All of the second round got started last week with the higher seeds from the first round advancing into the conference semifinals, the exception being the Miami Heat.
With how tightly contested the majority of the series being played are right now, the difference between teams is relatively small. But we did our best to rank teams as appropriately as possible. Here’s this week’s edition of Sportsnet’s NBA Playoff Power Rankings.
1. Miami Heat
The Heat finally lost a game in this 2020 post-season Sunday, but still remain by far the most impressive team in the playoffs after putting the Bucks – the NBA’s best regular-season team – in a 3-0 hole.
Despite the blip Sunday, a 118-115 loss, history’s on Miami’s side and it should expect to take care of business in Game 5 and then get some rest waiting for the winner of the Toronto Raptors-Boston Celtics series ahead of the Eastern Conference Final.
2. Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers have only played two games thus far in their second-round series with the Denver Nuggets and see their series tied at 1-1. So then, why are the Clippers the second-best team in the playoffs? It’s simple really: they boast the best net rating in the post-season so far with a very impressive plus-9.1.
Yes, the Clips can be volatile with a so-called on-off switch, but when they’re on they’ve looked unbeatable and that explosive potential makes them incredibly dangerous in the playoffs.
3. Boston Celtics
The Celtics, overall, have outplayed the Raptors, boasting a plus-13 point differential in the four games they played and, really, looked better than Toronto for all but 48.5 minutes in the series.
So Game 4 aside, the Celtics have looked quite strong thus far, and if they can play more like the team in Games 1-3, they’ll be in good shape to take the series.
4. Toronto Raptors
But the Raptors also have reason for optimism.
OG Anunoby’s game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 3 gave them new life and they carried that momentum into a dominant performance in Game 4. Now they’re looking for more.
No one knows for sure if momentum is actually a thing that exists, but right now it looks like the tide has turned in Toronto’s favour against Boston.
5. Houston Rockets
Russell Westbrook’s gaffes in critical moments aside, the Rockets look like they have what it takes to beat the Los Angeles Lakers.
After a hard-fought series with the Oklahoma City Thunder that saw Canadian Luguentz Dort put the clamps on James Harden, the Rockets superstar is free to do his thing against the Lakers in this series and that’s a very good sign for Houston.
If Harden can get uncorked and if P.J. Tucker can do enough to disrupt Anthony Davis even a little, you’ve got to like the Rockets’ chances.
6. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers got a boost with the return of Rajon Rondo from injury. He was rough in Game 1 against Houston, but looked much more like his old self in the Laker’s series-tying Game 2 on Sunday.
An encouraging sign for L.A. was the fact that their role players were hitting shots Sunday, with Markieff Morris going 4-for-5 from three-point range and Danny Green 3-for-5. If they consistently get contributions like that from their “other” guys, the Lakers will be very tough to beat. The problem is that’s still a big “if.”
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7. Denver Nuggets
After getting bombed out in Game 1, the Nuggets came back and responded in Game 2 to even their series with the Clippers thanks to big contributions from Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, who had a game-high 27 points and 18 (!) rebounds.
We have the Nuggets ranked this low because, for the time being, we don’t know yet just how legitimate their chances are against the Clippers, and because Jokic’s status looks muddy as he’s listed as “questionable” with a sprained right wrist for Game 3.
As his monster line from Game 2 indicates, Jokic can have his way in this series with no one on the Clippers’ side who can check him. However, that advantage will be mitigated if his injury proves to be more serious than it initially seems at the moment.
8. Milwaukee Bucks
It looked like game over on the Bucks’ season with Giannis Antetokounmpo exiting Game 4 due to an ankle injury and his team down 3-0 in its series with the Heat, but thanks to Khris Middleton’s heroics, Milwaukee was able to come away with a spirited win.
While it provides a confidence boost to the Bucks before Game 5, don’t count on them extending the series much further as the Heat look poised to finish the job.
The Bucks will likely have to look ahead to an important off-season where they’ll have to determine the future of head coach Mike Budenholzer and do everything they can to convince Antetokounmpo to sign a super-max extension to secure their future.
Eliminated: Oklahoma City Thunder/Utah Jazz
Tip of the hat to both of these fallen teams.
The Thunder gave the Rockets all they could chew on and more thanks to a breakout performance from Dort and the career revitalization of Chris Paul.
And how could we forget the duel between Donovan Mitchell and Murray in the Jazz’s seven-game extravaganza with the Nuggets?
It was thanks to the Thunder and Jazz that the first round of these playoffs were as fun as they were, and we thank them for it.
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