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       51 15 7840 7119  0.046 31.822    1  0.673    1  0.674    1  0.658    1 0.5661   26  3.929    5  0.418    1  0.899
SPURS         48 18 7829 7376  0.087 33.185    2  0.584    2  0.595    2  0.562    2 0.5590   13  3.985    2  0.610    6  0.514
PISTONS       46 18 7489 7016  0.024 30.693    3  0.497    3  0.503    3  0.512    3 0.5515   23  3.944    7  0.348    3  0.676
CELTICS       43 22 7441 6965  0.004 30.747    4  0.355    4  0.353    4  0.479    4 0.5374   30  3.902   12  0.104    2  0.855
KNICKS        43 25 7976 7546  0.046 33.461    5  0.326    5  0.323    5  0.474    5 0.5346   20  3.958    6  0.382    4  0.565
CAVALIERS     40 26 7840 7575  0.043 32.718    7  0.274    7  0.274    7  0.323    6 0.5279    8  4.010    3  0.500   12  0.146
ROCKETS       40 25 7426 7149  0.027 31.710    6  0.279    6  0.277   10  0.191    7 0.5279   29  3.907   22 -0.156    5  0.537
LAKERS        40 25 7536 7468 -0.009 31.544    8  0.259    8  0.261   14  0.083    8 0.5266   12  3.989   11  0.151   15  0.016
NUGGETS       40 26 7946 7675  0.018 32.138    9  0.251    9  0.246    9  0.242    9 0.5248    5  4.020    4  0.471   16  0.013
TIMBERWOLVES  40 26 7825 7598 -0.025 31.211   10  0.215   10  0.211   12  0.135   10 0.5217   11  3.998    9  0.249   14  0.020
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
SUNS          38 27 7302 7218  0.013 32.009   11  0.210   11  0.209   17  0.053   11 0.5210   27  3.914   24 -0.260    9  0.367
MAGIC         36 28 7378 7280  0.027 31.793   12  0.166   12  0.164   13  0.118   12 0.5160   19  3.959   13  0.032   11  0.204
HEAT          37 29 7959 7703  0.025 32.371   13  0.155   13  0.146    8  0.265   13 0.5144    2  4.042    1  0.616   17 -0.085
RAPTORS       36 29 7372 7273 -0.002 31.629   14  0.127   14  0.122   16  0.069   14 0.5118   25  3.930   23 -0.162   10  0.301
76ERS         35 30 7536 7557 -0.008 31.804   15  0.089   15  0.089   19 -0.081   15 0.5080   16  3.980   20 -0.060   18 -0.103
HAWKS         34 31 7658 7618  0.002 31.862   17  0.055   16  0.053   15  0.072   16 0.5058    6  4.017    8  0.289   19 -0.145
CLIPPERS      33 32 7372 7317  0.042 32.762   16  0.056   17  0.053   11  0.186   17 0.5047   24  3.937   15 -0.011    8  0.382
WARRIORS      32 33 7488 7425  0.024 32.326   18  0.006   18  0.002   18  0.039   18 0.5002   18  3.962   18 -0.030   13  0.108
HORNETS       34 33 7753 7523 -0.015 31.930   19  0.004   19 -0.004    6  0.335   19 0.4999   21  3.951   10  0.208    7  0.463
TRAIL BLAZERS 31 35 7598 7772  0.048 33.988   20 -0.021   20 -0.019   20 -0.145   20 0.4968   10  4.000   16 -0.017   21 -0.272
TEAM           W  L   PF   PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
BUCKS         27 37 7111 7422 -0.034 31.617   21 -0.193   21 -0.188   25 -0.405   21 0.4802   22  3.946   27 -0.557   20 -0.253
BULLS         27 38 7517 7793 -0.022 32.205   22 -0.200   22 -0.197   23 -0.312   22 0.4784    4  4.021   21 -0.074   26 -0.550
GRIZZLIES     23 41 7415 7570 -0.046 30.818   23 -0.365   23 -0.369   22 -0.225   23 0.4632    9  4.008   19 -0.058   24 -0.393
PELICANS      22 45 7745 8042 -0.031 32.911   24 -0.424   24 -0.423   21 -0.213   24 0.4581    7  4.011   17 -0.029   25 -0.398
MAVERICKS     21 44 7342 7658 -0.039 31.989   25 -0.437   25 -0.434   24 -0.379   25 0.4556   17  3.973   25 -0.393   23 -0.365
JAZZ          20 46 7749 8253 -0.021 33.210   26 -0.464   26 -0.454   26 -0.484   26 0.4525    1  4.069   14  0.010   29 -0.979
NETS          17 48 6958 7534 -0.005 33.334   27 -0.553   27 -0.549   28 -0.616   27 0.4449   28  3.910   30 -0.948   22 -0.285
KINGS         16 51 7413 8099 -0.018 34.177   28 -0.620   28 -0.620   29 -0.654   28 0.4394   15  3.982   29 -0.623   28 -0.685
WIZARDS       16 48 7203 7916 -0.082 31.341   29 -0.649   29 -0.648   30 -0.740   29 0.4363    3  4.030   26 -0.457   30 -1.024
PACERS        15 50 7239 7796 -0.058 32.174   30 -0.654   30 -0.664   27 -0.599   30 0.4333   14  3.984   28 -0.557   27 -0.640

