NBA Rankings - 28 Feb

Another week, another change at the top. Miami looked like they were going to become the first team in months to hold on to the top spot until they blew a big lead at home against New York last night, opening the door for San Antonio to reclaim the top, which they did by beating the Grizzlies, although barely. Nobody is separating themselves from the pack, which means that a lot of teams will have a chance in the playoffs, which could make for a very exciting postseason. Here are this week's updated rankings, with team name followed by weekly record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

The Contenders

1. San Antonio (3-0) (49-10) -6.96 (2)

2. Miami (2-2) (43-17) -6.80 (1)

3. Boston (2-1) (42-15) -6.06 (3)

4. LA Lakers (4-0) (42-19) -5.94 (6)

5. Orlando (2-1) (38-22) -5.60 (4)

6. Chicago (2-1) (40-17) -5.43 (5)

Could Go Either Way

7. Dallas (3-0) (43-16) -4.15 (7)

Average Teams

8. Denver (2-1) (34-26) -2.84 (9)

9. Oklahoma City (1-3) (36-22) -2.45 (8)

10. New Orleans (2-1) (35-26) -2.34 (10)

11. Memphis (2-2) (33-28) -1.97 (11)

12. Philadelphia (3-0) (30-29) -1.66 (12)

13. Houston (4-0) (30-31) -1.19 (15)

14. Atlanta (2-2) (36-23) -1.04 (14)

15. New York (2-1) (30-27) -0.61 (16)

16. Portland (1-2) (33-26) -0.49 (13)

17. Phoenix (3-0) (30-27) -0.30 (17)

18. Indiana (2-2) (26-32) 0.45 (18)

19. Utah (1-2) (32-28) 0.47 (19)

20. Milwaukee (1-2) (22-36) 1.18 (20)

Occasional Competitors

21. Charlotte (2-1) (26-33) 2.52 (23)

22. Golden State (0-3) (26-32) 2.91 (21)

23. LA Clippers (0-4) (21-39) 3.03 (22)

24. Detroit (1-3) (22-39) 3.70 (24)

Crappy Teams

25. Minnesota (1-3) (14-46) 5.57 (27)

26. Sacramento (1-3) (14-43) 5.80 (26)

27. New Jersey (0-2) (17-42) 5.81 (28)

28. Toronto (1-3) (16-44) 5.83 (25)

29. Washington (0-4) (15-43) 6.04 (29)

Cleveland

30. Cleveland (1-2) (11-48) 9.17 (30)

In Like a Lion

The Lakers are entering March on fire, winning four straight games this week, including home blowouts of the Hawks and Clippers and tough road wins against both Portland and Oklahoma City. This week's test comes Sunday, when they travel to San Antonio to face the league's best team and try to beat them for the first time this season.

The Phoenix Suns are also roaring into March after beating three Eastern Conference teams this week, two of which have playoff aspirations. Channing Frye's buzzer-beater last night in Indiana was the first for Phoenix since 2004, and it gives the Suns some much-needed momentum heading into a week of 4 straight road games, highlighted by trips to Boston and Oklahoma City.

Houston remains right on the heels of Phoenix as the two teams try to insert themselves into the Western Conference Playoff picture, and a 4-0 week sure helped. The first three wins could have been attributed to the level of competition they faced, but last night's win in New Orleans showed that these Rockets are not ready to give up yet. This week's big game is in Portland, who is currently #7 in the West.

Out Like a Lamb

Golden State entered the All-Star break on fire, but the flame has gone out. They were blown out at home by both Boston and Atlanta before going to Minnesota and surrendering to the Timberwolves. Their next six games are on the road against the East, and unless they can beat either Indiana or Philadelphia to go along with the 3 they should win, they may be dead before they get back home.

Miami's week consisted of two wins against horrible opponents and two losses to potential playoff foes. If they decide to follow that same blueprint this week, they will lose all three, because they are facing three of the top 6 teams in the league in the next 7 days.

Beating the Chicago Bulls should have moved Toronto up the rankings this week, but they followed up that amazing performance with two duds against Phoenix and Dallas. All three games were at home, but for some reason the Western Conference teams were each able to beat the lowly Raptors by 18 points. Looks like that Chicago game was a fluke.

NBA Player of the Day

Kevin Love - MIN - 37 pts, 23 reb, 2 stl, 8-13 FG, 3-4 3P, 18-23 FT

Love set new franchise records for free throws made and attempted in a game and the Wolves held on the upset the Golden State Warriors last night, 126-123. It was the 4th time this season that Love has had a 30-20 game, and the only other players to do it at least 4 times in a season since 1985 are Shaq and Charles Barkley.

Predictions - 28 Feb

Upset picks are in italics.

Possible upsets are underlined.

NBA

Suns at Nets - Suns by 3

Bulls at Wizards - Bulls by 9

Hawks at Nuggets - Nuggets by 5

Celtics at Jazz - Celtics by 4

Clippers at Kings - Kings by 1

College Basketball

Kansas State at (5) Texas - Texas by 12

(14) Villanova at (9) Notre Dame - Notre Dame by 8

Prediction Results - 27 Feb

NBA: 6-4 (.600) 500-204 overall (.710)

College Basketball: 5-2 (.714) 504-122 overall (.805)

Upsets: 2-3 (.400) 132-83 overall (.614)