The 2021 regular season is over, at least in theory. The eight-team play-in extravaganza will begin on Tuesday but, because of the NBA’s decision to essentially slot those games into purgatory between the regular season and the playoffs, we can draw a line in the sand. If nothing else, the league ran through the tape in making sure that each of its 30 franchises participated in 72 sanctioned games in 2020-21. That isn’t a small feat considering the dynamics in play and, despite some moments in unevenness, there is true buzz for the 2021 playoffs.
With that in mind, it is time to weigh in with the final installment of our DIME power rankings for the 2020-21 season. As always, these rankings take recent performance into account, so they don’t simply stack up in the order of the standings. However, ties are broken based on the big picture and, well, the eye of the beholder.
Let’s go.
1. Brooklyn Nets (48-24, Last week — 5th)
It’s not a small jump to go from No. 5 to No. 1, but the Nets are terrifying. They finished the season with five straight wins and, with all signs pointing to at least relative health for Brooklyn’s trio of superstars, the sky is the limit. The Nets are also the betting favorites to win the title, which is a pretty good indication of their immense ceiling.
2. Philadelphia 76ers (49-23, Last week — 1st)
Philadelphia did lose two games in the final week, though one of those defeats came without Joel Embiid. The 76ers finished with the best record in the East and it would be difficult to ask much more of them than what they were able to put on tape in the regular season. Now the fun begins.
3. Utah Jazz (52-20, Last week — 2nd)
Utah essentially stays in place this week after finishing with wins over two non-competitive opponents. Moreover, the Jazz have the NBA’s best record and the NBA’s best net rating (+9.0), so they have to be considered quite dangerous. Donovan Mitchell’s health is of great importance but, if he’s 100 percent (or close to it), the Jazz are scary.
4. Phoenix Suns (51-21, Last week — 3rd)
The Suns finished with three consecutive wins and came within a whisker of tying the Jazz at the top of the standings. Phoenix’s vaunted bench units cooled down the stretch, but they have star power with Devin Booker and Chris Paul, with intriguing young talents in Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton. Matchups will be interesting in the playoffs, but the Suns earned a top-five perch here with a complete regular season performance.
5. Milwaukee Bucks (46-26, Last week — 4th)
After eight wins in nine games, Milwaukee pulled the rip cord in the finale. We won’t hold that against them. The Bucks have the chance to erase some demons when they face the Heat in the first round, and they’ll hope things are different this time with Jrue Holiday on board and a more versatile approach.
6. Los Angeles Lakers (42-30, Last week — 12th)
Everything, and I mean everything, comes down to the health of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. With that out of the way, the Lakers closed on a five-game winning streak and teams were tanking out of a potential matchup with them in the first (and/or second) round. That kind of says it all.
7. L.A. Clippers (47-25, Last week — 6th)
Short of meeting the necessary baselines to actually reach the postseason, nothing mattered in the regular season for the Clippers. That’s the reality after what happened last year against Denver, and they have the opportunity to erase that with a deep playoff run. No, it doesn’t matter that they lost their last two games to OKC and Houston since… they weren’t really trying to win.
8. Denver Nuggets (47-25, Last week — 9th)
It helps to have the MVP of the league and that is Nikola Jokic. By the end of the season, it was quite clear that Jokic was going to win the award and that he deserved to do so. The way the Nuggets navigated life without Jamal Murray drove the MVP stake even further into the ground, but they may now have to face a playoff series without Will Barton. It (still) helps to have the MVP of the league.
9. Atlanta Hawks (41-31, Last week — 11th)
The Hawks unquestionably caught some breaks along the way, but Atlanta just finished 27-11 with Nate McMillan at the helm. They are deep and talented, and the return of De’Andre Hunter unlocks some things. The question was quite favorable for Atlanta in their four-game winning streak to end the season, but you still have to win the games. They have.
10. New York Knicks (41-31, Last week — 10th)
New York very nearly made a mess of this week. They needed a miracle to come back against the Spurs. They needed overtime to beat the Hornets. They needed to hang on for dear life against the Celtics. Perhaps that is a red flag for the playoffs, but the Knicks will host a playoff game this weekend. That’s wild.
11. Portland Trail Blazers (42-30, Last week — 8th)
The Blazers looked to be in deep trouble three weeks ago. In on-brand fashion, they finished with a 10-2 flourish and avoided the play-in as a result. The defense is kept together with scotch tape, but Damian Lillard is terrifying and they can really score.
12. Golden State Warriors (39-33, Last week — 14th)
In the 24 games after he returned from injury in late March, Steph Curry was the best player in the universe. He averaged 36.9 points per game, taking 14.8 three-pointers per contest and making 43.7 percent of them. He is the biggest reason the Warriors have a fighting chance if they can reach the final playoff field, but Draymond Green is quietly alive in his own right. He looks a lot like his old self defensively, with some sneaky athleticism around the rim on offense to boot.
13. Dallas Mavericks (42-30, Last week — 7th)
Dallas remains an incredibly weird team. They lost to the Kings three times in the last month, with a loss to the Wolves in the finale as well. Otherwise, they’ve been pretty spectacular in earning the 5-seed out West. There are caveats involved across the board there, but Dallas also draws a tough matchup against the Clippers in the first round. That’s suboptimal, but sets the stage for a fascinating rematch.
14. Miami Heat (40-32, Last week — 13th)
This might be low for Miami with the way they finished the regular season. The Heat are 12-4 in the last 16 and, while there is a hint of skepticism in taking their 2020 run as gospel through a 2021 lens, they are well-coached, talented and dangerous. Look out, Milwaukee.
