NBA Weekly Rankings: It's Celtic Green at the Top of the Table

The past week we've witnessed a lot play in the NBA that has made analysts and fans stand up. There are four teams on hot winning streaks: Dallas - 12 wins, Boston - 10 wins, Miami - 8 wins, New York - 7 wins with each team playing inspired basketball.


Let's start with Dallas: The Mavericks have had their best start to a season since 2002/03 when they used to have amazing battles with San Antonio in the playoff conference finals. Dirk Nowitzki is having his best and most efficient season ever, and the deep team have finally clicked to get their 'pass to find the best man' game going. The inclusion of Tyson Chandler has also brought energy, and defense that changes many interior shots, and allows Nowitzki to clean up on the boards without boxing out. 


Boston are the most impressive team this week in the weekly rankings, solely based on their statistical output. Their defense is the league's best, with the return to form by Kevin Garnett on the defensive end and the long-armed defenders on the perimeter stifling opposition offense. This was evidenced in their win yesterday over Charlotte keeping them to a season low 62 points. 


As for Miami, we are still skeptical at Sports Analytics Inc, however you cannot dispute an 8-game winning streak even if the calibre of the teams they've beaten are predominantly sub-par. Miami has the 2nd best defense in the league for points against despite having no major interior defensive threat and their ability to turn the ball over in half court and fast-break to the rim has been nothing short of remarkable. The only concerns Sports Analytics has that come playoff time, when games are won and lost in the half court game that they may fall short. 


Finally of the streakers, New York, are playing inspired basketball. The two-man game between Felton and Stoudemire is one of the most pleasant surprises of the season thus far. Two free agents in the Summer have banded together to give this basketball mecca hope for the first time in 8 years. Furthermore Stoudemire is claiming MVP chants with 8 straight games of over 30 points. The big test comes this week with Boston and Miami waiting in the wings. 

As for the Sports Analytics INC weekly rankings driven by our deep statistical analysis formula, here they are:

Team	PPG	Opp PPG	Off Eff	Def Eff	W	L	Streak Points	Perf Points	Weekly Ranking
Boston	101	91.9	107.1	96.9	19	4	100	651.150	1
Dallas	98.4	92.6	106.4	99.1	19	4	120	630.000	2
San Antonio	106.9	97.6	110	100.2	19	3	40	603.650	3
Miami	100.6	92.0	108.5	97.8	17	8	80	568.810	4
LA Lakers	107.8	99.4	110.7	102.7	17	7	10	523.280	5
Utah	100.6	96.8	105.7	102.6	17	8	-10	439.540	6
New York	108	106.3	108.9	105.6	16	9	80	436.540	7
Chicago	100	98.9	102.4	100.4	14	8	50	415.230	8
Atlanta	99.2	91.9	106.7	103.4	16	9	10	438.780	9
Orlando	97.4	90.8	105.8	97.5	15	8	-40	335.920	10
Portland	95.2	95.6	103.4	104.1	12	11	40	334.210	11
New Orleans	94.8	91.8	102.6	99.1	14	9	-20	332.240	12
Oklahoma	103.3	103.4	105.6	105.2	16	8	20	318.560	13
Denver	105	103.2	106.2	103.7	14	9	-10	312.940	14
Indiana	100.5	97.7	102.9	100.7	11	11	-10	225.660	15
Memphis	100.9	102.9	103.2	105.9	10	14	20	220.700	16
Phoenix	108.8	109.9	109.8	110	11	12	-30	199.500	17
Houston	105.3	105.7	106.1	107.4	9	13	10	189.310	18
Milwaukee	91.2	93.0	96.8	99.6	9	13	20	168.980	19
Toronto	101.5	104.2	104.1	108	9	15	10	154.010	20
Philadelphia	98.3	98.8	103.2	102.9	8	15	10	149.790	21
Charlotte	95.1	97.0	101.7	103.7	8	15	-20	125.160	22
Golden State	101.4	107.0	103.1	109	8	15	-60	56.060	23
Sacramento	95	101.0	99.9	106.4	5	16	-10	52.640	24
Detroit	93.2	99.7	100.1	107.7	7	18	-40	-8.490	25
LA Clippers	96.8	102.8	100.3	108	5	19	-20	-11.510	26
Washington	98.1	106.6	100.6	109.5	6	16	-40	-15.150	27
New Jersey	93.6	99.0	100.4	105.9	6	18	-70	-26.170	28
Minnesota	102.3	109.4	100.6	108.3	6	18	-10	-48.730	29
Cleveland	93.9	102.4	98.1	107.9	7	16	-70	-58.070	30