NBA Rankings - 16 Dec

There were 3 teams that went undefeated this week. The Rockets and Warriors, who were ranked in the top 2 last week, each avoided a loss this week, which is no surprise. The other team is the unexpected one. Chicago started the week as the last-place team in the league, but won all 4 of its matchups this week, and has now won 5 straight, and was able to move out of the cellar and ahead of the Pacific division doormats, Phoenix and Sacramento. Here are my full current rankings and playoff picks:

				Rec		Proj
TW	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	MOV	SOS	PO Seed
1	1	Houston	-11.63	23	4	68	14	1	24	W1
2	2	Golden State	-11.56	23	6	67	15	2	15	W2
3	3	Toronto	-8.502	19	8	60	22	3	16	E1
4	4	Boston	-5.531	24	7	57	25	4	28	E2
5	11	Denver	-3.559	16	13	46	36	8	20	W4
6	6	Washington	-3.514	16	13	46	36	6	23	E4
7	7	Utah	-3.473	14	15	44	38	9	18	W7
8	5	San Antonio	-3.407	19	10	49	33	7	25	W3
9	10	Cleveland	-3.333	21	8	50	32	5	30	E3
10	8	Oklahoma City	-2.904	14	14	44	38	10	19	W6
11	12	Indiana	-2.741	16	13	46	36	14	10	E5
12	9	Detroit	-2.656	16	13	46	36	13	6	E6
13	13	Philadelphia	-2.483	14	14	45	37	15	1	E7
14	14	Minnesota	-2.131	17	12	44	38	11	26	W5
15	15	Portland	-1.967	15	13	42	40	12	29	W8
16	17	New Orleans	-1.458	15	15	42	40	18	3
17	16	New York	-0.771	15	13	40	42	16	21	E8
18	18	Milwaukee	-0.367	15	12	40	42	17	27
19	23	Miami	-0.121	14	14	40	42	19	8
20	19	Charlotte	0.443	10	18	34	48	21	7
21	26	LA Clippers	1.1728	11	16	33	49	20	17
22	22	Dallas	1.1853	8	21	30	52	24	5
23	25	LA Lakers	1.5328	10	17	32	50	22	14
24	20	Brooklyn	1.8253	11	17	32	50	23	12
25	21	Memphis	1.8969	9	20	30	52	26	2
26	24	Orlando	2.7233	11	19	30	52	25	11
27	27	Atlanta	4.2313	6	23	22	60	27	13
28	30	Chicago	4.6053	8	20	24	58	28	9
29	29	Phoenix	5.6265	9	21	22	60	29	22
30	28	Sacramento	6.0603	9	19	23	59	30	4

Playoff Picks

First Round

(1) Raptors over (8) Knicks
(2) Celtics over (7) 76ers
(6) Pistons over (3) Cavaliers
(5) Pacers over (6) Wizards
(1) Rockets over (8) Trail Blazers
(2) Warriors over (7) Jazz
(6) Thunder over (3) Spurs
(5) Timberwolves over (4) Nuggets

Second Round

(1) Raptors over (5) Pacers
(2) Celtics over (6) Pistons
(1) Rockets over (5) Timberwolves
(2) Warriors over (6) Thunder

Conference Finals

(1) Raptors over (2) Celtics
(2) Warriors over (1) Rockets

NBA Finals

(2) Warriors over (1) Raptors