NBA Playoffs 2012: The Biggest Strength and Weakness of Every Playoff Team

The playoffs are coming up and teams now know their strengths and weaknesses. The trade and waiver wire deadlines are distant memories.

As this slideshow will indicate, even the No. 1 seeds have some areas that aren't so strong.

Here are the biggest strengths and weaknesses of every current playoff team. Very little can be done to adjust at this point in the season, and it will be interesting to see which teams are exposed.

8. Denver Nuggets

Biggest Strength: Shooting

The Denver Nuggets are one of the best shooting teams in the Association knocking down an impressive effective field-goal percentage of .511. They have the fourth-best field-goal percentage at .470. 

They also do this the hard way, by getting the ball to the rim. They make an average of 21.2 field goals per game at the tin, most in the NBA. That bodes well for playoff success. 

Biggest Weakness: Opponents Shooting

Interestingly, while they are so successful with their own field-goal percentage, their opponents are nearly as good. The Nuggets have an effective field-goal percentage of .509. This is because the Nuggets don't do a bad job of guarding the three-point line—they do a horrible job of it. 

In fact, in the history of the NBA, only four teams have given up a worse three-point field-goal percentage. Those teams were the '96 Jazz, the '96 Cavaliers, the '00 Bucks and the '08 Wizards. Of those teams, only the Jazz made it out of the first round. 

8. Philadelphia 76ers

Biggest Strength: Defense

The Philadelphia 76ers are an extraordinarily good defensive team. Their defensive rating of 98.1 is the 14th lowest since the advent of the three-point game and lowest in the NBA this season.

They have the second-lowest opponent effective field-goal percentage. They have the second-best defensive rebound percentage. They keep opponents off the boards without fouling too, giving up just .197 free throws per field-goal attempt.

My point here is that it's not smoke and mirrors that are getting them by, it's good, hard defense. The Sixers are a great defensive team who use their team speed and athleticism to keep teams from getting into the paint. They give up only 13.5 points per game at the rim, second best in the NBA. 

Biggest Weakness: No Finisher

The Sixers lack what Charles Barkley frequently refers to as "that guy," meaning the player that the team can count on when the game is close.

This year, the Sixers are 0-4 in games settled by three points or less, and 0-2 in overtime. Last year, they were 3-8 in close games and 2-8 in overtime. The lack of "that guy" is crucial in the postseason. Their defense will be able to keep games close but not having a go-to guy is going to make it hard to win four out of seven of them. 

7. Houston Rockets

Biggest Strength: Backcourt

The Rockets have a deep backcourt with what are effectively four starting-caliber players. Between Kyle Lowry, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic and Courtney Lee, the Rockets are an outstanding backcourt team, ranking ninth in the NBA in net efficiency from their backcourt.

Biggest Weakness: Frontcourt

On the other hand, the Rockets have the 20th-ranked frontcourt in terms of net efficiency. The frontcourt tends to be the determining factor in whether the Rockets win or lose. They are 8-19 when the frontcourt is outrebounded and 11-16 when they have fewer points. 

With some of the frontcourts the Rockets are likely to face in the postseason, this is very problematic. Their first two opponents would likely be the Spurs, who have the eighth-best frontcourt, and the Lakers,  who rank seventh. 

7. New York Knicks

Biggest Strength: Defense

Surprise! Surprise! The New York Knicks are kicking butt and taking names and they are doing it with their defense!  In fact, at this point in the season, they have the fourth-best defensive rating in all of basketball, better than the Miami Heat. 

Right now they would be squaring off against the Heat in the playoffs. Their defense is anchored by Tyson Chandler, who was instrumental in shutting down the Heat offense in last year's finals. Additionally, Carmelo Anthony has done surprisingly well against James over their careers. 

James has a 3.3 edge in terms of scoring, but that's a lot smaller than most of his contests. Additionally, Anthony has the edge in the all-important win department (9-5). I'd expect Miami to win, but this could be a much bigger challenge for the Heat than they want. 

