LAS VEGAS -- The Golden State Warriors have completed the best regular season in NBA history with a record of 73-9. They're the No. 1 team by any measure, including in ESPN Chalk's NBA Vegas rankings, and the favorite to repeat as champions. We have the Warriors power rated as 2.5 points clear of the field, and see their main competition in defending their title coming from the West.
The NBA Vegas rankings are compiled from the power ratings of yours truly, Dave Tuley, and Erin Rynning with input from other handicappers. The rankings compare the relative strength of teams and can be used in relation to point spreads if the teams were to meet on a neutral court. They can also be used as a basis of your own power ratings if you think our consensus is too high or too low on certain teams. We invite readers to offer their differences of opinion in the comments section.
Here are the power ratings for the 16 playoff teams:
NBA Vegas rankings
1. Golden State Warriors (power rating: 32)
The Warriors were also good to bettors this season at 45-35-2 ATS (56.3 percent), which is more impressive when considering they were often laying double digits. They would have had an even higher power rating, except they were just 6-8 ATS down the stretch, including covering their last two games.