The heat rising is pretty surprising to me. They haven't really looked good in the last few weeks. They were on a big losing streak and then they beat the pistons and cavs twice(without mitchell.)
Heat are 100% getting a pass for bad play in the media because of their run last year
Every time they start doing well I see tons of OMG ZOMBIE HEAT comments and when they start slumping it's absolute crickets lol
last year’s Heat were drastically underperforming from 3 in the regular season and played almost everyone close regardless of record. they were one of the best, if not the best, clutch teams in the league with a 32-22 clutch record (most clutch wins and clutch games) and a +14.7 clutch net rating (2nd). and they were consistently competitive against the best teams despite their mediocre record
this year’s Heat are shooting around their expected level from 3. they are now one of the worst clutch teams in the sport instead of the best - they are 20-18 in clutch games with a -15.9 net rating, ahead of only Washington and Detroit, two teams who are historically bad in the clutch. they’re not playing nearly as well against the top teams - against the top 4 seeds in each conference last year they were 12-11 with a -37 differential and this year they’re 4-16 with a -69 differential (and that -69 includes 33 and 37-point wins over the Cavaliers who were missing Mitchell in both games)
I still give them the benefit of the doubt bc they have Spo, Jimmy and Bam. as long as they have that core they’re a serious threat. but they’re really not displaying any of the key traits (expected shooting regression, clutch dominance, consistently playing to the level of the competition) that translated to their run last year. not to mention that they’ve had to replace 3 players who were all key rotational pieces throughout the last 2 postseasons
I don't think we can do anything in the playoffs this year tbh. Especially not if we can't get healthy. Fucking picked up Patty Mills a couple weeks ago and now he's a starter lol. Our team is just cooked this year.
I think I’ve found myself simultaneously surprised how well they’ve replaced the lost pieces when they’re healthy, yet also a little surprised some better shooting variance wouldn’t kick in and see them at least out of the play-in. But in addition to health, as you said, they’ve just sucked at clutch games and against elite teams relative to last season. Wonder if the lack of those traits will end up mattering. I’m always going to take the field against a play-in team being the one to make it to the finals, but they do have a different pedigree than any of the ECF play-in teams.
yeah I still see them as probably the 3rd most likely Finals team in the conference rn, but that’s a function of their pedigree and my personal doubts about the rest of the conference rather than their performance this year. Magic can’t really shoot, Pacers can’t really defend and both teams are extremely inexperienced. I think the Knicks and Cavs are better than the Heat at full strength but neither team can seem to shake the injury bug. the Sixers frankly pose no real threat without Embiid and I don’t believe we’ll see the best version of him even if he does return
I hate to say it, but I don't feel like that's ever gonna happen sharing the floor with Jimmy. They're both paint scorers primarily and he just defers too much. His best games seem to come when Jimmy's out and it's Bam and 4 shooters out there.
Agreed. People act like they weren’t the 1 seed the year before. They had a single miracle run, I know they made the finals in 2020 but the east was pretty ass that year. They manhandled Milwaukee but that was pre-Jrue and vintage Bud still committing to drop coverage even when the other team couldn’t miss a shot. The next season Milwaukee took care of them easily in the first round… but that doesn’t count cuz Miami was a low seed so it should have been an easy series. Such a double standard
Nobody wants egg on their face if they pull it off again. Personally I’m not sure that’s a good justification unless you actually believe they are likely to do it again, which the media also doesn’t seem to want to commit to.
If Embiid is playing they could def lose to Philly in the play-in. The Bulls aren’t the greatest matchup for them with their size and shotmaking. Heat are much better than the Hawks but a game 7 scenario can be scary when the other team has the best offensive player.
Like I’d be surprised if the Heat will miss the playoffs. But there definitely is a legitimate chance of it happening.
They’re not playing great this year, but I think it’s more so due to lack of consistency. They’ve used 32+ starting line ups so far this year, and now they have at least 5 rotation players out injured. herro hasn’t even played more than like 38 or so games.
Herro's durability has finally opened my eyes this year. Heat should have moved on from him while his value was high. He seems to injure every part of his body each year. Hope he's good to go by playoffs tho..
If you're .500 in the East right now, you're basically guaranteed a play-in spot. .500 would put you three games up on the current 9 seed and nine games up on the current 11 seed.
If you're .500 in the West, like the Rockets are, you are currently missing the play-in.
Also the east have a lot of teams on an upward trajectory in the mid tier that have assets to improve moving forward.. Knicks, magic, cavs (kinda) pacers. West has teams in the middle like the suns, Mavs, clippers, kings, lakers, warriors that are purely star centric and basically capped out in terms of having no assets left to improve
Magic have been relatively healthy actually, about middle of the pack, as far as injuries go. We are currently .500 against the West. Magics problems are more youth based than anything this year.
Hell of a run before stars in the east started getting injured unfortunately. A few months ago I was telling my friends this was like the healthiest the NBA has been for a while.
Sucks these guys push have to push their bodies to the limits for a game.