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        40 25 7536 7468 -0.009 31.544    8  0.259    8  0.261   14  0.083    8 0.5266   12  3.989   11  0.151   15  0.016
SUNS          38 27 7302 7218  0.013 32.009   11  0.210   11  0.209   17  0.053   11 0.5210   27  3.914   24 -0.260    9  0.367
CLIPPERS      33 32 7372 7317  0.042 32.762   16  0.056   17  0.053   11  0.186   17 0.5047   24  3.937   15 -0.011    8  0.382
WARRIORS      32 33 7488 7425  0.024 32.326   18  0.006   18  0.002   18  0.039   18 0.5002   18  3.962   18 -0.030   13  0.108
KINGS         16 51 7413 8099 -0.018 34.177   28 -0.620   28 -0.620   29 -0.654   28 0.4394   15  3.982   29 -0.623   28 -0.685

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       51 15 7840 7119  0.046 31.822    1  0.673    1  0.674    1  0.658    1 0.5661   26  3.929    5  0.418    1  0.899
NUGGETS       40 26 7946 7675  0.018 32.138    9  0.251    9  0.246    9  0.242    9 0.5248    5  4.020    4  0.471   16  0.013
TIMBERWOLVES  40 26 7825 7598 -0.025 31.211   10  0.215   10  0.211   12  0.135   10 0.5217   11  3.998    9  0.249   14  0.020
TRAIL BLAZERS 31 35 7598 7772  0.048 33.988   20 -0.021   20 -0.019   20 -0.145   20 0.4968   10  4.000   16 -0.017   21 -0.272
JAZZ          20 46 7749 8253 -0.021 33.210   26 -0.464   26 -0.454   26 -0.484   26 0.4525    1  4.069   14  0.010   29 -0.979

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         48 18 7829 7376  0.087 33.185    2  0.584    2  0.595    2  0.562    2 0.5590   13  3.985    2  0.610    6  0.514
ROCKETS       40 25 7426 7149  0.027 31.710    6  0.279    6  0.277   10  0.191    7 0.5279   29  3.907   22 -0.156    5  0.537
GRIZZLIES     23 41 7415 7570 -0.046 30.818   23 -0.365   23 -0.369   22 -0.225   23 0.4632    9  4.008   19 -0.058   24 -0.393
PELICANS      22 45 7745 8042 -0.031 32.911   24 -0.424   24 -0.423   21 -0.213   24 0.4581    7  4.011   17 -0.029   25 -0.398
MAVERICKS     21 44 7342 7658 -0.039 31.989   25 -0.437   25 -0.434   24 -0.379   25 0.4556   17  3.973   25 -0.393   23 -0.365

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       46 18 7489 7016  0.024 30.693    3  0.497    3  0.503    3  0.512    3 0.5515   23  3.944    7  0.348    3  0.676
CAVALIERS     40 26 7840 7575  0.043 32.718    7  0.274    7  0.274    7  0.323    6 0.5279    8  4.010    3  0.500   12  0.146
BUCKS         27 37 7111 7422 -0.034 31.617   21 -0.193   21 -0.188   25 -0.405   21 0.4802   22  3.946   27 -0.557   20 -0.253
BULLS         27 38 7517 7793 -0.022 32.205   22 -0.200   22 -0.197   23 -0.312   22 0.4784    4  4.021   21 -0.074   26 -0.550
PACERS        15 50 7239 7796 -0.058 32.174   30 -0.654   30 -0.664   27 -0.599   30 0.4333   14  3.984   28 -0.557   27 -0.640

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
MAGIC         36 28 7378 7280  0.027 31.793   12  0.166   12  0.164   13  0.118   12 0.5160   19  3.959   13  0.032   11  0.204
HEAT          37 29 7959 7703  0.025 32.371   13  0.155   13  0.146    8  0.265   13 0.5144    2  4.042    1  0.616   17 -0.085
HAWKS         34 31 7658 7618  0.002 31.862   17  0.055   16  0.053   15  0.072   16 0.5058    6  4.017    8  0.289   19 -0.145
HORNETS       34 33 7753 7523 -0.015 31.930   19  0.004   19 -0.004    6  0.335   19 0.4999   21  3.951   10  0.208    7  0.463
WIZARDS       16 48 7203 7916 -0.082 31.341   29 -0.649   29 -0.648   30 -0.740   29 0.4363    3  4.030   26 -0.457   30 -1.024

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       43 22 7441 6965  0.004 30.747    4  0.355    4  0.353    4  0.479    4 0.5374   30  3.902   12  0.104    2  0.855
KNICKS        43 25 7976 7546  0.046 33.461    5  0.326    5  0.323    5  0.474    5 0.5346   20  3.958    6  0.382    4  0.565
RAPTORS       36 29 7372 7273 -0.002 31.629   14  0.127   14  0.122   16  0.069   14 0.5118   25  3.930   23 -0.162   10  0.301
76ERS         35 30 7536 7557 -0.008 31.804   15  0.089   15  0.089   19 -0.081   15 0.5080   16  3.980   20 -0.060   18 -0.103
NETS          17 48 6958 7534 -0.005 33.334   27 -0.553   27 -0.549   28 -0.616   27 0.4449   28  3.910   30 -0.948   22 -0.285

DIVISION             W   L   PCT  RNK RATING
NORTHWEST DIVISION 182 148 0.552    1  0.130
ATLANTIC DIVISION  174 154 0.530    2  0.093
SOUTHWEST DIVISION 154 173 0.471    3 -0.016
SOUTHEAST DIVISION 157 169 0.482    4 -0.018
PACIFIC DIVISION   159 168 0.486    5 -0.070
CENTRAL DIVISION   155 169 0.478    6 -0.106

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

Predict score:








Team Strength vs. Time Plot:






posted: Thu Mar 12 05:30:10 2026
games through: Wed Mar 11 2026

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