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NBA power rankings: Ranking teams based on their 2024 NBA title odds – USA TODAY
The NBA season has entered its final month, and 14 teams have guaranteed themselves a playoff berth. Though outside of the Boston Celtics, there is still plenty to play for with about half a dozen games remaining for each team.
Boston has clinched the Eastern Conference regular-season title and will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. No other team is locked into its playoff seed yet, and the Western Conference is still tightly contested – the three teams at the top are separated by just one game.
All 10 playoff spots in the East have been claimed, but there is still some slight room for movement in the West. As April play begins, 21 teams remain in contention to win this year’s NBA title.
Here’s how those 21 teams rank ahead of the start of the playoffs based on current NBA Finals odds courtesy of BetMGM.
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The Celtics have dominated the NBA all season and will be the only team to finish this year with 60 (or more) wins. Boston leads the NBA with an average point differential of +11.7, while no other team has reached double digits. They most recently defeated the Thunder – a team in contention for the top seed in the West – by 35 points on Wednesday.
They’re led in scoring by Jayson Tatum (27.2 points per game), Jaylen Brown (23.2) and Kristaps Porzingis (20.4). No other team has more than two players averaging more than 20 points per game.
The reigning NBA champions are tied for the Western Conference lead with six games to play, and center Nikola Jokić is the heavy favorite to win the NBA MVP award for the third time in the last four years. The Serbian star is averaging 26.4 points per game, 12.3 rebounds per game and 9.0 assists per game.
With a strong regular season, excellent play from their MVP and his supporting cast and recent title run experience, the Nuggets’ spot among favorites is no surprise.
The Clippers will look to make another deep playoff run after bringing in Russell Westbrook and James Harden this year to pair with stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Los Angeles missed the playoffs in 2021-22 and lost in the first round last year. Now, the Clippers are in fourth place in the West, though they are likely out of Western Conference regular-season title contention at 5.5 games back with seven to play.
The Bucks sit in second place in the Eastern Conference, albeit 13 games back of the Celtics. In the two years after winning a title in 2021, Milwaukee has failed to return to the conference finals despite winning the Central division for the fourth and fifth straight times.
The team added guard Damian Lillard in the offseason to pair with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. They fired first-year head coach Adrian Griffin after starting the season 30-13 and replaced him with Doc Rivers. The Bucks have gone 17-16 in the 33 games since.
The rebuild seems to be over in Oklahoma City. The Thunder are among favorites to win the NBA title after missing the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. That’s in large part thanks to emerging star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is third in the NBA this year with an average of 30.3 points per game, and rookie standout Chet Holmgren.
Oklahoma City is among the three teams contending for the top spot in the West at one game back of the Timberwolves and Nuggets with six to play.
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The first round of the NBA playoffs begins April 20. Depending on how quickly first-round matchups are decided, the conference semifinals begin either May 4-5 or May 6-7. The conference finals are scheduled to begin May 21-22 but could move to May 19-20 pending conference semifinal results.
The NBA Finals begin June 6.
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