Biggest Weakness: Passing

Some might say they can't beat winning teams, but they've gone 6-3 against teams with winning records since Woodson took over. What is true is that the Knicks are not a good passing team and that's one thing that hasn't improved under Mike Woodson. The assist numbers are virtually identical since he took over. 

When you get into the postseason, there's only so much one-on-one you can play. You have to be able to use passing to work the ball from side to side and break down defenses.

If your a Knicks fan, the thing you have to be concerned about is whether this team has the ability to pass effectively, particularly with Jeremy Lin being injured. 

6. Dallas Mavericks

Biggest Strength: Mentality

The Mavericks are the only team that can make the claim that they are the defending NBA champions. Other teams may have won in the past, such as the Lakers core and the Celtics core, but they aren't defending the title this year. 

Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki stepped up big time for Dallas last year. There's been a lot of talk about teams "turning it on" in the postseason, and the Mavericks may be able to do that. They have an older core and I expect they will turn it up in the postseason. Mentally, they are one of the toughest teams in the league.

Biggest Weakness: Offensive Rebounding

The Mavericks are not a very good offensive rebounding team. They are 27th in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game and they are 27th in terms of offensive rebound percentage, so whichever way you look at it, they are struggling there. 

The knee-jerk response is to assume that's due to the departure of Tyson Chandler but they actually had the same issue last year. Their numbers and ranking really aren't all that different. Of course if you never miss shots it's not a concern, which is what was happening with Nowitzki last season, particularly in the postseason. 

6. Orlando Magic

Biggest Strength: Dwight Howard

There are those who question whether Dwight Howard is still the best center in the NBA. If you are one of those people, STOP! Seriously. Dwight Howard is easily the best center in the NBA. I get the arguments for Andrew Bynum being a better offensive player, and there's some merit there, but Howard is far and away the best defensive center in the league. 

Bynum is actually much improved on defense this year and probably doesn't get near enough credit for being a top-tier defensive center in the NBA, either. Here's the thing though; he doesn't essentially defend the entire court by himself. 

Every year the Magic have a top-10 defense in spite of the fact that apart from Howard, they have a litany of bad defensive players. Last year when Jason Richardson came over, it was illustrative of how much difference he makes. Richardson's points per play against fell by .20. That's astronomical!

Bynum is a good defensive player on a team that has relatively solid-to-All-Defense-caliber defensive wings in Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace, as well as a reasonably good power forward in Pau Gasol. 

The difference between Bynum and Howard is that Bynum defends the paint while Howard defends the Magic side of the court. Put him on a team that has even one All-Defense-caliber wing and it becomes one of the best defenses in the history of the game. Imagine him paired with Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala or a LeBron James.

Biggest Weakness: Three-Point Dependence

Setting aside the Howard injury concerns, and the fact that the team seems to be in a morale decline, there are other actual basketball concerns. If you want to make either of those the biggest weakness though, feel free. 

The Orlando Magic have a simple offensive strategy. Surround Howard with a bunch of three-point shooters who can spread the court. The Magic have made 128 more three-point field goals than any team in the NBA this year. To put that in perspective, they have made 21 percent more than any other team. 

They don't just hurl them up, they tend to make them. They've hit on .378 percent of them, which is good for fourth best the league. 

Here's the problem; when they don't make them, they are awful. They've failed to hit 70 points four times this year and in those four games they were a combined 21-of-79 from deep, a devastating .265.

The teams those games were against? The Celtics, Sixers, Hornets and Bulls; four of the five best teams in the league at defending the three. 

That's the general gist here. When the Magic face a team that shuts down the three, they become an offense that relies on Howard. He can't put the ball on the floor, can't beat double teams and can't make free throws when he's forced to. 

They have two ways of scoring and they are dependent on each other being able to work. That's why eventually the philosophy always fails in the postseason. 

