I like to look at NBA rankings about this time of the season as we reach a crossover point with football. NBA, college football and NFL have all played about 10 games.
Here are my NBA team rankings through games on Monday, November 5th, 2018. The rating gives an expected margin of victory against an average NBA team.
1. Milwaukee, (7-1), 11.57
2. Golden State, (9-1), 9.21
3. Toronto, (9-1), 8.39
4. Denver, (9-1), 7.26
5. Boston, (6-4), 5.45
6. Portland, (7-3), 5.39
7. Charlotte, (4-5), 2.52
8. Indiana, (7-4), 2.30
9. Oklahoma City, (5-4), 1.94
10. Utah, (4-6), 1.25
11. Memphis, (5-4), 1.14
12. New Orleans, (3-6), 1.12
13. Los Angeles Clippers, (5-4), 0.90
14. Los Angeles Lakers, (4-6), 0.63
15. Sacramento, (5-4), -0.09
16. Miami, (4-5), -0.11
17. San Antonio, (6-3), -1.15
18. Minnesota, (4-6), -1.38
19. Houston, (4-4), -1.43
20. Philadelphia, (6-5), -1.52
21. New York, (3-7), -1.64
22. Washington, (2-6), -3.23
23. Orlando, (4-6), -3.48
24. Chicago, (3-7), -4.24
25. Brooklyn, (4-5), -4.58
26. Detroit, (4-5), -5.12
27. Dallas, (2-6), -6.50
28. Phoenix, (2-7), -7.75
29. Cleveland, (1-9), -9.28
30. Atlanta, (3-6), -9.66
From only early season results, we would conclude that top ranked Milwaukee is better than Golden State, the dynasty that has won 3 of the last 4 NBA titles.
We might give up on LeBron, as the Lakers aren’t even the best team in Los Angeles. The Lakers are ranked 14th, right behind the Clippers.
Of course, these results reflect small sample size. Remember this when you look only at football numbers from this season.
Follow along with my NBA rankings, which get updated daily, to see how the season plays out.
In the college football predictions, is there a rationale for the ordering of the gms 1, 2, 3 etc.? I’d like to know to help me find certain gms easier.