NBA Rankings - 29 Nov

3 of the top 4 teams had losing records this week, so there was a lot of movement at the top. The team's name is followed by its record this week, its overall record, its rating, and its previous ranking.

1. San Antonio (3-1) (14-2) -9.14 (3)
2. Boston (3-0) (12-4) -7.16 (5)
3. Dallas (4-0) (12-4) -6.99 (7)
4. Lakers (1-2) (13-4) -6.55 (2)
5. Miami (1-3) (9-8) -6.27 (1)
6. Orlando (3-1) (12-4) -5.12 (6)
7. New Orleans (1-3) (12-4) -4.70 (4)
8. Indiana (3-1) (8-7) -4.66 (11)
9. Chicago (2-2) (9-6) -4.59 (8)
10. Denver (3-0) (10-6) -4.01 (10)
11. Utah (4-0) (13-5) -3.97 (9)
12. Atlanta (3-2) (11-7) -2.64 (16)
13. Oklahoma City (2-2) (11-6) -1.05 (14)
14. Portland (0-2) (8-8) -0.31 (12)
15. Phoenix (2-2) (8-9) 0.03 (17)
16. Milwaukee (1-2) (6-10) 0.13 (13)
17. Charlotte (1-3) (6-11) 0.34 (15)
18. New York (3-1) (9-9) 1.06 (22)
19. Philadelphia (1-3) (4-13) 1.14 (20)
20. Houston (2-2) (5-11) 1.34 (18)
21. Memphis (2-1) (7-10) 1.83 (21)
22. Toronto (1-2) (6-11) 2.81 (19)
23. New Jersey (2-2) (6-11) 2.88 (23)
24. Cleveland (2-2) (7-9) 3.54 (26)
25. Golden State (1-3) (8-9) 3.93 (24)
26. Detroit (1-3) (6-11) 5.14 (25)
27. Washington (1-2) (5-10) 5.99 (28)
28. Clippers (2-2) (3-15) 6.78 (30)
29. Sacramento (0-3) (4-11) 8.63 (27)
30. Minnesota (0-3) (4-13) 8.99 (29)

This week's big climber is the Dallas Mavericks, who won all 4 games this week, including impressive wins over the Spurs and Heat. Their success has thrust Dirk Nowitzki back into the MVP discussion (he's was #3 in my rankings on Friday), and shot them into a tie with the Hornets for 2nd in a tough Southwest Division.

This week's biggest loser is the Miami Heat. They had been at #1, even with their subpar record, but this week they again showed that they cannot beat a team with a winning record, beating only the lowly 76ers, and now there are rumors that the players are tired of their coach, Erik Spoelstra. The 70-win talk from the early season has ended, and it may soon be replaced with wondering whether they will even make the playoffs.

The Utah Jazz are the only team that didn't lose this week but still dropped in the rankings. That is partially because two of the wins were somewhat close games against the Clippers and Kings, who have spent the whole season in the bottom 5, and partially because their two impressive wins came against teams (the Lakers and Hornets) who lost multiple times this week.

NBA Predictions - 29 Nov

Wizards at Heat - Heat by 15
Hornets at Thunder - Hornets by 1
Rockets at Mavericks - Mavericks by 11
Bucks at Jazz - Jazz by 7

Prediction Results - 28 Nov

NBA: 2/8 (.250) 42/66 overall (.636)
NFL: 6/12 (.500) 18/31 overall (.581)

It was a difficult day for picks yesterday. Tonight should get me back on track.