5. Memphis Grizzlies

Biggest Strength: Starting Five

In Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, the Grizzlies have arguably one of the best starting frontcourts in the the NBA. They have a solid backcourt in Mike Conley and defensive specialist Tony Allen. The five together comprise the eighth-best efficiency differential among starters this year. 

With Randolph getting his legs under him, the Grizzlies are hitting their stride right now, winning nine of their last 12 games. This is a team that many felt could contend for a title this year and if they continue playing like they have of late, they could. 

Biggest Weakness: Shooting

The Grizzlies struggle on offense and primarily that's just because they aren't a very good shooting team. They have only two players on their roster who make more than half their shots, and the two of those have only combined for 289 shots. 

They are 28th in three-pointers made and they are 24th in three-point percentage. The only reasonably good three-point shooter on the team is O.J. Mayo, who at .371 is hardly the poster boy for the three-point contest. While you don't want to be overly dependent on the three, it's nice to be able to have some players who can stretch the court.  

5. Atlanta Hawks

Biggest Strength: Forwards

With Al Horford injured, the Hawks have been playing a small-ball lineup that has Joe Johnson playing the small forward and Josh Smith playing the power forward. As a result, they are getting the third-best net efficiency from their frontcourt since the All-Star break in spite of being a minus-1.2 at the center spot. 

Smith and Johnson combine for nearly 38 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists per game. Johnson and Smith are unquestionably the key to the Hawks' success.

Biggest Weakness: Not Forwards

On the flip side of this equation is everyone else. While the Hawks are ranked fifth in net production from their power forwards, and fourth in net production from their small forwards, they are not in the top half anywhere else, and are in the bottom third in production from their point guards and centers. 

The Hawks are essentially two very good players and a bunch of other guys that play defense reasonably well. They've done a lot to continue wining without their best player, but they are destined for a first- or second-round exit once again. 

4. Los Angeles Clippers

Biggest Strength: Superstar Talent

Only three teams in the NBA had more than one starter in the All-Star Game (Heat, Lakers, Clippers). The Clippers sent Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. They say that the playoffs is about the stars, so if that's the case, then the Clippers have a chance.

The Clippers not only have two superstar-caliber players, they are also the right mix of players, in that one is an interior player and one is an outside player. They're also "honest" in the sense that Griffin's points really do come inside and Paul's points really do come from shooting. Paul is also a pure point guard while Griffin is a pure power forward. 

Having an inside/outside tandem threat has been the key to many a championship; Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tony Parker/Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan. There are exceptions, and other ways to win, but this formula is proven. 

Biggest Weakness: Coaching

Vinny Del Negro is on the bottom rung of coaches in the NBA.

He couldn't make make it with the Bulls, and he can't with this talented Clippers team.

Despite their talent, the Clippers will get outcoached in the postseason and in every round they make it to. Their success will be in spite of him, not because of him.

4. Boston Celtics

Biggest Strength: Hall of Fame Core

The Celtics have a lot of strengths in terms of defense, shooting, versatility, passing and so on. All of this is loosely tied together by the fact they have a Hall of Fame core, and you can include Rajon Rondo in that group someday.

Rondo is already 134th all time in total assists and he's only 26 years old. He's one of the best pure passers in the game and he has a litany of weapons to chose from. 

They've been there, done that. They have postseason experience and they know what to do and how to win in the playoffs. This team is getting hot at the right time and will be a tough out. 

Biggest Weakness: Offensive Rebounding

The Boston Celtics aren't just a bad offensive rebounding team, they are the worst offensive rebounding team in the history of the NBA. That's not an exaggeration, nor is it a result of their sharp field-goal shooting. 

Offensive rebound percentage measures the percentage of your missed shots that you rebound. It accounts for the fact that not all teams miss the same number of shots.

