NBA Playoff Power Rankings: Conference Finals Edition
The 2012 NBA playoff landscape has never been clearer. Or has it?
Only four of the original 16 teams remain, with each one hoping to earn a bid at the Larry O'Brien Trophy by the end of this coming week.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs are engaged in a brutal battle for the rights to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals, while the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat are waging a tightly contested battle of their own.
Where does each team stand in the broad scheme of the postseason, though?
In a case of past and present, here's a fresh batch of full-fledged playoff power rankings.
16. Utah Jazz
1 of 16Postseason Record: 0-4
It was a healthy surprise to see the Jazz clinch a playoff berth, but their efforts against the Spurs can hardly be considered healthy.
Clearly San Antonio was the superior team, but Utah managed only once to keep the margin of defeat within 10 points.
While it's respectable to offer a tip of the hat to your opponent, Al Jefferson's remarks about the Spurs being unbeatable were those of an utterly defeated leader representing an utterly defeated team.
15. Dallas Mavericks
2 of 16Postseason Record: 0-4
To be honest, Oklahoma City's series sweep of Dallas was not as lopsided as it appears.
To be even more honest, though, the Mavericks' tendency to blow fourth-quarter leads was not indicative of a team defending its championship crown, but of one that needed an offseason to reevaluate and rebuild.
Fittingly enough, here they are.
14. Orlando Magic
3 of 16Postseason Record: 1-4
Credit Stan Van Gundy with leading his Dwight Howard-less troops to a series-opening victory over the Pacers.
Aside from that, though, the Magic hardly played inspiring basketball. Orlando was outmatched in the paint all series and blew a couple of golden opportunities to snag another victory.
At the end of the day, the Magic were dealt the hand everyone expected them to hold—an early postseason exit.
13. New York Knicks
4 of 16Postseason Record: 1-4
Maybe next year, New York.
The Knicks avoided a sweep at the hands of the Heat, an admittedly tough thing to accomplish when down 3-0.
That said, New York's efforts throughout most of the series were underwhelming.
We can attribute the Knicks' struggles to unforeseen and self-inflicted injuries, but the fact is, even at full strength, they were outmatched and out-maneuvered in every facet of the game.
If anything, New York is lucky not to find itself lower after throwing a bash to rival New Year's Eve at Times Square after ending the league's longest postseason drought.
12. Chicago Bulls
5 of 16Postseason Record: 2-4
The Bulls thrived amidst adversity all season long but came up short when it mattered most.
Derrick Rose's season-ending injury was devastating, as was the loss of Joakim Noah and bodily struggles of Luol Deng, but more was expected of this team nonetheless.
Fully healthy, it's likely Chicago would have run over Philadelphia, but you can tell a lot about a team by the way it fares with its back up against the wall.
The Bulls, as they prepared for the tough road ahead, simply didn't deliver.
11. Atlanta Hawks
6 of 16Postseason Record: 2-4
The Atlanta-Boston series was a hard-fought battle, but early postseason exits are becoming too much of a trend for the Hawks, regardless of how entertaining they are.
Al Horford took a step toward stardom when he returned for this series, but Atlanta as a whole took a step back as a franchise.
While harping on "what ifs" is hardly ever condoned, what if the Hawks had actually capitalized on Rajon Rondo's one-game suspension?
What then?
10. Memphis Grizzlies
7 of 16Postseason Record: 3-4
Though the Grizzlies will never live down that 27-point collapse, they essentially pushed the Clippers' backs up against the wall every game.
That said, Memphis failed to come out on top.
While it's slightly encouraging to know that had the Grizzlies played any kind of decent basketball during the fourth quarter they would have advanced, it's more than disconcerting to know they couldn't maintain leads or execute when they needed to most.
That's definitely something for them to work on this offseason.
9. Los Angeles Clippers
8 of 16Postseason Record: 4-7
The Clippers played unbearably inefficient basketball throughout their entire postseason run.
While Los Angeles defeated Memphis, it essentially took a docket of meltdowns on the Grizzlies' part to make that series victory possible.
The Spurs, on the other hand, showed just how far away the Clippers are from title contention.
Moving forward, Los Angeles needs to establish clearly defined roles for all of its players so that a sense, or even a shred, of offensive and defensive flow can exist.
8. Denver Nuggets
9 of 16Postseason Record: 3-4
The Nuggets were eliminated before the Clippers yet put up a more respectable fight in their seven games than Los Angeles did in its 11.
Denver, a team void of a superstar, pushed the star-laden Lakers to the brink, fighting back from 3-1 to nearly steal the series.
While a first-round exit is still a first-round exit, there's no denying the grit, will and impressive never-say-die mentality the Nuggets held throughout—and they deserve some recognition.
