Team Ratings

Western Conference:

1. LA Lakers - 95
2. Utah - 89
3. Denver - 80
4. Phoenix - 77
5. San Antonio - 74
6. Oklahoma City - 71
7. Dallas - 69
8. Portland - 62

Eastern Conference:

1. Cleveland - 106
2. Orlando - 99
3. Boston - 87
4. Atlanta - 75
5. Miami - 59
6. Milwaukee - 56
7. Charlotte - 50
8. Chicago - 25
9. Toronto - 25

Only 8 games left for the Jazz. As the end of the season gets closer, the teams and their ratings are pretty much getting set. The East especially is pretty much ranked as they are in the standings. The better their record, the better their rank. I don't really think there will be any 1st round upsets in the East. The top 4 and bottom 4 are just quite a bit apart. Nothing is certain tho and that 4 v 5 matchup is usually pretty close. Since the end of the season is so close, i've left the bottom teams in each conference off this list who really don't any chance of anything this year.

The West is alot more mixed up in ratings. I can see all sorts of things happen there come playoff time. I don't really see the Lakers losing in the first round, but other than that i wouldn't be all that surprised to see any other team advance to the second round. While Dallas is currently in the 3rd spot in the West, their stats otherwise are just not nearly as good as other team's near the top. I can't really predict an early exit from the playoffs for them, but according to what i see of the stats, it seems pretty likely a first or second round exit for them. It looks like Hollinger came up with a similar conclusion. That link takes you to his Playoff odds, and one of the things he lists is each team's likelihood of winning the title. If you go to this link in a week, his numbers could be different, but currently of the 8 West playoff teams, he has Dallas as least likely to win a title at only 1% likelihood. Jazz are actually 1st in the West with a 12.8% likelihood.

Anything can happen in the Playoffs, but i'd put alot of trust in these here ratings of mine... if i were a betting man.