The Celtics have the worst offensive rebounding percentage ever, and it's not even close. At 19.9 percent, they are a full percentage point worse than the next-worst team, the Golden State Warriors from 2009-10. That is absolutely abysmal. 

The difference is crucial in that essentially this comes out to meaning that the Celtics' opponents get more chances to score. On average they get 3.6 more possessions per game. 

Right now they project to a second-round series against the Chicago Bulls who have won five of the last six contests between the two teams and have claimed 61 more offensive rebounds in those six games. 

3. Los Angeles Lakers

Biggest Strength: Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum

When Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum are playing within themselves, the Lakers can beat anyone in the league.

Part of that is on Kobe. The Lakers are undefeated when both he and either Bynum or Pau Gasol have scored at least 20 points and he's shot over .450 from the field. That's the good news. The bad news is that's only happened seven times this season. 

The Lakers are 21-8 when he's shot at least .450 from the field compared to 16-13 when he's shot worse than that. Bryant helps the team immensely when he plays contained. It's not so much about how many shots he takes as it is how many bad shots he takes. When he's not forcing up bad shots, the team tends to win. 

With Bynum it's a bit of a different story. It's about whether he's engaged or not. He is an absolute double-double machine, with 53 double-doubles in 55 games this year. When he's engaged offensively—getting at least 15 points and 10 rebounds—the Lakers are 27-11.

Biggest Weakness: Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum

What's Kobe Bryant's favorite ice cream? Chuckalot! (Chocolate...too much of a stretch?)

What's Bynum's favorite pastime? Watching basketball from inside the game. 

When Kobe tries to do it all himself, the team becomes remarkably average. When Bynum is disengaged, the team tends to lose.  The Lakers are only 25-17 when Bynum scores less than 12 points. 

If the Lakers have their two All-Star starters engaged and playing intelligently during the postseason, this team has a realistic shot at the finals. If not, they have a realistic shot at a first-round departure. 

3. Indiana Pacers

Biggest Strength: Balance

One of two things are true about this team. They are arguably the worst No. 3 seed of all time, or they are the most underrated. The Pacers have been winning and they've been doing it all year long, and it hasn't been by smoke and mirrors. It just might take them getting to the second round to prove that. 

There is a lot of talk about "depth," but "balance" is the operative word for the Pacers. They are the only team in the NBA where every one of their starting five is averaging double figures in scoring. Beyond that they have two more players who are averaging over nine points. 

Biggest Weakness: Shooting

Much like the 76ers, they also lack that go-to scorer when the game is on the line. Unlike them, they seem to be able to win in tight games regardless. Maybe Danny Granger is just good enough. That's a concern, and a weakness, but not their biggest weakness.

Their biggest weakness is that they are not a very good shooting team. They make up for it by getting points from the stripe, as a league-high 21.1 percent of their points come from there. When the Pacers when the free-throw battle, they are 27-10. 

This brings up a potentially intriguing first-round series. It's not impossible for the Pacers and 76ers to matchup if Orlando falls off due to Howard's injury and the Sixers pull themselves together. Philadelphia is very good at playing good defense without fouling and keeping opponent field-goal percentage low. 

Philly and Indy would be a great series between two very well-coached, well-balanced teams who have the sentiment among their fans that they don't get the respect they deserve. This would essentially be the "Rodney Dangerfield" series of the NBA. 

2. San Antonio Spurs

Biggest Strength: The Whole Package

The San Antonio Spurs are the whole package. They have a Hall of Fame player(s) and coach.

They have incredible depth. Based on efficiency differential, they have the best bench in the NBA this year. They have players who can ball at every position. 

In short, they have a team that can clobber you. Offensively, they are so complete and deep that they don't give you a chance to catch your breath. 

Biggest Weakness: Age

Two of their most important players—Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili—are 35 and 34 respectively and this team plays at a very high pace. Tony Parker is the youngster of the bunch and he's a month shy of his 30th birthday with 10 years of playing under his belt. 

