NBA Power Rankings 2012: Grading Every Remaining Team in 2012 Playoffs

Outside of a Game 6 featuring the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers and a surprising Game 7 matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers, the second round of the NBA playoffs is nearly set and will begin this weekend.

It's about time.

The first round of the playoffs was not nearly what we wanted out of playoff basketball. Sure, we had an unbelievable comeback that featured a 27-point comeback by the Clippers, but every other series has been uninteresting and laden with mistakes from both parties.

To put it in one statement, it didn't feature many games that you'd be talking about the next day.

Expectations were highest for the series featuring the Miami Heat and New York Knicks, which featured four of the top five picks in the 2003 draft. Most predicted the Heat would win, but it was still expected to be a series chock-full of highlights. Instead, we had games where offense was difficult to come by with scores that were often heavily in favor of the Heat.

Chicago taking on Philadelphia lost its luster once Derrick Rose got hurt, San Antonio and Oklahoma City both won in sweeps, and Indiana beat an Orlando team without Dwight Howard in five games.

The series featuring Atlanta and Boston? It's better if we just leave it at that.

The Lakers and Nuggets series is living up to potential, as is the series featuring the Grizzlies and Clippers.

Mediocre play or not, we take on the assignment of grading each playoff team that still has a chance at winning an NBA championship. We analyze how well they played in the first round and what could possibly happen in the second round based on their play and their matchup.

Boston Celtics

It's in the Atlanta Hawks' nature to choke games away or not take advantage of a situation perfectly designed for them.

It's in the Boston Celtics' nature to take advantage of inept and inconsistent teams like the Atlanta Hawks.

When Ray Allen was out the first two games of the series and Rajon Rondo was suspended for Game 2, any normal NBA playoff team would have taken advantage and gone out and won both those games. Even without Al Horford, the Hawks should have had enough to beat a Celtics team featuring Avery Bradley and Mickael Pietrus in its backcourt.

Come Game 2, and what happens? The Hawks blow it.

The Celtics basically had Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Bradley out there to save their team, and they managed to do so behind Pierce's 36 points and 14 rebounds. The Celtics needed everything they could get out of their longtime teammate, and they got just about everything they could squeeze out.

Once the Celtics won Game 2, it was over. Even when Allen returned from his injuries and Rondo came back from suspension, the series was over. The Hawks are constantly going through droughts where they can't score, and the Celtics have the defense and the playmakers to take advantage of that every time.

Pierce led the way for the Celtics in their 4-2 series victory, averaging 21.2 points, 6.3 boards and 3.8 assists per. Rajon Rondo chipped in 16.8 points, 11.8 assists, 5.6 boards and 3.4 steals per, while Allen added 11.8 points per. Garnett led the way in rebounds with 10.5 per.

The scariest thing about this team is the fact that they have Rondo, which nearly cancels out the age factor of Garnett, Pierce and Allen. Because they have Rondo on their team constantly setting up plays and establishing a rhythm, the Celtics' "big three" doesn't have to use as much energy on the offensive end to get easy scores.

The Celtics played well through the adversity they encountered early on in the series, and their upcoming matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers will feature games that are much, much uglier than the contests we saw them play against Atlanta.

Grade: B+

Los Angeles Lakers

Can't say we saw this coming.

I think we can all say we saw a tough series between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers was sure to happen, but the Nuggets winning back-to-back elimination games to force a Game 7? I'd like to get to know the people that bet on that.

Nobody saw that coming, especially after Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol pummeled the Nuggets down low in Games 1 and 2.

They haven't seen the same amount of success in the paint since. The two Laker towers went from crushing the Nuggets frontcourt at will to getting outworked, outhustled and outplayed. The young and athletic Nuggets big men have run circles around Gasol and Bynum, controlling the pace on both ends.

Gasol had just three points in Game 6. He hasn't had that great of a series, but that's not something you'd expect from the key player on in winning two championships since 2009. Yet he's being turned into a pedestrian player by Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGee and as a result, the Lakers aren't able to get the best out of one of their three star players.

What happens when one of the only three stars on your team doesn't play well? You lose. The Lakers don't have a bench to depend on and have needed big games by Gasol, Bynum and Kobe Bryant on a daily basis to win. It's helping that they have Ramon Sessions, as well as Metta World Peace returning for Game 7, but they still need those three to produce for them to have a chance.

