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NBA Playoff Power Rankings 2021: Warriors rise with Lakers clash here

The NBA playoffs have arrived.

The Association's final week was filled with twists and turns as very little was decided until the last day. Now, the real season begins.

The defending champion Los Angeles Lakers played with their complete collection of talent over the weekend, got a good health report from LeBron James, and looked like the immovable object we expected them to be when the season began. Unfortunately, their bad run of health has landed them in the play-in tournament with a date against the NBA's one-man unstoppable force in Steph Curry and the Warriors. The winner will earn the No. 7 seed and face the No. 2-seed Phoenix Suns in Round 1.

Over in the Eastern Conference, the 76ers snapped up the top seed while the Brooklyn Super Friends made sure they were healthy as they mount their title run. Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving have only played eight games together, and only once since February. But will any of that matter?

With the regular season over, these NBA power rankings will have a different flavor. Only the 20 teams left standing will be ranked (you know the Rockets stink), and they'll be ordered based on their chances of winning a championship. Records, seeding and the like aren't a factor. All that matters is where they stand on the championship pecking order.

Here is the first edition of our NBA playoff power rankings, with a breakdown of each team's playoff X-factor.
BY  Josh Schrock  - 
NBC Sports Bay Area
The NBA playoffs have arrived.

The Association's final week was filled with twists and turns as very little was decided until the last day. Now, the real season begins.

The defending champion Los Angeles Lakers played with their complete collection of talent over the weekend, got a good health report from LeBron James, and looked like the immovable object we expected them to be when the season began. Unfortunately, their bad run of health has landed them in the play-in tournament with a date against the NBA's one-man unstoppable force in Steph Curry and the Warriors. The winner will earn the No. 7 seed and face the No. 2-seed Phoenix Suns in Round 1.

Over in the Eastern Conference, the 76ers snapped up the top seed while the Brooklyn Super Friends made sure they were healthy as they mount their title run. Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving have only played eight games together, and only once since February. But will any of that matter?

With the regular season over, these NBA power rankings will have a different flavor. Only the 20 teams left standing will be ranked (you know the Rockets stink), and they'll be ordered based on their chances of winning a championship. Records, seeding and the like aren't a factor. All that matters is where they stand on the championship pecking order.

Here is the first edition of our NBA playoff power rankings, with a breakdown of each team's playoff X-factor.