The most unpredictable week of the NBA season so far left us with only one team (Portland) that did not lose this week and one team (Atlanta) that failed to win a game. The result is that very few teams did enough to improve their standing much, because everybody's records this week were pretty similar. Even Cleveland won a game this week, but by losing to Washington at home by 15, they kept themselves locked into that bottom spot for the eighth straight week. Also, there is a new #1 for the eighth straight week, with San Antonio and Miami switching every week for the past two months, like a game of hot potato between the two teams most likely to win the title. If one of them can't establish themselves as the best, they just might let someone else slip in, but no one seemed to want it enough this week. Here are the new rankings, with team name followed by weekly record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.
2. Miami (2-1) (39-15) -7.48 (1)
3. Boston (1-2) (39-14) -6.21 (3)
4. LA Lakers (3-1) (38-17) -6.18 (4)
5. Orlando (3-1) (35-21) -5.66 (5)
6. Chicago (2-1) (36-16) -5.61 (6)
7. Dallas (3-1) (38-16) -3.62 (7)
8. New Orleans (1-3) (33-23) -2.76 (8)
9. Denver (1-3) (31-24) -2.69 (9)
10. Oklahoma City (1-2) (34-19) -2.15 (10)
11. Philadelphia (3-1) (26-28) -1.81 (16)
12. Memphis (3-1) (30-26) -1.79 (12)
13. Atlanta (0-2) (33-20) -0.82 (11)
14. Houston (1-2) (25-20) -0.801 (13)
15. Portland (3-0) (30-24) -0.796 (15)
16. New York (1-2) (27-26) -0.49 (14)
17. Indiana (3-1) (24-28) -0.23 (17)
18. Phoenix (3-1) (26-26) 0.11 (19)
19. Utah (1-2) (31-24) 0.31 (18)
20. Milwaukee (1-3) (20-33) 1.18 (20)
21. LA Clippers (1-3) (20-34) 2.35 (22)
22. Golden State (2-2) (24-29) 2.44 (21)
23. Charlotte (2-2) (23-31) 2.73 (24)
24. Detroit (1-3) (20-35) 3.48 (23)
25. Sacramento (1-3) (13-38) 4.50 (26)
26. Toronto (1-3) (15-40) 5.06 (25)
27. Washington (2-1) (15-38) 5.17 (28)
28. Minnesota (2-2) (13-41) 5.23 (27)
29. New Jersey (2-1) (17-38) 5.61 (29)
30. Cleveland (1-3) (9-46) 9.95 (30)
Burning With Love
No one was hotter than the Philadelphia 76ers this week. They blew out Atlanta and Minnesota, and in between those two they sandwiched a huge upset win over San Antonio and a narrow loss to Orlando, both of which are top 5 teams. The great week showed in the rankings as well, with Philly moving up 5 spots to set up camp just outside the top 10. With a lot of struggling teams sitting just ahead of them, they may be moving in next week.
Washington was blown out by the Spurs this week, but I think it would have been a bigger surprise if they hadn't. The reason they are on the hot list is the pair of 15-point wins that came before and after the loss to San Antonio. One was against the Milwaukee Bucks, who are still in contention for a playoff berth, and the other was a road win (their first of the season) over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were coming off their first victory in nearly two months.
Before last night's embarrassing loss to the Sacramento Kings, the Phoenix Suns were the hottest team in the league, beating Golden State by 12 on the road and by 24 at home while holding them to 92 and 88 points in those games, then beat Utah in Salt Lake City by 12 in the Jazz's first game without Jerry Sloan in over 22 years.
The Flame is Out
The Atlanta Hawks played only two games this week, both at home, and both were upset losses. The first, a 34-point blowout at the hand of the 76ers, can be partially attributed to the absence of Al Horford, the Hawks' best player. The loss to Charlotte hurt just as much, because Horford was back on the court and they still managed to lose to a team that may not make the playoffs.
Oklahoma City played three teams this week that would not make the playoffs if they started today, and came away with only one victory in those three games. The lone victory came as a result of a missed shot by last season's Rookie of the Year, Tyreke Evans, which came after MVP candidate Kevin Durant missed two very important free throws. Not the type of week any playoff contender should have.
New Orleans has been stone cold since their 10-game winning streak ended, but not every night. They lost by 12 at home to Minnesota this week, then lost to New Jersey in overtime two night later. After those two demoralizing losses, they went to Orlando, where they beat the Magic by 6. And just when you thought they had it figured out again, they went back home and lost by 9 to Chicago. They have been a team of extremes for the past few weeks.
NBA Player of the Day
LaMarcus Aldridge - POR - 36 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 12-17 FG, 12-13 FT
Aldridge has been one of the best players in the entire league for the past month, and he has especially turned it on since he was snubbed by the coaches in their All-Star reserve voting. If Tim Duncan hadn't been given the lifetime achievement vote, Aldridge would have made the team easily, and he should have anyway.
Predictions - 14 Feb
Upset picks are in italics.
NBA
Spurs at Nets - Spurs by 10
Lakers at Bobcats - Lakers by 6
Hawks at Pistons - Hawks by 2
Clippers at Bucks - Bucks by 4
Trail Blazers at Timberwolves - Blazers by 3
Nuggets at Rockets - Rockets by 1
College Basketball
(2) Kansas at Kansas State - Kansas by 6
West Virginia at (13) Syracuse - Cuse by 8
Prediction Results - 13 Feb
NBA: 5/8 (.625) 441/627 overall (.703)
College Basketball: 4/6 (.667) 425/525 overall (.810)
Upsets: 3/5 (.600) 110/184 overall (.598)
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