Three points and three rebounds by Pau Gasol isn't winning championships. 11 points on 11 shots from Andrew Bynum won't win any titles. The bench failing to provide? Impossible to win when one of your three key players can't produce to his usual averages.

The Lakers will be back at the Staples Center in Game 7, in an arena where they won Games 1 and 2 but recently lost in a Game 5 that would have ended the series. They'll need Bynum and Gasol to assert their authority down low, for World Peace to create havoc and frustrate the Nuggets and, most importantly, to have Bryant produce as he usually does.

Either that or it's going to be a long summer for Mike Brown.

Grade: C+

Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers did the job in the first round, yet you sort of think that this team is so much better than what we witnessed in the opening week of the postseason.

Despite the Orlando Magic not having their lone All-Star Dwight Howard (sorry to all my Jameer Nelson fans out there), the Pacers found themselves in a game in three of the five meetings. Outside of their Game 2 and 3 beatings of the depleted Magic, the Pacers had to claw and fight their way for wins in Games 4 and 5.

The Pacers might have won Game 5 by 18, but they struggled for the first 36 minutes of the game and actually faced a deficit going into the final frame. Nelson got hot from the field to have 15 points in the third quarter, but his Magic were outscored 36-16 in the fourth quarter to hand over the series to Indiana.

Overall, it was a good series by Indiana. Most analysts had the Pacers winning in either five or six games, and even with the loss to start off the series, they proved to be resilient by winning the next four. However, that Game 1 loss was scary, as the Pacers allowed Orlando to go on an 11-0 run to end the game. It's lulls like that you can't afford, especially when your second-round matchup is the Miami Heat.

There was a fine balance in scoring with Danny Granger leading the way at 21 per, while David West, George Hill and Roy Hibbert all chipped in at least 11 per. Hibbert also led the team in rebounding per with nearly 11 and blocks per at nearly four. It's expected that he would acquire so many rebounds and blocks per when his matchup for the series was Glen Davis, who is actually a power forward.

Give nothing but credit to the Pacers. This was a team that finished eight games under the .500 threshold last year and barely made it in as an eighth seed. It took them one strong offseason for a 26-game improvement and a No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Their complete starting lineup and deep bench that addresses several niches will aid them throughout their playoff endeavors.

I'd give the Pacers a higher grade, but the fact that they struggled against Orlando without their best player is bewildering. The Magic led every playoff team in three-pointers made and attempted and finished eighth in three-point percentage. The Pacers' focus from the beginning of this series should have been loading up on the perimeter, yet they allowed Orlando to stay in games because of its three-point shooting.

If the Pacers had trouble handling the Magic without Howard, how do we expect them to play against Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh?

Grade: B

Los Angeles Clippers

I've watched a few Los Angeles Clippers games this season, but this series with the Memphis Grizzlies has taught me one thing—this is the whiniest bunch of 20- and 30-year-olds I've ever seen on one roster.

If it's not Blake Griffin flopping, it's Chris Paul flopping. If it's not Reggie Evans falling down from minimal contact, it's Randy Foye begging for a call. Game after game this goes on, and it's extremely infuriating to watch so many guys that act tough fall to the ground over minimal contact. You either choose one side or the other. You're either soft or hard; you can't be both.

Nevertheless, the Clippers have played extremely well against a tough Memphis Grizzlies team thanks in part to the late-game theatrics and facilitating of Chris Paul. It is absolutely incredible to witness what one six-foot-tall player can do to influence a game. He is dictating every single thing that happens on the court that involves the Clippers getting positive results.

The beautiful thing about Paul's game is how naturally it comes to him. Even though he's often the shortest player on the court, he makes it seem as if he's the largest. The offense is waiting for him to make the play, while the defense follows his every move and attempts to figure out what magical play he can come up with. Most times, Paul makes the play and the defense can't succeed in stopping him.

He's dishing out nearly eight assists and converting just under 23 points per on 47 percent shooting from the field. He's also garnering plenty of attention from the outside with 1.4 three-pointers per at a 39 percent clip, which is actually lower than it seems if you've been watching the Clippers' playoff run.

