A little less than two weeks ago, we took a slightly detailed look at the NBA standings (and how we thought they would look heading into the All-Star Break). The top four Eastern Conference squads (Cleveland, Orlando, Atlanta, and Boston) and the top two Western Conference teams (L.A. Lakers and Denver) were featured, and we tried to take a stab at how each of their remaining first-half games would play out.
Let's see how we have performed to this point, by looking at the overall prediction and the current W-L total;
| TEAM | Prediction | Actual record | Left to play |
| Cleveland | 6-0 | 5-0 | Orlando |
| Orlando | 5-2 | 4-1 | @Chicago, @Cleveland |
| Boston | 3-3 | 3-2 | @New Orleans |
| Atlanta | 5-1 | 4-1 | Miami |
| L.A. Lakers | 4-3 | 4-2 | @Utah |
| Denver | 5-2 | 4-2 | San Antonio |
Unfortunately, there's no real money to be made betting straight-up games. This is why Vegas has a little thing called point spreads.
As of this morning, the overall records do appear to have a legitimate shot of breaking in the way we predicted. However, it's time to climb down off the mountain, because upon further review, your temporarily humble correspondent was less like Jimmy The Greek and more like Jimmy The Guy Who Shovels The Snow At The Rec Center.
Details after the fold;
The Cavaliers record to this point has been on the money with what we predicted, but we're pretty sure that a LOT of people thought Cleveland would beat three non-playoff teams and two .500 squads, all at Quicken Loans Arena.
With Orlando, the guess was 4-0 to this point, with the Magic eventually falling to Chicago (in a trap game) and the Cavaliers, both on the road. Our surprise (and everyone else's) came when the Washington Bullets Wizards upset Orlando 92-91 last Friday night.
We managed to guess Atlanta's record over the past week-plus, but two games tripped us up. We believed the Hawks would knock off Oklahoma City (they fell 106-99), and that Memphis would continue their home dominance (Atlanta whooped dat ass 108-94 last night). We were wrong on both counts, but the end result is a push.
Meanwhile, in Beantown, things went exactly the way we predicted. The Celtics are 3-2 after winning nail-biters against Washington, New Jersey and Miami, but falling to the Lakers and Magic on consecutive Sundays. The wheels may be coming off the bus in Boston, as they haven't defeated a legitimate contender since Christmas and the front office is shopping around Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Ray Allen.
Over in the West, we have thus far nailed all of the Lakers' games to date. Predicting losses at Memphis and to Denver in the Staples Center weren't too risky, but they paid off. Minus Kobe, that road game in Utah is looking dangerous to fans of the purple and gold. But a Jazz win would make us perfect with our 4-3 Lake Show record.
Denver, like Atlanta, is spot-on with their record. But the Nuggets, like the Hawks, got there with two entries at fail.com. We called a loss to San Antonio (they won 103-89), and a win over Phoenix (they fell 109-97). Again, a push.
Two days left before we go on break. Let's see how it finishes.....