Dolphin Ratings - National Basketball Association

Explanation: Each team is listed with its record, overall score differential, and its ratings. Brief explanations of the ratings follow.

Schedule The number in this column is the effective opponent strength of a team. In other words, they would be expected to have the same record had they played all games against an opponent of this predictive rating at a neutral site. Because this calculation depends on the strength of the team in question, it is not possible to rank schedules using these values.
Expected Losses For college teams, this number is the number of losses an average ranked (top 15 hockey; otherwise top 25) team would be expected to have against the team's schedule. For pro teams, this is the number of losses an average team would be expected to have against the team's schedule. Unlike the schedule ranking, this value can be used to rank schedules.
Standard Ranks teams in an order such that a team is "probably better" than all teams ranked lower than it. This calculation uses margin of victory only for computing a team's opponents strengths; the team's rating itself is computed using only wins, losses, and ties relative to its schedule
Median Likelihood Determines the likely ratings for each team, based on its wins, losses, and ties relative to its schedule. This generally produces the same or similar ratings as the standard ranking.
Predictive Both schedule strength and rating vs. schedule strength are determined considering both the wins and losses and the score differentials. This rating contains none of the biases in the standard rating, but does weight recent games slightly more than past games since those are a better indication of the team's current strength. This rating is the best of the first three for seeing how good teams are, and thus is the best for predicting future results.
Improved RPI Rating The improved RPI formula is similar to the standard RPI, except that the schedule strength is carried out to infinite depth instead of ending with opponents' opponents, thus allows for a better comparison of isolated groups of teams than is given by the standard RPI calculation. It is similar to the simple rating, except that all games are given equal weight.
Scoring. This value indicates how many points a team would be expected to score if it played an identical team.
Offense. This combines the predictive and scoring ratings to measure how many points a team scores. The number is the predictive rating of an opponent against whom the team would be expected to score the league average number of points. This does not necessarily rate a team's offensive abilities, as a fast pace in basketball or big-play defense in football can make a team score more points.
Defense. This combines the predictive and scoring ratings to measure how many points a team allows. The number is the predictive rating of an opponent against whom the team would be expected to allow the league average number of points. The same caveat in the predictive-offense rating applies here.

In order to increase early-season stability, the three main rankings, the improved RPI, and the college pseudopoll include priors based on the previous season final predictive ratings and occasionally incorporating preseason predictions of various major publications. The other rankings for college sports do not include priors, and thus can be wildly unstable early in the year. A team whose rankings are affected by this prior is noted with a P following its rankings.

