NBA Rankings - 7 Feb

The Cleveland Cavaliers have set a new record for futility, with a now-record 24-game losing streak currently in progress. They broke the record of 23 games that was originally set by the Vancouver Grizzlies in their first season, who had a certain current Cavaliers head coach on their roster at the time. I sure hope that's just a coincidence. The Indiana Pacers made a coaching change, and so far it's had the same kind of impact that Charlotte saw when it fired Larry Brown. Each team's name is followed by its weekly record, overall record, rating, and previous ranking.

1. Miami (4-0) (37-14) -7.69 (2)

2. San Antonio (2-1) (42-8) -7.30 (1)

3. Boston (2-1) (38-12) -6.69 (3)

4. LA Lakers (2-1) (35-16) -6.19 (4)

5. Orlando (1-3) (32-20) -5.24 (6)

6. Chicago (1-1) (34-15) -5.12 (5)

7. Dallas (4-0) (35-15) -3.98 (8)

8. New Orleans (1-2) (32-20) -3.44 (7)

9. Denver (2-2) (30-21) -3.35 (9)

10. Oklahoma City (3-0) (33-17) -3.06 (10)

11. Atlanta (3-0) (33-18) -1.89 (11)

12. Memphis (3-1) (27-25) -1.70 (12)

13. Houston (2-1) (24-28) -1.16 (14)

14. New York (1-2) (26-24) -0.99 (13)

15. Portland (2-2) (27-24) -0.52 (15)

16. Philadelphia (2-1) (23-27) -0.22 (16)

17. Indiana (4-0) (21-27) -0.17 (20)

18. Utah (2-2) (30-22) -0.09 (17)

19. Phoenix (1-1) (23-25) 0.60 (19)

20. Milwaukee (0-4) (19-30) 1.08 (18)

21. Golden State (2-0) (22-27) 1.82 (22)

22. LA Clippers (1-3) (19-31) 2.09 (21)

23. Detroit (2-1) (19-32) 2.92 (24)

24. Charlotte (1-3) (21-29) 3.21 (23)

25. Toronto (1-2) (14-37) 4.76 (27)

26. Sacramento (0-2) (12-35) 4.98 (26)

27. Minnesota (0-3) (11-39) 5.25 (25)

28. Washington (0-4) (13-37) 5.77 (29)

29. New Jersey (1-3) (15-37) 5.96 (28)

30. Cleveland (0-4) (8-43) 9.82 (30)

Hot:

The Indiana Pacers are on a 4-game winning streak since they switched coaches, and even though 3 of those games were against teams in the bottom 6, the other one was a convincing win over Portland, who is currently occupying a spot in the Western Conference playoff picture. While I wouldn't say they are resurrected quite yet, it's sure a good way to start a new coach's regime.

The Oklahoma City Thunder had a very strong week, starting out with an impressive victory over the Hornets, a team they had lost to just a week earlier. They followed that up with consecutive road wins at Utah and Phoenix, both in games I thought they would lose. They should be favored to win each of their next five, which could have them riding an 8-game winning streak into San Antonio after the All-Star break.

The Detroit Pistons looked rejuvenated on Saturday, with Tracy McGrady playing point guard and Rip Hamilton back in the lineup after a lengthy benching due to trade rumors. Not only did they blow out the Bucks on the road, but they won the game before, against New Jersey, by double digits as well.

Not:

The Milwaukee Bucks went 0-3 on their West Coast road trip against the middle of the Pacific Division, which included no one who is currently playoff caliber. After the disappointing trip, they returned home to be beaten by the Detroit Pistons, who are even worse than any of the teams they lost to on the road. Milwaukee's next two games are against Toronto and Washington, but given how this week went, I wouldn't be too sure they'll win either one of them.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have only beaten 3 teams all season who are not among the 10 worst in the league, and they weren't even close to increasing that number this week in home blowouts against Memphis and Denver. Kevin Love was selected to the All-Star team this week, but he is the only reason the Wolves have won a game this year.

The Chicago Bulls were looking so good heading into their game with Golden State on Saturday, with 6 straight wins, the last 5 by a minimum of 9 points, and they were looking good midway through the 3rd quarter, but everything fell apart in the 4th and they lost to the Warriors by 11. Most likely they just had a bad quarter, but when it comes against a team that has no playoff hopes you always have to be a little concerned.

NBA Player of the Day

Amare Stoudemire - NYK - 41 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 4 blk, 17-21 FG, 7-7 FT

Amare flirted with Pistol Pete's Super Bowl day record of 50 points for a while as he and the Knicks avenged their loss to the 76ers last week. Stoudemire missed only 4 shots in the entire game and continued to establish himself among the MVP contenders.

Predictions - 7 Feb

Upset picks are in italics.

College Basketball

(15) Missouri at (2) Kansas - Kansas by 15

(4) Pittsburgh at West Virginia - Pitt by 1

NBA

Celtics at Bobcats - Celtics by 7

Timberwolves at Hornets - Hornets by 11

Lakers at Grizzlies - Lakers by 2

Cavaliers at Mavericks - Mavs by 17

Rockets at Nuggets - Nuggets by 5

Bulls at Trail Blazers - Bulls by 2

Jazz at Kings - Jazz by 2

Suns at Warriors - Warriors by 2

Prediction Results - 6 Feb

NFL: 1/1 (1.000) 78/123 overall (.634)

NBA: 4/4 (1.000) 412/573 overall (.719)

College Basketball: 4/4 (1.000) 389/479 overall (.812)

Upsets: 1/1 (1.000) 102/166 overall (.614)