NBA Midseason Projections

This season marks the second time that Darnell and I have made preseason projections for the NBA regular season. Because last season was shortened we never re-did our projections midway through the season and just went off of what he projected the entire year. Neither of us want to really remember last year's picks because we both thought that Dirk Nowitzki would be in shape and lead the Dallas Mavericks back to the NBA Finals for the West. I'm pretty sure Dirk hasn't cared about basketball since he won his ring in 2011 and he more than likely won't care the rest of his career.

Before this season started I predicted that the Knicks would defeat the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals (ECF) and the Spurs would defeat the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals (WCF). For the NBA Finals I projected the Knicks to defeat the Spurs in a rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals and am sticking with all of those picks for the playoffs.

Darnell is currently predicting the Knicks to defeat the Bulls in the ECF and the Clippers to defeat the Spurs in the WCF. He had the Knicks defeating the Clippers for the title. Before the season started his only difference was that he projected the Heat instead of the Bulls to lose in the ECF.

Anyone could argue that I am being biased in my picks towards the Knicks, but the East looks really weak this year. The Knicks currently sit second in the East and the only team they are struggling against right now is the Bulls. The West could be won by any one of three teams in the Spurs, Thunder and Clippers, but I'm thinking this will be Tim Duncan's "last ride," and he will want to go out on top similar to that of Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens.

For the current NBA Standings you can go to this link. The following standings show how Darnell and I project the standings to look like at the end of the regular season (The number in parentheses indicates what we predicted before the season started):

My Standings (@jimzacharias):

East: 

1. Miami Heat (1) 
2. New York Knicks (2)
3. Chicago Bulls (4)
4. Indiana Pacers (3)
5. Brooklyn Nets (6)
6. Atlanta Hawks (7)
7. Milwaukee Bucks (9)
8. Boston Celtics (5)
9. Philadelphia 76ers (8)
10. Cleveland Cavaliers (10)
11. Detroit Pistons (12)
12. Washington Wizards (11)
13. Toronto Raptors (14)
14. Orlando Magic (13)
15. Charlotte Bobcats (15)

West:

1. Oklahoma City Thunder (1)
2. Los Angeles Clippers (4)
3. San Antonio Spurs (2)
4. Memphis Grizzlies (5)
5. Denver Nuggets (6)
6. Golden State Warriors (12)
7. Los Angeles Lakers (3)
8. Houston Rockets (10)
9. Utah Jazz (9)
10. Portland Trail Blazers (11)
11. Dallas Mavericks (7)
12. Minnesota Timberwolves (8)
13. New Orleans Hornets (14)
14. Sacramento Kings (13)
15. Phoenix Suns (15)

Darnell's Standings (@Darneezee):

East:

1. Chicago Bulls (9)
2. New York Knicks (4)
3. Miami Heat (2)
4. Indiana Pacers (3)
5. Boston Celtics (1)
6. Brooklyn Nets (6)
7. Milwaukee Bucks (8)
8. Atlanta Hawks (7)
9. Detroit Pistons (13)
10. Toronto Raptors (14)
11. Philadelphia 76ers (5)
12. Orlando Magic (10)
13. Cleveland Cavaliers (11)
14. Washington Wizards (12)
15. Charlotte Bobcats (15)

West:

1. San Antonio Spurs (1)
2. Los Angeles Clippers (3)
3. Oklahoma City Thunder (4)
4. Golden State Warriors (12)
5. Memphis Grizzlies (5)
6. Denver Nuggets (6)
7. Portland Trail Blazers (9)
8. Dallas Mavericks (7)
9. Los Angeles Lakers (2)
10. Houston Rockets (10)
11. Utah Jazz (8) 
12. Minnesota Timberwolves (11)
13. Sacramento Kings (14)
14. New Orleans Hornets (15)
15. Phoenix Suns (13)

Could this be the year that Carmelo Anthony or Kevin Durant win their first NBA Championship? Could Tim Duncan or Kobe Bryant possibly win one more ring before finally hanging it up? Could the Bulls or Clippers finally get healthy enough before the playoffs and make a run behind their all-star point guards? Or could this be the year that the Miami Heat repeat and LeBron James adds another championship ring to his case for being one of the greatest players of all time?