Sansterre's Top 100 Teams of the Shot Clock Era - Masterlist

sansterre · Post #21 » by **sansterre** » Wed Jan 6, 2021 3:34 pm

SideshowBob wrote:Hmm, are we looking at 3 teams from 2016 in the top 30?

SAS drops too early. OKC/GSW/CLE all make it?

OKC boosted by defeating ~10 SRS SAS and then taking ~11 SRS GSW to 7.

GSW boosted by defeating ~10 SRS OKC and then going to 7 with ~10-15 SRS CLE.

CLE boosted by massacring lowly East teams (and solid TOR) and then taking 12 SRS GSW to 7.

I remember positing this before the playoffs that year. In retrospect I underrated CLE/OKC considerably - I'm still impressed at GSW's WCF performance

Yes sir, the three teams that you expected all make the Top 30.

The only other year with more than one team making the Top 30 is 1972.

Post #22 » by **cupcakesnake** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 9:45 pm

I'm really late to the game noticing this project so just wanted to pop in and say thanks as I start to scour through all your write-ups.

I really love the approach. So often when debating the greatness of teams, we rely on the regular season data and try to use playoff numbers in the same way. Using offensive/defensive rating, SRS or any number of traditional regular-season tools to describe a 20 game playoff run has always felt like using a shovel to saw wood.

sansterre · Post #23 » by **sansterre** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:27 pm

jamaalstar21 wrote:I'm really late to the game noticing this project so just wanted to pop in and say thanks as I start to scour through all your write-ups.

I really love the approach. So often when debating the greatness of teams, we rely on the regular season data and try to use playoff numbers in the same way. Using offensive/defensive rating, SRS or any number of traditional regular-season tools to describe a 20 game playoff run has always felt like using a shovel to saw wood.

Glad you're enjoying it!

There are plenty of flaws in my rating system that I hope to fix in the second version of the formula, but I guess that'll half to wait

Max123 · Post #24 » by **Max123** » Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:01 pm

Just want to thank you for this effort. If I ever want to try and make some sort of an all time player ranking this list will be a very valuable resource because in order to know who were the best players one has to examine what do the best teams of all time look like in my opinion. All the profiles I’ve managed to read so far have been not only insightful but also just well-written and enticing.

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

WestGOAT · Post #25 » by **WestGOAT** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 4:07 pm

Pretty crazy how many historically great teams we had in the 2016 season, OKC, Spurs, Warriors, Cavs, all of them in the top 30 of this list.

Probably one of favourite seasons ever as a neutral fan.

Jaivl · Post #26 » by **Jaivl** » Thu Apr 29, 2021 5:10 pm

What a way to start on the forum, huh? Wilt Chamberlain up in this *****.

sansterre · Post #27 » by **sansterre** » Sun Jul 25, 2021 8:17 pm

Sansterre's 2021 Retrospective; Changes to the Top 100

This is still only using the v1 formula. But I wanted to make a post anyway, just for context.

Teams of note:

The 2021 Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks get pretty much no love from my formula. Their +2.14 RSRS is decent but hardly historically notable. They do get some props for a 7 ppg whipping of the Knicks (which boosted them to a +4.43 OSRS). They were able to knock off the Sixers, but they were outscored by 2.8 points a game in the process (suggesting that the result was somewhat fluky). And then of course they were thumped solidly by the Bucks by 7 points a game.

You may argue that they made the Conference Finals; shouldn't that count for something? It does. But merely decent teams make runs to the Conference Finals on the regular. I know nobody thinks that the '20 Nuggets were only decent, but their biggest win was 0.5 points per game. Consider the '19 Blazers, the '18 Celtics (and Cavs), the '17 Celtics, the '16 Raptors, the '15 Hawks and '15 Rockets, the '14 Pacers and the '13 Pacers . . . that's ten teams with a sub-+5 OSRS in the last eight seasons, almost all of them from the Eastern Conference. Little runs like the Hawks' happen. But they're rarely historically significant.

