NBA Playoff Power Ranking: Where Every Team Stands Heading Into the First Round

There are 16 teams left to battle for the championship—how do they stack up against each other?

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gestures after scoring a basket against the Boston Celtics. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

It’s time for playoff basketball. After the play-in tournament officially cut the field down to the final 16 teams competing for a championship, the bracket has now been set with Game 1s scheduled all weekend long.

How do those 16 teams stack up against each other? We break it down below, along with one reason to believe and one reason to doubt each team in the 2026 NBA playoff field.

16. Orlando Magic

Reason to believe: They looked pretty good on Friday night! The Hornets are not the Pistons, but physical basketball is what wins in the playoffs, and they were playing some extremely physical basketball.

Reason to doubt: If the Magic couldn’t win a road game against the Sixers without Joel Embiid, how are they going to fare in a seven-game series against a much better team?

15. Phoenix Suns 

Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green celebrates after a slam dunk against the Golden State Warriors. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Reason to believe: Jalen Green’s nuclear scoring is a true swing factor for a Suns team that has overachieved all season long. 

Reason to doubt: Phoenix has numerous weak links outside of Green, Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks for Oklahoma City to pick apart.

14. Philadelphia 76ers

Reason to believe: Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe look like a backcourt that can get to the conference finals, and the Celtics are as familiar an opponent as the 76ers could possibly get in the first round.

Reason to doubt: I don’t know how many historic Cinderella runs have started with a team’s best player needing an unexpected appendectomy, but it can’t have been many.

13. Portland Trail Blazers

Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija celebrates against the Phoenix Suns. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Reason to believe: Deni Avdija proved he can score with a playoff whistle against a physical team and the Blazers’ defense paired with a legit No. 1 option makes for a competitive playoff team. 

Reason to doubt: To match a freak talent like Victor Wembanyama, you need a freak talent of your own. Portland has no such talent.  

12. Toronto Raptors

Reason to believe: The Raptors swept the regular-season series against the Cavs 3–0. The defense is good, and defense wins championships, right? 

Reason to doubt: In the first round against the Cleveland, the Cavs will have four of the five best offensive players in the series. Sure, defense wins championships, but offense wins games.

11. Atlanta Hawks

Reason to believe: Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels are a talented trio with overlapping, complementary skillsets. 

Reason to doubt: Much of the team’s recent success revolves around 34-year-old CJ McCollum playing nearly 30 minutes per game. 

10. Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James reacts in the first half against the Utah Jazz. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Reason to believe: LeBron James is still LeBron James, and through the month of March, the Lakers looked better than any team in the NBA.

Reason to doubt: A big part of that dominant run through March was the play of Luka Dončić, who is at the “taking trips to Spain for injections” portion of recovery.

9. Minnesota Timberwolves

Reason to believe: This is the same core that’s made two Western Conference finals appearances in the last two years, which means they’ve won a bunch of games a bunch of different ways against a bunch of different opponents. 

Reason to doubt: Anthony Edwards has to be at his very best for any of that to play out again and he enters the playoffs with a banged-up knee after missing a career-high 21 games due to injury. 

8. Cleveland Cavaliers

Reason to believe: The Cavs were the No. 1 team in the East last year and added James Harden to the lineup. They are one of the fiercest offensive threats in basketball.

Reason to doubt: We’ve all seen how “team that is one piece away acquires James Harden” has worked out before. We’ve been posting the Arrested Development meme about it over his last three stops.

7. Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant reacts after a made basket against the Philadelphia 76ers. | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Reason to believe: Kevin Durant’s historic scoring acumen paired with one of the NBA’s best defenses is a recipe for winning. 

Reason to doubt: Can anyone shoot the rock besides KD and Reed Sheppard when he’s not in Ime Udoka’s doghouse? So far, the answer has been no. 

6. New York Knicks

Reason to believe: This Knicks core made a run to the conference finals last year, and this year they aren’t entering the playoffs with a starting five all averaging nearly 40 minutes per game. Those miles add up, and the car should be running smoother this year.

Reason to doubt: Owner James Dolan said it was NBA Finals or bust earlier in the year, and that type of mindset feels great when a team is winning, but can look really bad in retrospect after falling short.

5. Denver Nuggets

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic signals to teammates during the first half against the San Antonio Spurs. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Reason to believe: The Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray two-man game is an impossible problem for opposing defenses and will earn the Nuggets a bucket whenever they need it most. 

Reason to doubt: The 26-win Mavericks played better defense this season. 

4. Detroit Pistons

Reason to believe: The playbook for the Pistons this year is exactly that of the Thunder last postseason. This core got its first run of postseason basketball together last year, and while they came up short, they will enter this postseason with their legs under them and playing as the most dominant team in the East.

Reason to doubt: A showdown against the Celtics or Knicks feels like it’s looming in the conference finals, and Detroit just might not have the horses to hang with them for seven games.

3. Boston Celtics

Reason to believe: The Celtics have designed an ideal modern team around the Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum starring duo as they enter the playoffs flanked by high-IQ three-and-D players, rim-running centers and backed by arguably the best coach in the NBA. 

Reason to doubt: Tatum may not be ready to return to his status as one of the best players in the league after tearing his Achilles less than one year ago, and the team with the best player usually wins the day. 

2. San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama stands on the court during a timeout against the Golden State Warriors. | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Reason to believe: Victor Wembanyama might already be the most talented player in the NBA, and the Spurs have shown a maturity beyond their years all season.

Reason to doubt: The San Antonio starting five has 270 minutes of playoff basketball experience combined. And as we all know, playoff basketball is a whole different beast than what is played during the regular season.

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

Reason to believe: The Thunder are the best team in the league, defending champions and employ (at worst) the second-best player in the world who is even better than he was last year. 

Reason to doubt: Winning back-to-back NBA titles is extremely difficult and it’s been nearly a decade since we’ve seen a repeat champion. Playoff basketball feels a whole lot different with the weight of those expectations on a team’s shoulders. 

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