Ranking the remaining NBA playoff teams heading into the conference finals

With one more series in each conference until the NBA Finals, the four remaining teams have a clear path to a title. 

But even though each only needs to win one more series to reach the finals and two more to be crowned champions, their chances at accomplishing the sport's ultimate goal are far from equal.  

Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs will try to dethrone back-to-back league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder for the right to represent the Western Conference, while Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers stand in the way of Jalen Brunson's attempt to get the New York Knicks to the championship round for the first time this century. 

Since each of the last four teams standing endured a different road to get to this point, here is how they rank heading into the conference finals matchups. 

1. Oklahoma City Thunder 

As the only undefeated team through two rounds and the reigning champions, the Thunder are still deserving of top billing as the NBA's best team. Oklahoma City's depth even allowed the Thunder to win in blowout fashion despite Gilgeous-Alexander scoring fewer than 24 points in three of the four games against the Los Angeles Lakers. 

With the ability to score in bunches, dominate the glass and defend, the Thunder appear poised to become the first franchise to capture consecutive titles since 2018. But in order to make that happen, the Thunder will need to take down a Spurs team that makes a case as a rival due to going 4-1 against Oklahoma City in the regular season. 

2. New York Knicks 

Even including the Thunder, there's been no team as dominant recently. Led by Brunson and a new offensive strategy that goes through Karl-Anthony Towns, the Knicks are riding a seven-game win streak, with two wins by at least 30 points, four of those wins by 20 or more and all but one by double digits. 

While the Knicks are facing the most pressure and the longest title drought, they're playing at such a high level that they've achieved a historic playoff margin of victory. 

3. San Antonio Spurs 

Getting over the hiccup of Wembanyama's ejection in Game 4 of their series with the Timberwolves, the Spurs flipped a switch to obliterate Minnesota two games in a row and return to a place their fans once grew accustomed to being in the Western Conference Finals. 

And the brightest sign for the Spurs stems from Stephon Castle, as he scored 32 on Friday. De'Aaron Fox had 21, and others stepped up and carried the scoring load at times. With Wembanyama able to mostly concentrate on rebounding and defense, San Antonio has found a rhythm that makes it a brutal matchup for the Thunder and whoever it would face in the finals. 

4. Cleveland Cavaliers 

Showing a mental strength missing from Cavaliers teams of recent postseasons, this iteration of the Cavaliers had to shake off a 21-point loss in Game 6 to eventually destroy the Pistons in Detroit in a decisive Game 7 on Sunday. 

If Cleveland can experience an NBA Finals without LeBron James will come down to Donovan Mitchell duplicating his success from the second round and James Harden showing up when the lights are the brightest, something he's often failed to do in his career so far. 

It's worth noting these rankings don't actually matter, and no result of what's left from the playoffs will be too surprising.