The 2021 Utah Jazz: The Jazz threw up an excellent regular season (+8.97 RSRS, the highest mark in the league). In the first round they ripped Memphis apart by 8.4 points per game, but that didn't budge their rating much (as Memphis was considered only slightly better than average). But in the second round they faced the Clippers and were soundly whipped by 8.5 points per game. My formula doesn't hold a second round exit against teams too hard; it does have three teams in the Top 100 that didn't make it to the Conference Finals. But all three teams had monster regular seasons, blew out their first round opponent and were barely beaten by a historically dominant team. The Jazz weren't barely beaten, they were smoked, and the Clippers (while almost certainly better than their OSRS going into the series) did not look like a historically dominant team. The '21 Jazz fall out of the Top 200 in version 1 of the formula.

The 2021 Philadelphia 76ers: The Sixers put together a pretty strong regular season (+5.28 RSRS) and cremated the Wizards in the first round by 14 ppg (it's not clear yet how dispositive crushing average teams is for this sort of thing, but v1 of the formula probably likes it too much). In the semis the Sixers faced a pretty good Hawks team (+4.43) and lost the series, despite outscoring the opposition by 2.8 points per game. My formula sees the Jazz being wrecked by the Clippers as them being seriously 'exposed'. But it sees the Sixers' loss to the Hawks as being a sort of unimpressive fluky loss. They probably should have won (given how the points sorted out), but it's not as though they proved themselves far superior to the Hawks or anything. Either way, the formula sort of shrugs and sees the Sixers as a pretty good team but nothing to write home about. They slot in at #144 in the updated rankings.

The 2021 Brooklyn Nets: The Nets are my formula's favorite team to lose in the second round. Their regular season was underwhelming (+4.24 RSRS is pretty good, but still on the low end for this list). Their first round saw a domination of the Celtics (11.2 ppg), which my formula quite likes. And in the second round against the +9.73 Milwaukee Bucks the Nets lost, despite outscoring the Bucks by 2.8 points per game. My formula is very impressed by a solid outscoring of a clearly excellent team, even if it did lead to a loss. And of course, this is only the Nets that actually played, not the Nets that could have been. The '21 Nets slot in at #103, just outside of the top 100.

The 2021 Los Angeles Clippers: There is a lot to like about the '21 Clippers, resume-wise. They had a strong regular season (+6.02 RSRS). Their first round saw a solid win over a pretty good first round opponent (the +2.26 Dallas Mavericks, by 5.1 points per game). In the second round they drew the favorite +9.13 Utah Jazz and completely torched them, winning by 8.5 points per game. And in the Conference Finals they faced another highly rated team, the +9.54 Phoenix Suns. In that matchup, without Kawhi Leonard (at all) they still played the Suns to a 1.6 ppg loss. Whether you see this as proof that the Suns weren't that good or proof that the Clippers were quite good, the formula is pretty pleased with a close loss to a very strong team. It puts them at #77, bracketed by the '12 Spurs and '92 Blazers above, and the '96 Sonics and '89 Lakers below. Solid company. But it's an open question exactly how far this roster would have gone with a healthy Kawhi.

The 2021 Phoenix Suns: The Suns were short on star power but big on chemistry, execution and not getting injured (mostly). They had a pretty strong regular season (+5.67 RSRS), a decisive win over a very capable team (a +6.5 ppg win over the +2.77 Lakers). They absolutely obliterated the +4.19 Denver Nuggets by 15.7 points per game. I know they didn't have Jamal Murray, but that's still a ridiculous margin of victory over a Jokic team. In the Conference Finals they only barely squeaked by the +9.42 Clippers, but the Clippers even missing some Kawhi had whipped the top-rated Jazz pretty hard. So getting by them is a reasonably impressive performance. In the Finals they faced the +8.69 Milwaukee Bucks and came up short by a little, losing by 2.4 points per game. The Bucks weren't historically dominant opposition, but a +8.69 OSRS team is still really good. Crediting them for making the NBA Finals, my formula puts the Suns at #63, with the '90 Pistons and '62 Celtics above and the 2000 Blazers and '84 Lakers below.

