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       54 15 8173 7432  0.056 33.613    1  0.710    1  0.716    1  0.663    1 0.5695   26  3.926    5  0.409    1  0.918
CELTICS       45 23 7774 7281  0.007 32.162    4  0.365    4  0.359    5  0.473    4 0.5374   30  3.900   12  0.091    2  0.855
PISTONS       49 19 7984 7471  0.010 32.243    3  0.500    3  0.502    3  0.507    3 0.5506   22  3.949    6  0.370    3  0.643
KNICKS        46 25 8323 7855  0.028 34.403    5  0.355    5  0.348    4  0.475    5 0.5362   20  3.954    7  0.364    4  0.585
ROCKETS       41 26 7625 7354  0.018 32.546    9  0.268    8  0.266   11  0.160    9 0.5267   29  3.901   23 -0.217    5  0.538
SPURS         51 19 8326 7833  0.085 35.154    2  0.593    2  0.603    2  0.577    2 0.5592   12  3.989    1  0.647    6  0.506
HORNETS       35 34 7991 7744  0.001 33.260   18  0.012   18  0.008    6  0.367   18 0.5009   21  3.950   10  0.236    7  0.498
CLIPPERS      34 34 7715 7662  0.028 33.931   17  0.019   17  0.020   12  0.150   17 0.5019   24  3.938   19 -0.041    8  0.342
SUNS          39 30 7756 7684  0.023 34.268   11  0.178   11  0.174   17  0.043   11 0.5174   27  3.920   24 -0.242    9  0.329
RAPTORS       38 29 7613 7496  0.006 32.758   13  0.164   13  0.159   15  0.108   12 0.5157   25  3.934   20 -0.105   10  0.321
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
MAGIC         38 30 7855 7765  0.029 33.874   12  0.165   12  0.161   16  0.099   13 0.5151   19  3.961   13  0.023   11  0.174
CAVALIERS     42 27 8221 7926  0.030 33.786    7  0.272    7  0.267    7  0.326    8 0.5271    6  4.014    4  0.526   12  0.127
WARRIORS      33 35 7837 7779  0.024 33.828   19 -0.011   19 -0.014   18  0.028   19 0.4986   18  3.964   18 -0.032   13  0.089
NUGGETS       42 27 8331 8029  0.032 33.862    8  0.269    9  0.264    8  0.294    7 0.5272    5  4.021    3  0.530   14  0.058
LAKERS        43 25 7905 7815 -0.003 33.110    6  0.308    6  0.309   13  0.120    6 0.5312   13  3.988   11  0.185   15  0.055
TIMBERWOLVES  42 27 8171 7935 -0.005 33.112   10  0.239   10  0.235   10  0.165   10 0.5241   10  3.998    9  0.279   16  0.051
HAWKS         37 31 8012 7926 -0.011 32.859   15  0.091   15  0.089   14  0.120   15 0.5093    7  4.014    8  0.318   17 -0.078
76ERS         37 32 7954 8012 -0.009 33.855   16  0.080   16  0.087   20 -0.132   16 0.5077   17  3.974   22 -0.140   18 -0.125
HEAT          38 31 8294 8065  0.021 33.838   14  0.131   14  0.123    9  0.198   14 0.5117    2  4.042    2  0.544   19 -0.148
TRAIL BLAZERS 33 36 7939 8090  0.030 35.018   20 -0.021   20 -0.015   19 -0.119   20 0.4977   11  3.995   16 -0.019   20 -0.220
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
BUCKS         28 40 7565 7902 -0.031 33.683   22 -0.221   22 -0.210   25 -0.411   21 0.4777   23  3.947   27 -0.556   21 -0.266
NETS          17 51 7247 7860 -0.007 34.786   28 -0.585   28 -0.585   29 -0.640   28 0.4421   28  3.902   30 -1.013   22 -0.267
PELICANS      23 46 7979 8260 -0.030 33.858   25 -0.415   25 -0.414   21 -0.177   24 0.4591    8  4.010   14  0.002   23 -0.357
MAVERICKS     23 46 7808 8157 -0.034 34.079   24 -0.412   23 -0.406   24 -0.390   25 0.4582   16  3.978   25 -0.380   24 -0.400
GRIZZLIES     23 44 7744 7948 -0.048 32.317   23 -0.408   24 -0.411   23 -0.293   23 0.4595    9  4.009   21 -0.122   25 -0.465
BULLS         28 40 7887 8161 -0.018 33.703   21 -0.214   21 -0.205   22 -0.283   22 0.4775    4  4.026   17 -0.022   26 -0.544
KINGS         18 52 7751 8451 -0.021 35.646   27 -0.577   27 -0.577   28 -0.632   27 0.4437   15  3.980   29 -0.608   27 -0.656
PACERS        15 54 7672 8290 -0.048 34.438   30 -0.687   30 -0.698   27 -0.629   30 0.4309   14  3.986   28 -0.576   28 -0.682
JAZZ          20 48 7974 8493 -0.032 33.960   26 -0.490   26 -0.487   26 -0.499   26 0.4500    1  4.067   15 -0.018   29 -0.981
WIZARDS       16 52 7668 8418 -0.063 33.779   29 -0.678   29 -0.680   30 -0.705   29 0.4342    3  4.032   26 -0.413   30 -0.997

