NBA Rankings - 21 Mar

The hottest team in the NBA over the past month has been the LA Lakers, who have won 8 in a row and 11 of their past 12, and have gone from a projected spot in the play-in to a #3 finish in the West. Charlotte also continues to rise, moving into my top 10 for the first time ever, while the Golden State Warriors are headed in the opposite direction, losing 9 of 11 since my last update, and 18 of their past 26 overall, though their play-in spot is safe, since no other team below them in the West is trying to win. Here are my full current rankings and playoff picks:

				Record		Proj
Rank	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	Seed
1	1	Oklahoma City	-9.475	55	15	64	18	W1
2	3	San Antonio	-6.751	52	18	61	21	W2
3	2	Detroit	-6.023	51	19	59	23	E1
4	4	Boston	-5.963	47	23	55	27	E2
5	6	New York	-4.973	46	25	53	29	E3
6	5	Houston	-3.719	42	27	51	31	W4
7	7	Cleveland	-3.702	43	27	51	31	E4
8	8	Denver	-3.617	43	28	50	32	W5
9	9	Minnesota	-2.741	43	28	49	33	W6
10	13	Charlotte	-2.552	36	34	43	39	E10
11	10	Miami	-2.373	38	32	45	37	E7
12	12	Toronto	-1.725	39	30	46	36	E5
13	14	Phoenix	-1.555	39	31	46	36	W7
14	17	LA Lakers	-1.548	45	25	52	30	W3
15	19	Atlanta	-0.836	38	32	44	38	E9
16	16	Orlando	-0.716	38	31	45	37	E6
17	11	Golden State	-0.706	33	37	40	42	W10
18	18	LA Clippers	-0.457	34	36	41	41	W9
19	15	Philadelphia	-0.052	38	32	44	38	E8
20	20	Portland	0.7428	35	36	41	41	W8
21	21	Memphis	3.0687	24	45	28	54
22	25	New Orleans	3.4013	25	46	29	53
23	24	Chicago	3.7197	28	42	33	49
24	22	Milwaukee	4.4309	28	41	32	50
25	23	Dallas	4.7682	23	47	27	55
26	26	Utah	6.2764	21	49	24	58
27	27	Brooklyn	7.0977	17	53	21	61
28	29	Sacramento	8.2465	18	53	21	61
29	28	Indiana	8.2896	15	55	17	65
30	30	Washington	9.7521	16	53	18	64

Playoff Picks

Play-In

(7) Heat over (8) 76ers

(10) Hornets over (9) Hawks

(10) Hornets over (8) 76ers

(7) Suns over (8) Trail Blazers

(9) Clippers over (10) Warriors

(8) Trail Blazers over (9) Clippers

First Round

(1) Pistons over (10) Hornets in 6

(2) Celtics over (7) Heat in 6

(3) Knicks over (6) Magic in 6

(4) Cavaliers over (5) Raptors in 6

(1) Thunder over (8) Trail Blazers in 4

(2) Spurs over (7) Suns in 6

(3) Lakers over (6) Timberwolves in 7

(4) Rockets over (5) Nuggets in 7

Second Round

(1) Pistons over (4) Cavaliers in 6

(2) Celtics over (3) Knicks in 6

(1) Thunder over (4) Rockets in 5

(2) Spurs over (3) Lakers in 6

Conference Finals

(1) Pistons over (2) Celtics in 7

(1) Thunder over (2) Spurs in 6

NBA Finals

(1) Thunder over (1) Pistons in 6

NBA Rankings - Preseason

It has been 7 years since a team has repeated as NBA champions, so even though the Boston Celtics were dominant in last season's playoffs, they still aren't guaranteed to do it again. There are a couple of teams with young rising stars, and several with former MVP winners, that all look poised to give Boston a challenge this season. Dallas was the hottest team at the end of the regular season last year, and took that momentum all the way to the NBA Finals, and with one of the greatest young players in the game leading the way, they are starting this season as my pick to win the 2025 championship. Here are my full preseason rankings:

				Record		Proj
Rank	LW	Team	Rating	W	L	W	L	Seed
1	6	Dallas	-9.253			64	16	W1
2	8	Indiana	-7.523			61	19	E1
3	13	Milwaukee	-6.24			58	22	E2
4	4	Denver	-5.707			55	25	W2
5	18	LA Lakers	-5.362			55	25	W3
6	11	Phoenix	-4.236			51	29	W4
7	1	Boston	-4.219			54	26	E3
8	12	Sacramento	-3.585			50	30	W5
9	2	Oklahoma City	-3.274			50	30	W6
10	3	Minnesota	-3.131			49	31	W7
11	14	Philadelphia	-2.886			50	30	E4
12	7	New York	-1.929			47	33	E5
13	24	San Antonio	-0.59			42	38	W8
14	16	Cleveland	0.1474			41	39	E6
15	5	New Orleans	1.0274			37	43	W9
16	23	Utah	1.1792			37	43	W10
17	10	Golden State	1.8916			35	45
18	21	Atlanta	2.2563			36	44	E7
19	9	LA Clippers	2.5489			32	48
20	29	Detroit	2.8345			34	46	E8
21	19	Miami	3.6009			31	49	E9
22	17	Houston	3.6563			30	50
23	15	Orlando	3.9349			31	49
24	28	Washington	4.001			31	49	E10
25	25	Toronto	5.0643			27	53
26	27	Portland	5.198			25	55
27	22	Brooklyn	5.6578			26	54
28	20	Chicago	6.5938			23	57
29	30	Charlotte	7.9831			21	59
30	26	Memphis	8.0526			19	61