The 2021 Milwaukee Bucks: The Bucks, like most non-Jazz contenders, had a pretty strong but not remarkable regular season (+5.57 RSRS). In the first round they absolutely beat the sausage out of the Heat by 20.5 ppg. Not sure how persuasive that is, but my formula loved it, bumping the Bucks to an estimated +9.7 OSRS (making them the highest rated team going into the second round). In the second round they drew the +6.95 Nets. They won but were actually outscored by 2.8 points per game. My formula emphatically was not impressed by that series. But the Bucks had a bit of luck; in the Conference Finals they were facing a weak-ish team (for that round), the +4.52 Hawks. The Bucks won pretty convincingly by 7 points per game. And in the Finals they faced the +9.88 Suns, who had put together a pretty impressive (if not historically dominant) playoffs to date. It was a close series, but the Bucks prevailed by 2.4 points per game.

It's hard to look at the above set of series and see historical dominance. Sure they obliterated the Heat, but the Heat were pretty weak opposition. The strong (but not overwhelming) win over the Hawks and the narrow win over the Suns are both consistent with an extremely good team but not a historically great team (around or slightly below +10 OSRS). And the narrow win over the Nets (where they were outscored) isn't super impressive. My formula slots them in at #45, with the '06 Mavs and '17 Cavs above and with the '65 Celtics and the '70 Knicks below. In other words, in the same ballpark as, but worse than, the '19 Raptors and the '20 Lakers.

Teams knocked out of the Top 100: the '91 Lakers, '15 Cavs and '75 Bullets.

Obviously it's only one mans formula (and not a particularly sophisticated formula at that). I hope one day to have v2 done and do this project all over again with more empirical research to back up my rankings. I post the above not because it's super-meaningful but because this site already has a loose context for my rankings (warts and all) and I wanted to make these updates public.

As always, thanks for reading!

SpreeS · Post #28 » by **SpreeS** » Mon Oct 16, 2023 12:16 pm

sansterre wrote:Sansterre's 2021 Retrospective; Changes to the Top 100

This is still only using the v1 formula. But I wanted to make a post anyway, just for context.

Teams of note:

The 2021 Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks get pretty much no love from my formula. Their +2.14 RSRS is decent but hardly historically notable. They do get some props for a 7 ppg whipping of the Knicks (which boosted them to a +4.43 OSRS). They were able to knock off the Sixers, but they were outscored by 2.8 points a game in the process (suggesting that the result was somewhat fluky). And then of course they were thumped solidly by the Bucks by 7 points a game.

You may argue that they made the Conference Finals; shouldn't that count for something? It does. But merely decent teams make runs to the Conference Finals on the regular. I know nobody thinks that the '20 Nuggets were only decent, but their biggest win was 0.5 points per game. Consider the '19 Blazers, the '18 Celtics (and Cavs), the '17 Celtics, the '16 Raptors, the '15 Hawks and '15 Rockets, the '14 Pacers and the '13 Pacers . . . that's ten teams with a sub-+5 OSRS in the last eight seasons, almost all of them from the Eastern Conference. Little runs like the Hawks' happen. But they're rarely historically significant.

The 2021 Utah Jazz: The Jazz threw up an excellent regular season (+8.97 RSRS, the highest mark in the league). In the first round they ripped Memphis apart by 8.4 points per game, but that didn't budge their rating much (as Memphis was considered only slightly better than average). But in the second round they faced the Clippers and were soundly whipped by 8.5 points per game. My formula doesn't hold a second round exit against teams too hard; it does have three teams in the Top 100 that didn't make it to the Conference Finals. But all three teams had monster regular seasons, blew out their first round opponent and were barely beaten by a historically dominant team. The Jazz weren't barely beaten, they were smoked, and the Clippers (while almost certainly better than their OSRS going into the series) did not look like a historically dominant team. The '21 Jazz fall out of the Top 200 in version 1 of the formula.

The 2021 Philadelphia 76ers: The Sixers put together a pretty strong regular season (+5.28 RSRS) and cremated the Wizards in the first round by 14 ppg (it's not clear yet how dispositive crushing average teams is for this sort of thing, but v1 of the formula probably likes it too much). In the semis the Sixers faced a pretty good Hawks team (+4.43) and lost the series, despite outscoring the opposition by 2.8 points per game. My formula sees the Jazz being wrecked by the Clippers as them being seriously 'exposed'. But it sees the Sixers' loss to the Hawks as being a sort of unimpressive fluky loss. They probably should have won (given how the points sorted out), but it's not as though they proved themselves far superior to the Hawks or anything. Either way, the formula sort of shrugs and sees the Sixers as a pretty good team but nothing to write home about. They slot in at #144 in the updated rankings.

