NBA Rankings - 15 Feb

San Antonio and Oklahoma City switched spots multiple times this week, each one falling from the top spot after a loss, then regaining it when the other lost, and since the Thunder lost most recently, they enter the All-Star break ranked #2 in the NBA. Here are the full rankings, with teams grouped by similar level of performance.

TW. (LW) Team (Week) Overall
1. (2) San Antonio (3-1) 42-12
2. (1) Oklahoma City (2-2) 39-14

3. (3) Miami (4-0) 36-14

4. (5) LA Clippers (4-1) 39-17

5. (6) Houston (2-2) 29-26
6. (4) Denver (1-3) 33-21

7. (7) New York (1-2) 32-18
8. (9) Memphis (3-0) 33-18
9. (8) Indiana (1-2) 32-21

10. (10) LA Lakers (2-2) 25-29
11. (11) Chicago (1-2) 30-22
12. (14) Atlanta (2-1) 29-22

13. (12) Golden State (0-3) 30-22
14. (13) Brooklyn (2-2) 31-22
15. (15) Boston (2-1) 28-24
16. (16) Dallas (2-1) 23-29
17. (17) Utah (2-2) 30-24
18. (21) Toronto (4-0) 21-32
19. (22) New Orleans (3-1) 19-34

20. (18) Milwaukee (1-2) 26-25
21. (20) Minnesota (1-3) 19-31
22. (24) Washington (2-1) 15-36
23. (23) Detroit (3-1) 21-33
24. (19) Portland (0-4) 25-28
25. (25) Philadelphia (1-2) 22-29

26. (27) Cleveland (1-3) 16-37

27. (26) Phoenix (0-3) 17-36

28. (29) Sacramento (2-2) 19-35
29. (28) Orlando (1-2) 15-37

30. (30) Charlotte (1-3) 12-40

New Orleans is finally coming to life, and Anthony Davis is finally starting to look like a #1 pick. In their 99-63 win over Portland on Wednesday, Davis scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in only 28 minutes of action. The win was also the 4th in the last 5 games for the Hornets, who won each of those games by at least 11 points, making them the league's hottest team heading into the break.

The only team to beat the Hornets this week was Toronto, which has now won 4 straight games. What makes this streak even more special is that 3 of the wins came over top 10 teams, and the other came over the league's hottest team. Toronto has climbed into 10th place in the East, and could be in the running for a playoff berth if they can stay hot after this weekend.

The Atlanta Hawks have won three of their last 4, and the only loss came against, you guessed it, New Orleans. Their most recent win was a 32-point blowout of the Magic in Orlando, and before that they won in Dallas against a team that has also been coming on lately. Josh Smith scored 26 and 30 in the two wins, which was easily his best back-to-back games of the season.

LeBron James earned a lot of press this week for his 6 straight games of 30 points and 60% shooting, which set a new NBA record, but even more important was the fact that Miami won each of those games. Even when he lost the streak last night by one shot, the Heat still managed to win in Oklahoma City, knocking the Thunder from the top spot in the process and making LeBron the favorite to win another MVP.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

College Basketball

(15) Georgetown at Cincinnati - Bearcats by 8

Prediction Results

NBA: 1-1 (.500) 525-263 (.666)
College Basketball: 11-5 (.688) 721-172 overall (.807)
Upsets: 3-2 (.600) 68-55 overall (.553)