There's a lot of basketball in those six legs. Do they have enough for a deep postseason charge? I believe they do, but if anything catches them, it might be Father Time. 

2. Miami Heat

Biggest Strength: Big Three

Whether you love them or hate them, don't doubt them. These three guys can ball. They average 67 points, 21 rebounds and 13 assists combined per night. Because of that, they have the top starting lineup in terms of net efficiency this season, and this in spite of the fact that they get little from the point guard position and almost nothing from the center position. 

On top of that, they have arguably the two best wings in the game, and believe you me, they can fly. No one scores in transition like they do. They get to the rim almost effortlessly. The "Big Three" are such a collection of talent that they make the Heat one of the most talked about teams ever and it's with good reason.  

Biggest Weakness: The Lack of We

The Big Three is there but everything else is not. To put things in perspective, in Thursday night's loss to the Bulls, the Bulls bench outscored the Heat bench 47-7. In fact, C.J. Watson outscored everyone on the Heat other than the Big Three, 16-15. 

The Heat lack everything that the Big Three don't provide; a strong inside presence, a consistent three-point threat and an offensive rebounder. Is this a matter of the rest of the roster having those things and the Big Three not trusting them or is it just that it's not there?

Miami is trying to answer that question. The Heat have been changing and experimenting with their rotations of late, and have twice changed their starting center. That's not the sort of thing that you normally see from a team looking for a championship in April.

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

Biggest Strength: Shot Creators

The Oklahoma City Thunder have three players who are brilliantly gifted in being able to create shots for themselves in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Those three actually combine to score more points than the Heat's Big Three.

The Thunder have the best effective field-goal percentage in the NBA. They are also the best at getting to the line, largely built on the ability of their own "Big Three'" to draw contact. On top of that, they hit on 80.1 percent of their free throws. 

When you put all that together, you have the best offense in the Association.

Biggest Weakness: Questionable Offense

Can this type of offense succeed in the postseason? There are some serious issues with this offense as great as it is. While the Thunder are great at individual offense, they are the worst in the league at generating team offense. 

They have the highest turnover percentage (15.3 percent), the lowest assist rate (13.1) and as you might guess, the worst assist-to-turnover ratio (1.13) in the NBA.

Can this team score effectively in a seven-game series against some of the elite defensive teams in the NBA?

1. Chicago Bulls

Biggest Strength: Depth

Last year, the Bulls had the MVP.  Despite Derrick Rose missing a third of the season, the Bulls have maintained the best record in the league. Nine different players have led the team in scoring. Nine different players have had 20-point games. 

This team is not only deep, it's diverse. They have defensive specialists that are among the best in the league in players like Omer Asik, Taj Gibson and Ronnie Brewer. They have three players who hit more than 40 percent of their three-point attempts. 

They have rebounders in Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Gibson and Asik. They have players who can drive and create shots in Derrick Rose, Rip Hamilton, C.J. Watson and John Lucas. 

There's a reason the Bulls have the league's best record in spite of having missed 71 starts due to injury. They are deep, deep, deep. They are the only team in the NBA to rank in the top 10 in net efficiency at all five positions, with their starters and with their bench. 

Biggest Weakness: Free-Throw Shooting

That's not to say the Bulls don't have any weaknesses though. The biggest flaw this team has is the charity stripe, and that could cost them in the postseason as many a game is decided on the points that are given away. 

The Bulls have trouble getting to the line and making the shots once they get there. They make just 72.2 percent of their free throws, 27th in the NBA. They also have a free-throw-to-field-goal-attempt-ratio of just .187, which is also 27th in the NBA. 

When the Bulls give up more points at the free-throw line than they make, they are only 15-10, compared to 29-4 when they have the same or more. Against teams they may have to beat to get to the finals—such as Oklahoma City and Miami, who are the top two teams at getting to the line—this could be extremely problematic.