NBA Rankings - 21 Mar

The hottest team in the NBA over the past month has been the LA Lakers, who have won 8 in a row and 11 of their past 12, and have gone from a projected spot in the play-in to a #3 finish in the West. Charlotte also continues to rise, moving into my top 10 for the first time ever, while the Golden State Warriors are headed in the opposite direction, losing 9 of 11 since my last update, and 18 of their past 26 overall, though their play-in spot is safe, since no other team below them in the West is trying to win. Here are my full current rankings and playoff picks:

				Record		Proj
Rank	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	Seed
1	1	Oklahoma City	-9.475	55	15	64	18	W1
2	3	San Antonio	-6.751	52	18	61	21	W2
3	2	Detroit	-6.023	51	19	59	23	E1
4	4	Boston	-5.963	47	23	55	27	E2
5	6	New York	-4.973	46	25	53	29	E3
6	5	Houston	-3.719	42	27	51	31	W4
7	7	Cleveland	-3.702	43	27	51	31	E4
8	8	Denver	-3.617	43	28	50	32	W5
9	9	Minnesota	-2.741	43	28	49	33	W6
10	13	Charlotte	-2.552	36	34	43	39	E10
11	10	Miami	-2.373	38	32	45	37	E7
12	12	Toronto	-1.725	39	30	46	36	E5
13	14	Phoenix	-1.555	39	31	46	36	W7
14	17	LA Lakers	-1.548	45	25	52	30	W3
15	19	Atlanta	-0.836	38	32	44	38	E9
16	16	Orlando	-0.716	38	31	45	37	E6
17	11	Golden State	-0.706	33	37	40	42	W10
18	18	LA Clippers	-0.457	34	36	41	41	W9
19	15	Philadelphia	-0.052	38	32	44	38	E8
20	20	Portland	0.7428	35	36	41	41	W8
21	21	Memphis	3.0687	24	45	28	54
22	25	New Orleans	3.4013	25	46	29	53
23	24	Chicago	3.7197	28	42	33	49
24	22	Milwaukee	4.4309	28	41	32	50
25	23	Dallas	4.7682	23	47	27	55
26	26	Utah	6.2764	21	49	24	58
27	27	Brooklyn	7.0977	17	53	21	61
28	29	Sacramento	8.2465	18	53	21	61
29	28	Indiana	8.2896	15	55	17	65
30	30	Washington	9.7521	16	53	18	64

Playoff Picks

Play-In

(7) Heat over (8) 76ers

(10) Hornets over (9) Hawks

(10) Hornets over (8) 76ers

(7) Suns over (8) Trail Blazers

(9) Clippers over (10) Warriors

(8) Trail Blazers over (9) Clippers

First Round

(1) Pistons over (10) Hornets in 6

(2) Celtics over (7) Heat in 6

(3) Knicks over (6) Magic in 6

(4) Cavaliers over (5) Raptors in 6

(1) Thunder over (8) Trail Blazers in 4

(2) Spurs over (7) Suns in 6

(3) Lakers over (6) Timberwolves in 7

(4) Rockets over (5) Nuggets in 7

Second Round

(1) Pistons over (4) Cavaliers in 6

(2) Celtics over (3) Knicks in 6

(1) Thunder over (4) Rockets in 5

(2) Spurs over (3) Lakers in 6

Conference Finals

(1) Pistons over (2) Celtics in 7

(1) Thunder over (2) Spurs in 6

NBA Finals

(1) Thunder over (1) Pistons in 6

NBA Preseason Rankings - 2022

The two teams who ended last season playing for the championship are starting this season in the top 2 spots in my preseason NBA rankings, despite some inner turmoil in both franchises. The teams that are looking to make the biggest jumps this year all have important players who are returning from injury or joining via trade. The Clippers get Kawhi Leonard back, New Orleans has Zion Williamson returning, Cleveland added Donovan Mitchell, and Atlanta added Dejounte Murray. Among teams that look to be significantly worse this year, only one was actually good last year, and that is Utah, who traded away nearly their entire roster over the summer for a bunch of backups and future draft picks. Because there are 6 Western teams that appear to be tanking, at least one will still find themselves in the play-in tournament, which is a sad statement. Here are my full preseason rankings and playoff picks, with rising teams in green and falling teams in red:

				Record		Proj
Rank	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	Seed
1	1	Boston	-6.544			59	23	E1
2	3	Golden State	-5.129			56	26	W1
3	9	Philadelphia	-4.928			55	27	E2
4	2	Phoenix	-4.354			54	28	W2
5	13	Cleveland	-4.264			53	29	E3
6	18	LA Clippers	-4.069			54	28	W3
7	7	Dallas	-3.954			53	29	W4
8	4	Memphis	-3.951			53	29	W5
9	6	Miami	-3.934			52	30	E4
10	8	Milwaukee	-3.399			51	31	E5
11	14	Atlanta	-3.309			51	31	E6
12	10	Minnesota	-3.052			51	31	W6
13	11	Toronto	-2.828			49	33	E7
14	20	New Orleans	-2.203			48	34	W7
15	17	New York	-1.763			46	36	E8
16	12	Denver	-1.382			46	36	W8
17	21	Chicago	-0.431			42	40	E9
18	5	Utah	0.429			41	41	W9
19	15	Brooklyn	1.149			37	45
20	16	Charlotte	1.169			38	44	E10
21	22	LA Lakers	2.785			34	48	W10
22	24	Washington	3.124			32	50
23	25	Sacramento	5.114			28	54
24	19	San Antonio	5.307			27	55
25	23	Indiana	5.334			26	56
26	26	Detroit	6.926			22	60
27	28	Orlando	7.286			21	61
28	27	Oklahoma City	7.938			20	62
29	29	Portland	8.499			19	63
30	30	Houston	10.69			15	67

Playoff Picks

Play In

(7) Raptors over (8) Knicks

(7) Pelicans over (8) Nuggets

(9) Bulls over (10) Hornets

(9) Jazz over (10) Lakers

(8) Knicks over (9) Bulls

(8) Nuggets over (9) Jazz

First Round

(1) Celtics over (8) Knicks

(2) 76ers over (7) Raptors

(3) Cavaliers over (6) Hawks

(4) Heat over (5) Bucks

(1) Warriors over (8) Nuggets

(2) Suns over (7) Pelicans

(3) Clippers over (6) Timberwolves

(4) Mavericks over (5) Grizzlies

Second Round

(1) Celtics over (4) Heat

(2) 76ers over (3) Cavaliers

(1) Warriors over (4) Mavericks

(2) Suns over (3) Clippers

Conference Finals

(1) Celtics over (2) 76ers

(1) Warriors over (2) Suns

NBA Finals

(1) Celtics over (1) Warriors