Unskew the League

Conference-Adjusted NBA Rankings

Our goal is to offer NBA league-wide rankings that have been adjusted to reflect the differences in conference difficulty. This website was inspired by the March 8, 2024 episode of the Greatest Of All Talk podcast. For more information on these conference adjustments, review our methodology.

How much weight should be placed on the conference adjustments?

None

Low

Medium

High

Inter-Conference Performance

229
Inter-Conference Games Played: 103
Eastern Conference Wins: 126
Western Conference Wins: West
Stronger Conference: 0.90
Eastern Conference Win Value: 1.10
Western Conference Win Value

Adjusted Rankings

#	Team		Adj. Record	Win %
1	Thunder	-	38.9 - 9.1	81.1%
2	Pistons	-	30.8 - 11.0	73.7%
3	Spurs	-	31.5 - 14.2	68.9%
4	Nuggets	-	31.5 - 15.0	67.7%
5	Rockets	↑ 1	27.3 - 16.3	62.6%
6	Celtics	↓ 1	26.6 - 15.9	62.6%
7	Lakers	-	27.2 - 17.2	61.3%
8	Suns	↑ 1	28.3 - 18.2	60.9%
9	Timberwolves	↓ 1	27.1 - 18.2	59.8%
10	Raptors	-	26.4 - 18.9	58.3%
11	Knicks	-	24.8 - 17.9	58.1%
12	Cavaliers	-	25.2 - 19.8	56.0%
13	76ers	-	22.8 - 18.7	54.9%
14	Warriors	-	25.5 - 21.1	54.7%
15	Magic	-	22.3 - 19.7	53.1%
16	Trail Blazers	↑ 1	24.3 - 23.1	51.3%
17	Heat	↓ 1	22.9 - 21.9	51.1%
18	Bulls	-	21.4 - 21.8	49.6%
19	Hawks	-	22.2 - 24.7	47.3%
20	Clippers	-	20.2 - 24.1	45.6%
21	Grizzlies	↑ 1	19.0 - 25.1	43.1%
22	Mavericks	↓ 1	19.3 - 26.2	42.4%
23	Bucks	-	17.0 - 25.9	39.6%
24	Hornets	-	16.3 - 27.7	37.0%
25	Jazz	-	15.3 - 30.3	33.5%
26	Nets	-	11.4 - 30.8	27.0%
27	Kings	-	12.4 - 34.4	26.5%
28	Pacers	-	10.7 - 34.7	23.6%
29	Pelicans	-	10.9 - 36.3	23.1%
30	Wizards	-	9.6 - 32.9	22.6%

Unadjusted Rankings

#	Team	Record	Conf	Win %
1	Thunder	37 - 9	28 - 6	80.4%
2	Pistons	32 - 11	22 - 6	74.4%
3	Spurs	31 - 14	18 - 12	68.9%
4	Nuggets	31 - 15	18 - 8	67.4%
5	Celtics	28 - 16	21 - 10	63.6%
6	Rockets	27 - 16	15 - 14	62.8%
7	Lakers	26 - 17	19 - 12	60.5%
8	Timberwolves	27 - 18	14 - 13	60.0%
9	Suns	27 - 18	20 - 13	60.0%
10	Raptors	28 - 19	22 - 12	59.6%
11	Knicks	26 - 18	19 - 11	59.1%
12	Cavaliers	26 - 20	17 - 13	56.5%
13	76ers	24 - 19	18 - 15	55.8%
14	Warriors	25 - 21	15 - 13	54.3%
15	Magic	23 - 20	15 - 15	53.5%
16	Heat	23 - 22	12 - 12	51.1%
17	Trail Blazers	23 - 23	18 - 14	50.0%
18	Bulls	22 - 22	14 - 15	50.0%
19	Hawks	22 - 25	10 - 17	46.8%
20	Clippers	20 - 24	11 - 14	45.5%
21	Mavericks	19 - 26	11 - 18	42.2%
22	Grizzlies	18 - 25	14 - 14	41.9%
23	Bucks	18 - 26	14 - 14	40.9%
24	Hornets	17 - 28	12 - 19	37.8%
25	Jazz	15 - 30	9 - 22	33.3%
26	Nets	12 - 31	9 - 19	27.9%
27	Kings	12 - 34	8 - 25	26.1%
28	Pacers	11 - 35	7 - 23	23.9%
29	Pelicans	11 - 36	5 - 25	23.4%
30	Wizards	10 - 33	7 - 18	23.3%

Methodology

To account for the difference in skill levels across conferences, we analyze all games played between teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences throughout the season. From this inter-conference data, we determine the adjusted weight for a win against each conference, referred to as the "Win Value." The stronger conference will have a Win Value greater than one, indicating that a victory against teams from this conference will carry more weight in our adjusted rankings. Conversely, wins against the weaker conference will contribute less to the adjusted rankings. Losses are also considered but are not weighted as heavily as wins, so losing to a weaker conference opponent is slightly more favorable than losing to a stronger conference opponent. You have the option to manually adjust the extent to which conference adjustments influence the rankings.