Last week I got wrapped up in the release of the NCAA Tournament bracket and didn't get to my NBA rankings, so this week I'm getting you updated, and I'm including what their rankings would have been last week here along with their rankings last time I posted. The season is 67% finished, and the playoff picture is starting to take shape, with Chicago in position to possibly clinch a playoff berth before the end of the month. Here are the latest rankings, with gaps between teams representing different levels of performance.
TW. Team (2 Weeks) (Overall) Rating (LW) (LLW)
1. Miami (4-2) (32-11) -8.68 (2) (1)
2. Chicago (7-2) (37-10) -8.46 (1) (2)
3. Philadelphia (3-5) (25-20) -6.69 (3) (4)
4. Oklahoma City (4-3) (33-11) -5.58 (4) (3)
5. San Antonio (4-3) (29-14) -4.92 (5) (5)
6. LA Lakers (5-2) (28-16) -3.34 (9) (6)
7. Indiana (2-6) (25-18) -2.99 (7) (9)
8. Memphis (2-3) (24-18) -2.95 (6) (10)
9. Orlando (5-2) (29-16) -2.87 (13) (12)
10. Atlanta (3-4) (25-19) -2.67 (12) (15)
11. New York (3-5) (21-24) -2.35 (21) (17)
12. LA Clippers (4-5) (25-18) -2.18 (10) (13)
13. Denver (5-3) (25-20) -2.15 (11) (11)
14. Portland (3-4) (21-23) -1.69 (8) (7)
15. Dallas (4-4) (26-20) -1.27 (14) (8)
16. Minnesota (3-4) (22-23) -0.77 (15) (14)
17. Milwaukee (6-1) (20-24) -0.47 (22) (22)
18. Utah (5-3) (22-22) -0.30 (16) (18)
19. Boston (4-4) (23-21) -0.13 (18) (19)
20. Houston (3-5) (24-21) 0.35 (17) (16)
21. Phoenix (6-2) (22-22) 0.64 (20) (20)
22. Golden State (4-5) (18-24) 0.76 (19) (21)
23. Toronto (4-5) (15-30) 3.71 (25) (24)
24. Cleveland (3-3) (16-25) 4.07 (26) (27)
25. New Orleans (2-6) (11-34) 4.74 (23) (23)
26. Detroit (4-2) (16-28) 4.82 (27) (28)
27. Sacramento (3-5) (15-29) 4.93 (24) (25)
28. New Jersey (3-5) (15-31) 5.57 (28) (26)
29. Washington (2-5) (10-33) 7.13 (29) (29)
30. Charlotte (3-6) (7-36) 11.39 (30) (30)
Miami may not have won as many games as Chicago over the last 2 weeks, and they even lost to the Bulls last week, but Miami took back the lead from Chicago anyway. Both of their losses were in very close road games against top 10 teams, and 3 of their wins were also against teams in the top 10, so the sheer difficulty of these last two weeks for the Heat is what has allowed them to maintain their standing at the top.
Chicago, meanwhile, also lost two games over that stretch, one to the Orlando Magic, who also beat Miami, but the other one came against Portland, who has been struggling severely over the last month. Even worse, both losses came on their home court, and the game against the Blazers wasn't even that close. Luckily for Chicago, they can point to the fact that Derrick Rose is out to explain the loss, but it's still a loss.
Philadelphia moved up to #3 this week despite losing more games than they won over the past couple weeks. The thing to notice is that three of those losses were expected to happen, because they came against Chicago or Miami, and all three losses were by single digits. They are definitely not on the same level as the Heat or Bulls, but they are better than most of the other teams out there.
Since Dwight Howard announced he would remain in Orlando, the Magic have caught on fire, beating Chicago, Indiana, and Miami, while dropping only one game over that span, which was a tough road game against the Spurs. Before that announcement, the Magic lost a game to Charlotte, one of the worst teams in league history, so it's easy to see what a difference it has already made.
New York has responded in a very positive manner to a change in coaching, winning three straight games under Mike Woodson after losing their last 6 under Mike D'Antoni. Each of the three wins came by at least 15 points, and that should continue when they play Toronto on Tuesday before they face their first real test under Woodson on Wednesday when they travel to Philadelphia.
Portland, meanwhile, hasn't won two straight games since late January, and they have fallen to 12th place in the Western Conference playoff picture as a result. They are also playing with a new coach, but the results are still the same, with surprising wins over good teams sandwiched between losses to bad teams.
Predictions
Upset picks are in italics.
Sunday
Atlanta at Cleveland - Hawks by 4
Detroit at LA Clippers - Clippers by 10
Minnesota at Sacramento - Timberwolves by 3
Washington at Memphis - Grizzlies by 13
Orlando at Miami - Heat by 9
Houston at Phoenix - Suns by 3
Utah at LA Lakers - Lakers by 6
Portland at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 7
Monday
Philadelphia at Charlotte - 76ers by 15
Boston at Atlanta - Hawks by 6
Cleveland at New Jersey - Nets by 2
Chicago at Orlando - Bulls by 3
Dallas at Denver - Nuggets by 4
Minnesota at Golden State - Warriors by 2
Tuesday
LA Clippers at Indiana - Pacers by 4
Toronto at New York - Knicks by 9
Phoenix at Miami - Heat by 12
LA Lakers at Houston - Lakers by 1
Oklahoma City at Utah - Thunder by 2
Milwaukee at Portland - Trail Blazers by 4
Memphis at Sacramento - Grizzlies by 5
Wednesday
Phoenix at Orlando - Magic by 7
New York at Philadelphia - 76ers by 8
Chicago at Toronto - Bulls by 9
Cleveland at Atlanta - Hawks by 10
Washington at New Jersey - Nets by 5
Golden State at New Orleans - Warriors by 1
LA Clippers at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 7
Minnesota at San Antonio - Spurs by 7
Detroit at Denver - Nuggets by 10
LA Lakers at Dallas - Mavericks by 1
Thursday
Indiana at Washington - Pacers by 7
LA Clippers at New Orleans - Clippers by 4
Golden State at Houston - Rockets by 4
Boston at Milwaukee - Bucks by 4
Memphis at Portland - Trail Blazers by 2
Utah at Sacramento - Jazz by 2
Friday
Phoenix at Indiana - Pacers by 7
Cleveland at Orlando - Magic by 10
New York at Toronto - Knicks by 3
Milwaukee at Charlotte - Bucks by 9
New Jersey at Atlanta - Hawks by 11
Miami at Detroit - Heat by 10
Boston at Philadelphia - 76ers by 10
Minnesota at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 8
Dallas at San Antonio - Spurs by 7
Portland at LA Lakers - Lakers by 5
Denver at Utah - Jazz by 1
Saturday
Memphis at LA Clippers - Clippers by 2
Atlanta at Washington - Hawks by 7
Charlotte at New Jersey - Nets by 9
Detroit at New York - Knicks by 10
San Antonio at New Orleans - Spurs by 7
Toronto at Chicago - Bulls by 15
Dallas at Houston - Rockets by 2
Indiana at Milwaukee - Bucks by 1
Sacramento at Golden State - Warriors by 7
Sunday
Phoenix at Cleveland - Suns by 1
Denver at Minnesota - Timberwolves by 2
Prediction Results
NBA: 36-21 (.632) 266-146 overall (.646)
Upsets: 3-4 (.429) 44-34 overall (.564)
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