Los Angeles isn't just succeeding because of him, however. It's getting decent contributions from Blake Griffin and Mo Williams, but it's actually been Reggie Evans and Kenyon Martin who have been arguably playing the largest roles in this series.

Despite averaging a combined 5.8 points per game in this series, Evans and Martin have been torturous for the Grizzlies. Evans is grabbing eight boards per in only 22 minutes worth of action, and Martin has somehow become a lockdown defender in the post and along the perimeter. The defense and the rebounding these two have provided have been essential to the Clippers' run, and I really can't stress that enough.

The Clippers still have a long way to go before this series ends. Memphis won't go down easily; it's simply not in its nature. In fact, I'll let you predict who ends up taking it.

Grade: B

Denver Nuggets

For a team without a go-to scorer, the Denver Nuggets sure are handling their business against a team with arguably one of the greatest scorers in NBA history.

I wonder how Carmelo Anthony is feeling watching this team at home.

After falling behind by 2-0, the Nuggets have won the last two games against the Los Angeles Lakers and have now forced a Game 7 at the Staples Center to decide it all. The winner goes on to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Nuggets would certainly stun a few million across the world, since every analyst had the Lakers taking on the Thunder in a blockbuster matchup.

Denver doesn't care about your dreams. It's proving to be a nightmare to the Lakers. At least that's what it looks like the Lakers bench is going through if you judge them by their slouched demeanor and the look of dejection on their faces. The Nuggets have caused frustration throughout Laker nation over the past week.

It appeared the Nuggets were due for either a sweep or a gentleman's sweep ending in five games. The Nuggets were bullied down low by Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol in the first two games of the series, including Denver's humiliating 15-point defeat in Game 1. However, coach George Karl found a way to limit the production of the two.

By throwing immediate double-teams at Bynum, he would be forced to pass out. However, knowing that Bynum was not an excellent passer under pressure, the double-teams would be physical, frantic and quick. The Nuggets' main objective on every possession was to keep the ball out of Bynum's hands.

By keeping Gasol out of the paint and playing physical on him as well, the Nuggets had found a way to limit the Lakers' dynamic duo down low without having a solid one-on-one defender.

JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried have been excellent in this execution. Their youth and athleticism have proved to frustrate the Lakers combo of Gasol and Bynum.

Grade: B+

Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies' 2012 postseason run is proof enough of how unpredictable the playoffs can be.

Last year, the Grizzlies, sans Rudy Gay, beat the San Antonio Spurs in the first round as an eighth seed before taking the Oklahoma City Thunder to a strenuous seven games in the semifinals. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol were prolific on the boards and in the paint overall, while getting unexpected contributions from the likes of Darrell Arthur.

I can understand that series against the Spurs being won on matchup problems for San Antonio, but that series against Oklahoma City? That was the Grizzlies, without Rudy Gay, nearly beating out a team with Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison in its frontcourt. The Grizzlies were either on a tremendous hot streak or had a lot of heart, because I can't explain what's going on now.

The Grizzlies have their entire frontcourt healthy and intact, yet they are one game away from losing to the Los Angeles Clippers. Throw in Mike Conley Jr. and O.J. Mayo making shots and Tony Allen continuing to play excellent defense, and you should have a championship contender, right?

Instead, they're getting beat by a team that only has one established scorer down low.

Chris Paul has been excellent for the Clippers, but this series has more to do with Memphis losing than the Clippers winning. The Grizzlies should be winning this series if not for an extreme lack of focus and absolutely awful decision-making down the stretch. Perhaps that loss in Game 1 has truly affected their psyche for the duration of the series.

In case you haven't heard, the Grizzlies blew a 27-point lead at home. They were up 21 points going into the fourth quarter and allowed the Clippers to outscore them 35-13 in the final frame. That's a combination of no longer playing to your strengths on offense and playing lazy, uninspired defense.

When they started going away from Randolph and Gasol in the post, they allowed the Clippers to get their energy back to spark that unbelievable run in the fourth. Once they allowed Chris Paul to get a rhythm and Nick Young to begin making shots, they gave their opponent hope, which is the last thing you want to do in the playoffs.

Instead of having a Game 1 victory by at least 10 points, they gave the Clippers hope and killed any momentum they had. That's a cardinal sin of playing in the postseason. Keeping focus and never allowing your eyes to leave the prize are what champions are made of, and the Grizzlies clearly showed neither characteristic in that loss.

