These are your NBA playoff rankings after Thursday night’s action:
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City cruised through in their first-round series against Memphis. Ja Morant’s injury did Memphis no favors, but the Thunder dominated every aspect of the game. Oklahoma’s big men led to 50.7 RPG and 6.7 blocks per game. Although they lost game one to Denver, they bounced back with 149 points to win game two.
2. Indiana Pacers
Indiana has been a top-ranked playoff team in FG%, FT%, and assists. They won game 5 in OT over the Bucks to win their series 4-1. The Pacers have shockingly won the first 2 games of their series against the Cavs and now head home for games 3 and 4.
3. New York Knicks
New York played close games throughout their first-round matchup against Detroit. The Knicks’ defense has been a mainstay throughout the regular season and has carried over into the playoffs. They won in comeback fashion in game one against the Celtics in Boston, and then did it again in game two.
4. Boston Celtics
Boston is one of the lowest-ranked playoff teams in field goal attempts. Boston must find a way to manufacture more shot attempts because their competition moving forward will be much tougher than the Magic, as we saw in the game one and two loss to the Knicks.
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland dominated their first-round series with the 2nd-best point differential at +15. Over their series, they won by an average of 20+ PPG. They lost the opening two games of their series with the Pacers, and now head on the road for two games.
6. Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota features the 4th-best point differential of the playoffs, and even though the Lakers surprisingly won the rebound battle, the T-Wolves were able to beat LA in 5 games and advance to the second round. They lost game one to the Warriors 99-88, and need a win in game 2 to avoid going back to Golden State down 2-0 in the series.
7. Golden State Warriors
Golden State led their series over the Rockets 3-1, but let the Rockets win games 5 and 6 to force a decisive game 7 in Houston. They were able to win it on the road and advance to round 2. They used that momentum to win game one on the road in Minnesota, but were beaten by 24 points in game 2.
8. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets were able to beat the Clippers in round one despite it being a tough, back-and-forth series. Then, on Monday, they opened up their round 2 series against the Thunder, the best team in the NBA all season long, and were able to come away with a 121-119 win. Unfortunately for them, the Thunder were far too much for them to handle in game two, and they are the lowest-ranked team because there is very little chance they win this series.
