NBA Rankings - 19 Feb

This week a different state became the NBA hot spot, displacing the Texas triangle's dominance from last week, and one of those teams is now the top team in the league, both in my rankings and by overall record. Meanwhile, Charlotte actually won a game, although it was nowhere near enough to pull them from the cellar, where they will likely remain for the remainder of the season. With just 4.5 days left till All-Star Weekend, here are the current rankings of all 30 NBA teams, with gaps between groups of teams representing differing levels of performance.

TW. Team (Week) (Overall) Rating (LW)
1. Miami (5-0) (25-7) -10.64 (4)

2. Chicago (2-1) (25-8) -8.64 (1)
3. Oklahoma City (2-1) (23-7) -7.89 (6)
4. San Antonio (3-0) (22-9) -7.56 (2)

5. Philadelphia (1-2) (20-11) -5.85 (3)
6. Dallas (3-1) (20-12) -5.81 (7)
7. LA Clippers (2-2) (19-10) -5.04 (9)
8. Portland (2-2) (17-15) -4.49 (5)

9. LA Lakers (2-0) (18-12) -3.44 (12)
10. Orlando (3-1) (20-12) -3.31 (16)
11. Denver (1-2) (17-14) -3.02 (10)
12. Houston (1-3) (17-14) -2.57 (8)
13. Memphis (4-1) (18-14) -2.50 (11)
14. Atlanta (1-3) (19-12) -2.27 (13)
15. Minnesota (2-1) (15-16) -1.64 (17)
16. New York (3-1) (16-16) -1.29 (18)
17. Boston (0-2) (15-14) -1.18 (15)
18. Indiana (1-2) (18-12) -1.16 (14)

19. Golden State (2-3) (11-17) 0.07 (19)
20. Utah (2-2) (15-14) 0.28 (20)
21. Milwaukee (0-3) (12-18) 0.95 (22)
22. Cleveland (1-1) (11-17) 1.82 (23)
23. Phoenix (0-4) (12-19) 1.86 (21)

24. New Orleans (3-0) (7-23) 3.34 (26)

25. Toronto (0-3) (9-23) 4.53 (25)
26. Detroit (2-2) (10-22) 4.71 (27)
27. Sacramento (0-3) (10-20) 5.03 (24)
28. New Jersey (1-2) (9-23) 5.36 (28)
29. Washington (2-2) (7-24) 6.30 (29)

30. Charlotte (1-2) (4-26) 11.23 (30)

Hot

Miami has been living up to their team nickname this week, with 5 wins in 5 games, each of which was by double digits, with the first four coming on the road, and the final one coming today against Orlando after they returned from a 6-game road trip. Each of the Heat's Big Three made appearances on my MVP rankings this morning, and they should easily win their 7th straight on Tuesday before the streaking Knicks come to town Thursday in a game that should be a lot of fun to watch.

Orlando lost only once this week, and the loss came to Miami, so each game played by these two teams this week was won by a team from Florida, making the Sunshine State the hottest one this week. All of their victories came over playoff contenders, and Dwight Howard has to be excited to see Milwaukee tomorrow for the third time in 10 days, since he blocked four shots in each of the last two matchups.

Not

Indiana let its losing streak stretch to five games before finally beating the New Jersey Nets on Thursday, in what happened to be the Pacers' third game in three nights. Thankfully for them, their three games this week are against Charlotte and New Orleans, two teams which have combined for only 11 wins all season, so they may be able to at least feel like they're playing well before the break.

Houston had an odd week. After being smoking hot last week, they lost three times this week, to Golden State, Memphis, and Minnesota, but they did pull out one last-second victory this week, over the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. They close out the first half of their season with a 3-game homestand against some decent competition, but they'll have to perform better than this past week if they want to compete for a playoff spot.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

Sunday

Sacramento at Cleveland - Cavaliers by 6
Boston at Detroit - Celtics by 3
Charlotte at Indiana - Pacers by 15
Utah at Houston - Rockets by 6
Philadelphia at Minnesota - 76ers by 1
Milwaukee at New Jersey - Bucks by 2
Denver at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 8
LA Lakers at Phoenix - Lakers by 2

Monday

Atlanta at Chicago - Bulls by 9
New Jersey at New York - Knicks by 10
Boston at Dallas - Mavericks by 8
Memphis at Houston - Rockets by 3
Orlando at Milwaukee - Magic by 1
New Orleans at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 14
Washington at Phoenix - Suns by 7
Minnesota at Denver - Nuggets by 4
San Antonio at Utah - Spurs by 5
LA Clippers at Golden State - Clippers by 2
Portland at LA Lakers - Lakers by 2

Tuesday

Detroit at Cleveland - Cavaliers by 6
New Orleans at Indiana - Pacers by 7
Sacramento at Miami - Heat by 19
Philadelphia at Memphis - 76ers by 1
San Antonio at Portland - Spurs by 1

Wednesday

New Orleans at Cleveland - Cavaliers by 4
Boston at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 10
Sacramento at Washington - Wizards by 2
Detroit at Toronto - Raptors by 3
Indiana at Charlotte - Pacers by 10
Orlando at New Jersey - Magic by 6
Atlanta at New York - Knicks by 2
Milwaukee at Chicago - Bulls by 13
Philadelphia at Houston - 76ers by 1
Utah at Minnesota - Timberwolves by 5
Golden State at Phoenix - Suns by 1
LA Lakers at Dallas - Mavericks by 5
Denver at LA Clippers - Clippers by 5

Thursday

New York at Miami - Heat by 12
Orlando at Atlanta - Hawks by 2
San Antonio at Denver - Spurs by 2
LA Lakers at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 7

Prediction Results

NBA: 36-16 (.692) 172-97 overall (.639)
Upsets: 9-2 (.818) 32-25 overall (.561)