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

452
Inter-Conference Games Played: 203
Eastern Conference Wins: 249
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	-	69.0 - 14.3	82.8%
2	Cavaliers	-	62.2 - 17.9	77.7%
3	Celtics	-	59.3 - 20.9	74.0%
4	Rockets	-	53.0 - 30.3	63.7%
5	Lakers	↑ 4	52.2 - 32.0	62.0%
6	Nuggets	-	51.4 - 32.2	61.5%
7	Knicks	↓ 2	49.3 - 30.8	61.5%
8	Clippers	-	50.8 - 32.3	61.1%
9	Pacers	↓ 2	49.2 - 31.7	60.8%
10	Timberwolves	-	50.7 - 33.1	60.5%
11	Warriors	-	49.0 - 34.3	58.9%
12	Grizzlies	-	48.6 - 34.3	58.6%
13	Bucks	-	46.6 - 33.8	58.0%
14	Pistons	-	42.6 - 37.8	53.0%
15	Kings	↑ 2	41.2 - 42.2	49.4%
16	Magic	↓ 1	38.9 - 40.9	48.7%
17	Mavericks	↑ 2	39.7 - 43.3	47.8%
18	Hawks	↓ 2	38.0 - 41.9	47.5%
19	Bulls	↓ 1	37.3 - 42.8	46.5%
20	Heat	-	35.9 - 44.7	44.5%
21	Suns	-	36.8 - 46.3	44.3%
22	Trail Blazers	-	36.2 - 46.5	43.8%
23	Spurs	-	35.0 - 48.3	42.0%
24	Raptors	-	28.8 - 51.7	35.8%
25	Nets	-	25.8 - 55.5	31.7%
26	76ers	-	23.4 - 57.5	28.9%
27	Pelicans	-	21.5 - 61.3	26.0%
28	Hornets	-	18.9 - 62.4	23.2%
29	Wizards	-	17.2 - 63.6	21.3%
30	Jazz	-	16.9 - 65.5	20.5%

Unadjusted Rankings

#	Team	Record	Conf	Win %
1	Thunder	68 - 14	39 - 13	82.9%
2	Cavaliers	64 - 18	41 - 11	78.0%
3	Celtics	61 - 21	39 - 13	74.4%
4	Rockets	52 - 30	31 - 21	63.4%
5	Knicks	51 - 31	34 - 18	62.2%
6	Nuggets	50 - 32	32 - 20	61.0%
7	Pacers	50 - 32	29 - 22	61.0%
8	Clippers	50 - 32	29 - 23	61.0%
9	Lakers	50 - 32	36 - 16	61.0%
10	Timberwolves	49 - 33	33 - 19	59.8%
11	Warriors	48 - 34	29 - 23	58.5%
12	Grizzlies	48 - 34	27 - 24	58.5%
13	Bucks	48 - 34	31 - 21	58.5%
14	Pistons	44 - 38	29 - 23	53.7%
15	Magic	41 - 41	31 - 21	50.0%
16	Hawks	40 - 42	30 - 22	48.8%
17	Kings	40 - 42	26 - 26	48.8%
18	Bulls	39 - 43	28 - 24	47.6%
19	Mavericks	39 - 43	23 - 29	47.6%
20	Heat	37 - 45	24 - 28	45.1%
21	Suns	36 - 46	22 - 30	43.9%
22	Trail Blazers	36 - 46	19 - 33	43.9%
23	Spurs	34 - 48	22 - 30	41.5%
24	Raptors	30 - 52	21 - 31	36.6%
25	Nets	26 - 56	14 - 37	31.7%
26	76ers	24 - 58	15 - 37	29.3%
27	Pelicans	21 - 61	13 - 38	25.6%
28	Hornets	19 - 63	10 - 42	23.2%
29	Wizards	18 - 64	13 - 39	22.0%
30	Jazz	17 - 65	8 - 44	20.7%

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.