Full Ranking

                                              STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
THUNDER       61 16 9153 8276  0.070 37.521    1  0.776    1  0.779    1  0.766    1 0.5722   26  3.927    3  0.507    1  1.024
SPURS         59 19 9321 8682  0.080 38.695    2  0.683    2  0.689    2  0.692    2 0.5644   12  3.987    1  0.742    4  0.643
PISTONS       56 21 9046 8440  0.021 36.635    3  0.537    3  0.542    3  0.565    3 0.5531   24  3.940    7  0.372    3  0.759
CELTICS       52 25 8827 8246  0.032 37.048    4  0.429    4  0.426    4  0.552    4 0.5421   29  3.900   12  0.161    2  0.943
HORNETS       42 36 9079 8682 -0.014 36.752   16  0.074   17  0.061    5  0.491   17 0.5058   21  3.948    8  0.339    5  0.643
KNICKS        51 28 9245 8727  0.026 38.035    6  0.351    6  0.351    6  0.461    6 0.5343   20  3.949    9  0.317    7  0.605
NUGGETS       49 28 9346 8978  0.010 37.059    7  0.316    7  0.320    7  0.312    7 0.5314    5  4.027    2  0.573   15  0.050
CAVALIERS     48 29 9188 8872  0.024 37.633    8  0.304    8  0.307    8  0.291    8 0.5302    7  4.013    6  0.475   12  0.108
HAWKS         45 33 9252 9041  0.005 37.839   11  0.185   11  0.181    9  0.287   11 0.5175    6  4.014    5  0.480   13  0.095
ROCKETS       48 29 8836 8461  0.016 37.092    9  0.295    9  0.296   10  0.274    9 0.5285   28  3.906   18 -0.089    6  0.636
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
TIMBERWOLVES  46 31 9056 8785  0.008 37.252   10  0.228   10  0.225   11  0.200   10 0.5226   17  3.982   10  0.221   11  0.179
RAPTORS       43 34 8819 8631  0.009 37.574   12  0.144   12  0.139   12  0.185   12 0.5136   23  3.941   15 -0.000    9  0.370
LAKERS        50 27 8974 8856  0.011 37.823    5  0.370    5  0.379   13  0.147    5 0.5362   11  3.991   11  0.219   14  0.076
CLIPPERS      39 38 8753 8670  0.003 37.690   19  0.022   19  0.014   14  0.131   19 0.5013   25  3.936   17 -0.079   10  0.342
SUNS          42 35 8687 8572  0.030 38.322   14  0.132   14  0.132   15  0.107   13 0.5129   27  3.922   23 -0.178    8  0.392
HEAT          40 37 9267 9101  0.034 38.313   17  0.072   16  0.066   16  0.103   16 0.5061    2  4.052    4  0.498   20 -0.292
TRAIL BLAZERS 40 38 8998 9037 -0.005 38.312   18  0.035   18  0.033   17  0.022   18 0.5023   16  3.984   13  0.058   16 -0.014
76ERS         43 34 8974 8973 -0.013 37.518   13  0.134   13  0.139   18 -0.038   14 0.5125   13  3.986   14  0.007   19 -0.083
MAGIC         41 36 8889 8888  0.009 38.129   15  0.084   15  0.088   19 -0.077   15 0.5078   18  3.971   21 -0.109   18 -0.045
WARRIORS      36 41 8841 8864  0.030 38.730   20 -0.036   20 -0.047   20 -0.092   20 0.4948   19  3.964   22 -0.162   17 -0.022
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
PELICANS      25 53 8965 9317 -0.016 38.858   23 -0.445   23 -0.447   21 -0.234   23 0.4575    9  4.005   19 -0.093   22 -0.375
BULLS         29 48 8948 9362 -0.009 38.868   22 -0.280   22 -0.280   22 -0.407   22 0.4711    3  4.041   16 -0.074   28 -0.740
GRIZZLIES     25 52 8841 9208 -0.030 38.108   24 -0.448   24 -0.449   23 -0.450   24 0.4568    8  4.012   24 -0.270   25 -0.630
MAVERICKS     24 53 8745 9187 -0.038 38.110   25 -0.476   25 -0.473   24 -0.468   25 0.4533   15  3.985   26 -0.429   24 -0.508
PACERS        18 59 8669 9301 -0.038 38.679   29 -0.667   29 -0.667   25 -0.528   29 0.4360   10  4.001   25 -0.405   26 -0.650
BUCKS         30 47 8509 8999 -0.027 38.604   21 -0.265   21 -0.259   26 -0.553   21 0.4734   22  3.947   29 -0.709   23 -0.398
JAZZ          21 57 9140 9799 -0.038 39.091   26 -0.577   26 -0.576   27 -0.603   27 0.4446    1  4.073   20 -0.098   30 -1.107
KINGS         21 57 8654 9434 -0.043 39.341   27 -0.586   27 -0.580   28 -0.667   26 0.4452   14  3.986   28 -0.623   27 -0.711
NETS          18 59 8166 8916 -0.019 39.410   28 -0.662   28 -0.658   29 -0.734   28 0.4380   30  3.898   30 -1.136   21 -0.333
WIZARDS       17 59 8566 9449 -0.050 38.459   30 -0.729   30 -0.724   30 -0.763   30 0.4339    4  4.034   27 -0.468   29 -1.058

PACIFIC DIVISION
                                              STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
LAKERS        50 27 8974 8856  0.011 37.823    5  0.370    5  0.379   13  0.147    5 0.5362   11  3.991   11  0.219   14  0.076
CLIPPERS      39 38 8753 8670  0.003 37.690   19  0.022   19  0.014   14  0.131   19 0.5013   25  3.936   17 -0.079   10  0.342
SUNS          42 35 8687 8572  0.030 38.322   14  0.132   14  0.132   15  0.107   13 0.5129   27  3.922   23 -0.178    8  0.392
WARRIORS      36 41 8841 8864  0.030 38.730   20 -0.036   20 -0.047   20 -0.092   20 0.4948   19  3.964   22 -0.162   17 -0.022
KINGS         21 57 8654 9434 -0.043 39.341   27 -0.586   27 -0.580   28 -0.667   26 0.4452   14  3.986   28 -0.623   27 -0.711

NORTHWEST DIVISION
                                              STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
THUNDER       61 16 9153 8276  0.070 37.521    1  0.776    1  0.779    1  0.766    1 0.5722   26  3.927    3  0.507    1  1.024
NUGGETS       49 28 9346 8978  0.010 37.059    7  0.316    7  0.320    7  0.312    7 0.5314    5  4.027    2  0.573   15  0.050
TIMBERWOLVES  46 31 9056 8785  0.008 37.252   10  0.228   10  0.225   11  0.200   10 0.5226   17  3.982   10  0.221   11  0.179
TRAIL BLAZERS 40 38 8998 9037 -0.005 38.312   18  0.035   18  0.033   17  0.022   18 0.5023   16  3.984   13  0.058   16 -0.014
JAZZ          21 57 9140 9799 -0.038 39.091   26 -0.577   26 -0.576   27 -0.603   27 0.4446    1  4.073   20 -0.098   30 -1.107

