NBA Power Rankings: Net Gains

With the calendar having officially turned to April, the NBA playoffs are near, although much is still to be determined, at least as it relates to some of the lower seeds in each conference.

The Brooklyn Nets have certainly picked a good time to put together a season-high five-game winning streak. After being left for dead, the timely win steak had them locked up in a photo finish with the Miami HEAT for the East’s final two seeds, though the Boston Celtics will have something to say about that, as well.

Out West, as the Kevin Durant-less Oklahoma City Thunder prepare for a playoff battle with the Golden State Warriors, we wonder if the Warriors can buck the trend of the last 25 years, where inexperienced teams generally do not win the championship.

As the San Antonio Spurs develop Kawhi Leonard’s low-post offensive repertoire with the strategy of using him as a playmaker from the post, we think it is wise to remind you that this year, seeds in the Western Conference don’t matter.

In fact, one could say they are almost as irrelevant as the final two weeks of the regular season are to the Warriors. They have locked just about everything up and, predictably, end Week 22 looking down at the rest of the league.