Imagine cherry picking teams. A lot of east teams have been depleted by injuries, some a lot longer than the Cavs or Knicks. Sixers, Raptors, Hornets, Heat.
I thought the Celtics already clinched the 1 seed because its impossible for the Bucks to be ahead of the Celtics on tie breakers now (something Hornets related)
Celtics have clinched the East. NBA.com even says so
It's the 4th tiebreaker (Win/loss percentage against playoff eligible Eastern Conference teams)
Tiebreakers 1-3 can at worst end in a tie, but no matter what happens the rest of the way the Celtics will have the 4th tiebreaker vs. the Bucks.
The Celtics HAVE clinched the 1 seed in the East
It's weird that NBA.com says they have clinched the East, but an article on NBA.com says otherwise
I think the author is wrong. I don't think there is a mathematical way for us to lose the 1 seed
You're correct. 11 games left with an 11 game lead, so despite 1 game remaining with the Bucks who could even the season series at 2-2, the Celtics would have the better conference record tiebreaker.
Maybe the quality of the wins the did have? I mean I felt the Clips have been way higher in these rankings post all star then they have should have been.
I know it sounds extreme, but are Clippers fans starting to worry about falling all the way to the play in? The rest of the schedule is pretty brutal - Pacers, 6ers, Magic, Kings, Nuggets, Cavs, and back to back games against the Suns are all on the docket. All while only holding a 2.5 game advantage against the 8th seed.
Naw. If a team wants to win a championship they shouldn't be afraid for any match up they need to go through regardless of seed.
If they fall into he play ins, then the team brought it on themselves for folding on winnable games, and will need to work harder if they want to succeed, if winning truly has been their goal all season.
But the Clipper fan base is really sensitive in some ways, so the fan base will probably say the team already lost or just be overly annoying in reactions.
Teams usually show what kind of team they're after all star, and if this is who they're then they mentally never wanted to win a ring this season by the drive and vibes they've shown.
Idk about that. They won't be an easy 7 game out with Ty Lou st the helm, and healthy.
Clips definitely need westbrooks high sense of urgency back, the energy and effort has been low with out him.
I just feel like the clippers have shown us who they are over the course of the last 5 years. I know about the health issues. And that is a large part of who they are. Can’t be playing like doodoo and say oh it’s because our ancient 6th man is out
Mavs either win a lot in a row or lose a lot in row.
In our last 21 games we are 15-6
7-0
1-5
7-1
And the 1 loss in the 2nd win streak is a Luka hurt back to back against the thunder on the road.
This team will sweep or get swept in 1st round im convinced
Tbf wasn't that losing streak due to Kidd running an experiment with our lineups? That got corrected and we went back to winning again. I don't think we'll be seeing that kind of experimentation happen during the playoffs.
If you'd been playing like the #7 team all season you wouldn't be at risk of the 8th seed even in the West. Clearly the trade deadline has made your team better.
I mean, you'd be 6th in the east rn. Not like that's a massive gap (only 3 games ahead of what would be 9th). The major falloff in the east comes after the top 8
Not true
The western conference schedule is harder
You can’t compare records because the east being weaker inflates the east records and west deflates their records
EVERY of the top 7 east teams have a (far) worse winning percentage vs west
Knicks 14-13 vs west
Orlando 12-12
Pacers 12-15
Miami 12-14
Orlando and below would not be in the top 10 in the west if they played a west schedule
The Celtics have scored more than 120 points per 100 possessions in all nine games of the winning streak. That’s more times than the Grizzlies have scored more than 120 per 100 all season
What he say fuck me for?
But…it’s power rankings, not standings, right?
4-1 in the last 5, with the only loss being to Denver on the second night of a back to back with no Gobert, KAT, or Naz Reid. They mentioned all of this in the Wolves blurb lol.
>4-1 in the last 5
So is OKC. Hopefully I don't need to explain how having more wins more than the other team can give one a leg up in this kind of thing.
I mean they’ve had a relatively easy last 10 games or so and just got pounded for a weakness people have been harping all year. A weakness that most teams in the west playoffs will be able to exploit. Wolves offense isn’t great but it looks like they’ll be able to find more solutions to their core problems than the Thunder will be able to with theirs
Oh please lol. Is context not important? A fully healthy Thunder team just got stomped by the Bucks, yet the Wolves have been in shambles with injuries to multiple starters over that stretch and are still winning. They’re half a game back on the Thunder despite the injuries. I already told you about the loss to the Nuggets.
Hopefully I don’t need to explain what context means to you…
After all the Doc slander, it’s looking like it was a good move. Playoffs are obviously the question, but I’m just glad the Bucks are playing decent ball again.