The 2021 Brooklyn Nets: The Nets are my formula's favorite team to lose in the second round. Their regular season was underwhelming (+4.24 RSRS is pretty good, but still on the low end for this list). Their first round saw a domination of the Celtics (11.2 ppg), which my formula quite likes. And in the second round against the +9.73 Milwaukee Bucks the Nets lost, despite outscoring the Bucks by 2.8 points per game. My formula is very impressed by a solid outscoring of a clearly excellent team, even if it did lead to a loss. And of course, this is only the Nets that actually played, not the Nets that could have been. The '21 Nets slot in at #103, just outside of the top 100.

The 2021 Los Angeles Clippers: There is a lot to like about the '21 Clippers, resume-wise. They had a strong regular season (+6.02 RSRS). Their first round saw a solid win over a pretty good first round opponent (the +2.26 Dallas Mavericks, by 5.1 points per game). In the second round they drew the favorite +9.13 Utah Jazz and completely torched them, winning by 8.5 points per game. And in the Conference Finals they faced another highly rated team, the +9.54 Phoenix Suns. In that matchup, without Kawhi Leonard (at all) they still played the Suns to a 1.6 ppg loss. Whether you see this as proof that the Suns weren't that good or proof that the Clippers were quite good, the formula is pretty pleased with a close loss to a very strong team. It puts them at #77, bracketed by the '12 Spurs and '92 Blazers above, and the '96 Sonics and '89 Lakers below. Solid company. But it's an open question exactly how far this roster would have gone with a healthy Kawhi.

The 2021 Phoenix Suns: The Suns were short on star power but big on chemistry, execution and not getting injured (mostly). They had a pretty strong regular season (+5.67 RSRS), a decisive win over a very capable team (a +6.5 ppg win over the +2.77 Lakers). They absolutely obliterated the +4.19 Denver Nuggets by 15.7 points per game. I know they didn't have Jamal Murray, but that's still a ridiculous margin of victory over a Jokic team. In the Conference Finals they only barely squeaked by the +9.42 Clippers, but the Clippers even missing some Kawhi had whipped the top-rated Jazz pretty hard. So getting by them is a reasonably impressive performance. In the Finals they faced the +8.69 Milwaukee Bucks and came up short by a little, losing by 2.4 points per game. The Bucks weren't historically dominant opposition, but a +8.69 OSRS team is still really good. Crediting them for making the NBA Finals, my formula puts the Suns at #63, with the '90 Pistons and '62 Celtics above and the 2000 Blazers and '84 Lakers below.

The 2021 Milwaukee Bucks: The Bucks, like most non-Jazz contenders, had a pretty strong but not remarkable regular season (+5.57 RSRS). In the first round they absolutely beat the sausage out of the Heat by 20.5 ppg. Not sure how persuasive that is, but my formula loved it, bumping the Bucks to an estimated +9.7 OSRS (making them the highest rated team going into the second round). In the second round they drew the +6.95 Nets. They won but were actually outscored by 2.8 points per game. My formula emphatically was not impressed by that series. But the Bucks had a bit of luck; in the Conference Finals they were facing a weak-ish team (for that round), the +4.52 Hawks. The Bucks won pretty convincingly by 7 points per game. And in the Finals they faced the +9.88 Suns, who had put together a pretty impressive (if not historically dominant) playoffs to date. It was a close series, but the Bucks prevailed by 2.4 points per game.

It's hard to look at the above set of series and see historical dominance. Sure they obliterated the Heat, but the Heat were pretty weak opposition. The strong (but not overwhelming) win over the Hawks and the narrow win over the Suns are both consistent with an extremely good team but not a historically great team (around or slightly below +10 OSRS). And the narrow win over the Nets (where they were outscored) isn't super impressive. My formula slots them in at #45, with the '06 Mavs and '17 Cavs above and with the '65 Celtics and the '70 Knicks below. In other words, in the same ballpark as, but worse than, the '19 Raptors and the '20 Lakers.

Teams knocked out of the Top 100: the '91 Lakers, '15 Cavs and '75 Bullets.

Obviously it's only one mans formula (and not a particularly sophisticated formula at that). I hope one day to have v2 done and do this project all over again with more empirical research to back up my rankings. I post the above not because it's super-meaningful but because this site already has a loose context for my rankings (warts and all) and I wanted to make these updates public.