15. Memphis Grizzlies (38-34, Last week — 15th)
It is fitting that Memphis is 15th, simply because they’ve felt like a league-average team all year. In some ways, that is to their credit, as Jaren Jackson Jr. was gone most of the way, but the Grizzlies did also finish strong at 6-2 in the last eight games. Their prize is needing to beat the Spurs and either the Lakers or Warriors to reach the playoffs. Godspeed.
16. Washington Wizards (34-38, Last week — 16th)
Russell Westbrook is completely and utterly out of his mind. It’s a good thing, too, because Bradley Beal didn’t look quite like himself in the finale as he comes back from a hamstring issue. Washington will have two chances to sneak into the playoffs, and they resurrected what was once a totally lost season.
17. Boston Celtics (36-36, Last week — 17th)
Nobody seems thrilled in Boston right now. Their ceiling is capped by the injury to Jaylen Brown and, because of the way the seeding broke down, the Celtics had nothing to play for down the stretch. The results were unsightly, but they might have it in them to ramp it back up on Tuesday to earn a date with Brooklyn.
18. San Antonio Spurs (33-39, Last week — 18th)
The schedule was an atrocity for the Spurs down the stretch. That matters because San Antonio went 2-10 in the last 12 games. Should they have been better than that? Yes, but the context is important. They’ll have a chance to play their way into the Western Conference field beginning on Wednesday.
19. Indiana Pacers (34-38, Last week — 22nd)
Without Myles Turner, the Pacers are a very flawed defensive team. They also played hard at times down the stretch to avoid complete disaster, and they’re going to be favored to win at least one play-in game. It hasn’t gone well but they didn’t totally flame out when they could have.
20. Charlotte Hornets (33-39, Last week — 19th)
It would’ve been nice if the Hornets ever had their full roster down the stretch. Five straight losses to end the season doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence, but they do have a very winnable play-in matchup against Indiana. From there, all bets are off.
21. Chicago Bulls (31-41, Last week — 21st)
It is safe to assume the Bulls didn’t think they’d be 15-23 after the All-Star break. If they did, they almost certainly would not have made a move to grab Nikola Vucevic from Orlando, but Chicago does have valid excuses with injuries and COVID-related absences in the second half. Still, the reality is that the Bulls underachieved and they can’t be thrilled.
22. New Orleans Pelicans (31-41, Last week — 20th)
Zion Williamson last appeared on May 4 and the Pelicans were 1-5 down the stretch without him. That isn’t necessarily indicative of the team’s overall quality, but New Orleans still endured a grueling season overall. There is a bright future with Williamson coming into his own as a lead option this season, but the roster has plenty of peripheral questions that must be answered in the coming months.
23. Minnesota Timberwolves (23-49, Last week — 25th)
The Wolves were pretty good for the final month of the season. No, really, they were. Minnesota finished 9-7 with a +2.6 net rating in the last 16 games, using a top-10 offense to buoy their overall effort. Anthony Edwards is exploding, Karl-Anthony Towns is back, and things feel a lot better for the Wolves than they did just a few weeks/months ago. Now, they have to hold their breath until the lottery to see the fate of their 2021 first round pick.
24. Sacramento Kings (31-41, Last week — 23rd)
Even after an improved finish on that end of the floor, the Kings posted the league’s worst defensive rating (116.5) by more than a full point. There was really no reason for things to be that bad defensively given the roster, and it plagued them all year. On the more optimistic side, the backcourt of De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton should work for a long time and the Kings produced a top-12 offense.
25. Toronto Raptors (27-45, Last week — 24th)
The season from hell ended with seven straight losses for the Raptors. At full strength, Toronto was much better than this but, even then, they were snake-bitten. It is borderline impossible to finish with a 27-45 record and a -0.4 net rating, but that pretty much encapsulates this season in Tampa.
26. Detroit Pistons (20-52, Last week — 26th)
It would be fair to say the Pistons were better than their record. Detroit wasn’t good by any stretch, but their net rating (-4.5) didn’t really mirror their win-loss performance. From there, Jerami Grant took a step forward and they found rookie gems in Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey. It certainly could’ve been worse in Detroit.
27. Cleveland Cavaliers (22-50, Last week — 29th)
There were times when the Cavs were downright intriguing when healthy. Cleveland has some interesting pieces for the future and it wasn’t a total disaster. They did lose 13 of the last 14 games, though, and that takes you to No. 27 overall.
28. Orlando Magic (21-51, Last week — 27th)
Following a somewhat promising 13-18 start, things unraveled in Orlando. Part of that was a well-timed decision to pivot to the future. Part of that was injuries. However you slice it, though, the Magic were 8-33 in their last 41 games with a -12.3 net rating, and it got pretty grim down the stretch.
29. Houston Rockets (17-55, Last week — 28th)
Houston finished with the worst record in the league by multiple games, and they really “deserve” the basement. See below to see why that didn’t happen, but the Rockets were 6-45 in the last 51 games. That pretty much tells you how bleak it was, and a 29-point loss to a Hawks team that wasn’t trying particularly hard on Sunday was an appropriate end to a disastrous campaign.
30. Oklahoma City Thunder (22-50, Last week — 30th)
The Thunder technically won their last game of the season. That did happen. However, it was an all-time tankathon performance on both sides, and the numbers are jarringly bad for OKC in the back half of the season. The Thunder were 2-23 with an insane -18.8 net rating in April and May. I mean, come on.
