NBA Rankings - 17 Mar

The hottest team in the league was just outside of the playoff picture 2 weeks ago, but after 8 straight wins, the Jazz have moved up to a projected #6, and are only 2 games out of #3 in the West. They have also moved up to #4 in my rankings, behind only the 3 real contenders who are projected to win 60 games, so they could also be a real threat in the playoffs. Here are this week's full rankings and playoff picks:

				Rec		Proj
TW	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	MOV	SOS	PO Seed
1	1	Houston	-9.505	54	14	65	17	1	16	W1
2	2	Toronto	-8.386	52	17	62	20	2	29	E1
3	3	Golden State	-7.511	52	17	62	20	3	14	W2
4	7	Utah	-4.14	39	30	47	35	5	6	W6
5	4	Boston	-4.047	47	22	55	27	4	28	E2
6	6	Minnesota	-3.649	40	29	48	34	8	8	W4
7	5	Philadelphia	-3.461	38	30	48	34	7	5	E3
8	8	Portland	-3.256	42	26	49	33	9	25	W3
9	9	Oklahoma City	-3.203	42	29	47	35	6	26	W5
10	10	San Antonio	-2.879	39	30	46	36	10	20	W8
11	11	Denver	-2.797	38	31	45	37	11	23
12	12	Washington	-1.966	39	30	46	36	12	19	E4
13	13	LA Clippers	-1.874	37	31	44	38	14	18
14	15	Indiana	-1.425	40	29	46	36	13	30	E5
15	14	New Orleans	-1.33	39	29	46	36	15	10	W7
16	16	Miami	-0.795	37	33	44	38	16	21	E7
17	17	Cleveland	-0.601	39	29	46	36	17	24	E6
18	18	Charlotte	-0.216	30	39	37	45	19	17
19	19	Milwaukee	-0.159	36	32	43	39	18	22	E8
20	20	LA Lakers	0.0925	31	38	37	45	20	12
21	22	Dallas	1.0321	22	47	28	54	22	2
22	21	Detroit	1.1367	30	38	37	45	21	15
23	23	New York	3.4812	24	45	29	53	23	4
24	24	Brooklyn	3.5559	21	48	26	56	25	9
25	25	Orlando	3.8031	21	49	26	56	24	13
26	28	Chicago	4.3687	24	44	29	53	26	11
27	26	Memphis	4.9127	18	50	22	60	28	7
28	27	Atlanta	4.979	20	49	23	59	27	27
29	29	Sacramento	5.6008	23	47	27	55	29	1
30	30	Phoenix	7.4211	19	51	22	60	30	3

Playoff Picks

First Round

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

Second Round

(1) Raptors over (5) Pacers
(3) 76ers over (2) Celtics
(1) Rockets over (5) Thunder
(2) Warriors over (6) Jazz

Conference Finals

(1) Raptors over (3) 76ers
(1) Rockets over (2) Warriors

NBA Finals

(1) Raptors over (1) Rockets