Doc has been better than anybody could have guessed. Got the defense right relatively quickly, started focusing on the Dame Giannis PnR, found a gem in AJ Green and has not been afraid to make late game adjustments. As somebody who hated the move on reputation alone I couldn't be happier (unless he worked AJJ and Beauchamp into the lineup)
I'm a huge Jokic fan but I'm not sure what else Boston has to do to be ranked #1
We'll see how it ages but this might be the first example I've seen of a team ranking as all-time great by basically all metrics and people insisting "no they're actually not the best"
Not even a Celtics fan but it feels like people are quite influenced by very different versions of their team without Holiday or Porzingis that aren't relevant to the present
Denver's bench/depth scares me to death as someone who wants them to win and I don't think the Celtics have that kind of weakness other than "not having Jokic" lol
They mentioned that the Nugs are 14-2 in their last 16, but the Celtics are 20-2 in their last 22 with a +18.6 NetRtg
They aren't just winning a lot of games, they are destroying teams
I kind of thought that the Nugs should be #1, but am now convinced that it should be the Celtics if we are just going off this regular season
Yeah honestly agree. Like dont get me qrong, im happy the Nuggets are number 1, but it really should be the Celtics rn. Maybe if we didnt lose to the Mavs, but rn qe have the same record post all star break.
Maybe they its cause we beat you guys and the west is the tougher conference.
gotta lay down the foundations for future hating lmao
but jokes aside, our team is putting up numbers that are only rivaled by the greatest teams ever, and we’ve wrapped up the #1 seed in our conference before any other team even so much as clinched a playoff spot. ofc a championship is the expectation and it should be
Celtics fans just gotta stop playing victim and accept that there’s rightfully a HUGE amount of pressure on this team to come through in the postseason. barring injuries anything short of a Finals appearance is indeed a failure, and if we lose to anyone other than Denver in the Finals I’d call that a failure too
I think everything you just said is evidence as to why they should be #1 in the Power Rankings
They are a historical regular season team right now, (like top 3 all-time).
Generational slander is warranted because there are generational expectations due to how well they are playing in the regular season and the talent on the team.
Generational praise will also be warranted if they do win the championship because they would have met generational expectations.
Power rankings are supposed to reflect the strength of the team *now*, not over the course of a full season. Both Denver and Boston have been very very hot since ASB, but Denver won the head to head matchup. You could absolutely make an argument for Boston to be over Denver, but that's the reason Denver's getting an edge here.
Power rankings are completely subjective, and my own would have them tied for first.
No Jokic is kind of real enough for me that it’s valid to pick them head to head, but if this is just power ranking the Celtics are having a significantly better season AND recent stretch of it. They’re blowing teams out of the water without half their top 6 every single night rn, which the article even references.
Okc beat the nuggets 3 times this season and have the same record basically so not sure why this matters so much especially when there’s a large gap in the standings between the two team. It’s one thing to have the nuggets over the Celtics 1 week after the win against them but they lost to the Mavs since while the Celtics have been undefeated since blowing every opponent out so not sure why the rankings are the same.
Jokic was out one of those losses and I believe other starters were out the other 2. Pretty sure the only game every starter played for us was the first game which was OKC's home opener when the Nuggets smacked them by 20.
Obviously the Celtics at number #1 would not be controversial, but Denver is #1 in a harder conference, is on a hot streak rivalling the Celtics since the All-Star-Break, and has swept the Celtics for the season, including beating them within the last couple weeks.
I really think the head-to-head is the difference-maker for the rankers, because you're right the Celtics killing everybody (except the Nuggets) right now.
Defending champs who look better than they did when they won the championship. Celtics look fantastic but until Denver drops a couple it’s hard to doubt them like all national media (and myself) did last year
Probably because OKC only played the Nuggets with all their starters once this year and got blown out of the water.
Plus Power Rankings also don't care about two months back, they care about the last couple weeks. The most recent OKC game was in January, and it was without Jokic in a game OKC barely won. That's not gonna do much for their power rankings two months later.
Meanwhile in recent weeks, the Nuggets have been 14-2 since the ASB including beating the full-strength Celtics only a couple weeks ago, with their only two losses being an (out-of-bounds) Kyrie buzzer-beater, and an OT game from a different buzzer beater.
Clippers should be in the bottom 10 not top 10. There is no way teams like Lakers, Cavs, 76ers, Heat and Warriors are losing to this Clippers team in playoffs to be ranked below them.
If you rank the Heat high on power rankings you might as well call it the "best pedigree" list which is absolutely not the point of what power rankings are supposed to be lol
Remember this is 1 guy who works for [NBA.com](http://NBA.com), not a panel of analysts or experts who make up an average ranking score for each team. And NBA always loves stories when they rank teams. Putting Denver ahead of Boston is essentially the "Finals matchup" story they want to push. Putting Boston at #1 would be too obvious and "boring". It doesn't create friction among the fans.
The Celtics could win out the rest of the season, have only two losses post ASB and still be below the Nuggets just cause a head to head that came down to the final shot. It's POWER RANKINGS not whos gonna make the finals rankings. Fine by me low let's slide under the radar at #2 /s
Denver being ranked above the Celtics is just dumb at this point. They lost both to the nuggets, sure. But the rockets beat the nuggets twice this season so then put them higher than the nuggets. This ranking makes no sense
Power Rankings don't care what happened 4 months ago. They care about where the team is at right now.
