Before the 2017-2018 NBA season began, many sports media sites gave their predictions for the record each team would finish with. We took predictions from ESPN, Bleacher Report, and CBS Sports to see how they did with their guesses. Bold text indicates the actual record of each team and green text shows the record projected by the sports media site that was closest.
ESPN and CBS Sports only gave win total estimates, which we rounded up to the nearest number and added a loss column to be more easily compared. In the event of a tie breaker we referred to the exact number offered by each site to determine who was actually closer.
(E.x., CBS Sports predicted 40.7 wins for the 76ers so they lose the tiebreaker)
In the case of two guesses being equal on either side of the actual win total, we chose who was closest without going over. (Price is Right style. Plus we like teams to exceed expectations.)
(E.x. ESPN wins the tiebreaker over Bleacher Report for it’s closer guess on Cleveland. They predicted 49.2 wins for the Cavs)
Eastern Conference
| Team | 2017-2018 Record | ESPN | Bleacher Report | CBS Sports |
| Toronto Raptors | 59-23 | 43-39 | 47-35 | 49-33 |
| Boston Celtics | 55-27 | 49-33 | 57-25 | 55-27 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 52-30 | 33-49 | 41-41 | 41-41 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 50-32 | 49-33 | 51-31 | 54-28 |
| Indiana Pacers | 48-34 | 32-50 | 30-52 | 31-51 |
| Miami Heat | 44-38 | 42-40 | 44-38 | 40-42 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 44-38 | 47-35 | 49-33 | 41-41 |
| Washington Wizards | 43-39 | 48-34 | 50-32 | 45-37 |
| Detroit Pistons | 39-43 | 35-47 | 37-45 | 43-39 |
| Charlotte Hornets | 36-46 | 44-38 | 43-39 | 42-40 |
| New York Knicks | 29-53 | 32-50 | 26-56 | 35-47 |
| Brooklyn Nets | 28-54 | 30-52 | 30-52 | 21-61 |
| Chicago Bulls | 27-55 | 29-53 | 20-62 | 29-53 |
| Orlando Magic | 25-57 | 32-50 | 34-48 | 26-56 |
| Atlanta Hawks | 24-58 | 27-55 | 24-58 | 32-50 |
Western Conference
| Team | 2017-2018 Record | ESPN | Bleacher Report | CBS Sports |
| Houston Rockets | 65-17 | 55-27 | 62-20 | 55-27 |
| Golden State Warriors | 58-24 | 62-20 | 69-13 | 66-16 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 49-33 | 43-39 | 37-45 | 39-43 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 48-34 | 50-32 | 51-31 | 48-34 |
| Utah Jazz | 48-34 | 45-37 | 45-37 | 36-46 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | 48-34 | 44-38 | 40-42 | 43-39 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 47-35 | 53-29 | 54-28 | 53-29 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 47-35 | 50-32 | 48-34 | 46-36 |
| Denver Nuggets | 46-36 | 47-35 | 44-38 | 41-41 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | 42-40 | 49-33 | 43-39 | 43-39 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 35-47 | 33-49 | 43-39 | 35-47 |
| Sacramento Kings | 27-55 | 27-55 | 31-51 | 35-47 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 24-58 | 35-47 | 32-50 | 38-44 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 22-60 | 35-47 | 41-41 | 39-43 |
| Phoenix Suns | 21-61 | 30-52 | 21-61 | 29-53 |
Closest prediction totals:
ESPN: 11
Bleacher Report: 10
CBS Sports: 9
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/photos/every-nba-teams-2017-18-projected-win-total-playoff-chances/
There are a couple things that we can draw from this graphic.
First: the Indian Pacers clearly exceeded any expectations set for them after the Paul George trade.
Second: Everyone thought that Golden State would be a 60 win team this year, but they were unable to achieve that.
And last of all: Predicting a team’s record before the season begins is almost as hard as filling out a perfect March Madness bracket, and almost as much fun.
Title Photo Source: SI.com
