For NBA fans

[Spencer 555]

Lol keep dreaming Philly. You guys are a playoff run away from being in the conversation.

[Spencer 555]

If I had to rank teams based purely on paper. My rankings would be (and this is considering fully healthy):

GSW
SAS
CLE
LAC
RAP
WAS
HOU

I think the top 4 are pretty much locked in and the next 3 all have an argument for 5th, but these are the playoff contenders.

I'm not at all convinced the Celtics are as good as the record shows. Thomas is their best player and he's a huge liability defensively. By every metric and the eye test Thomas is the worst defensive player in the league lol and the Celtics are ranked 25th+ in rebounding %. In fact last time I checked they were 29th.

[Greendaybum5]

If I had to rank teams based purely on paper. My rankings would be (and this is considering fully healthy):

GSW
SAS
CLE
LAC
RAP
WAS
HOU

I think the top 4 are pretty much locked in and the next 3 all have an argument for 5th, but these are the playoff contenders.

I'm not at all convinced the Celtics are as good as the record shows. Thomas is their best player and he's a huge liability defensively. By every metric and the eye test Thomas is the worst defensive player in the league lol and the Celtics are ranked 25th+ in rebounding %. In fact last time I checked they were 29th.

Maybe I'm just a D'Antoni fan, but I put Houston 4th on that list.

[Spencer 555]

It's hard to see the rockets defense holding up in the playoffs. I don't think Harden has another gear then what he's been all season. Their defensive rating is misleading because they have such a dynamic offense that other teams give up when the rockets go on their inevitable run. That won't happen in the playoffs against the better teams who will grind it out.

It'll be interesting to find out if I'm wrong though haha. Like in baseball, run production value is essentially limitless even though people value pitching, defense and run prevention seemingly more. Flawed analytics.

[Spencer 555]

Which lineup is better:

Lowry + Derozan + Carroll + Patterson + Ibaka

Vs

Wall + Beal + Porter + Morris + Gortat

Vs

Harden + Beverly + Ariza + Anderson + Capella

Vs

Paul + Reddick + Mbah a Moute + Griffin + Jordan.

Because those are the lineups that get the most minutes in the playoffs for each team.

I'd personally rank Houston 4th on that list.

[Spencer 555]

Also rank the benches I guess.

JV + Joseph + Tucker + Powell

Mahinmi + Jennings + Oubre + Bogdanovic

Nene + Harrell + Gordon + Williams

Rivers + Speights + Crawdaddy + Felton

I'd probably actually rank the clips last on this list, and the rockets first for what it's worth, but they might even go 8 men deep in the playoffs with that team.

[Greendaybum5]

Which lineup is better:

Lowry + Derozan + Carroll + Patterson + Ibaka

Vs

Wall + Beal + Porter + Morris + Gortat

Vs

Harden + Beverly + Ariza + Anderson + Capella

Vs

Paul + Reddick + Mbah a Moute + Griffin + Jordan.

Because those are the lineups that get the most minutes in the playoffs for each team.

I'd personally rank Houston 4th on that list.

In a 7 game series I think Houston could easily compete with any of those teams. And I don't think the Clippers are constructed well with 2 bigs that can't shoot. CP3 is stuck in an awful situation. I definitely take Houston over the Clips. The other two maybe, but Rockets are def right there.

Also rank the benches I guess.

JV + Joseph + Tucker + Powell

Mahinmi + Jennings + Oubre + Bogdanovic

Nene + Harrell + Gordon + Williams

Rivers + Speights + Crawdaddy + Felton

I'd probably actually rank the clips last on this list, and the rockets first for what it's worth, but they might even go 8 men deep in the playoffs with that team.

I agree def Rockets on this list. I think they're better than people give them credit for. Also I think Westbrook deserves MVP over Harden. I just think D'Antoni is playing to his team's strengths and love what he's doing. He should win COY in my opinion if you're not giving it to Brett Brown

[Spencer 555]

Haha ya I'd give to either DantonI or pop. Pop is kinda a God every year though.

[Sanosuke]

It's hard to see the rockets defense holding up in the playoffs. I don't think Harden has another gear then what he's been all season. Their defensive rating is misleading because they have such a dynamic offense that other teams give up when the rockets go on their inevitable run. That won't happen in the playoffs against the better teams who will grind it out.

This is such a silly thing to say. "I believe the other 29 teams are pretty accurate, but not this one! Especially BECAUSE they're winning basketball games."

[Spencer 555]

Where did I say all the other teams are accurate lol.

Boston is in first place in the east right now and I think they could lose in the first round.