However, Memphis is tough, and this series isn't even close to over. Randolph and Gasol could begin to get a bigger influence on offense, and this Memphis team could actually begin to hold 20-point leads come the final 12 minutes.

Grade: C-

Miami Heat

The Miami Heat should have swept the New York Knicks, and that's what scares me about this team.

We know how amazing this Heat team can be. They held the Knicks to 70 points or less in two meetings and kept them below 100 points in every game. Yet the only game I can seem to focus on at this point is their 89-87 loss in Game 4.

It was a frustrating game to watch on both sides, and it wasn't until Carmelo Anthony began making his usual shots, as well as actually involving Amar'e Stoudemire, that the Knicks began to pull away.

LeBron James scored a flurry of points in the final seconds, but the game ended with a thud courtesy of a horribly designed play that involved Dwyane Wade running around in circles for 15 seconds. James stood in the corner and watched the play develop.

What concerned me about the game wasn't the poor coaching decisions or the free-throw shooting. It was the fact that the Heat seemingly lost focus, once again, until it was too late. For the first 45 minutes of the game, they're lazily walking up and down the court, not going after every loose ball and committing turnovers that usually aren't even forced.

It's the kind of thing we saw in the regular season from this team and the kind of play we saw in Game 2 of the 2011 NBA Finals, when they gave up a double-digit lead in the final minutes because of a lack of focus. We recognize that the Heat have a switch they can turn on, but you expect it to be turned on throughout the postseason and not just in specific moments when a bailout is needed.

It's even more excruciating to watch when you realize what's at stake for this team. They just lost the NBA Finals in a devastating fashion, and there's all this talk about redemption, yet they're struggling to keep focus in the opening round of the playoffs.

That's something that can't be happening later on. Teams will get better, and they will take advantage.

Overall, however, the Miami Heat were incredible. LeBron James played like an MVP, averaging around 28 points, six boards, six assists and two steals per; Dwyane Wade chipped in 21 points on 50 percent shooting; and Chris Bosh finished with a modest 15 points and seven boards per. Tough to put any scrutiny on Bosh when he was traveling back and forth from New York to Miami to witness the birth of his child and then getting matched up with the Defensive Player of the Year.

Perhaps the greatest aspect of the first round was the fact that the role players actually stepped up and contributed. The Heat bench has long been criticized for its inconsistencies and ineffectiveness, but they managed to prove a few critics wrong thanks to Mario Chalmers' 11.8 points per, Mike Miller's 39 percent shooting from deep and Shane Battier's defense that aided in tiring out Anthony.

The Heat will now move on to a much greater challenge in the Indiana Pacers. Miami will have to compensate for its size, as it'll take on a huge front line with rebounders at just about every position.

Grade: A-

Oklahoma City Thunder

It had to be in the back of the head of each All-Star on the Oklahoma City Thunder roster. We knew that they were thinking of last year's shortcomings against this very same Dallas Mavericks team that beat them in five games in last year's conference finals.

While the Mavericks roster wasn't exactly the same, they still possessed the two shooters in Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry and the main defender in Shawn Marion that limited them last year.

The Thunder had a fourth-quarter lead in every one of their four losses in those conference finals. They held a lead in the fourth quarter of each game they played against Dallas in this year's first-round matchup. This time around, however, there was a different result—a much, much different result.

Oklahoma City maintained leads in each fourth quarter and ended up sweeping the defending NBA champions. Outside of their Game 3 95-79 win, the Thunder won the other three games by a combined 10 points. Not too shabby from a team that missed out on its chance to make the NBA Finals because of its inability to win close games.

The difference this time around? Russell Westbrook wasn't taking the key shots, Kevin Durant wasn't a bystander, James Harden's role on offense was increased and Serge Ibaka was contributing plenty on both sides of the ball. Ibaka's three blocks per was more than enough of an intimidation factor to keep each and every Maverick far out of the lane.

Throw in the fact that the Mavericks didn't have Tyson Chandler in the middle or J.J. Barea coming off the bench, and there shouldn't be many surprises that this was a sweep. Dallas came into the 2011-12 season with no intention of winning the title a second consecutive season, and the Thunder took advantage.