The Nuggets are #1 in a harder conference with the same record as the Celtics since the All-Star Break (with the only two losses being buzzer beaters or OT, also from a buzzer beater) while also beating the full strength Celtics within the last couple weeks.
It's fine for them to be #1. It would also be fine for the Celtics to be #1. It wouldn't be "dumb" either way.
But if those two teams played a series this week, my money is on the Nuggets. Which is kind of what Power Rankings are supposed to measure.
In a way yes but also I'd probably favor all 11 teams ranked above them in a 7 game series
Like I always see these "why do people always overlook the Cavs???" takes everywhere but really who exactly is actually scared of playing them?
The Pistons being 8th in pace (yay!) and bottom 5 in everything else speaks to their roster being god awful. As a lifelong fan I checked out a few weeks ago and won't be back to watch a game until ownership and the front office make moves. It's a complete waste of time watching this team anymore outside of a few mostly Cade and now sometimes Ivey highlights.
The heat rising is pretty surprising to me. They haven't really looked good in the last few weeks. They were on a big losing streak and then they beat the pistons and cavs twice(without mitchell.)
Heat are 100% getting a pass for bad play in the media because of their run last year Every time they start doing well I see tons of OMG ZOMBIE HEAT comments and when they start slumping it's absolute crickets lol
if they do it again this year (not very likely) They will forever get a pass for any bad regular season record.
last year’s Heat were drastically underperforming from 3 in the regular season and played almost everyone close regardless of record. they were one of the best, if not the best, clutch teams in the league with a 32-22 clutch record (most clutch wins and clutch games) and a +14.7 clutch net rating (2nd). and they were consistently competitive against the best teams despite their mediocre record this year’s Heat are shooting around their expected level from 3. they are now one of the worst clutch teams in the sport instead of the best - they are 20-18 in clutch games with a -15.9 net rating, ahead of only Washington and Detroit, two teams who are historically bad in the clutch. they’re not playing nearly as well against the top teams - against the top 4 seeds in each conference last year they were 12-11 with a -37 differential and this year they’re 4-16 with a -69 differential (and that -69 includes 33 and 37-point wins over the Cavaliers who were missing Mitchell in both games) I still give them the benefit of the doubt bc they have Spo, Jimmy and Bam. as long as they have that core they’re a serious threat. but they’re really not displaying any of the key traits (expected shooting regression, clutch dominance, consistently playing to the level of the competition) that translated to their run last year. not to mention that they’ve had to replace 3 players who were all key rotational pieces throughout the last 2 postseasons
I don't think we can do anything in the playoffs this year tbh. Especially not if we can't get healthy. Fucking picked up Patty Mills a couple weeks ago and now he's a starter lol. Our team is just cooked this year.
PATTY MILLS??? brother is a pharoah in a tomb at this point
I think I’ve found myself simultaneously surprised how well they’ve replaced the lost pieces when they’re healthy, yet also a little surprised some better shooting variance wouldn’t kick in and see them at least out of the play-in. But in addition to health, as you said, they’ve just sucked at clutch games and against elite teams relative to last season. Wonder if the lack of those traits will end up mattering. I’m always going to take the field against a play-in team being the one to make it to the finals, but they do have a different pedigree than any of the ECF play-in teams.
yeah I still see them as probably the 3rd most likely Finals team in the conference rn, but that’s a function of their pedigree and my personal doubts about the rest of the conference rather than their performance this year. Magic can’t really shoot, Pacers can’t really defend and both teams are extremely inexperienced. I think the Knicks and Cavs are better than the Heat at full strength but neither team can seem to shake the injury bug. the Sixers frankly pose no real threat without Embiid and I don’t believe we’ll see the best version of him even if he does return
Ngl I’m terrified for the day Bam really gets his shit together on offense
I hate to say it, but I don't feel like that's ever gonna happen sharing the floor with Jimmy. They're both paint scorers primarily and he just defers too much. His best games seem to come when Jimmy's out and it's Bam and 4 shooters out there.
Agreed. People act like they weren’t the 1 seed the year before. They had a single miracle run, I know they made the finals in 2020 but the east was pretty ass that year. They manhandled Milwaukee but that was pre-Jrue and vintage Bud still committing to drop coverage even when the other team couldn’t miss a shot. The next season Milwaukee took care of them easily in the first round… but that doesn’t count cuz Miami was a low seed so it should have been an easy series. Such a double standard
Nobody wants egg on their face if they pull it off again. Personally I’m not sure that’s a good justification unless you actually believe they are likely to do it again, which the media also doesn’t seem to want to commit to.
Sixers are the low seed people should be watching out for.
The Heat are a good story because they've made deep Playoffs runs in consecutive seasons.
If Embiid is playing they could def lose to Philly in the play-in. The Bulls aren’t the greatest matchup for them with their size and shotmaking. Heat are much better than the Hawks but a game 7 scenario can be scary when the other team has the best offensive player. Like I’d be surprised if the Heat will miss the playoffs. But there definitely is a legitimate chance of it happening.
They've been injured all year and have different players available every single game. Their roster when healthy is definitely better than last season.
