2024 NBA playoffs One strength and one potentially fatal flaw for each remaining team

Brief Stokes vs Lyon bout follows formula

And we're on to the conference semifinals! The dust has settled on a wild first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs, and eight teams remain in the hunt for the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Can the Celtics withstand a series without Kristaps Porzingis? Will the Knicks' relentless work on the glass drive them toward their first title since 1973? How will the Wolves overcome clunky late-game offense? So many questions.

To answer them, we've identified each team's biggest strength -- something that could put them into the conference finals -- and a potentially fatal flaw that could derail their season.

MORE: Everything to know about the playoffs |   Offseason guides for every team

Boston Celtics

Strength: Depth beyond their star duo (specifically, Derrick White)

Guard Derrick White, long viewed as one of the league's best role players, has reached another level this season. He's a heady ball handler and a terrific defender. But during his team's first-round victory over the Miami Heat, White proved he was more than that, notching a career-high 38 points in Game 4 then a game-high 25 in Wednesday's close-out win. His 13 3-pointers in those two contests were the most in Celtics playoff history over a two-game span.

White's ability to step up as a third scorer -- with a much higher percentage of his 2s and 3s coming on his own, without being assisted -- could turn out to be a massive development for the team's postseason offense, especially with Kristaps Porzingis missing time due to injury. The Celtics have won eight of their nine games this season, including the playoffs, when White scores 25 or more.

Weakness: Rim protection without Porzingis

Although Boston has still been great in games without Porzingis this season -- 21-4 to be exact -- his absence will mostly be felt on defense. The 7-foot-3 center held opposing shooters to a ridiculous 13.8 percentage points beneath their season averages within six feet, tied with Defensive Player of the Year favorite Rudy Gobert for the NBA's best mark among players who challenged at least 350 attempts near the basket.

Only Minnesota was better than Boston at holding teams beneath their averages around the basket, so a Porzingis-less interior could be a factor against an explosive Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers' two-big lineups.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Strength: Isolation defense

Evan Mobley, a 2023 finalist for Defensive Player of the Year, is a game-breaking player on that end of the floor. This was something we saw toward the end of the first round against Orlando when he pinned Franz Wagner's potential game-tying layup in the closing seconds of Game 5. Mobley ranked 11th in the league as an isolation defender (among players with at least 50 one-on-one possessions defended) during the regular season, surrendering just 75 points per 100 possessions. That was tied with fellow Cleveland starter Max Strus. The Cavaliers' Caris LeVert wasn't far behind, allowing just 79 points per 100 possessions.

As a team, the Cavs were tied for ninth in defensive iso efficiency, limiting their need to double-team, which could be potentially crucial against Jayson Tatum and the Celtics. Among remaining playoff teams in the Eastern Conference, only the Knicks have been stingier.

Weakness: Playing on the road

Through two series and five games, this iteration of the Cavaliers -- with Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen -- has yet to win a road playoff game.

And getting one against top-seeded Boston -- which is 39-5 at home between the regular season and playoffs -- will be an enormous challenge, especially since Cleveland failed to take any of its three games in Orlando against a club that was completely inexperienced in the postseason.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Strength: Elite balance

OKC ranks among the league's top five on offense and defense -- something only 64-win Boston also can claim. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is far from the only scoring threat in this club's five-out offense. Jalen Williams, statistically the league's best shooter in the clutch, is developing into one of the NBA's best iso players. And big man Chet Holmgren presents a catch-22 for defenders with his ability to pressure the rim and fire away from 3.

On the flip side, the Thunder are pesky defenders, ranking second in the NBA in deflections and first in loose balls recovered on defense and in turnovers forced. So even if they have an off shooting night, they should be able to generate scoring through their defense.

Weakness: Rebounding

Their formula bets on their offense being consistent enough to overcome the issue, but that doesn't change the fact that the Thunder's biggest weakness, beyond lack of experience, is rebounding. OKC was tied for third worst in the league in rebounding rate (48.4%) and finished fourth worst in defensive rebounding rate (69.8%). This would present a serious challenge in a potential conference finals matchup with the defending champion Nuggets, who were sixth in the NBA in offensive rebounding percentage. (Other opponents would likely pose less of a threat: The Timberwolves ranked 21st and the Mavericks ranked 25th.)

The Thunder were 26-3 in games during which they nabbed more than 45 rebounds; they were just 5-6 in games when they got fewer than 35.

Dallas Mavericks

Strength: Isolation offense

The Clippers were the only team that went one-on-one more than the Mavericks during the regular season. And now that Dallas has eliminated Los Angeles, the Mavs stand alone -- not only in terms of how frequently they go to it but also how efficient they are. Their 105 points per 100 possessions and a 51.4% effective field goal rate in the regular season were tops in the NBA. MVP contender Luka Doncic and star guard Kyrie Irving each ranked in the league's 82nd percentile in one-on-one play, generating scores in 47.9% and 49.6% of the tries, respectively.

It should make for a fascinating second-round matchup with the Thunder, who had the league's most efficient defense -- giving up just 84 points per 100 possessions -- when it came to shutting down isolation plays.

