Come one, come all. It’s been too long since I’ve done a power rankings article and I want more points so here we are with another addition of Playoff Power Rankings. The end of this season proved to be really exciting for the Western Conference and I definitely thought I’d be writing about a different team besides the Suns but also really excited to see them back on this list. Hopefully my final predictions come true so I can finally sit here and say “I told you so”. But even if I am wrong in my picks, I still had a lot of fun putting this together and I hope you all enjoy it as well. So without further ado, let’s get into these rankings
12. Bulls- No surprise here. Worst record of all the playoff teams to go with the worst defense of the playoff teams, this Bulls team just does not seem to be ready for the playoffs. Now they did go 5-1 in their last 6 games so it is possible they might be on to something, But outside of Eddie A. Johnson, who missed an extended period of time being injured, this team doesn’t really have a 2nd option that can take over the game for them. If Eddie stays healthy, this team might have a chance in round 1 but even still, they will be without John Bagley for the first round so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bulls find themselves leaving the playoffs pretty quickly
11. Suns- 10 and 11 on this are interchangeable. The Suns and Nets don’t really have too much that separate themselves from the other but I put the Suns here because they needed a lot of help to get into the playoffs and they have a negative point differential. On top of a worse division and conference record. Mitchell and Daugherty dealing with injuries to start this series is going to make it difficult for the Suns to beat the Rockets, but crazier things have happened. They do have a few people who can score at will but this team is very top heavy. Four players averaging 17+ points per game and then after that, nobody else is in the double digits. Going to be interesting to see how they try to attack the Rockets in round 1.
10. Nets- Personally, I wanted to rank the Nets higher because this team on paper looks like it can compete with any other team. But for some reason, this team really struggled this season. They did lose Fat Lever for an extended period of time but they were already on a 7 game losing streak before he went down. They did turn it around just before the All Star break but how much of them getting in was a product of the Hornets and Cavaliers crumbling and how much of it was them actually playing better? For the most part, they beat the teams they should have beaten, and lost to the ones that should have beaten them. But still, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they found a way to beat the Pistons in round 1 but this team is going to have gameplan better if they want to make another deep run this playoffs.
9. Kings- Talk about finding a way. The Kings don’t have their first round pick this upcoming draft and it looked like the Trailblazers were going to get a lottery pick while having one of the best records in the league. Sitting at 13-17 going into the new year, the Kings made the necessary changes to get themselves right back into the playoffs going 35-17 the remainder of the season. They even had a chance at one point to potentially jump to the 4 seed or even the 3 seed if the Supersonics or Rockets stumbled along the way. They did not so the Kings held firmly on to the 5 seed and are looking to make some noise this playoffs. While the glaring issue is their road record is well below .500, Darth Vegito is a genius when it comes to game planning so the Supersonics better be ready because they will have their hands full. If they do win round 1, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this team finds themselves back in the championship game.
8. Pistons- I actually think this is the best Pistons team we’ve seen so far in the NPBSL era. Or at least they looked like it at one point but injuries took its toll on them. They were competing for the 1 seed for most of the start of the season but Robertson and Cummings both suffered extended injuries and we saw this team really start to slide. But they are healthy now and even with being at full strength, they still finished the season going 9-11 in their last 20 games. And now they get to play the Nets in the first round. If this team isn’t careful, they could be looking at an early exit. They still have a top 5 defense but they will obviously need to find some more offense if they want to have any kind of success this postseason.
7. Supersonics- This team started off looking like another middle of the pack team. Started off 16-16, even after trading away three 1st round picks for Clyde Drexler. It looked like they should have just taken another season off and go for another lotto pick but then this team really brought it together and went 38-12 the rest of the way. Three different times they had a 7+ game win streak, finished with an above .500 road record, tied for best divisional record in the conference, while going 9-1 in their final 10 games. Clearly the additions of Kiki, Clyde, and Moses were the main factors for this team’s success, but can they finally get over the hump and win their first playoff series. Last time they played the Kings, they suffered two major injuries but still managed to bring the series to 7 games, ultimately losing. It will be fun to see if this team and GM finally make it past the first round of the playoffs. (Call me biased but I’m secretly rooting for this to win at least one series)
6. Bullets- Why does it always seem like the Bullets just quietly win? Even with Magic, nobody on this team really played at an elite level. They just played like a team. I’m curious to see if they change things up a bit and just let Magic go do his thing but maybe they don’t even need to do that. There’s not really much else to say about this team other than don’t sleep on them. They finished the season going 15-5 in their last 20 games so even with their quiet winning, they can compete with anybody. Except for maybe the Bucks and Celtics as they went a combined 2-9 against them, 0-5 against the Bucks. I’d be shocked if they didn’t make it out of the first round but I’m not sure they make it much further (farther?) than that.
