As of the day this article was posted, most NBA teams that are currently in the playoffs are playing consistent from their regular season performance.
Teams that are expected to win are winning, but that can change at any moment in the playoffs.
Big factors in winning basketball games are shooting, defensive, and the average net rating. Looking off just regular season statistics, we can determine which team is most likely to win the NBA Finals, and compare to their performance in the playoffs.
When it comes to winning games, obviously the team who usually consistently shoots the best wins a good amount of their games. It’s also a factor of getting a team into the playoffs
Observing the top 5 teams, and how the playoffs are going at the moment, the Chicago Bulls were the third best shooting team in the league, but were eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks. Also, the Brooklyn Nets being the fourth best shooting team, were swept by the Boston Celtics.
| Suns remain as a top shooting team from last season | |
|---|---|
| Wizards didn't even make the playoffs | |
| Team | FG% |
| Phoenix Suns | 48.5% |
| Denver Nuggets | 48.3% |
| Chicago Bulls | 48.0% |
| Brooklyn Nets | 47.5% |
| Washington Wizards | 47.2% |
| Source: Basketball-Reference | By Connor Wieseman | |
Everyone has heard the phrase, “Defense wins championships”, and that is so far where this playoff series is going. Most of these top 5 defensive teams have had an easy first round series. As I already said, Boston swept the Net in four games. As for the other teams, they were able to advance to the second round almost easily, except for Memphis.
If you don’t know what a net rating is, it is the offensive rating minus the defensive rating, but it can be defined as how much better or worse the team is when a specific player is on the court. In this rare case, four out of the five top net rating teams have the same exact net rating. With Boston in the Eastern Conference and Phoenix in the Western Conference, their is a big possibility of these two teams meeting in the NBA Finals.
After looking at these three statistics from the regular season, I believe the Phoenix Suns will win this years NBA Finals, as they were the best shooting team in the regular season, third best defensive rating, and last but not least, tied first in net ratings. If the Suns stay consistent with this, Chris Paul will earn his first NBA Finals ring after sixteen years. But in the playoffs, anything can happen.
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