We’re finally here, y’all. After so many months of waiting and watching pure chaos ensue throughout the league’s standings, the playoffs are finally upon us.
We rarely see upsets in the NBA, but nothing is guaranteed this postseason. Things could get wild and it could happen fast.
We’ve got the NBA’s brightest stars from the last decade facing off against the biggest stars of the league’s present pretty early on. The Western Conference is an absolute mess — the bottom looks like it could be just as threatening as the top. And, to top it all off, the 3 best teams in the NBA are all in the Eastern Conference this year.
With all that being said, before things get started, we wanted to take a quick lay of the land. So here’s a power ranking of the teams left as we enter into the first round of the playoffs.
Boston Celtics
If I’m being completely truthful about things, I had the Bucks at 1 when I started writing things.
I wound up switching things up because of two things.
- The Celtics overall net rating over the last 10 games of the season is a whopping 15.6, which is extremely impressive even if the sample is super small. The team is 8-2 in that stretch.
- The reason why Boston’s net rating is so good here is because the Celtics absolutely smashed the Bucks by 41 points without a full compliment of players.
We can’t put a ton of stock into that final game between these two behemoths — the Bucks were coming off of a back-to-back traveling in from Utah the day before. But the game happened. And, if we’re splitting hairs between these two sides, then this is probably the right one to choose from.
Milwaukee Bucks
Again, that 41-point loss is what bumped the Bucks back down to No. 2 here in the power rankings despite the team having the best record in the league at 58-24.
That’s not an easy choice, though. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best player in the world right now. Jrue Holiday looks incredible. Khris Middleton is slowly, but surely, getting his legs back under him. There’s a reason Milwaukee won 23 of its last 30 games. These guys are good — very good.
Philadelphia 76ers
If the 76ers were in the other conference the team would probably be considered a lock to make the NBA Finals.
Instead, Philadelphia’s path to the Larry O’Brien trophy has to go through both Boston and Milwaukee with where the team fell on the bracket. The team’s 14-6 record over the last 20 games gives you confidence that it can certainly make it. The path is just going to be difficult.
Denver Nuggets
It’s easy to be confident in the Nuggets making it out of the Western Conference, mostly because who else is going to do it? There just aren’t many good teams there.
But, at the same time, the way Denver closed the season has folks doubting this team’s championship potential. The Nuggets were 7-8 over the last 15 games with a .1 net rating. That’s almost a .500 team — not a championship contender.
The rest of the season, though, the Nuggets played is why you still have to believe in Denver as contenders — with Jokic, that team will always have a shot.
Phoenix Suns
Kevin Durant has only played 269 minutes total with the Phoenix Suns. He’s appeared in 8 games.
We’ve seen this story with him and his team before — just last year, in fact. Durant comes back from injury late in the season for the Nets. Kyrie Irving is finally allowed to play for Brooklyn full-time again. Uh oh. Scary hours.
Boom. The Celtics sweep Boston. With a healthy Durant and Irving. The parallels with the Suns are too easy to make here.
With that being said, you pick against Kevin Durant if you want to. Because I’m certainly not. Here’s why.
Kevin Durant is the 1st 55-40-90 player in NBA history.
Durant 2022-23 | 56% FG | 40% 3P | 92% FT
Credit @StatsWilliams pic.twitter.com/SHmLvJnYFG
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) April 10, 2023
He don’t miss.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Nobody has looked at the Cavaliers as real contenders all season long for a number of reasons.
The team is too young. Evan Mobley still has another leap to make. The backcourt is great, but it’s small. The team’s wing rotation isn’t good enough.
And, yeah, I hear all that. But at the same time, Cleveland has had the 2nd best net rating in the NBA essentially all season long. This team is good. Really good. And, as fun as the Knicks are, I don’t think this series is going to be that competitive. Which is why the Cavaliers are so high here.
Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies were a struggle to place here because Memphis has undoubtedly been one of the best teams in the NBA all season long. There’s no disputing that.
But the last couple months of the season have peeled off into chaos. Ja Morant’s personal matters have taken him away from the game. The team is also extremely thin in the front court with both Steven Adams and Brandon Clarke out for the rest of the season.
Anthony Davis has absolutely dominated Memphis when he’s played them this season, too. The Lakers just don’t feel like a great matchup. There’s certainly reason to be concerned.
Sacramento Kings
Everyone continues to disrespect the Sacramento Kings. And I get it — the Kings are the Kings and always will be the Kings.
It’s like, if we were writing the storybook ending for the Kings it’d probably be right here in this moment. The team has finally made the playoffs for the first time in almost two decades. It’s quite the accomplishment. Sacramento has nothing left to do at this point.
But, at the same time, this team is the 3rd seed in the West for a reason. We should expect them to win because Sacramento is that good.
Los Angeles Clippers
Kawhi Leonard has been one of the best five or so players in the NBA, basically, since the calendar turned to 2023. He probably should get some MVP consideration but he won’t — and it’s fair that he won’t — but he’s seriously been that good.
Even without Paul George, the Clippers are going to be a threat against the Suns because this dude is that good. Kevin Durant is going to have his hands full here.
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors closed the season with an urgency that we just haven’t seen from this team all year long. The team’s 13.2 net rating over the last 10 games was only second behind the Boston Celtics. For a second, Golden State looked like the NBA champions we saw last season.
Now, the team will get Andrew Wiggins back for the first time since February heading into its first round matchup against the Kings. The team won’t even need to board a plane to make the trip. It’s the most favorable matchup possible for Golden State. We’ll see if the Warriors take advantage.
New York Knicks
The Knicks are definitely a bit underrated heading into this postseason — and I’m probably underrating them a bit here myself.
This is one of the best offensive teams in the league. When you couple that with a coach in Tom Thibodeau who knows how to neutralize the other team’s best star players, that’s a pretty dangerous combination. I just don’t know if the team has the top-end talent to make a deep playoff run.
Los Angeles Lakers
Any time you’ve got LeBron James in the playoffs, it’s always a scary time. Well, unless you’re Dillon Brooks, I guess.
But, again, the Grizzlies have no answer for Anthony Davis. And the Lakers are an incredible defensive team after the All-Star break. Things are breaking right for LA in all of the right ways.
Brooklyn Nets
This team is playing with house money at this point. Mikal Bridges looks awesome. Cam Thomas is a bucket. The future is extremely bright in Brooklyn for years to come.
I just don’t think the team has any good answers for Joel Embiid. And that’s not an indictment on Brooklyn — the fact is, not many teams do. But this team is the one that has to see the 76ers in the playoffs.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks had another fun play-in run with the absolute master class Atlanta put on the glass against the Heat.
But that’s probably where the run ends here. Atlanta has a lot more questions for its future than answers — particularly with Trae Young and the trade rumors out there floating around his name.
Minnesota Timberwolves
I won’t lie to y’all. I’m shocked that the Timberwolves are here. Not only because I thought the Thunder were a better team, but also because the Wolves have completely dipped themselves into chaos.
The Wolves made it, though. And Minnesota will give it a shot against the Nuggets. We’ll see how it goes.
Miami Heat
The Heat have Milwaukee to start the first round and, traditionally, Miami plays the Bucks well.
But this is a different team and a different season. There’s no PJ Tucker to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo — there’s not anybody to do that outside of Jimmy Butler, really. And he’s going to be relied on heavily for the team’s offensive attack.
There’s not a great pathway to a win here for the Heat, but you can best believe that Miami will scratch and claw until it either finds one or its time to go hom.
