The Predictalator uses current rosters (assuming all players expected to play, such as Derrick Rose, Kobe Bryant and others are at full strength) and strength-of-schedule and pace-adjusted team and player stats, to play, one possession at a time, every game 50,000 times before it's actually played. For this analysis, we are tracking how likely a team is to make it to any level of the NBA Playoffs. Each playoff is played individually, with the team that wins the series in each unique instance advancing. The percentages in the table below represent the team's likelihood of advancing to that round.

In the most likely NBA Finals, the Chicago Bulls (a very impressive 28.6% favorite to win it all) win over the Oklahoma City Thunder (19.1%) in a matchup between the top seed in the East and the second seed in the West. The Miami Heat, the East's second seed and the second most likely overall team to win the title, have a 23.9% chance to win it all. And the San Antonio Spurs, the top seed in the West, round out the group of legitimate contenders with a 16.0% chance to win the championship. Collectively, the Bulls, Heat, Thunder and Spurs have an 87.6% chance to win it all (more than 50% of all championships are won by either the Bulls or Heat and 59.0% of all NBA Finals include two of these top four teams).

With the Orlando Magic missing Dwight Howard (among others) in the postseason, the Indiana Pacers (not one of the four most likely favorites) have the best chance - 87.3% - of any team to win in the first round. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics, the two five seeds, both win over the four seeds (Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks respectively) as the only teams projected to win (more often than not) a first round series in an upset (by seed at least). The Celtics vs. Hawks series, is the closest in the first round (Celtics win 51.7% of the time, likely taking Game 7 on the road in Atlanta). In total, the Eastern Conference has a 57.4% chance to win the title.