5. Rockets- Talk about an annoying team. Well annoying to me and my Supersonics, but I digress. This Rockets team has been incredibly fun to watch this season. And I firmly believe they had the true MVP on their team in Patrick Ewing. All-star, All League 1st Team, All Defensive 1st team, Defensive Player of the Year, Blocks Leader and Rebounds Leader. How do you not give him the MVP?!?!?! This man had 4 games with double digit blocks. The rest of the top 20 leaders in blocks combined for 6 such games, with nobody having more than 1. This team also lost their second leading scoring for the rest of the season and they still found a way to finish the season 13-1 ( I know Blackmon didn’t miss all of those games but in the games he missed, they still went 7-1, with a win against the Supersonics on the road). Outside of the teams with a first round bye, the Rockets would be the team I pick to make the Finals.
4. Spurs- As great as this team is, I still see plenty of flaws that would keep me from picking them from winning it all. The first one being their defense. Of the playoff teams, only the Suns have a worse defense. They are also one of the worst teams at offensive rebounds as well as one of the teams at allowing opponents to get offensive rebounds. Now of course the offensive rebounds for the Spurs is partly because they just score all the time. But giving up opposing offensive rebounds means plenty of second chance points for their opponents. If they struggle shooting the ball against another top tier playoff team, they could be looking at elimination. Now I do still think they make it to at least the conference finals, but I’m not sure this team is as good as they were last year when they won the championship.
3. Celtics- If the Celtics don’t win it all this season, don’t be surprised if it happens next season or the season after. This team is built to win for years to come. Hakeem, Ralph, and Jackson are locked up for potentially two more years (player option for ralph). #5 offense and #1 defense makes this team extremely dangerous this postseason. Ralph and Mark Jackson both averaging a double double will surely help this team make a run this postseason. They will likely be without Peterson for the 2nd round of the playoffs and that takes away some depth at the big position but they should still have enough to make it at least to the conference finals. 2nd best conference record and third best point differential and this team has all the makings of a championship team. If not for their 2-3 record against the Bucks, the Celtics might have been the team I pick to win it all.
2. Trailblazers- One of two teams to make the playoffs every season of the NPBSL era. Going 14-1 over their last 15 games, this Trailblazers team is poised to win its 2nd championship. #2 offense,#10 in defense, #4 in rebounds and #5 in blocks. Who is stopping this team? Themselves. Currently sitting at #20 in turnovers. Now this could be a product of just more possessions because of a higher pace of play but it still remains true that this team turns the ball over. Hopefully they are able to clean it up by the time the 2nd round starts or else they could be leaving empty handed this season. This team always has a lot of depth and they have a lot of it once again this season. Three players are averaging 20+ points per game so one injury may not derail this team completely. This team could very well be the team that brings home another championship
1. Milwaukee Bucks- The other team to make the playoffs every single season of the NPBSL era. Far and away the best team in the league. Best overall record, best road record, best divisional record, best conference record, best point differential, #3 offense, #2 defense, #1 in rebounds, steals, and blocks, #5 in assists. The only thing this team doesn’t do well is make Free Throws and struggle with ball control. It took them all the way until March before they finally reached double digit losses. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how you stop this team, barring injury. When Dominique Wilkins is scoring 23+ points off the bench, you are certainly going to have your hands full. It’s not an exciting pick but, spoiler alert, they are my pick to win it all this season. But that’s not to say I don’t want to see someone else take them down. I do love a good underdog story. I’m just not sure anybody besides maybe the Celtics and Trailblazers can defeat them in a 7 game series.
Playoff Prediction:
Round 1:
West
Supersonics over Kings
Rockets over Suns
East
Bullets over Bulls
Nets over Pistons
Round 2:
West
Trailblazers over Supersonics
Spurs over Rockets
East
Celtics over Bullets
Bucks over Nets
Round 3
West
Trailblazers over Spurs
East
Bucks over Celtics
Finals
Bucks over Trailblazers
Thank you for sticking around this long. Hopefully I’ll be able to find the time to in the future to do these more consistently. Good luck to everyone in the playoffs!!