As always, thanks for reading!

Could you update for 2022 and 2023 seasons?

Djoker · Post #29 » by **Djoker** » Mon Oct 16, 2023 2:44 pm

SpreeS wrote:
Could you update for 2022 and 2023 seasons?

He hasn't been active in a while so I wouldn't get my hopes up.

O_6 · Post #30 » by **O_6** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 4:28 am

Kobe was a monster on two completely different Top 11 teams. Derek Fisher was his teammate.

I don’t know if Kobe was underrated or overrated. But he was a monster.

So impressive to me where he ranks with two completely different rosters 8 years apart in two different roles. I know Shaq was there, but ‘01 playoff Kobe was historic for his age (22!). Just insane what he did to the Spurs and Kings.

Kobe’s series as a 22 year old against the Spurs in the WCF was just ridiculous. 33/7/7 on .571 TS% against the by far #1 regular season team SRS (7.92) and defense (.541 TS% against).

Kobe had a 25.4 GScore on 33.6 USG% on 89.9 pace over a 4 game sweep. MJ actually didn’t match those numbers in any series vs. a tough playoff team during his 2nd 3-peat, Kobe going insane during this run was truly special. Of course MJ didn’t have Shaq, but then Kobe gets all the way back to the top with monster playoff series nearly a decade later against the Nuggets and Suns with a different roster.

I rank Kobe ahead of Oscar/West/Durant and Curry although I think Curry has a good shot to pass Kobe all-time. But this post showing Kobe beasting on two different rosters at two different stages of his career says a lot.

Rishkar · Post #31 » by **Rishkar** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 5:02 am

This is my favorite project on the board, so I'm glad to see it bumped even if an update isn't likely. I love the write ups on the 60's Celtics (even if I would personally put them a little higher) and I gained an appreciation for how the Spurs could surround Tim Duncan with talent.

Djoker · Post #32 » by **Djoker** » Tue Oct 17, 2023 6:38 pm

I wish there was some way to correct for pace in Sansterre's formula because teams in slow eras (i.e. late 90s and early 00's) suffer relatively speaking when using SRS because it's tougher to achieve a large point differential when the pace is lower. That could maybe explain why there are fewer 90's teams on the list.

But I should say these are so much fun to read. The rankings will always be subjective.

NBA4Lyfe · Post #33 » by **NBA4Lyfe** » Wed Oct 18, 2023 2:02 am

I don’t see how the 2018 warriors are that much better than the 2018 rockets. But whatever

trelos6 · Post #34 » by **trelos6** » Wed Oct 18, 2023 8:07 pm

NBA4Lyfe wrote:I don’t see how the 2018 warriors are that much better than the 2018 rockets. But whatever

Round 3: Houston Rockets (+10.6), won 4-3, by +9.0 points per game (+19.6 SRS eq)

Even though it was 4-3, they won by 9 ppg on average.

Post #35 » by **trex_8063** » Thu Oct 19, 2023 2:27 pm

trelos6 wrote:
NBA4Lyfe wrote:I don’t see how the 2018 warriors are that much better than the 2018 rockets. But whatever

Round 3: Houston Rockets (+10.6), won 4-3, by +9.0 points per game (+19.6 SRS eq)

Even though it was 4-3, they won by 9 ppg on average.

Yeah, those big blowout wins in games 3 and 6 really skew the numbers. Sansterre had talked about possibly doing a revised version where he would cap playoff blowouts at 25 or 30 pts (i.e. if a team won by 40 pts, it would only be counted as +25 or +30 when used to calculate their SRS in the series). Don't think he ever got to it, though.

