NBA Rankings - 1 Feb

The San Antonio Spurs' winning streak has reached 9 games and they now have the league's best record, but they still haven't taken over the top spot in my rankings. They have closed the gap with Oklahoma City, who held on to the top spot despite losing to the Lakers, but still have the largest average margin of victory in the league. Here are my current rankings, with teams grouped by similar level of performance.

TW. (LW) Team (Week) Overall
1. (1) Oklahoma City (2-1) 35-11
2. (2) San Antonio (3-0) 37-11

3. (3) LA Clippers (2-1) 34-13
4. (4) Miami (2-1) 29-13

5. (7) Denver (3-0) 29-18

6. (6) Memphis (2-2) 29-16
7. (5) New York (2-1) 28-15
8. (14) Houston (3-1) 25-23

9. (10) Chicago (3-1) 28-17
10. (9) Golden State (3-2) 29-17
11. (13) LA Lakers (3-1) 20-26
12. (11) Indiana (1-2) 27-19
13. (8) Brooklyn (1-3) 27-19

14. (15) Atlanta (2-1) 26-19
15. (18) Milwaukee (2-2) 24-20
16. (16) Dallas (1-3) 19-27
17. (12) Utah (2-2) 25-21
18. (19) Boston (2-1) 22-23
19. (17) New Orleans (1-3) 15-31
20. (21) Portland (2-1) 23-22

21. (23) Minnesota (0-3) 17-25
22. (22) Toronto (0-3) 16-30
23. (20) Detroit (1-3) 17-29
24. (24) Phoenix (1-2) 16-30
25. (25) Washington (2-2) 11-33
26. (26) Philadelphia (2-1) 19-26

27. (28) Cleveland (2-1) 13-33

28. (27) Orlando (0-3) 14-31

29. (29) Sacramento (1-3) 17-30

30. (30) Charlotte (1-2) 11-34

Houston has turned things around again, coming back from a recent 7-game losing streak in strong fashion this week. The game that best represents the turnaround was their 45-point blowout of the Jazz in Salt Lake City, which set a record for the largest loss by Utah in their home arena in history. They also won by double digits over the Hornets and the Nets, both teams which had been hot recently.

Led by first-time All-Star Jrue Holiday, the Philadelphia 76ers had their best week in a long time, beating the New York Knicks decisively and taking down the Washington Wizards, who had finally found their winning groove. They still haven't had a winning streak since November, but they have a chance tonight against Sacramento, one of the few teams they should be beating.

The Los Angeles Lakers also heated up this week, winning three in a row for the first time since late December, beating both Utah and Oklahoma City in the process. They still haven't won a road game since December 22, but the progress they've made at home has to translate over to the road eventually, right?

Milwaukee's 27-point win at Detroit would have been the biggest road win most weeks, but Houston's blowout of Utah the day before took the focus off of the Bucks. Milwaukee had just come off a big win over Golden State, but a loss against Chicago right after the Detroit game slowed the momentum they were starting to build.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

LA Clippers at Toronto - Clippers by 7
Miami at Indiana - Heat by 2
Orlando at Boston - Celtics by 7
Chicago at Brooklyn - Nets by 2
Milwaukee at New York - Knicks by 6
Sacramento at Philadelphia - 76ers by 7
Cleveland at Detroit - Pistons by 5
Washington at Memphis - Grizzlies by 10
New Orleans at Denver - Nuggets by 8
Dallas at Phoenix - Suns by 1
Portland at Utah - Jazz by 4
LA Lakers at Minnesota - Lakers by 1

Prediction Results

NBA: 2-0 (1.000) 456-226 overall (.669)
College Basketball: 10-1 (.909) 576-128 overall (.818)
Upsets: 1-1 (.500) 53-42 overall (.558)