16) -6.28 (3)

5. Boston (2-2) (51-21) -5.44 (5)

6. Orlando (3-0) (47-26) -5.32 (6)

7. Denver (3-0) (44-29) -4.92 (8)

8. Dallas (3-0) (52-21) -4.71 (7)

9. Oklahoma City (3-0) (48-24) -3.86 (9)

10. Memphis (3-1) (41-33) -2.71 (10)

11. Houston (1-1) (38-35) -2.43 (12)

12. New Orleans (2-1) (42-32) -2.13 (11)

13. Portland (2-1) (42-31) -2.00 (13)

14. Philadelphia (1-2) (37-36) -1.12 (14)

15. Phoenix (1-3) (36-36) -0.17 (16)

16. New York (0-4) (35-38) -0.16 (15)

17. Atlanta (2-2) (42-32) -0.01 (17)

18. Milwaukee (1-2) (29-43) 1.19 (19)

19. Utah (0-4) (36-38) 1.34 (18)

20. Indiana (2-2) (32-42) 1.58 (20)

21. Golden State (2-2) (32-42) 2.40 (22)

22. LA Clippers (2-1) (29-45) 2.53 (21)

23. Charlotte (2-1) (30-42) 3.34 (23)

24. Detroit (1-2) (26-47) 3.59 (24)

25. Sacramento (3-1) (20-52) 4.59 (25)

26. Minnesota (0-3) (17-57) 5.01 (28)

27. New Jersey (1-3) (23-49) 5.35 (27)

28. Toronto (0-4) (20-53) 6.11 (26)

29. Washington (0-4) (17-55) 7.76 (29)

30. Cleveland (1-3) (14-58) 9.73 (30)

Hot

The Chicago Bulls are the hottest team in basketball right now. This week they demolished the Kings and Hawks before beating Memphis and Milwaukee on back-to-back nights. They were the only team to beat either Sacramento or Memphis this week, and Derrick Rose is looking more like an MVP every time he takes the court.

This may seem like a joke, but the Timberwolves were the second hottest team this week, without even winning a game. They started the week with two eight-point losses at Dallas and Oklahoma City, both of which will enjoy home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. After that, they nearly pulled off a huge upset against the Celtics back in Minneapolis last night, falling by 3 points, and they all of that without their best player.

The Golden State Warriors didn't play that well on their trip to Texas early in the week, getting blown out in San Antonio and Houston, but then they returned home to destroy two of the worst teams in the East. They may have been eliminated from the playoffs last night, but if they were in the East they would be tied for the 8th spot today.

Denver has been on fire since losing the Carmelo distraction last month. This week they beat up Washington and Toronto and upset the Spurs in between. They haven't lost at home since February 7 and are 12-4 since the trade.

Cold

Toronto West Coast trip took a turn for the worse this week, with blowout losses in Oakland and Denver and close losses in Phoenix and Los Angeles (to the Clippers, not the Lakers). The schedule isn't going to be any nicer for them now that they're heading back East, with games against Chicago and Orlando this week.

Utah's slim playoff chances disappeared with an 0-4 week against teams currently in the playoffs. It was probably a good thing they lost all 4, because if they had made the playoffs, they would have been embarrassed by an even better team in the first round.

New York's slide with Carmelo in the lineup continued this week, with 4 losses in a row to run their losing streak up to 6. Among those 6 losses, only 2 came against teams that will likely be in the playoffs this year.

Washington's trip out West didn't go much better than Toronto's, with the only difference being in the quality of one opponent (Portland rather than Phoenix). The Wizards still have just one road win all season, and if they fail to win another, they will tie the all-time record for worst road team.

NBA Player of the Day

Monta Ellis - GSW - 37 pts, 7 reb, 13 ast, 14-24 FG, 4-6 3P, 5-7 FT

Golden State is no longer mathematically alive in the playoff race, but Ellis didn't care. He played all 48 minutes of yesterday's game and had what may have been his best game of the season as the Warriors beat the Washington Wizards to keep from being their second road victim of the year.

Predictions - 28 Mar

Possible upsets are underlined.

NBA

Celtics at Pacers - Celtics by 4

Bucks at Bobcats - Bobcats by 1

Magic at Knicks - Magic by 2

76ers at Bulls - Bulls by 9

Trail Blazers at Spurs - Spurs by 7

Wizards at Jazz - Jazz by 9

Prediction Results - 27 Mar

NBA: 7-2 (.778) 648-264 overall (.711)

NCAA Tournament: 1-1 (.500) 42-22 overall (.656)

Upsets: 1-0 (1.000) 165-114 overall (.591)