DraymondGold · Post #36 » by **DraymondGold** » Fri Oct 20, 2023 8:26 pm

Sansterre’s Top 100 Teams: 2022–2023 Update

Disclaimer
I reached out to Sansterre several months back asking if they would be planning to update their Top 100 teams list, and if I would be able to post the latest teams’ overall SRS scores if not. I haven’t heard back, and there’s been some recent posts asking for an update, so I thought I’d post the latest teams. Since Sansterre has kindly shared the methodology (thanks Sansterre!), I’m able to reproduce the oSRS scores and ranks from other years, so I’m fairly confident the numbers below are correct. Of course, all credit for developing the oSRS formula goes to Sansterre. I won’t be posting the summary article; Sansterre wrote better summary articles on the Top 100 teams than I ever could, so I want to leave room for them to write the summary for these recent teams should they ever return to RealGM. I also won’t be posting the roster breakdown (i.e. the Player ages and BPM, the scoring/assist breakdown, or the heliocentrism scores), the average playoff opponent offense/defense, or the teams’ rankings in the various supplemental stats. Again, I’ll leave that to Sansterre, should they ever return (one can hope!)

In the mean time, here are the
Newest Additions to the Top 100 Teams ever, by overall SRS:

#55. The 2022 Boston Celtics
Final SRS: +9.19, Standard Deviations: +1.80, Lost in NBA Finals

Regular Season Record: 51-31, Regular Season SRS: +7.02, Earned the 2 Seed
Regular Season Offensive Rating: +2.2, Regular Season Defensive Rating: -5.1

Playoff Offensive Rating: +0.7 , Playoff Defensive Rating: -6.9
Playoff SRS: +10.24, Total SRS Increase through Playoffs: +2.17

Round 1: Brooklyn Nets (+0.82), won 4-0 by +4.5 points per game (+5.32 SRS eq)
Round 2: Milwaukee Bucks (+6.51), won 4–3 by +7.9 points per game (+14.41 SRS eq)
Round 3: Miami Heat (+8.6), won 4-3 by +5.3 points per game (+13.90 SRS eq)
Round 4: Golden State Warriors (+8.40), lost 4-2 by -4.0 points per game (+4.40)

#43. The 2023 Denver Nuggets
Final SRS: +8.50, Standard Deviations: +2.05, Won the NBA Finals

Regular Season Record: 53-29, Regular Season SRS: + 3.04, Earned the 1 Seed
Regular Season Offensive Rating: +2.7, Regular Season Defensive Rating: -0.6

Playoff Offensive Rating: +6.76, Playoff Defensive Rating: -2.81
Playoff SRS: +11.70, Total SRS Increase through Playoffs: +5.46

Round 1: Minnesota Timberwolves (-0.22), won 4-1 by +8.8 points per game (+8.58 SRS eq)
Round 2: Phoenix Suns (+3.47), won 4-2 by +9.5 points per game (+12.97 SRS eq)
Round 3: Los Angeles Lakers (+4.44), won 4-0 by +6.0 points per game (+10.44 SRS eq)
Round 4: Miami Heat (+6.12), won 4-1 by +8.2 points per game (+14.32 SRS eq)

#40. The 2022 Golden State Warriors
Final SRS: +9.42, Standard Deviations: +1.85, Won the NBA Finals

Regular Season Record: 53-29, Regular Season SRS: + 5.52 (?th), Earned the 3 Seed
Regular Season Offensive Rating: +0.7, Regular Season Defensive Rating: -4.9

Playoff Offensive Rating: +6.0, Playoff Defensive Rating: -4.2
Playoff SRS: +11.50, Total SRS Increase through Playoffs: +3.90

Round 1: Denver Nuggets (+2.15), won 4-1 by +8.0 points per game (+10.15 SRS eq)
Round 2: Memphis Grizzlies (+6.27), won 4-2 by +0.7 points per game (+6.97 SRS eq)
Round 3: Dallas Mavericks (+6.51), won 4-1 by +8.6 points per game (+15.1 SRS eq)
Round 4: Boston Celtics (+10.15), won 4-2 by +4.0 points per game (+14.15 SRS eq)

In the overall list (which incorporates the oSRS score, the oSRS standard deviation relative to their league, and then number of playoff series won), the 2022 Boston Celtics rank #55 just before the 1993 Bulls, The 2023 Denver Nuggets rank #43 just before the 2011 Mavs, and the 2022 Golden State Warriors rank #40 just before the 2004 Pistons. Only these 3 teams make the list. No other teams from the last 2 years have a higher score than the 1991 Los Angeles Lakers, who were ranked #100 at the time the original list was written.

...

