2018 NBA Playoffs: Power ranking all 16 teams

Heading into the 2018 NBA Playoffs, who’s hot and who has the best chance of winning a championship? To sort it out, we’re power ranking all 16 playoff teams.

After a hectic, memorable and thoroughly entertaining regular season, the field is set for the 2018 NBA Playoffs.

The Houston Rockets lead the pack with a franchise-record 65 wins, while the Toronto Raptors also posted a franchise-record 59 wins to climb atop the East. With the Golden State Warriors missing Stephen Curry and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ defense being such a problem, this year’s postseason feels nowhere near as straightforward as in years past.

Can the Rockets cap off their exceptional season with a title? Will the Dubs recapture their winning form? Can the red-hot Philadelphia 76ers make a stunning postseason run? Are the Cavs about to flip the switch in customary fashion? Will the Raptors finally exorcise those playoff demons? Are the Boston Celtics, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers being overlooked? And which lower seed has the best odds at a first round upset? There are dozens of questions waiting to be answered.

For 26 weeks of regular season action, we filled out weekly NBA Power Rankings to figure out the lay of the land. With only 16 playoff teams remaining and the first batch of games scheduled to tip off on Saturday, it’s time to do the same for the postseason.

Unlike the regular season, however, another question needs to be added in with the normal factors like team record, recent success, injuries, advanced stats and everything else that goes into power rankings. This time around, we need to also ask ourselves, “What are this team’s realistic chances of winning a championship based on where they’re seeded?”

Factoring in potential playoff matchups, the odds of making a legitimate title run and all the normal variables in NBA Power Rankings, it’s time to rank all 16 playoff teams from No. 16 to No. 1.