Seeding games power ranking: OKC Thunder defense bolsters their position

AUGUST 09: Terrance Ferguson #23, Darius Bazley #7, Chris Paul #3, Devon Hall #14, and Luguentz Dort #5 of the OKC Thunder celebrate after defeating the Washington Wizards (Photo by Kim Klement - Pool/Getty Images)
AUGUST 09: Terrance Ferguson #23, Darius Bazley #7, Chris Paul #3, Devon Hall #14, and Luguentz Dort #5 of the OKC Thunder celebrate after defeating the Washington Wizards (Photo by Kim Klement - Pool/Getty Images)
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OKC Thunder
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics looks to shoot against the OKC Thunder. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

Boston Celtics:

Had the Celtics not had the 16th easiest strength of seeding games schedule facing a cumulative opponent win total of 285 they would rank higher.

In spite of that, the Bean Town crew delivered a strong showing in the bubble. Their wins against the Blazers, Nets, and Raptors specifically stood out.

The losses to the Bucks and Heat are slightly concerning as they’ll need to get past one of those clubs if they intend to reach the finals.

Boston could only play the teams on the schedule and unlike some of the other elite squads they rose to the challenge posting one of the best eight-game records and most notably performed well in each of the three key categories.

Seeding Game Results:

Bucks 119 – Celtics 112
Celtics 128 – Blazers 124
Heat 112 – Celtics 106
Celtics 149 – Nets 115
Celtics 122 – Raptors 100
Celtics  122 – Magic 119 in OT
Celtics 122 – Grizzlies 107
Wizards 96  – Celtics 90