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
CLIPPERS      34 34 7715 7662  0.028 33.931   17  0.019   17  0.020   12  0.150   17 0.5019   24  3.938   19 -0.041    8  0.342
SUNS          39 30 7756 7684  0.023 34.268   11  0.178   11  0.174   17  0.043   11 0.5174   27  3.920   24 -0.242    9  0.329
WARRIORS      33 35 7837 7779  0.024 33.828   19 -0.011   19 -0.014   18  0.028   19 0.4986   18  3.964   18 -0.032   13  0.089
LAKERS        43 25 7905 7815 -0.003 33.110    6  0.308    6  0.309   13  0.120    6 0.5312   13  3.988   11  0.185   15  0.055
KINGS         18 52 7751 8451 -0.021 35.646   27 -0.577   27 -0.577   28 -0.632   27 0.4437   15  3.980   29 -0.608   27 -0.656

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       54 15 8173 7432  0.056 33.613    1  0.710    1  0.716    1  0.663    1 0.5695   26  3.926    5  0.409    1  0.918
NUGGETS       42 27 8331 8029  0.032 33.862    8  0.269    9  0.264    8  0.294    7 0.5272    5  4.021    3  0.530   14  0.058
TIMBERWOLVES  42 27 8171 7935 -0.005 33.112   10  0.239   10  0.235   10  0.165   10 0.5241   10  3.998    9  0.279   16  0.051
TRAIL BLAZERS 33 36 7939 8090  0.030 35.018   20 -0.021   20 -0.015   19 -0.119   20 0.4977   11  3.995   16 -0.019   20 -0.220
JAZZ          20 48 7974 8493 -0.032 33.960   26 -0.490   26 -0.487   26 -0.499   26 0.4500    1  4.067   15 -0.018   29 -0.981

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
ROCKETS       41 26 7625 7354  0.018 32.546    9  0.268    8  0.266   11  0.160    9 0.5267   29  3.901   23 -0.217    5  0.538
SPURS         51 19 8326 7833  0.085 35.154    2  0.593    2  0.603    2  0.577    2 0.5592   12  3.989    1  0.647    6  0.506
PELICANS      23 46 7979 8260 -0.030 33.858   25 -0.415   25 -0.414   21 -0.177   24 0.4591    8  4.010   14  0.002   23 -0.357
MAVERICKS     23 46 7808 8157 -0.034 34.079   24 -0.412   23 -0.406   24 -0.390   25 0.4582   16  3.978   25 -0.380   24 -0.400
GRIZZLIES     23 44 7744 7948 -0.048 32.317   23 -0.408   24 -0.411   23 -0.293   23 0.4595    9  4.009   21 -0.122   25 -0.465

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       49 19 7984 7471  0.010 32.243    3  0.500    3  0.502    3  0.507    3 0.5506   22  3.949    6  0.370    3  0.643
CAVALIERS     42 27 8221 7926  0.030 33.786    7  0.272    7  0.267    7  0.326    8 0.5271    6  4.014    4  0.526   12  0.127
BUCKS         28 40 7565 7902 -0.031 33.683   22 -0.221   22 -0.210   25 -0.411   21 0.4777   23  3.947   27 -0.556   21 -0.266
BULLS         28 40 7887 8161 -0.018 33.703   21 -0.214   21 -0.205   22 -0.283   22 0.4775    4  4.026   17 -0.022   26 -0.544
PACERS        15 54 7672 8290 -0.048 34.438   30 -0.687   30 -0.698   27 -0.629   30 0.4309   14  3.986   28 -0.576   28 -0.682

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       35 34 7991 7744  0.001 33.260   18  0.012   18  0.008    6  0.367   18 0.5009   21  3.950   10  0.236    7  0.498
MAGIC         38 30 7855 7765  0.029 33.874   12  0.165   12  0.161   16  0.099   13 0.5151   19  3.961   13  0.023   11  0.174
HAWKS         37 31 8012 7926 -0.011 32.859   15  0.091   15  0.089   14  0.120   15 0.5093    7  4.014    8  0.318   17 -0.078
HEAT          38 31 8294 8065  0.021 33.838   14  0.131   14  0.123    9  0.198   14 0.5117    2  4.042    2  0.544   19 -0.148
WIZARDS       16 52 7668 8418 -0.063 33.779   29 -0.678   29 -0.680   30 -0.705   29 0.4342    3  4.032   26 -0.413   30 -0.997

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       45 23 7774 7281  0.007 32.162    4  0.365    4  0.359    5  0.473    4 0.5374   30  3.900   12  0.091    2  0.855
KNICKS        46 25 8323 7855  0.028 34.403    5  0.355    5  0.348    4  0.475    5 0.5362   20  3.954    7  0.364    4  0.585
RAPTORS       38 29 7613 7496  0.006 32.758   13  0.164   13  0.159   15  0.108   12 0.5157   25  3.934   20 -0.105   10  0.321
76ERS         37 32 7954 8012 -0.009 33.855   16  0.080   16  0.087   20 -0.132   16 0.5077   17  3.974   22 -0.140   18 -0.125
NETS          17 51 7247 7860 -0.007 34.786   28 -0.585   28 -0.585   29 -0.640   28 0.4421   28  3.902   30 -1.013   22 -0.267

DIVISION             W   L   PCT  RNK RATING
NORTHWEST DIVISION 191 153 0.555    1  0.142
ATLANTIC DIVISION  183 160 0.534    2  0.087
SOUTHEAST DIVISION 164 178 0.480    3 -0.013
SOUTHWEST DIVISION 161 181 0.471    4 -0.024
PACIFIC DIVISION   167 176 0.487    5 -0.069
CENTRAL DIVISION   162 180 0.474    6 -0.106

Home field advantage amounts to:
     0.131 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: Wed Mar 18 05:30:11 2026
games through: Tue Mar 17 2026

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