So now that season has ended, we have final rankings available.
First of note, this is the first 82 game season that has not resulted in a 60 win team since 2000-2001.
Only three teams have a Top 10 offense and defense this year.
Celtics - 2nd in O, 3rd in D
76ers - 4th in O, 9th in D
Cavs - 8th in D, 1st in D
No one in the Western Conference has both.
The Bucks sit two ranks outside of a Top 10 offense at 12th. They were 0.1 away from 10th as of last week, but never hit that mark. Obviously that have Giannis though.
Boston has the best marks in the league. I still have some doubts about Tatum, but we'll see how they do this year. Obviously they made the Finals last year so we know this is a good team.
The Cavs are likely a pretender in that those rankings will only take them to the 2nd round. I just imagine Giannis and the Bucks can trump the Cavs in the 2nd round. Could be a good series though.
The Sixers have Embiid, but they also have Doc Rivers. Doc Rivers hasn't left the 2nd round since his Boston days. So can they finally bust through? They're going to have a difficult 2nd round matchup with Boston.
The Nuggets have a good offense but bad defense, and lately teams have been exposing Jokic's poor defense. I wouldn't be surprised to see this team upset in the 2nd round.
The Grizzlies have an average offense and stellar defense, they can make a deep run with that. I even still believe this team can make a Finals run, though they struggled on the road this season. 16-25 road record, though wouldn't be the first team to make a Finals with such a road record, but those teams don't win it all.
The Suns obviously suffered injuries all year and are going to be at the mercy of Durant's health making them an interesting case. They finished 45-37, 15th in O, 7th in D, which would make them one of the worst Finals teams on record if they did manage to make it. However, no one could really doubt them if Durant stays healthy and playing at a high level. However, an injury riddled team doesn't exactly have a good history on making deep playoff runs.
The Warriors are another team no one wants to count out, but I have trouble trusting that road record at all. They did manage to pull out some more wins at the end of the season on the road to finish 11-30, but that's still just an awful road record and fail to see how it translate into a deep playoff run. I do think there is plenty there for the Warriors to defeated the newbies Kings in a 1st round upset, but I think it may end there.
The Lakers are the only play-in team that's of any threat, but I still don't think they get out of the 1st round. They are one of the hottest teams in the NBA to finish out the season, so they have that going for them. Assuming they win their first play-in game, I think the Grizzlies would just be too much for them. You also can't trust guys like Anthony Davis to really stay healthy. Could even say the same of LeBron right now. Either way, they are a threat, but how much of one remains to be seen.
The West has great potential to be chaotic for an NBA playoff, but we'll see what happens. The East is likely to be more stable. I also am expecting the eventual champion to come out of the East as well.
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