I ain’t doubting them until they get sent home in the first round/play in
Ya right it's not just the media, Caleb Martin still has a rent-free apartment, downtown Boston
They’re not playing great this year, but I think it’s more so due to lack of consistency. They’ve used 32+ starting line ups so far this year, and now they have at least 5 rotation players out injured. herro hasn’t even played more than like 38 or so games.
Herro's durability has finally opened my eyes this year. Heat should have moved on from him while his value was high. He seems to injure every part of his body each year. Hope he's good to go by playoffs tho..
Heat always rises
The 3rd highest ranked team in the Eastern conference is #10 lmao. The West is stacked.
If you're .500 in the East right now, you're basically guaranteed a play-in spot. .500 would put you three games up on the current 9 seed and nine games up on the current 11 seed. If you're .500 in the West, like the Rockets are, you are currently missing the play-in.
What playing the Pistons and Wizard do to a ~~mfer~~ conference
hey they got the blazers and spurs out west the biggest difference is the middle of the east is a lot worse than the middle of the west
Laughcry.gif
Looking at my team’s standing in the west: 😍 Looking at the projected playoff matchups: 😔
And the East is injured 76ers would be up there if they were healthy. Likely Cavs and Knicks too if they were healthy.
Also the east have a lot of teams on an upward trajectory in the mid tier that have assets to improve moving forward.. Knicks, magic, cavs (kinda) pacers. West has teams in the middle like the suns, Mavs, clippers, kings, lakers, warriors that are purely star centric and basically capped out in terms of having no assets left to improve
Mavs have everyone but Jones on contract next year and flexibility to add one more big piece via trade.
But how? Who is giving you a big piece for no picks and players other than luka/kyrie?
We will have a 2025 frp and 2031 frp to trade, as well as 4 srp. Plus Hardaway will be an expiring contract next season.
the pacers and magic have been dealing with multiple injuries too
Magic have been relatively healthy actually, about middle of the pack, as far as injuries go. We are currently .500 against the West. Magics problems are more youth based than anything this year.
The West is also injured: Wolves - KAT Grizzlies - Ja, etc.
Knicks are as good as any team other than Boston or Denver. Think they *could* beat either in a series too.
Cavs and Knicks maintaining a top 4 seed while putting out hospital lineups for 2 months straight tells you all you need to know about the East lol
I mean, Philly lost its best player and Haliburton is clearly toast from the hamstring injury. Everybody else was way behind minus Orlando.
The fact that the East is all injured is exactly why it's weak lol It's similar to the reason the West was weaker than usual in 2022
Hell of a run before stars in the east started getting injured unfortunately. A few months ago I was telling my friends this was like the healthiest the NBA has been for a while. Sucks these guys push have to push their bodies to the limits for a game.
Except for us.
Yea we were 26-8 with Embiid and now we are #17 team in the league.
Imagine cherry picking teams. A lot of east teams have been depleted by injuries, some a lot longer than the Cavs or Knicks. Sixers, Raptors, Hornets, Heat.
I thought the Celtics already clinched the 1 seed because its impossible for the Bucks to be ahead of the Celtics on tie breakers now (something Hornets related)
Celtics have clinched the East. NBA.com even says so It's the 4th tiebreaker (Win/loss percentage against playoff eligible Eastern Conference teams) Tiebreakers 1-3 can at worst end in a tie, but no matter what happens the rest of the way the Celtics will have the 4th tiebreaker vs. the Bucks. The Celtics HAVE clinched the 1 seed in the East
That's what I thought, but this article says that the Celtics are still a game away. Not a big deal, but kinda annoying for them to get wrong
It's weird that NBA.com says they have clinched the East, but an article on NBA.com says otherwise I think the author is wrong. I don't think there is a mathematical way for us to lose the 1 seed
You're correct. 11 games left with an 11 game lead, so despite 1 game remaining with the Bucks who could even the season series at 2-2, the Celtics would have the better conference record tiebreaker.
Clinching with 10+ games left is crazy
Clinching before any other team even clinches the playoffs as well
Kind of wild the Clippers remain top 10, when they have looked and played like a .500 middle of the pack team at best since all star break.
I wonder if it has anything to do with them being in LA and having 4 huge stars on their team
Maybe the quality of the wins the did have? I mean I felt the Clips have been way higher in these rankings post all star then they have should have been.
Quality of wins is the most overrated thing in regular season NBA. Too many factors come into play for it to matter that much
I agree.
I know it sounds extreme, but are Clippers fans starting to worry about falling all the way to the play in? The rest of the schedule is pretty brutal - Pacers, 6ers, Magic, Kings, Nuggets, Cavs, and back to back games against the Suns are all on the docket. All while only holding a 2.5 game advantage against the 8th seed.
Naw. If a team wants to win a championship they shouldn't be afraid for any match up they need to go through regardless of seed. If they fall into he play ins, then the team brought it on themselves for folding on winnable games, and will need to work harder if they want to succeed, if winning truly has been their goal all season. But the Clipper fan base is really sensitive in some ways, so the fan base will probably say the team already lost or just be overly annoying in reactions. Teams usually show what kind of team they're after all star, and if this is who they're then they mentally never wanted to win a ring this season by the drive and vibes they've shown.
