NBA Rankings - 5 Mar

It's been a rough few weeks for the top three teams, but they were all so far ahead of any other team in the league already that the same 3 are still sitting at the top of the rankings this week. The hottest team in the league has been New Orleans, who has played themselves into the #9 spot in the playoffs, even without their best player, while the 76ers have been hot in the East since the trade for James Harden, and are now projected to take the #2 seed. Here are my full current rankings and playoff picks:

				Record		Proj
Rank	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	Seed
1	1	Phoenix	-6.96	51	12	65	17	W1
2	2	Golden State	-5.57	43	20	55	26	W2
3	3	Utah	-5.29	39	23	52	30	W4
4	4	Miami	-4.38	42	22	54	28	E1
5	7	Boston	-4.02	38	27	48	34	E4
6	5	Memphis	-3.99	43	21	55	27	W3
7	9	Dallas	-3.47	38	25	50	32	W5
8	8	Milwaukee	-3.22	39	25	49	33	E3
9	11	Philadelphia	-2.8	39	23	51	31	E2
10	6	Cleveland	-2.8	36	27	47	34	E6
11	12	Denver	-2.2	37	26	47	34	W6
12	14	Minnesota	-1.79	34	30	44	38	W7
13	10	Toronto	-1.31	34	29	44	38	E7
14	13	Chicago	-1.25	39	25	48	34	E5
15	15	Atlanta	-1.02	31	32	41	40	E8
16	18	Charlotte	0.132	31	33	40	42	E10
17	20	LA Clippers	0.197	34	31	42	40	W8
18	17	San Antonio	0.316	24	39	33	49	OUT
19	16	Brooklyn	0.708	32	32	41	41	E9
20	24	New Orleans	0.925	27	36	36	46	W9
21	19	New York	1.895	26	37	34	48
22	21	Indiana	2.079	22	43	29	53
23	23	Washington	2.483	28	34	36	46
24	22	LA Lakers	2.493	27	35	34	48	W10
25	25	Portland	3.712	25	37	33	49
26	26	Sacramento	4.364	24	41	29	53
27	27	Oklahoma City	5.633	20	43	26	56
28	28	Orlando	6.605	16	48	21	61
29	30	Detroit	7.725	17	47	21	61
30	29	Houston	8.277	15	48	19	63

Playoff Picks

Play In

(7) Raptors over (8) Hawks in 3

(9) Nets over (10) Hornets

(8) Hawks over (9) Nets

(7) Timberwolves over (8) Clippers in 2

(9) Pelicans over (10) Lakers

(8) Clippers over (9) Pelicans

First Round

(1) Heat over (8) Hawks in 6

(2) 76ers over (7) Raptors in 7

(3) Bucks over (6) Cavaliers in 7

(4) Celtics over (5) Bulls in 6

(1) Suns over (8) Clippers in 5

(2) Warriors over (7) Timberwolves in 6

(3) Grizzlies over (6) Nuggets in 7

(4) Jazz over (5) Mavericks in 7

Second Round

(1) Heat over (4) Celtics in 7

(2) 76ers over (3) Bucks in 7

(1) Suns over (4) Jazz in 7

(2) Warriors over (3) Grizzlies in 7

Conference Finals

(1) Heat over (2) 76ers in 7

(1) Suns over (2) Warriors in 7

NBA Finals

(1) Suns over (1) Heat in 6