The Best NBA Teams in the Playoffs Right Now, Vol. 1
The NBA playoffs are underway. From the Denver Nuggets to the Milwaukee Buckers, here's a a breakdown of the top teams doing the damn thing.
Image via Getty/Maddie Meyer
6.
Next man up!
We haven’t gotten to the slate of Game 2’s in the NBA Playoffs, and we’ve seen injuries that will shake things up and ruin a lot of pundits’ predictions.
Let’s run down this MASH unit…
Memphis Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant went down with a hand injury, and his status for the series against the Los Angeles Lakers is “in jeopardy.” The Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro is out after breaking two fingers in his shooting hand and is done for the playoffs. Milwaukee Bucks’ superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo’s health is up in the air after suffering a lower back contusion. Laker Nation almost had a scare when the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis couldn’t move his arm (thankfully, he returned).
Sheesh!
And that injury report makes the Lakers/Grizzlies and Bucks/Heat series all the more intriguing. But, outside of that, we saw similar intrigue with the five-seeded Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks taking homecourt advantage away from their fourth-seeded opponents—Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively. An exciting shootout occurred between the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors in Sac Town. And the top teams in both conferences predictably took care of business.
That said, we have to get to the business of ranking the top teams in the 2023 NBA Playoffs. This is when battle-tested squads and players, who have a wealth of playoff experience and the receipts on their performances to prove it, kick it up a notch. So, how these franchises fared in the regular season doesn’t matter how they’re placed here today.
But injuries, though?
5.Golden State Warriors
There’s a simple method to this madness—the Dubs are the defending NBA Champions. Until they are eliminated, they will continue defending their title in hopes of going back-to-back again, winning their fifth Larry O’Brien trophy in nine years. If there’s any team that knows how to turn on the switch in the playoffs, it’s them boys from the Bay. You can argue that’s why they seemed blasé through the regular season. This included being so God-awful on the road they ended up with 30 losses away from Chase Center, becoming the only playoff team this year with such a distinction.
Their only chance at any homecourt advantage will happen if the Los Angeles Lakers upset the Memphis Grizzlies, which can conceivably happen with them being up in the series and Ja Morant being out for Game 2. That’s how wide open the Western Conference is. Out of all the takeaways from the Warriors—gasp—road loss to the Sacramento Kings in Game 1, the important one is that the team is at full strength with the return of Andrew Wiggins, who was away from the team for two months. Even though he missed a potential game-tying three that would’ve sent the game to overtime, he looked like he didn’t miss a beat dropping 17 points off the bench.
Since the All-Star break, the Warriors are sixth in defense and have shown they can handle Sacramento’s offensive prowess. This will be a fun series to watch, but no sane person should count out Golden State in these playoffs.
4.Phoenix Suns
Prior to last night’s Game 1 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Phoenix Suns were 8-0 with Kevin Durant in the lineup. And everyone knows that KD is easy money when it’s playoff time. Despite Durant’s slow start (he didn’t score a point in the first quarter), he flirted with a triple-double, leading the team with 27 points, nine boards and 11 dimes on 46 percent shooting. He also made up for half of the team’s three-point makes, but the Suns were 6-19 from deep. Even though Devin Booker dropped 26 points and showed off his defense with four steals and four blocks, and Deandre Ayton chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds, Chris Paul was dreadful with only seven points on 25 percent shooting.
And they still lost by five.
There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that since acquiring KD from the Brooklyn Nets, the Suns would be the apple of every fan and media pundit’s eye as the consensus pick to come out of the Western Conference. Vegas concurs, considering Phoenix has the third-best odds of winning the NBA Finals. So, despite a tough loss at home, the 2021 Western Conference Champions should be fine and not taken lightly.
They have Kevin Wayne Durant.
3.Milwaukee Bucks
Things can change quickly in the NBA, especially when injuries are involved. Before last night’s Game 1 matchup against the eight-seeded Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks were almost a lock to win the Eastern Conference and a lock to top this week’s rankings. Now, with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s health in doubt, the Bucks’ playoff hopes are just as murky. Even though the team has a winning record this season without the Greek Freak in the lineup (11-8), these are the playoffs where each game’s intensity is ramped all the way up. And considering the Bucks are playing against the Heat, Jimmy Butler and that massive chip on his shoulder, a wounded Milwaukee team looks like food to Miami. Hence their 130-117 beatdown in Brew City last night, where “Playoff Jimmy Buckets” was activated with 35 points on 55 percent shooting, 11 assists, five rebounds, and three steals.
However, Bucks fans have been through this with Giannis before. During their 2021 championship run, Antetokounmpo suffered a bad injury against the Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals, only for him to return in the NBA Finals, and we all know how that turned out.
Sidebar, “You got the juice now, Khris Middleton,” who picked up the slack in Giannis’ absence leading the Bucks with 33 points, nine boards and four assists.
Still, until we get a Shams Report or a Woj Bomb tweeting otherwise, Milwaukee fans can assume their superstar will return, gut it out and carry his team on his already shaky back.
2.Denver Nuggets
Admittedly, we’ve been harsh on the Denver Nuggets, but so has everyone else with eyes who saw how mid the second half of their regular season was—even their coach, Michael Malone. However, in their 109-80 Game 1 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves last night, they showed why they’re the number one seed in the Western Conference and not to be slept on. Nikola Jokic wasn’t the triple-double machine we’re accustomed to seeing (13 points, 14 rebounds, six assists). Still, he didn’t have to with Jamal Murray (24 points, eight rebounds, eight assists in his first playoff game since the 2020 “Bubble”) and Michael Porter Jr. (18 points, 11 rebounds) showing out in Mile High.
The Nuggs’ defense gave the T-Wolves fits, specifically Karl-Anthony Towns and his paltry 11 points, atrocious -11 plus/minus and laughable 1-7 from behind the arc. In fact, Denver’s dominating defense held Minnesota to 37 percent shooting, including 30 percent from the three. If the Nuggets consistently show this kind of effort in their second season, they’ll be blessed with an NBA Finals appearance, and at the very least, Minnesota won’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning a game in this series.
1.Boston Celtics
Now, that’s the kind of Celtics basketball that led the defending Eastern Conference Champions to the NBA Finals last season—dominant defense while shooting the lights out of their opponent. Even though Saturday’s Game 1 score of 112-99 over the Atlanta Hawks would indicate that the game was somewhat competitive, it wasn’t with the C’s leading by as much as 32 points. Boston didn’t let Atlanta do anything, holding them to 38 percent shooting and frustrating the hell out of Trae Young, who shot poorly (27.8 percent) on his way to a quiet 16 points. On the other side of the ball, Jaylen “The Mask” Brown was fantastic with his 29 points, 12 rebounds performance. Derrick White’s stat line of 24 points on 53 percent shooting and 57 percent from deep was a surprising but greatly welcomed contribution. And Jayson Tatum—who became the first player in the Celtics’ storied history to average 30 points in a season—came through with 25 points with a 42.9 percent clip from three-point land.
Nothing is assured in the playoffs; one game doesn’t make a champion. But, if the eye test is any indication, as well as how they won 11 of their last 15 games to close out their season, the Celtics are arguably the best team in the league right now.
They’re hungry to finish the job they came close to accomplishing last year, and they may very well do it this year.