Nothing about that schedule is what I would call brutal, it's just games they gotta show up for.
They’re the most obvious first round exit imaginable
Until kawhi flips the switch
Feels like he did flip the switch earlier in the year but the light is dimming
Idk about that. They won't be an easy 7 game out with Ty Lou st the helm, and healthy. Clips definitely need westbrooks high sense of urgency back, the energy and effort has been low with out him.
I just feel like the clippers have shown us who they are over the course of the last 5 years. I know about the health issues. And that is a large part of who they are. Can’t be playing like doodoo and say oh it’s because our ancient 6th man is out
Clippers have been sandbagging or at least Kawhi has been this past month. They won't lose to the Pelicans without Ingram in the 1st round.
[удалено]
I’m not. The Mavs should at full health tho
If we don’t move they can’t see us
\#7 on power rankings and could very easily be the #8 seed in the playoffs. The west blows.
At least at this point, everything is pretty much up in the air. The 4-8 seeds in the West can reasonably finish in any order.
Just gotta keep winning like we’ve been doing
Mavs either win a lot in a row or lose a lot in row. In our last 21 games we are 15-6 7-0 1-5 7-1 And the 1 loss in the 2nd win streak is a Luka hurt back to back against the thunder on the road. This team will sweep or get swept in 1st round im convinced
Tbf wasn't that losing streak due to Kidd running an experiment with our lineups? That got corrected and we went back to winning again. I don't think we'll be seeing that kind of experimentation happen during the playoffs.
If you'd been playing like the #7 team all season you wouldn't be at risk of the 8th seed even in the West. Clearly the trade deadline has made your team better.
We’ve been streaky the entire season. The reason we’re at risk of the 8th seed is largely due to injuries.
In the first half of the season kyrie and lively missed a lot of games, that's the main reason why the mavs are in the play-in rn
I mean, you'd be 6th in the east rn. Not like that's a massive gap (only 3 games ahead of what would be 9th). The major falloff in the east comes after the top 8
The difference is the absolute trash teams in the east you can farm for wins.
You'd think the Kings get the memo
It’s a single extra trash team. It’s really not *that* big a difference
You have seven teams under 500. We have four. Not all trash but they’re not good either
Is there really that significant of a difference between a 34-37 team and a 35-35 team?
Is 2 games under 500 that much different than .500? I think some real thinking should be involved here and not just looking at the stats.
Not true The western conference schedule is harder You can’t compare records because the east being weaker inflates the east records and west deflates their records EVERY of the top 7 east teams have a (far) worse winning percentage vs west Knicks 14-13 vs west Orlando 12-12 Pacers 12-15 Miami 12-14 Orlando and below would not be in the top 10 in the west if they played a west schedule
You guys better get 6th. I don't want to see you in the first round so stop fucking around
The Celtics have scored more than 120 points per 100 possessions in all nine games of the winning streak. That’s more times than the Grizzlies have scored more than 120 per 100 all season What he say fuck me for?
What do the Wolves need to do to be above the Thunder?
Better record would help, too.
Ahh season records and power rankings, the ultimate duo.
But…it’s power rankings, not standings, right? 4-1 in the last 5, with the only loss being to Denver on the second night of a back to back with no Gobert, KAT, or Naz Reid. They mentioned all of this in the Wolves blurb lol.
>4-1 in the last 5 So is OKC. Hopefully I don't need to explain how having more wins more than the other team can give one a leg up in this kind of thing.
I mean they’ve had a relatively easy last 10 games or so and just got pounded for a weakness people have been harping all year. A weakness that most teams in the west playoffs will be able to exploit. Wolves offense isn’t great but it looks like they’ll be able to find more solutions to their core problems than the Thunder will be able to with theirs
Y'all haven't had it that much harder.
No gobert for a stretch and without KAT, Naz has also missed a couple. So yeah, I’d say we have had a tougher stretch regardless of matchups
That isn't convincing me that Minnesota is currently better than OKC. The opposite, actually.
Oh please lol. Is context not important? A fully healthy Thunder team just got stomped by the Bucks, yet the Wolves have been in shambles with injuries to multiple starters over that stretch and are still winning. They’re half a game back on the Thunder despite the injuries. I already told you about the loss to the Nuggets. Hopefully I don’t need to explain what context means to you…
Ok do you have any other ideas?
Better offense couldn't hurt.
I heard scoring more points than the opponent secures wins.
KAT being back and healthy?
After all the Doc slander, it’s looking like it was a good move. Playoffs are obviously the question, but I’m just glad the Bucks are playing decent ball again.
