NBA Standings based on win percentage versus top 10 teams

It is important to take care of business against weaker opponents, but when it comes time for the playoffs, only 16 teams are in the dance. That means that more likely than not, in any given series you play in, you will be facing off against a top 10 team in the NBA.

So, a better indicator of a team’s playoff ceiling than traditional win/loss record may be to look at their win percentage against the top-10 opponents in the league.

Fortunately, the good folks at Cleaning the Glass have the tool that gives you just that.

A quick note before we dig into the standings: Cleaning the Glass calculates the top 10 based on the ten teams with the best Point Differential (we go over how Point Differential works in this post right here).

Anyway, without further ado, here are the standings based on win percentage against opponents in the top 10 in the league in Point Differential:

NBA Standings based on win percentage versus top 10 teams

1. Milwaukee Bucks (65%)

2. Denver Nuggets (61.1%)

3. Philadelphia 76ers (57.1%)

4. Golden State Warriors (55%)

5. Boston Celtics (54.5%)

6. Memphis Grizzlies (50%)

7. Minnesota Timberwolves (48.1%)

8. New York Knicks (47.8%)

9. Sacramento Kings (47.6%)

10. Miami Heat (46.2%)

11. Phoenix Suns (45.8%)

12. Atlanta Hawks (43.5%)

13. Toronto Raptors (41.7%)

14. Los Angeles Lakers (40.7%)

15. Dallas Mavericks (39.1%)

16. Cleveland Cavaliers (37.5%)

17. Brooklyn Nets (37.5%)

18. New Orleans Pelicans (37.5%)

19. Orlando Magic (33.3%)

20. Chicago Bulls (32.0%)

21. Los Angeles Clippers (32.0%)

22. Oklahoma City Thunder (30.4%)

23. Utah Jazz (27.3%)

24. Washington Wizards (27.3%)

25. Charlotte Hornets (25%)

26. Indiana Pacers (23.8%)

27. San Antonio Spurs (22.7%)

28. Portland Trail Blazers (21.7%)

29. Houston Rockets (20.8%)

30. Detroit Pistons (15.4%)

*Data provided by Cleaning the Glass

Some really interesting results here. First off, the Portland Trail Blazers (a team still in the NBA Play-In Tournament race) are awful when it comes to playing the best teams in the league.

Equally intriguing, the defending champion Golden State Warriors play the best teams in the league really well, despite their mediocre 36-34 record. So, maybe they have an extra gear they can hit come playoff time.

Meanwhile, our New Orleans Pelicans play teams at the same relative standing they do for the rest of the league. They are 18th in the league in win percentage against top 10 teams, and they are 19th in the league in win percentage overall. So nothing out of the ordinary going on over there.

Overall, you certainly cannot predict how the entire postseason will play out based on these standings alone. But it does add another important piece of context as we continue to do our analysis.