NBA Rankings - 20 Dec

Here are the newly updated rankings for all games through December 19. The team's name is followed by this week's record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

1. Boston (3-0) (22-4) -8.92 (1)
2. Miami (4-0) (21-8) -8.33 (2)
3. San Antonio (3-0) (23-3) -7.80 (3)
4. LA Lakers (4-0) (21-7) -6.98 (5)
5. Dallas (2-1) (21-5) -5.91 (4)
6. Utah (2-1) (19-9) -3.71 (7)
7. Chicago (2-1) (16-9) -3.64 (8)
8. Orlando (0-2) (16-10) -2.52 (6)
9. Denver (2-1) (16-10) -2.49 (11)
10. New Orleans (2-2) (16-11) -2.34 (12)
11. Oklahoma City (2-1) (19-9) -1.76 (10)
12. Philadelphia (3-1) (11-16) -0.93 (14)
13. Houston (3-1) (12-15) -0.87 (16)
14. Indiana (1-3) (12-14) -0.86 (13)
15. Atlanta (1-3) (17-12) -0.44 (9)
16. Memphis (2-2) (12-16) -0.03 (20)
17. Portland (2-2) (14-14) 0.04 (15)
18. Phoenix (2-1) (13-13) 0.11 (18)
19. Milwaukee (1-2) (10-15) 0.87 (19)
20. New York (0-3) (16-12) 1.07 (17)
21. Toronto (1-3) (10-18) 3.37 (21)
22. Charlotte (1-2) (9-17) 3.68 (22)
23. LA Clippers (2-1) (7-21) 3.95 (25)
24. Golden State (1-2) (9-17) 4.10 (24)
25. New Jersey (2-2) (8-20) 4.33 (23)
26. Detroit (2-1) (9-19) 5.71 (26)
27. Minnesota (0-4) (6-22) 5.84 (27)
28. Washington (0-3) (6-19) 7.16 (28)
29. Cleveland (1-2) (8-19) 7.50 (30)
30. Sacramento (0-4) (5-20) 8.08 (29)

Up, up, and away:

The Houston Rockets did a good job of dealing with Yao Ming's latest season-ending injury with a 3-1 week. The downside to the good week is that two of the wins were against the Sacramento Kings, who are not only the bottom team in my rankings, but the team with the overall worst record. Houston is somewhat underrated, and they're used to playing without Yao, so they should continue to improve.

Memphis won two very big home games against Portland and Charlotte this week before falling to two-thirds of the Texas Triangle, although their loss in San Antonio did go to overtime, so they have no reason to hang their heads. Memphis doesn't play another team with a winning record until the New Year, so they should finish off strong in 2010.

Down the chimney

The Jekyll and Hyde Atlanta Hawks followed up a very strong week with one that was definitely not. The loss to Boston was understandable. The losses to New Jersey and Detroit, however, were not. Their upcoming schedule is filled with struggling teams, so they may be able to recover, but if they don't pull it together soon, there may be some changes coming in Georgia.

The New York Knicks came into this week having won 13 of 14, but after a heartbreaking loss to the Celtics, they couldn't keep up with the Heat, then continued the downward trend by losing at Cleveland, who had been the worst team in the league to that point. They have 4 straight top 11 teams coming up, so things may be returning to normal in the Big Apple.

NBA Player of the Day

Tayshaun Prince - DET - 28 pts, 12 reb, 8 ast, 3 blk, 12-16 FG
Prince led the Pistons back from a 10-point halftime deficit to pull out a rare victory in overtime over the New Orleans Hornets. Not only did he lead them statistically, he also blocked a shot by Chris Paul that would have won the game in regulation.

Predictions - 20 Dec

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Magic at Hawks - Hawks by 1
Jazz at Cavaliers - Jazz by 8
Hornets at Pacers - Pacers by 1
Bobcats at Wizards - Bobcats by 1
Mavericks at Heat - Heat by 5
Suns at Spurs - Spurs by 11
Bucks at Blazers - Blazers by 4
Rockets at Warriors - Rockets by 2
Timberwolves at Clippers - Clippers by 5

College Basketball

Elon at (1) Duke - Duke by 45
Coppin State at (4) Connecticut - Connecticut by 33
Morgan State at (5) Syracuse - Syracuse by 23
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at (17) Memphis - Memphis by 23
Belmont at Alabama State - Belmont by 25

NFL

Chicago at Minnesota - Chicago by 1

Prediction Results - 19 Dec

NFL: 9/14 (.643) 48/79 overall (.608)
NBA: 3/6 (.500) 166/222 overall (.748)
College Basketball: 2/2 (1.000) 115/137 overall (.839)