Durant and Westbrook are the true leaders of this team, but Harden could be the main reason why this team goes on to the finals. He scored 18 points per along with five rebounds, four assists and nearly three steals, while converting on 46 percent of his three three-point attempts per.

If Harden is going to contribute that off the bench while Durant and Westbrook do what they usually do in the starting lineup, there isn't going to be much of a deterrent keeping the Thunder out of the NBA Finals.

Grade: A

Philadelphia 76ers

With the benefit of a few catastrophic injuries inflicted upon their opponents, the Philadelphia 76ers prevailed over the Chicago Bulls in the first round and will be seeing the semifinals for the first time since 2003.

This was a series that the Bulls should have won. Sorry to all of my loyal 76er fans out there, but there is no way a Bulls team with a healthy Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah is losing in the first round of the playoffs. They might have been able to play without Rose in the regular season, but knowing that he wasn't coming back to save them in the postseason was enough to take the wind out of their sails.

The Sixers played admirably. Don't get me wrong; I will always give credit to the team that wins because it is the better team. Spencer Hawes was an incredible boost, Jrue Holiday finally played some consistently good ball and Evan Turner played great all-around basketball and backed up what he said at the beginning of the postseason.

However, Philadelphia was a winning streak from the Milwaukee Bucks away from missing the playoffs. It completely imploded near the end of the season, essentially the worst possible time you can implode as a team, and limped in as an eighth seed.

For a while, we thought the Sixers were for real. They held a strong lead at the top of the Atlantic Division before some sort of outside force caused this team to start losing game after game. The way they limped into the postseason is extremely similar to teams that get swept early on.

If you don't have momentum going into the playoffs, you're pretty much writing yourself off.

All right, I'm definitely going a little too hard on this team. I completely admire what the Sixers did in the playoffs because they still could have easily given up in Game 6 when facing a deficit in the final minute. Luckily, they made their shots, played stellar defense and had the benefit of a few missed free throws to pull through for the stunning upset.

Don't immediately rule the Sixers out either. This team had regular-season success against the Boston Celtics. That stingy defense and offensive balance could easily keep up with Boston. Matching Andre Iguodala up with Paul Pierce gives the Sixers a huge boost on the defensive end.

I know I just spent the majority of this piece badmouthing the Sixers, but I'll go right out and say that this will be the team the Miami Heat face in the Eastern Conference finals.

Grade: B

San Antonio Spurs

If the playoffs ended today, the San Antonio Spurs would be your NBA champions.

Luckily the NBA, or any other sport, isn't constructed in that way because it's not fair and doesn't actually determine who the best team in the NBA is in the slightest.

Congratulations, San Antonio Spurs! You're the best team in the first round! That's something else!

No, seriously, you're the best team in the first round and probably will continue to be the best team in the playoffs until an opponent figures out a way to win a game. After witnessing what ensued in the first round between the Spurs and Utah Jazz, that seems unlikely to happen anytime soon.

It's a given that the Jazz were barely a playoff team to begin with, but you can't deny how prolific this Spurs team truly is. Tim Duncan has no knees, and Manu Ginobili has been dealing with injuries all year, yet the Spurs finished tied with the league's best record. Tony Parker's MVP-caliber season has a lot to do with it, but so do the coaching expertise of Gregg Popovich and the role players who are constantly making their presence felt.

When you play the Spurs, you don't fear the players; you fear how the players are used. There are names on this team you've probably never heard of (Gary Neal, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard), yet they are essential pieces because of how they are used.

You'll know who they are once you realize that each player hit a three-pointer per game, with Leonard hitting 40 percent and Neal hitting 56 percent, in the Spurs' triumph over the Jazz.

Throw in Stephen Jackson averaging 10 points and converting on 53 percent of his three-pointers, Tiago Splitter chipping in eight points and nearly four boards per and Matt Bonner shooting 50 percent from deep, and you have an extremely dangerous team.

The Spurs rotation is 11-deep. That's no joke; you should be as scared as I am if your team ends up having to match up with San Antonio.

San Antonio decimated the Jazz. There was a shade of doubt in the series clincher, but the Spurs quickly shut the door before anyone in Utah gained a sliver of hope. They won their four games by an average of 16 points.

Grade: A+