Thus, here is the current list of Best NBA Teams of all time by Overall SRS (1955–2023):
107 The 1991 Los Angeles Lakers
106 The 2021 New York Nets

105 The 2015 Cleveland Cavaliers
104 The 1975 Washington Bullets
103 The 1988 Detroit Pistons
102 The 1990 Phoenix Suns
101 The 2008 Los Angeles Lakers

100 The 2018 Houston Rockets
99 The 1995 Houston Rockets
98 The 2009 Orlando Magic
97 The 2019 Golden State Warriors
96 The 2010 Boston Celtics

95 The 2005 Detroit Pistons
94 The 1976 Golden State Warriors
93 The 2006 Miami Heat
92 The 1985 Boston Celtics
91 The 1989 Phoenix Suns

90 The 2002 Sacramento Kings
89 The 1986 Los Angeles Lakers
88 The 1969 Boston Celtics
87 The 2011 Miami Heat
86 The 1966 Boston Celtics

85 The 1973 Los Angeles Lakers
84 The 2007 Phoenix Suns
83 The 1981 Milwaukee Bucks
82 The 1989 Los Angeles Lakers
81 The 1996 Seattle SuperSonics

80 The 2021 Los Angeles Clippers
79 The 1992 Portland Trail Blazers
78 The 2012 San Antonio Spurs
77 The 1982 Los Angeles Lakers
76 The 1980 Boston Celtics

75 The 1959 Boston Celtics
74 The 1957 Boston Celtics
73 The 2000 Los Angeles Lakers
72 The 1974 Boston Celtics
71 The 1980 Los Angeles Lakers

70 The 2009 Denver Nuggets
69 The 1997 Utah Jazz
68 The 1984 Los Angeles Lakers
67 The 2000 Portland Trail Blazers
66 The 2021 Phoenix Suns

65 The 1962 Boston Celtics
64 The 1990 Detroit Pistons
63 The 1974 Milwaukee Bucks
62 The 1960 Boston Celtics
61 The 1982 Boston Celtics

60 The 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder
59 The 1964 Boston Celtics
58 The 2008 Boston Celtics
57 The 2005 Phoenix Suns
56 The 2010 Los Angeles Lakers

55 The 2022 Boston Celtics
54 The 1993 Chicago Bulls
53 The 1984 Boston Celtics
52 The 1977 Portland Trail Blazers
51 The 1973 New York Knicks

50 The 2020 Boston Celtics
49 The 1981 Boston Celtics
48 The 1970 New York Knicks
47 The 1965 Boston Celtics
46 The 2021 Milwuake Bucks

45 The 2017 Cleveland Cavaliers
44 The 2006 Dallas Mavericks
43 The 2023 Denver Nuggets
42 The 2011 Dallas Mavericks
41 The 2020 Los Angeles Lakers

40 The 2022 Golden State Warriors
39 The 2004 Detroit Pistons
38 The 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers
37 The 2003 San Antonio Spurs
36 The 2013 Miami Heat

35 The 1996 Utah Jazz
34 The 2002 Los Angeles Lakers
33 The 1961 Boston Celtics
32 The 2010 Orlando Magic
31 The 2019 Toronto Raptors

30 The 2005 San Antonio Spurs
29 The 2016 Oklahoma City Thunder
28 The 1989 Detroit Pistons
27 The 2007 San Antonio Spurs
26 The 2016 Golden State Warriors

25 The 2019 Milwaukee Bucks
24 The 1972 Milwaukee Bucks
23 The 2016 San Antonio Spurs
22 The 1983 Philadelphia 76ers
21 The 2013 San Antonio Spurs

20 The 1972 Los Angeles Lakers
19 The 1998 Chicago Bulls
18 The 2012 Miami Heat
17 The 1999 San Antonio Spurs
16 The 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers

15 The 1967 Philadelphia 76ers
14 The 1997 Chicago Bulls
13 The 1992 Chicago Bulls
12 The 1987 Los Angeles Lakers
11 The 2009 Los Angeles Lakers

10 The 1985 Los Angeles Lakers
9 The 2015 Golden State Warriors
8 The 2001 Los Angeles Lakers
7 The 2014 San Antonio Spurs
6 The 1986 Boston Celtics

5 The 2018 Golden State Warriors
4 The 1991 Chicago Bulls
3 The 1971 Milwaukee Bucks
2 The 1996 Chicago Bulls
1 The 2017 Golden State Warriors

And for ease of comparison, here are the rankings, split up into categories by how far the team got in the playoffs:
NBA Champions that didn’t make the cut (Honorable Mentions, chronological order)

Spoiler:

Teams that Lost in Conference Semi-Finals

Spoiler:

Teams that Lost in Conference Finals

Spoiler:

Teams that Lost in NBA Finals

Spoiler:

NBA Champions in the Top 100

Spoiler:

Djoker · Post #37 » by **Djoker** » Mon Oct 23, 2023 6:05 pm

^ Just saw this. Fantastic update!

