Playoff Predictions with Kyle Wright

Usually when we look at the playoffs, it’s pretty easy to discern the front runners and the also-rans.  Each year the question was whether the Spurs would win it all or whether their one nemesis (usually Dallas or Phoenix) could knock them off.  This year, however, it’s clear that the West is wide open.  The Spurs look like they are on pretty much equal footing with every other Western Conference team.   This creates fun and uncertainty.  Making predictions, however, is not such a reliable practice because so little separates the Western teams.  But our good friend Kyle Wright, the author of “The NBA Top to Bottom” took a crack at it.  Kyle, who has used his formula to rank every NBA team of All-Time from first to last, update his rankings for the 2007-08 season.  Without further ado, here is how the playoffs go based upon Kyle’s work:

Eastern Conference

First Round:  Boston over Atlanta; Detroit over Philadelphia; Orlando over Toronto; Cleveland over Washington

Second Round: Boston over Cleveland; Detroit over Orlando

Eastern Conference Finals: Boston over Detroit 

Western Conference

First Round: L.A. Lakers over Denver; New Orleans over Dallas; Phoenix over San Antonio; Utah over Houston

Second Round: L.A. Lakers over Utah; New Orleans over Phoenix

Western Conference Finals: L.A. Lakers over New Orleans 

NBA Finals

Boston over L.A. Lakers 

The NBA From Top To Bottom’s All-Time Rankings for 2007-08 NBA Teams

All-Time Ranking (out of 1,183)

-Boston Celtics, 7th

-L.A. Lakers, 44th

-Utah Jazz, 61st

-Detroit Pistons, 63rd

-New Orleans Hornets, 124th

-Phoenix Suns, 142nd

-San Antonio Spurs, 143rd

-Orlando Magic, 158th

-Houston Rockets, 162nd

-Dallas Mavericks, 170th

-Denver Nuggets, 232nd

-Toronto Raptors, 339th

-Golden State Warriors, 365th

-Philadelphia 76ers, 580th

-Cleveland Cavaliers, 657th

-Washington Wizards, 662nd

-Portland Trail Blazers, 671st

-Indiana Pacers, 799th

-Sacramento Kings, 815th

-Atlanta Hawks, 834th

-Chicago Bulls, 912nd

-Charlotte Bobcats, 1,000th

-New Jersey Nets, 1,031st

-Memphis Grizzlies, 1,069th

-Minnesota Timberwolves, 1,092nd

-New York Knicks, 1,095th

-Los Angeles Clippers, 1,104th

-Milwaukee Bucks, 1,109th

-Seattle SuperSonics, 1,141st

-Miami Heat, 1,151st