San Antonio has extended their league-leading winning streak to 11 games and increased their lead over the Thunder in the standings to 1.5 games, but they still haven't quite caught up to the top team in my rankings. They have closed the gap for the second straight week, and one more week at the current pace would put them ahead of Oklahoma City for the first time in nearly a month. Here are my current rankings for each team, with teams grouped by similar level of performance.
TW. (LW) Team (Week) Overall
1. (1) Oklahoma City (2-1) 37-12
2. (2) San Antonio (2-0) 39-11
3. (4) Miami (3-1) 32-14
4. (5) Denver (3-0) 32-18
5. (3) LA Clippers (1-3) 35-16
6. (8) Houston (2-1) 27-24
7. (7) New York (3-1) 31-16
8. (12) Indiana (4-0) 31-19
9. (6) Memphis (1-2) 30-18
10. (11) LA Lakers (3-1) 23-27
11. (9) Chicago (1-3) 29-20
12. (10) Golden State (1-2) 30-19
13. (13) Brooklyn (2-1) 29-20
14. (14) Atlanta (1-2) 27-21
15. (18) Boston (4-0) 26-23
16. (16) Dallas (2-1) 21-28
17. (17) Utah (3-1) 28-22
18. (15) Milwaukee (1-3) 25-23
19. (20) Portland (2-2) 25-24
20. (21) Minnesota (1-3) 18-28
21. (22) Toronto (1-2) 17-32
22. (19) New Orleans (1-2) 16-33
23. (23) Detroit (1-3) 18-32
24. (25) Washington (2-2) 13-35
25. (26) Philadelphia (2-1) 21-27
26. (24) Phoenix (1-3) 17-33
27. (27) Cleveland (2-1) 15-34
28. (28) Orlando (0-4) 14-35
29. (29) Sacramento (0-3) 17-33
30. (30) Charlotte (0-3) 11-37
Indiana has won 5 straight games against teams currently among the top 10 teams in the East, making them the hottest team in the league right now. All 5 wins came by at least 10 points, and the Pacers have now moved up to #3 in the East and are only 3 games behind Miami for the top spot. David West scored 30 and 29 in wins over Miami and Chicago, who are both in line for home court in the first round of the playoffs.
Houston had one of the biggest blowouts of the week for the second week in a row, destroying the Golden State Warriors by 31 points in a game in which they tied the NBA record for most 3-pointers made in one game. Omer Asik has been dominant inside, grabbing at least 14 rebounds in 6 straight games for the Rockets.
Denver has extended their winning streak to 8 games, second-longest in the league, and has now won 14 of their last 16 games to move into 4th place in the West. In yesterday's win over Chicago, which was only giving up an average of 91 points per game, the Nuggets reached 100 points before the end of the 3rd quarter and relaxed through the 4th quarter of a 32-point blowout.
New York was also hot this week, blowing out several of the lower-tier teams before sputtering against the resurgent Washington Wizards. Tyson Chandler grabbed 20 rebounds in each of the Knicks' 3 wins tying a franchise record set by Willis Reed in 1969. New York's next two games are against teams that are struggling because of injuries, Minnesota and the Clippers, so they should be able to get back on the winning track.
Predictions
Upset picks are in italics.
Brooklyn at Washington - Nets by 1
LA Lakers at Charlotte - Lakers by 7
Toronto at Indiana - Pacers by 12
New Orleans at Atlanta - Hawks by 5
San Antonio at Detroit - Spurs by 8
Orlando at Cleveland - Cavaliers by 5
Phoenix at Oklahoma City - Thunder by 15
LA Clippers at Miami - Heat by 4
Golden State at Memphis - Grizzlies by 5
Portland at Houston - Rockets by 9
New York at Minnesota - Knicks by 3
Chicago at Utah - Jazz by 1
Prediction Results
NBA: 11-4 (.733) 494-240 overall (.673)
Upsets: 2-2 (.500) 89-66 overall (.574)
College Basketball: 13-5 (.722) 644-141 overall (.820)
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