SOUTHWEST DIVISION
                                              STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
SPURS         59 19 9321 8682  0.080 38.695    2  0.683    2  0.689    2  0.692    2 0.5644   12  3.987    1  0.742    4  0.643
ROCKETS       48 29 8836 8461  0.016 37.092    9  0.295    9  0.296   10  0.274    9 0.5285   28  3.906   18 -0.089    6  0.636
PELICANS      25 53 8965 9317 -0.016 38.858   23 -0.445   23 -0.447   21 -0.234   23 0.4575    9  4.005   19 -0.093   22 -0.375
GRIZZLIES     25 52 8841 9208 -0.030 38.108   24 -0.448   24 -0.449   23 -0.450   24 0.4568    8  4.012   24 -0.270   25 -0.630
MAVERICKS     24 53 8745 9187 -0.038 38.110   25 -0.476   25 -0.473   24 -0.468   25 0.4533   15  3.985   26 -0.429   24 -0.508

CENTRAL DIVISION
                                              STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
PISTONS       56 21 9046 8440  0.021 36.635    3  0.537    3  0.542    3  0.565    3 0.5531   24  3.940    7  0.372    3  0.759
CAVALIERS     48 29 9188 8872  0.024 37.633    8  0.304    8  0.307    8  0.291    8 0.5302    7  4.013    6  0.475   12  0.108
BULLS         29 48 8948 9362 -0.009 38.868   22 -0.280   22 -0.280   22 -0.407   22 0.4711    3  4.041   16 -0.074   28 -0.740
PACERS        18 59 8669 9301 -0.038 38.679   29 -0.667   29 -0.667   25 -0.528   29 0.4360   10  4.001   25 -0.405   26 -0.650
BUCKS         30 47 8509 8999 -0.027 38.604   21 -0.265   21 -0.259   26 -0.553   21 0.4734   22  3.947   29 -0.709   23 -0.398

SOUTHEAST DIVISION
                                              STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
HORNETS       42 36 9079 8682 -0.014 36.752   16  0.074   17  0.061    5  0.491   17 0.5058   21  3.948    8  0.339    5  0.643
HAWKS         45 33 9252 9041  0.005 37.839   11  0.185   11  0.181    9  0.287   11 0.5175    6  4.014    5  0.480   13  0.095
HEAT          40 37 9267 9101  0.034 38.313   17  0.072   16  0.066   16  0.103   16 0.5061    2  4.052    4  0.498   20 -0.292
MAGIC         41 36 8889 8888  0.009 38.129   15  0.084   15  0.088   19 -0.077   15 0.5078   18  3.971   21 -0.109   18 -0.045
WIZARDS       17 59 8566 9449 -0.050 38.459   30 -0.729   30 -0.724   30 -0.763   30 0.4339    4  4.034   27 -0.468   29 -1.058

ATLANTIC DIVISION
                                              STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
CELTICS       52 25 8827 8246  0.032 37.048    4  0.429    4  0.426    4  0.552    4 0.5421   29  3.900   12  0.161    2  0.943
KNICKS        51 28 9245 8727  0.026 38.035    6  0.351    6  0.351    6  0.461    6 0.5343   20  3.949    9  0.317    7  0.605
RAPTORS       43 34 8819 8631  0.009 37.574   12  0.144   12  0.139   12  0.185   12 0.5136   23  3.941   15 -0.000    9  0.370
76ERS         43 34 8974 8973 -0.013 37.518   13  0.134   13  0.139   18 -0.038   14 0.5125   13  3.986   14  0.007   19 -0.083
NETS          18 59 8166 8916 -0.019 39.410   28 -0.662   28 -0.658   29 -0.734   28 0.4380   30  3.898   30 -1.136   21 -0.333

DIVISION             W   L   PCT  RNK RATING
NORTHWEST DIVISION 217 170 0.561    1  0.165
ATLANTIC DIVISION  207 180 0.535    2  0.105
SOUTHEAST DIVISION 185 201 0.479    3 -0.012
SOUTHWEST DIVISION 181 206 0.468    4 -0.035
PACIFIC DIVISION   188 198 0.487    5 -0.076
CENTRAL DIVISION   181 204 0.470    6 -0.127

Home field advantage amounts to:
     0.139 points in main ratings (0.186 for semineutral)
     0.014 points in improved RPI (0.019 for semineutral)
Average of 2.15 points per score

Predict score:








Team Strength vs. Time Plot:






posted: Sat Apr  4 05:30:16 2026
games through: Fri Apr  3 2026

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