By the way didn't notice that the 1988 Lakers never made it. That's ... rough! :lol:

Owly · Post #38 » by **Owly** » Mon Oct 23, 2023 7:24 pm

Djoker wrote:^ Just saw this. Fantastic update!

By the way didn't notice that the 1988 Lakers never made it. That's ... rough!

4.81 regular seasons SRS isn't usually true contender level.
First round opponents are among the worst playoff teams ever.
Outscore a 2.96 SRS Jazz by 6 points over 7 games.
Are a little more convincing though still go 7 again versus 3.59 SRS Dallas.
Then get outscored by 5.46 SRS Pistons.

They might have been a team that conserved themselves in the RS (and didn't run up the score unnecessarily on a weak schedule - maybe took their foot off the gas ... went from 49-10 to 58-20 i.e. won 9 lost 10) and they did win each series and the title but there's little in the numbers that particular season that screams that this was a great team.

f4p · Post #39 » by **f4p** » Tue Oct 24, 2023 9:02 am

DraymondGold wrote:Sansterre’s Top 100 Teams: 2022–2023 Update

Teams that Lost in Conference Finals
102   The 1990 Phoenix Suns
100   The 2018 Houston Rockets
91   The 1989 Phoenix Suns
90   The 2002 Sacramento Kings
89   The 1986 Los Angeles Lakers
80 The 2021 Los Angeles Clippers
78   The 2012 San Antonio Spurs
76   The 1980 Boston Celtics
70   The 2009 Denver Nuggets
67   The 2000 Portland Trail Blazers
61   The 1982 Boston Celtics
57   The 2005 Phoenix Suns
50   The 2020 Boston Celtics
38   The 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers
35   The 1996 Utah Jazz
32   The 2010 Orlando Magic
29   The 2016 Oklahoma City Thunder
25   The 2019 Milwaukee Bucks
24   The 1972 Milwaukee Bucks

for a formula that spit out so many good results, the 2018 Rockets are just such a staggeringly bad result. 18th among teams that lost in the conference finals! so it's not like it's even an excuse that they missed out on the the finals/championship bonus points.
75 spots behind the 2019 bucks. wayyyyy behind the 2010 orlando magic and 1996 utah jazz. not to mention the 2020 celtics, that mighty team, lol. but how in the world are they/we behind the 1989 suns? the suns don't have a better regular season SRS. beat 2 mediocre (basically 0 SRS) teams by a lot in the 1st and 2nd rounds, but the rockets also won by a lot against better teams in the 1st 2 rounds. and then swept in the conference finals. swept!! to the team that finished 82nd in the rankings!

OhayoKD · Post #40 » by **OhayoKD** » Wed Oct 25, 2023 12:25 pm

trex_8063 wrote:
trelos6 wrote:
NBA4Lyfe wrote:I don’t see how the 2018 warriors are that much better than the 2018 rockets. But whatever

Round 3: Houston Rockets (+10.6), won 4-3, by +9.0 points per game (+19.6 SRS eq)

Even though it was 4-3, they won by 9 ppg on average.

Yeah, those big blowout wins in games 3 and 6 really skew the numbers. Sansterre had talked about possibly doing a revised version where he would cap playoff blowouts at 25 or 30 pts (i.e. if a team won by 40 pts, it would only be counted as +25 or +30 when used to calculate their SRS in the series). Don't think he ever got to it, though.

Filter out garbage time and it's a 1-point mov series prior to Chris Paul's injury, right in line with what happened the next year in 2019(1.7 iirc) with a much weaker Rockets team.

Not that either point stopped much of golden state of mind or r/warriors or r/nba or draymond green himself from dismissing the result as a fluke and Harden as a playoff fraud