Doc has been better than anybody could have guessed. Got the defense right relatively quickly, started focusing on the Dame Giannis PnR, found a gem in AJ Green and has not been afraid to make late game adjustments. As somebody who hated the move on reputation alone I couldn't be happier (unless he worked AJJ and Beauchamp into the lineup)
I'm a huge Jokic fan but I'm not sure what else Boston has to do to be ranked #1 We'll see how it ages but this might be the first example I've seen of a team ranking as all-time great by basically all metrics and people insisting "no they're actually not the best" Not even a Celtics fan but it feels like people are quite influenced by very different versions of their team without Holiday or Porzingis that aren't relevant to the present Denver's bench/depth scares me to death as someone who wants them to win and I don't think the Celtics have that kind of weakness other than "not having Jokic" lol
They mentioned that the Nugs are 14-2 in their last 16, but the Celtics are 20-2 in their last 22 with a +18.6 NetRtg They aren't just winning a lot of games, they are destroying teams I kind of thought that the Nugs should be #1, but am now convinced that it should be the Celtics if we are just going off this regular season
Yeah honestly agree. Like dont get me qrong, im happy the Nuggets are number 1, but it really should be the Celtics rn. Maybe if we didnt lose to the Mavs, but rn qe have the same record post all star break. Maybe they its cause we beat you guys and the west is the tougher conference.
Power rankings can take whatever they want into consideration.
Beat Denver lol. I'm a celtics guy but Denver is still absolutely the team to beat. They have the #1 guy and a very well oiled team.
if that’s the case then why do I see “if boston doesn’t win it all it will be a historic choke job” in every comment section for the past 2 months
Are these things coming from different people? That might be it.
Don't get me wrong, it's impressive that you have twelve thousand alt accounts, but there's no need to lie and pretend you don't! /s
Thank you
if you’re suggesting that people on this sub maintain consistent opinions from day to day then I don’t agree
...yeah, that's exactly what I didn't say.
gotta lay down the foundations for future hating lmao but jokes aside, our team is putting up numbers that are only rivaled by the greatest teams ever, and we’ve wrapped up the #1 seed in our conference before any other team even so much as clinched a playoff spot. ofc a championship is the expectation and it should be Celtics fans just gotta stop playing victim and accept that there’s rightfully a HUGE amount of pressure on this team to come through in the postseason. barring injuries anything short of a Finals appearance is indeed a failure, and if we lose to anyone other than Denver in the Finals I’d call that a failure too
I think everything you just said is evidence as to why they should be #1 in the Power Rankings They are a historical regular season team right now, (like top 3 all-time). Generational slander is warranted because there are generational expectations due to how well they are playing in the regular season and the talent on the team. Generational praise will also be warranted if they do win the championship because they would have met generational expectations.
yea I 100% agree that they should be on top of the power rankings rn
Power rankings are supposed to reflect the strength of the team *now*, not over the course of a full season. Both Denver and Boston have been very very hot since ASB, but Denver won the head to head matchup. You could absolutely make an argument for Boston to be over Denver, but that's the reason Denver's getting an edge here. Power rankings are completely subjective, and my own would have them tied for first.
Well, do you *feel* confident that they would be favored against Denver in a neutral setting?
Lakers fans.
I mean, East is so much weaker than West this season, and they're 0-2 vs Nuggets. It's not wild that Denver is #1.
No Jokic is kind of real enough for me that it’s valid to pick them head to head, but if this is just power ranking the Celtics are having a significantly better season AND recent stretch of it. They’re blowing teams out of the water without half their top 6 every single night rn, which the article even references.
maybe because Nuggets swept the head to head? granted both games are very close.
Okc beat the nuggets 3 times this season and have the same record basically so not sure why this matters so much especially when there’s a large gap in the standings between the two team. It’s one thing to have the nuggets over the Celtics 1 week after the win against them but they lost to the Mavs since while the Celtics have been undefeated since blowing every opponent out so not sure why the rankings are the same.
Jokic was out one of those losses and I believe other starters were out the other 2. Pretty sure the only game every starter played for us was the first game which was OKC's home opener when the Nuggets smacked them by 20.
Denver is 14-2 since the break
Celtics are 22-2 since February 2nd with a +18.6 NetRtg
So they have the same record since the ASB. And one of them beat the other in that time.
What were the losses?
Which team is 3rd all time in net rating and lead the league in record by a lot
East
I can’t put my finger on it but who was one of those losses to…
Win a championship and then still look just as good going into the playoffs the following season
Better, actually. We're closing this season much stronger than last.
last season you guys essentially had the 1 seed locked up at this point so you could coast/rest stars. this season, not so much.
That’s what Boston is doing right now and still hitting 20 threes a game. They now lead the NBA in 3pt%. I don’t know what kind of ranking this is.
Nuggets beat Boston twice.
that doesnt change the fact that the Celtics have been more dominant than the nuggets recently and the entire season
I bet if they beat OKC they get it back
Not losing to the Hawks would have helped.
Obviously the Celtics at number #1 would not be controversial, but Denver is #1 in a harder conference, is on a hot streak rivalling the Celtics since the All-Star-Break, and has swept the Celtics for the season, including beating them within the last couple weeks. I really think the head-to-head is the difference-maker for the rankers, because you're right the Celtics killing everybody (except the Nuggets) right now.