7. Los Angeles Lakers
10 of 16Postseason Record: 5-7
It's not that easy being Kobe Bryant.
In a series where Bryant was far from his best and Pau Gasol was even worse, the Lakers parlayed a tightly fought, victorious series against the Nuggets into a five-game dismantling at the hands of the Thunder.
Though Los Angeles was hardly in the driver's seat, the failure to capitalize on fourth-quarter leads and a wide variety of open shots was extremely disconcerting.
After an elimination like this one, it's clear the Lakers are in need of a significant roster shake-up.
6. Indiana Pacers
11 of 16Postseason Record: 6-5
Quite frankly, the Pacers are lucky to find themselves this high.
After seemingly handling the Magic after a Game 1 collapse in the first round, Indiana found itself up 2-1 against a Chris Bosh-less Miami squad.
As deep as the Pacers' front line was, though, they were no match for the accolades that both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had up their sleeves.
Even so, despite James and Wade playing their hearts out, Indiana's inability to exploit Miami's lack of a front line and three straight losses to fall in the series were truly embarrassing.
5. Philadelphia 76ers
12 of 16Postseason Record: 7-6
Say what you will about the Sixers' good fortune against the Bulls, but the fact is they held their own against a Celtics team that is currently giving the Heat a run for their money.
No one Philadelphia player exuded greatness throughout its playoff run, yet the team worked together, as a collective.
The Sixers turned stingy defense and clock-managing offense into an improbable postseason performance that has instilled a newly heightened sense of hope into what has been a mediocre franchise for nearly a decade.
4. Boston Celtics
13 of 16Postseason Record: 10-7
The Celtics were too old to contend with the Heat. They simply weren't fast enough or efficient enough. That's what we heard heading into the Eastern Conference finals.
And what we heard was wrong.
Questionable officiating aside, Boston and Miami are notched up at two games apiece, and the stage has already been set for an incredible finish.
The Celtics, specifically Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo, must be credited with putting up a hell of a fight against a Chris Bosh-less Heat who are still scary athletic.
After Boston struggled to put away its two previous opponents in the Hawks and Sixers, hardly anyone thought this aging squad could even force Miami to break a sweat.
But four games into the series, it's clear the Heat haven't perspired this much since last year's NBA Finals bout against the Mavericks.
3. Miami Heat
14 of 16Postseason Record: 10-5
Blame it on LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or the absence of Chris Bosh—it doesn't matter. The Heat suddenly appear vulnerable.
In a Game 4 that saw horrible officiating down the stretch, Miami, specifically James, got a taste of its own medicine that it has been force-feeding the Celtics all series.
That said, James and Wade have been absolutely spectacular since Bosh went down. The Heat's Big Three instantaneously became a Big Two, yet neither of the remaining stars became deterred.
While Miami was half expected to run away with the Eastern Conference for a second straight year, the fight the team has put up amidst a flurry of controversy cannot be discounted.
Chastise James and Wade for their tactics all you want; you simply don't come as far as they have by merely drawing questionable fouls.
The Heat's road to the finals has never been tougher, and it may indeed stop here, but win or lose, Miami's legitimacy as a powerhouse is officially undeniable.
2. San Antonio Spurs
15 of 16Postseason Record: 10-2
Some will declare the Spurs are once again being underestimated coming in at No. 2, and perhaps they're right.
San Antonio, up until now, has remained undefeated at home and simply tore through each of its playoff opponents.
That said, the Thunder have proved to be the perfect combination of deep and fast, providing the Spurs with their first true test of the postseason.
After winning the first two games to open the series, San Antonio hardly put itself in position to win the next two in Oklahoma City. The Spurs fought back from a huge deficit in Game 4 but nonetheless came up short.
There's a calculated method to everything that Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Gregg Popovich do, but when they've encountered some resistance courtesy of the Thunder, getting back on track has proved much easier said than done.
In a series where home court has reigned supreme, though, it's far too early to believe the Spurs will go quietly into the night.
However, if San Antonio is unable to regain momentum with a victory in Game 5, we may be forced to sing a different tune.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
16 of 16Postseason Record: 10-3
The key to the Thunder separating themselves from the Spurs thus far has been their play on the road.
Though Oklahoma City failed to snag a victory in two attempts at San Antonio, Kevin Durant and company put themselves in better position to win each than their opponent did on their turf.
It doesn't hurt that Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins have officially swung the momentum in the Thunder's favor with performances to remember in Game 4.
Against a perpetually consistent team like the Spurs, an extended docket of firepower is the only way a wildly streaky, sometimes inconsistent Thunder team stands a chance.
And as we, and San Antonio, came to discover in Games 3 and 4, if there's any team in the league with enough explosiveness on the offensive end to counter the Spurs' penchant for two-way execution, it's Oklahoma City.
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