NBA Playoffs Explained in One Chart Per Team

Now that the regular season is over, NBA fans can stop complaining and actually enjoy the games.

Apr 17, 2026

Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we break down the intersection of sports and money—with an extra bit of humor and opinion. Today, 14 pictures are worth 14,000 words:

Lev: We’re finally here. After six months of complaints about [takes deep breath] injuries, tanking, proposed tanking reforms, SGA’s push-offs, refereeing in general, the decisions of replay reviews, the length of replay reviews, gambling ads, NBA Cup courts, the Dunk Contest, the All-Star Game, awards eligibility, the awards ballots being delayed due to decisions regarding awards eligibility, the length of the season, streaming delays, etc., it’s that time of year when NBA fans immediately become the happiest people on Earth. Playoff hoops have arrived.

To celebrate, here’s a data visualization for each playoff team.

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Western Conference

#1 - Oklahoma City Thunder 🌩️

The Thunder just posted the eighth-best regular season net rating in NBA history despite MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missing 14 games and starters Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein missing about half the season. When it comes to roster building, there is basically OKC, and then there are 29 other franchises.

Also, Kings fans, shield your eyes:

#2 - San Antonio Spurs 🐴

If any franchise can challenge Oklahoma City for young roster construction, it’s San Antonio. Victor Wembanyama is 22 years old. Stephon Castle is 21 and Dylan Harper is 20. The Spurs were not supposed to be this good yet.

#3 - Denver Nuggets ⛏️

Despite injuries to several starters, the Nuggets easily finished the season with the league’s best offense, but they ranked just 21st in defense. Only one team has ever won the title with a below-average defense: the 2001 Lakers, who also ranked 21st. The next worst defense to win a championship? The 2023 Nuggets.

#4 - Los Angeles Lakers 🐟🛶

The Lakers’ season is essentially over if Luka Doncic is unable to return healthy for the postseason, but let’s just appreciate that LeBron James averaged 20.9 points per game at age 41 (!!!!). Unreal

#5 - Houston Rockets 🚀

The Rockets finished the season as a historically great offensive rebounding team, but they have been much less dominant in that department since losing Steven Adams to a season-ending injury in January.

#6 - Minnesota Timberwolves 🐺

The Timberwolves won the same number of games as they did last season, when they reached the Western Conference Finals, but vibes are down. Their attendance dropped more in 2025-26 than any other team, and DraftKings gives them just 100-to-1 odds to win the title.

#7 - Portland Trail Blazers 🔥

”You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”
- Wayne Gretzky
- Michael Scott
- Blazers head coach Tiago Splitter, maybe

Eastern Conference

#1 - Detroit Pistons 🚗

There is a narrative out there that the Pistons are untested and can’t compete with the best teams, but they were actually 17-7 against top 10 opponents. That includes a 3-1 record versus Boston and a 3-0 record versus New York.

#2 - Boston Celtics ☘️

Joe Mazzulla is an absolute madman, and his Celtics take care of the ball like they will never see the court again if they throw it away.

#3 - New York Knicks 🩳

Led by Jalen Brunson and his crunch time reliability, the Knicks had the best fourth quarter net rating of any NBA team in the play-by-play era. I can’t say that this list below contains a meaningful collection of teams, but in a season that felt very “blah” for the Knicks, it’s something!

#4 - Cleveland Cavaliers ♞

The team with the highest payroll this season is… Cleveland??? Since the Warriors won the title in 2022, the teams that have paid the most money for their rosters have been underwhelming on the court, to say the least: the 2023 Clippers (lost 4-1 in the first round), 2024 Warriors (missed postseason), and 2025 Suns (missed postseason).

#5 - Toronto Raptors 🦖

NBA TV playoff games are no more, but I feel like they need to flex Cavs vs. Raptors to NBA TV for old time’s sake. This series only deserves one chart. Next!

#6 - Atlanta Hawks 🦅

Dear Atlanta, congratulations on making the playoffs outright, but sorry, you will always be a play-in team in my eyes:

#7 - Philadelphia 76ers 🇺🇸

Joel Embiid is questionable for the first round. What’s new?

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