NBA Basketball Power Ratings
Our staff has developed NBA basketball power ratings with up to date rankings and how we as handicappers see these teams. We will list our NBA team rankings on a week by week basis and as much as possible. You can check this page for up to date NBA power ratings from Cappersinfo Sports Handicapping. Thanks for visiting and don’t forget to check out all the free sports picks in the forums and free picks monitor, other sports betting information, and NBA basketball predictions for sports handicappers!
Cappersinfo Current NBA Power Rankings
(2012 Playoff Power Rankings)
1: Miami Heat (49-20) – The Heat are clearly the best team in the league, and they are playing in the Eastern Conference, where there just aren’t all that many land mines that could be run into. The rest of the teams in this conference are clearly flawed and flawed in a big way, and after getting rid of the Knicks in the first round, the Pacers or Magic shouldn’t prove to be all that much of a challenge either. There’s a reason that Miami is the odds on favorite already on the odds to win the NBA Finals.
2: San Antonio Spurs (52-16) – Most seasons in the playoffs, the Spurs are out to play good defense and figure out how to make some timely shots with their stars. This time around though, they are running up and down the court and using their depth to wear opponents down. Head Coach Gregg Popovich isn’t going to be changing the way that he coaches with this team, as this is a formula that has worked and worked well all season long. This is a completely different team from the one that was beaten in the first round of the playoffs last year as the top seed in the conference.
3: Oklahoma City Thunder (50-19) – There were many that thought that Dallas was going to be able to fight with the Thunder in the first round of the playoffs, but that just hasn’t proven to be the case. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant aren’t the only ones that are doing the job though, but all of those stats aren’t showing up on the stat sheet. The defense has been great, especially in clutch moments here in this series, and if this keeps up for the rest of te playoffs, the Thunder are going to be tough to knock out.
4: Los Angeles Lakers (43-25) – Kobe Bryant is still the man that we would want to have if we were starting a team to play in the playoffs this year, and as long as that turns out to be the case, the Lakers are a force to be reckoned with. They are well on their way to the second round of the playoffs already, and though their road to get to the NBA Finals again is going to be tough, the Lakers are absolutely legit.
5: Memphis Grizzlies (42-26) – The Grizzlies aren’t necessarily guaranteed to be in the playoffs past the first round at this point, but they are the better team in this first round series against the Clippers. Remember that Memphis is a dangerous team that beat the Spurs last year in the first round of the playoffs and pushed Oklahoma City as well. Now, Rudy Gay is back in the fold, and he could be the difference maker for the postseason.
6: Chicago Bulls (51-17) – There are a heck of a lot of expert NBA handicappers that think that the Bulls are in a ton of trouble without Derrick Rose. They are only just barely favorites to win this first round series against a Philadelphia team that was one of the worst at the outset of the playoffs for sure. Head Coach Tom Thibodeau is going to be thinking about why he had Rose involved in a game that was really already said and done with in Game 1 for quite some time if the Bulls end up getting knocked out of the playoffs prematurely.
7: Indiana Pacers (44-25) – The Pacers have played some great defense here in the playoffs, and they have clearly figured out how to beat the Magic. They are going to have a shot at making some noise in the postseason, but the likelihood that they are going to beat the Heat in the second round just isn’t all that great. Danny Granger is still one of the most unheralded stars in the NBA at this point, though this is another one of those chances for him to shine.
8: Los Angeles Clippers (41-27) – We give the boys from Lob City all of the credit in the world for finding a way to erase a 27-point deficit on the road in Game 1 of the playoffs, but in the end, the truth of the matter is that the Clips are overmatched and really aren’t going to be able to win here in the postseason. They are still a force to be reckoned with at Staples Center, but we think that they need to win both of these games to have a shot at continuing onto the second round of the playoffs.
9: Boston Celtics (40-28) – There is a point that the Celtics are going to have all of their players back, and they might be a team that can sneak into the Eastern Conference Finals if and when that happens. Ray Allen hasn’t been on the court yet in the postseason, but Rajon Rondo is going to be back in the fold for Game 3 against the Hawks. Boston is clearly the better of these two teams, and if the Bulls do turn out to be paper tigers, the road in the East opens up quite a bit for a team that looked to be finished early on in the season.
10: Denver Nuggets (38-30) – If there is a team that is going to have the ability to erase an 0-2 deficit in the first round of the playoffs, Denver is that team. We have seen the team go on some runs and put points on the board against the Lakers, and they clearly have the deeper team in just about every respect. Still, talent for talent, the Lakers are just better, and it is going to take a Herculean effort for the Nuggets to get back in this series at this point after losing the first two games in Tinseltown.
11: Dallas Mavericks (36-33) – The Mavs really didn’t play well down the stretch in the regular season, and in the end, it probably was their undoing for here in the playoffs as well. They really fought hard in the first two games of their first round series against the Thunder, but in the end, the champs saw their season essentially come to a close at home in Game 3 when they were blown out of the water on their home court.
12: Philadelphia 76ers (36-32) – At least we can say that the Sixers have a pulse at this point. They play some truly hardnosed defense at times, and they really looked good in their win on the road at the United Center in Game 2. Still, there is a long, uphill climb to get rid of the team with the best record in the league this year, but at that point, the possibility is there that the No. 8 seed could still be a bit noisy when push comes to shove. Lou Williams is really going to need to do more off of the bench though, as he is the only tremendous sharpshooter that this team has to offer.
13: Orlando Magic (38-31) – The Magic just haven’t done anything in terms of scoring here in the playoffs, and it is really starting to show. When the perimeter game isn’t working, there isn’t anything left to rely on with Dwight Howard out of the fold. The Magic stole Game 1 on the road and played well for a half at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but since that point, they have been thoroughly dominated in virtually every aspect of the game. Head Coach Stan Van Gundy might be in his last few days in the City Beautiful.
14: New York Knicks (36-33) – The Knicks really never had a shot against the Heat in the first round of the playoffs, and their frustration has clearly boiled over. Jeremy Lin still hasn’t played. Carmelo Anthony is still jacking up shots all over the place. Iman Shumpert has torn his ACL. And now Amare Stoudemire is busy punching fire extinguishers and ripping his hand apart. In the end, it looks like this team has just fallen apart at the seams, and it is going to make for a long offseason in the Big Apple.
15: Atlanta Hawks (41-27) – The Hawks have their wins in the regular season to fall back on, but in the end, when you look at their injury report, they look to be in worse shape than most of the rest of the teams here in the postseason. Atlanta is a wreck without Josh Smith and Al Horford, and the team just doesn’t have the offense to compete with any of the best teams in the league. The only godsend is that most of those teams are in the Western Conference. The Hawks still have a shot, but we think those chances are gloomy at best.
16: Utah Jazz (36-32) – The Jazz are likely to get swept clear out of the playoffs this year, and we really didn’t expect anything less. They are a deep team, but they aren’t as deep as the Spurs are, and they don’t have the stars or the veterans that the Spurs do either. In the end, they were literally run right off of the court at the AT&T Center twice in the first few days of the first round of the playoffs, and we don’t expect any other result even though the series has shifted back to Energy Solutions Arena.
