NBA Rankings - 16 Apr

There are only two weeks left in the season, and the playoff races are heating up. Half of the playoff spots are still up for grabs, although the Eastern Conference race could be wrapped up much faster than the one in the West if Milwaukee doesn't rebound from its current slump. The West still has 7 teams vying for 5 spots, so each game holds a lot of importance. Here are the updated rankings, with rising teams in green and falling teams in red, and gaps between groups of teams representing different levels of performance.

TW. Team (Week) (Overall) Rating (LW)
1. Oklahoma City (3-1) (44-16) -6.81 (2)
2. Chicago (3-0) (46-14) -6.23 (3)
3. San Antonio (2-2) (42-16) -5.91 (1)
4. Miami (2-2) (42-17) -5.28 (4)

5. LA Clippers (3-1) (37-23) -2.50 (7)
6. Boston (4-1) (36-25) -2.48 (6)
7. New York (2-2) (31-29) -2.45 (5)
8. Philadelphia (2-1) (31-28) -2.16 (10)
9. Memphis (3-2) (35-25) -1.99 (8)
10. LA Lakers (4-0) (39-22) -1.93 (12)
11. Indiana (4-0) (38-22) -1.92 (9)

12. Dallas (3-1) (34-27) -1.12 (15)
13. Denver (3-1) (33-27) -1.01 (19)
14. Atlanta (1-2) (35-25) -0.85 (13)
15. Phoenix (2-2) (31-29) -0.76 (16)
16. Houston (1-3) (32-28) -0.34 (11)
17. Utah (2-2) (31-30) -0.09 (18)
18. Portland (1-3) (28-33) 0.36 (20)
19. Milwaukee (1-3) (29-31) 0.39 (14)
20. Orlando (2-2) (35-25) 0.44 (17)

21. Minnesota (0-4) (25-36) 2.78 (21)
22. New Orleans (3-1) (18-42) 3.30 (24)
23. Toronto (2-2) (22-39) 3.60 (23)
24. Golden State (0-4) (22-37) 3.64 (22)

25. Detroit (1-3) (22-38) 6.18 (26)
26. Sacramento (1-3) (20-41) 6.20 (25)
27. New Jersey (1-2) (22-39) 6.43 (27)

28. Washington (2-2) (14-46) 7.42 (28)

29. Cleveland (2-3) (20-39) 8.43 (29)

30. Charlotte (0-5) (7-52) 14.54 (30)

Playoff Seeding Predictions

Each team is listed with its projected final record, and the number of games different that projection is from last week, with teams that have improved in the last week in green and falling teams in red. Most teams should finish within two games of the current projection.

Eastern Conference

1. Chicago (51-15) +1

2. Miami (47-19) -1

3. Indiana (42-24) +1

4. Boston (39-27) +1

5. Atlanta (39-27)
6. Orlando (38-28) -1

7. New York (35-31)
8. Philadelphia (35-31)

9. Milwaukee (32-34) -2

The race has pretty much been decided already in the East, with two pairs of teams that could still switch spots with each other, with no huge difference in the quality of team they will face in the first round. Milwaukee's collapse this week has pretty much knocked them out of the race, but since they are not mathematically eliminated, I'll keep them here for at least this week. New York owns the tiebreaker over Philadelphia, which gives them the chance to play Miami in the first round.

Western Conference

1. San Antonio (48-18) -1
2. Oklahoma City (48-18)

3. LA Lakers (42-24) +3
4. LA Clippers (40-26) +1
5. Memphis (39-27)

6. Dallas (37-29) +2
7. Denver (36-30) +1
8. Houston (35-31) -1
9. Phoenix (34-32) +1
10. Utah (34-32) +1

San Antonio owns the tiebreaker over Oklahoma City, and since both have the same number of losses today, the Spurs have the advantage. The Lakers are pulling away from the Clippers and Grizzlies and have nearly become the first team in the West to lock down its seeding. The bottom 5 teams are closer than ever, with only Dallas looking strong enough to say they are safely in, though they could end up in any of the bottom 3 spots.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

Tuesday

Indiana at Philadelphia - 76ers by 3
Cleveland at Detroit - Pistons by 5
Memphis at Minnesota - Grizzlies by 2
Boston at New York - Knicks by 3
San Antonio at LA Lakers - Spurs by 1

Wednesday

Philadelphia at Cleveland - 76ers by 8
Milwaukee at Washington - Bucks by 4
Chicago at Charlotte - Bulls by 18
Detroit at Atlanta - Hawks by 10
Toronto at Miami - Heat by 12
New York at New Jersey - Knicks by 6
Orlando at Boston - Celtics by 6
New Orleans at Memphis - Grizzlies by 8
Houston at Dallas - Mavericks by 4
LA Clippers at Denver - Nuggets by 1
Utah at Portland - Trail Blazers by 2
Oklahoma City at Phoenix - Thunder by 3
San Antonio at Sacramento - Spurs by 9
LA Lakers at Golden State - Lakers by 3

Thursday

Milwaukee at Indiana - Pacers by 5
Minnesota at Detroit - Timberwolves by 1
Houston at New Orleans - Rockets by 1
Chicago at Miami - Heat by 2
LA Clippers at Phoenix - Suns by 1

Friday

Boston at Atlanta - Hawks by 1
Memphis at Charlotte - Grizzlies by 14
New York at Cleveland - Knicks by 8
Golden State at Dallas - Mavericks by 7
LA Lakers at San Antonio - Spurs by 7
Oklahoma City at Sacramento - Thunder by 10

Saturday

Denver at Phoenix - Suns by 3
Philadelphia at Indiana - Pacers by 2
Washington at Miami - Heat by 15
Dallas at Chicago - Bulls by 8
Golden State at Houston - Rockets by 7
Portland at Memphis - Grizzlies by 5
New Jersey at Milwaukee - Bucks by 9
Orlando at Utah - Jazz by 3

Sunday

New York at Atlanta - Hawks by 1
Oklahoma City at LA Lakers - Thunder by 2
Toronto at Detroit - Pistons by 1
Houston at Miami - Heat by 8
Sacramento at Charlotte - Kings by 6
Golden State at Minnesota - Timberwolves by 4
Cleveland at San Antonio - Spurs by 17
Orlando at Denver - Nuggets by 4
New Orleans at LA Clippers - Clippers by 9

Prediction Results

NBA: 32-18 (.640) 419-217 overall (.659)
Upsets: 3-5 (.375) 62-51 overall (.549)