The three hottest teams in the league this week were the two top teams in the West and the Boston Celtics in the East, who came from way outside the playoff picture to move into the #7 slot with a .500 record. The Miami Heat, who were #1 last week, were not as good as expected this week, fell a bit, but today's victory over Chicago, which isn't counted in today's rankings, could help them begin to move back up. Here are the updated rankings, with gaps between groups of teams representing different levels of performance.
TW. Team (Week) (Overall) Rating (LW)
1. Chicago (2-1) (17-4) -5.40 (2)
2. Denver (2-0) (14-5) -4.91 (4)
3. Oklahoma City (3-0) (16-3) -3.90 (7)
4. Philadelphia (3-1) (14-6) -3.64 (3)
5. Portland (3-1) (12-8) -3.06 (9)
6. Miami (3-1) (14-5) -2.87 (1)
7. Atlanta (2-1) (14-6) -2.10 (5)
8. San Antonio (2-1) (12-8) -1.58 (11)
9. Dallas (2-1) (12-8) -0.11 (8)
10. Houston (3-1) (12-8) -0.07 (16)
11. Memphis (1-3) (10-9) 0.12 (6)
12. Boston (4-0) (9-9) 0.77 (22)
13. Minnesota (2-1) (9-10) 0.94 (15)
14. Indiana (2-2) (12-6) 0.99 (14)
15. Milwaukee (3-2) (8-11) 1.37 (19)
16. LA Clippers (2-1) (10-6) 1.71 (17)
17. LA Lakers (1-2) (11-9) 1.80 (13)
18. New Orleans (1-2) (4-15) 3.19 (20)
19. Utah (1-2) (11-7) 3.30 (10)
20. Orlando (1-3) (12-7) 3.53 (12)
21. New York (1-3) (7-13) 5.17 (23)
22. Phoenix (1-3) (7-12) 5.90 (18)
23. New Jersey (3-1) (7-13) 6.07 (24)
24. Golden State (1-2) (6-12) 6.18 (21)
25. Toronto (2-2) (6-14) 6.76 (26)
26. Cleveland (1-2) (7-11) 6.96 (25)
27. Detroit (0-4) (4-17) 9.21 (27)
28. Sacramento (0-3) (6-14) 10.78 (28)
29. Washington (2-3) (4-16) 11.27 (30)
30. Charlotte (0-5) (3-18) 15.71 (29)
The Boston Celtics were the hottest and most surprising team this week, winning all four of their games, the last three of which came against Eastern Conference contenders, including a 31-point blowout of the Orlando Magic, in which they held Orlando to a franchise-low 56 points. The Celtics went from looking dead in the water after losing 6 of 7 to looking like the Celtic teams of recent years, with a chance of making a good playoff run.
New York was able to pull out of their nosedive this week by blowing out the hapless Charlotte Bobcats, but they have not been able to pull themselves back up, with 9 losses in 10 games knocking them out of current playoff contention. In their win over Charlotte, leading scorer Carmelo Anthony finished win just 1 point, failing to hit a field goal in 8 attempts and dropping him out of MVP contention.
Miami only lost once this week, but with the competition they faced, they should have been winning by an average of 20 points per game, not 4. They atoned somewhat with their win over Chicago today, but since the game was at home, there's no guarantee that it will lead to them climbing back toward the top spot, unless they start playing up to their potential every night.
Charlotte has lost 14 of their last 15 games, helping them clinch the bottom spot without any doubt. The only team that could have found themselves at the bottom, Washington, beat Charlotte twice this week, proving that the Bobcats are at another level of inferiority altogether. If they were not playing in the Eastern Conference, it would almost be time to write them off completely, but a winning record is not a prerequisite for making the playoffs in the East.
Predictions
Upset picks are in italics.
Sunday
Cleveland at Boston - Celtics by 11
Toronto at New Jersey - Nets by 5
Indiana at Orlando - Magic by 2
San Antonio at Dallas - Mavericks by 3
Atlanta at New Orleans - Hawks by 1
LA Lakers at Minnesota - Timberwolves by 5
LA Clippers at Denver - Nuggets by 11
Monday
Orlando at Philadelphia - 76ers by 12
Chicago at Washington - Bulls by 12
New Orleans at Miami - Heat by 11
Minnesota at Houston - Rockets by 6
Detroit at Milwaukee - Bucks by 12
San Antonio at Memphis - Grizzlies by 3
Dallas at Phoenix - Mavericks by 2
Portland at Utah - Trail Blazers by 2
Oklahoma City at LA Clippers - Thunder by 1
Tuesday
Boston at Cleveland - Celtics by 2
New Jersey at Indiana - Pacers by 10
Atlanta at Toronto - Hawks by 4
Detroit at New York - Knicks by 9
Denver at Memphis - Nuggets by 1
Sacramento at Golden State - Warriors by 9
Charlotte at LA Lakers - Lakers by 18
Wednesday
Washington at Orlando - Magic by 12
Chicago at Philadelphia - 76ers by 3
Toronto at Boston - Celtics by 11
Detroit at New Jersey - Nets by 8
Phoenix at New Orleans - Hornets by 7
Oklahoma City at Dallas - Mavericks by 1
Miami at Milwaukee - Bucks by 1
Indiana at Minnesota - Timberwolves by 5
Houston at San Antonio - Spurs by 6
Charlotte at Portland - Trail Blazers by 23
LA Clippers at Utah - Jazz by 3
Thursday
Memphis at Atlanta - Hawks by 7
Chicago at New York - Bulls by 6
New Orleans at San Antonio - Spurs by 9
Portland at Sacramento - Trail Blazers by 9
Utah at Golden State - Warriors by 2
Denver at LA Clippers - Nuggets by 2
Friday
Cleveland at Orlando - Magic by 8
Miami at Philadelphia - 76ers by 5
Washington at Toronto - Raptors by 9
Milwaukee at Detroit - Bucks by 3
Minnesota at New Jersey - Timberwolves by 1
Phoenix at Houston - Rockets by 11
New York at Boston - Celtics by 9
Memphis at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 9
Indiana at Dallas - Mavericks by 6
LA Lakers at Denver - Nuggets by 11
Saturday
Philadelphia at Atlanta - Hawks by 3
Orlando at Indiana - Pacers by 6
LA Clippers at Washington - Clippers by 5
Dallas at Cleveland - Mavericks by 3
New Orleans at Detroit - Hornets by 2
New Jersey at New York - Knicks by 5
Houston at Minnesota - Timberwolves by 4
Chicago at Milwaukee - Bulls by 2
Oklahoma City at San Antonio - Spurs by 2
Charlotte at Phoenix - Suns by 14
LA Lakers at Utah - Jazz by 3
Denver at Portland - Trail Blazers by 3
Golden State at Sacramento - Warriors by 1
Sunday
Memphis at Boston - Celtics by 4
Toronto at Miami - Heat by 14
Prediction Results
NBA: 32-18 (.640) 72-34 overall (.679)
Upsets: 8-4 (.667) 12-7 (.632)
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