http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings
Hollinger's power rankings. Historically, these have been pretty solid as to how teams are playing going into the playoffs. Especially look at win margin and margin last 25% of the season.
Last 25% of the season margin leaders are:
1. Spurs 13.9
2. Warriors 10.6
3. Cavs 7.8
4. Clippers 7.4
5. Hawks 4.8
That's a huge drop off between 1 and 5. What it means is the Spurs and Warriors are playing far, far above everyone else right now.
The Rockets are just at +1.45 for 11th in the league. Memphis is just under that at 1.43.
You also want to look at margin over the course of the season. Unsurprisingly, the Warriors top the league at 10.21. The Clippers are next at 6.53 and the Spurs are third at 6.21. The Grizzlies and Rockets are both just a hair above 3.
So I want to avoid the Warriors and Clippers as long as possible and want to play the Mavs in rd 1 and (2.85 on the season, -4.20 margin in the last 25% of the season.)