Weakness: Free throw shooting outside of Luka and Kyrie

Doncic and Irving average a little more than 10 points per game combined from the line. And they convert once they get there. But a number of the other key rotation players -- including P.J. Washington, Derrick Jones Jr., Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford -- are all well below the league average of 78.4%. As a whole, the team ranks 27th in the NBA in free throw percentage. If the Mavs are to stand a chance against the Thunder, they'll need their role players to increase that efficiency. And they'll have every opportunity to do so. OKC, on a per-field-goal-attempt scale, sends opponents to the charity stripe at the eighth-highest rate in the NBA.

New York Knicks

Strength: Offensive rebounding

Perhaps no team in the NBA is tougher or more all-encompassing than the Knicks -- something that is illustrated whenever they outmuscle an opponent for an offensive rebound. Put another way: It is seemingly demonstrated all the time, because New York dominates the offensive glass. The club grabbed a whopping 37% of its misses in the first round against Joel Embiid and the Sixers (and nearly 41% of its misses in the clinching Game 6). That came after the Knicks logged a league-high 33.3% offensive rebound rate in the regular season.

It's hard enough to stop Jalen Brunson, given that he has had 39 or more points in each of his past four games. So, just imagine defending him well enough to force him into a miss, only to then see Josh Hart or OG Anunoby fly in out of nowhere to grab a board and extend New York's possession. It gradually eats away at an opposing team's will.

Weakness: Short rotation

It is well chronicled at this point that Tom Thibodeau doesn't mind pushing his top players' minute totals. Brunson, Hart and Anunoby each logged a 50-minute showing during the first-round series with Philadelphia, while guards Donte DiVincenzo and Miles McBride each had an outing of 48 minutes or more during the regular season. Even if the Knicks' players have a willingness to play for that long, it is taxing -- and perhaps even unsustainable -- to do so repeatedly, particularly when the team finds itself so short-handed. (Last week's left foot injury and season-ending surgery for Bojan Bogdanovic made the rotation even thinner, with the Knicks closing their series against the Sixers with just seven players checking into the game.)

With all this in mind, pay close attention to the tempo in the Knicks' second-round series. Indiana likes to run in transition, and it played at the NBA's second-fastest pace, something that could exhaust New York's small rotation.

Indiana Pacers

Strength: Great offense from the toughest areas

No team was better from midrange during the season than the Pacers, who hit an NBA-best 50.5% from there. So, they should feel just fine if and when Myles Turner or a teammate is forced to take a dribble or two further inside the perimeter to launch. Open looks from midrange, on good efficiency, could be important in a playoff series, especially when opponents seek to eliminate the higher-value sweet spots around the rim and from beyond the arc.

Weakness: Poor defense from the most dangerous areas

In the regular season, the Pacers surrendered more 3-point attempts, more 3-point makes and more trips to the free throw line than any other NBA club. How they adjust their defense, ranked just 24th out of 30 clubs in the regular season, will define the length of their playoff run. And the Knicks ranked 10th in 3-point makes, 11th in 3-point attempt rate and 15th -- or right at league average -- in free throw attempt rate.

Denver Nuggets

Strength: The Nikola Jokic-Jamal Murray two-man dance

There might not be a more lethal and unstoppable action in the league than Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic's two-man game -- something the Los Angeles Lakers undoubtedly grew tired of seeing during the first-round gentleman's sweep by Denver. In that series, the Nuggets scored a whopping 125 points per 100 possessions in fourth quarters with Jokic screening for Murray, according to Second Spectrum. The chemistry between those two helped Denver outscore opponents by a league-best 24.5 points per 100 possessions during the regular season in clutch scenarios.

Weakness: Playing with their food

The Nuggets are so good and confident in their ability to stage comebacks that they appear to be on autopilot at times. They knocked out the Lakers in five games despite trailing at halftime in all five of those contests. It wasn't necessarily an isolated case: During the regular season, Denver also came back from 22 down to beat the Raptors, from 20 down to beat the Pelicans and from 18 down to beat the Warriors. The Nuggets' Game 1 loss at home to Minnesota was an example of when a slow start comes back to bite them: They fell behind by 14 points in the first seven minutes of the game then, after catching back up, had nothing left when the Wolves pulled away in the fourth.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Strength: The NBA's stingiest defense

No team defended better this season, statistically or with the eye test, than Minnesota. With the efforts of Defensive Player of the Year front-runner Rudy Gobert, the Wolves were the league's stingiest club at the rim (in terms of opponent's expected field goal percentage) while also surrendering the third-fewest 3-pointers.

The group, which also features Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and a more consistently engaged Anthony Edwards, regularly makes multiple efforts and rotations to force extra passes, creating more opportunities for opponents to make a mistake. Minnesota ranked fifth in turnover percentage throughout the regular season.

Weakness: Sluggish late-game offense

Even with Edwards' supernova performance in the first round, know that Minnesota's offense was around league average during the regular season and was statistically the weakest relative to the other remaining playoff clubs. In particular, the Wolves' clutch time metrics on offense were awful throughout the campaign -- ranking 22nd in the clutch at just 104.1 points per 100 possessions. It's something to watch, given that they had just three minutes of clutch time during the first-round series sweep of Phoenix.