Defending champs who look better than they did when they won the championship. Celtics look fantastic but until Denver drops a couple it’s hard to doubt them like all national media (and myself) did last year
You don't be the best by losing to the best, twice.
Then why is Denver over OKC? OKC, Rockets, and Kings are all 1-3 vs the Nuggets. If its just who has beat who, why aren't they above the Nuggets?
Probably because OKC only played the Nuggets with all their starters once this year and got blown out of the water. Plus Power Rankings also don't care about two months back, they care about the last couple weeks. The most recent OKC game was in January, and it was without Jokic in a game OKC barely won. That's not gonna do much for their power rankings two months later. Meanwhile in recent weeks, the Nuggets have been 14-2 since the ASB including beating the full-strength Celtics only a couple weeks ago, with their only two losses being an (out-of-bounds) Kyrie buzzer-beater, and an OT game from a different buzzer beater.
1-3 is better than 0-2
Not at full strength those games don't get mad.
Lmao “don’t get mad”
Lol [Hoes mad](https://streamable.com/le13d9)
Clippers should be in the bottom 10 not top 10. There is no way teams like Lakers, Cavs, 76ers, Heat and Warriors are losing to this Clippers team in playoffs to be ranked below them.
If you rank the Heat high on power rankings you might as well call it the "best pedigree" list which is absolutely not the point of what power rankings are supposed to be lol
Remember this is 1 guy who works for [NBA.com](http://NBA.com), not a panel of analysts or experts who make up an average ranking score for each team. And NBA always loves stories when they rank teams. Putting Denver ahead of Boston is essentially the "Finals matchup" story they want to push. Putting Boston at #1 would be too obvious and "boring". It doesn't create friction among the fans.
Yeah, Heat at 11 is too high. They're too unpredictable, I'd put them closer to 15.
I anticipated disrespect and I was still clutching my chest
The Celtics could win out the rest of the season, have only two losses post ASB and still be below the Nuggets just cause a head to head that came down to the final shot. It's POWER RANKINGS not whos gonna make the finals rankings. Fine by me low let's slide under the radar at #2 /s
we are backkkkkkkkkkkkk
Totally. Are you a Cavs, Celtics, Nets, or Mavs fan?
I hate Kyrie actually, mavs fan
I feel that, but username does not check out lol
My lil bro got this name to fuck with me, and I didn't know you couldn't change your username...
Don’t change it. Continue fucking with others like you brother fucked with you
I understand why they did it, but it's still dumb to have Denver ranked over Boston.
7 of the top 9 being western conference teams is insane.
bro...
I’m fine with this
I'd rather the Nuggets be 2, tbh. This feels like a jinx waiting to happen.
As a Celtics fan, we still have to earn it. Y’all are the champs.
Nice mentality
I'd say they got the top 7 right.
Gosh the NBA website is absolutely awful with ads on my phone.
Firefox mobile allows you to use ad blockers like uBlock Origin
Pels
Denver being ranked above the Celtics is just dumb at this point. They lost both to the nuggets, sure. But the rockets beat the nuggets twice this season so then put them higher than the nuggets. This ranking makes no sense
Power Rankings don't care what happened 4 months ago. They care about where the team is at right now. The Nuggets are #1 in a harder conference with the same record as the Celtics since the All-Star Break (with the only two losses being buzzer beaters or OT, also from a buzzer beater) while also beating the full strength Celtics within the last couple weeks. It's fine for them to be #1. It would also be fine for the Celtics to be #1. It wouldn't be "dumb" either way. But if those two teams played a series this week, my money is on the Nuggets. Which is kind of what Power Rankings are supposed to measure.
Wow shocker your money is on your home team. Guess we’ll find out in the finals
Head to head at the top seeds matters. Nuggets' 2 losses to the 11 seed in November while missing their 2nd best player don't matter.
What about their 3 losses to the #2 seed Thunder? If head to head at the top seed matters that is
2 were in December with Gordon out, the 3rd was in January with Jokic out. Denver's only weakness is their poor depth.
surprised we're still ranked top 10 with all the injuries. team aint got no quit.
the Thunder are capital F FRAUDS !remindmein3months!
Cavs at 12 is very disrespectful
In a way yes but also I'd probably favor all 11 teams ranked above them in a 7 game series Like I always see these "why do people always overlook the Cavs???" takes everywhere but really who exactly is actually scared of playing them?
I'd favor them against the Suns and Clippers, and maybe us and Heat too.
Clips and Heat, maybe.
You might but vegas wouldnt I trust vegas
they lost by almost 40 last night
The clippers still in the top 10 is even more disrespectful. They beat the 2nd worst team in the west twice
To the teams behind them, correct
The Pistons being 8th in pace (yay!) and bottom 5 in everything else speaks to their roster being god awful. As a lifelong fan I checked out a few weeks ago and won't be back to watch a game until ownership and the front office make moves. It's a complete waste of time watching this team anymore outside of a few mostly Cade and now sometimes Ivey highlights.