Let’s look at the top 5 teams with the hardest strength of schedule (SOS), according to Tankathon.
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After the conclusion of the 2025 All-Star Game, the NBA season heats up as the race for playoff spots intensifies in both conferences. Some teams have it harder than the others as they play some of the toughest opponents to closeout the season. Let’s look at the top-5 teams with the hardest strength of schedule (SOS), according to Tankathon.
The Los Angeles Clippers were the sixth-seed going into the All-Star break with a 31-23 record. The team had a strong finish before the All-Star weekend and won their last three matches.
The Clippers has the fifth hardest SOS to closeout the season. They will play nine out of their 28 matches against the top-five seeds from both the conferences.
The franchise received a major boost as Kawhi Leonard played 10 consecutive matches before going into the All-Star break. Some new additions in Ben Simmons and Drew Eubanks will provide bench strength to make the final push for the playoffs.
The Memphis Grizzlies were the second-seed going into All-Star break with a 36-18 record. The franchise has displayed a major turn around after an injury riddled 2023-24 season.
As they push to secure the second seed, the Grizzlies will face the number one seeds, in Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers twice at the later ends of the season. With Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets closing in, every match for the Grizzlies is a must win.
The Denver Nuggets were the third-seed going into the All-Star break with a 36-19 record. With only six losses in 2025, Nuggets went 8-2 in their last-10 games before the All-Star break.
In the battle of the number-two seed, the Nuggets will face the Houston Rockets twice and Memphis Grizzlies once in three crucial matches. However, their toughest competition will be two matches against the Oklahoma City Thunder and one against the Boston Celtics.
The Sacramento Kings were the ninth-seed going into the All-Star break with a 28-27 record. The Kings went 5-5 in their last-10 games before the All-Star break which includes loses against the New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers.
With the departure of De’Aaron Fox, the Kings will rely on the trio of Zach Lavine, Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan. They will play their eight games of the remaining 27 against the top-three seeds of both conferences. They sit 3.5 games behind the sixth-seed and would hope to gather a streak of wins to stay in the playoffs race.
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The Phoenix Suns were the 11th seed going into the All-Star break with a 26-28 record. After a strong start to the season, the Suns’ have struggled in the season and have a 11-11 record in 2025.
Consecutive losses against the Portland Trail Blazers and one loss to the Charlotte Hornets have struck a significant blow to their playoffs chances as they battle for the play-in spot.
The SOS also doesn’t help them as they rank number-one in the hardest schedule post All-Star break. They will play two matches each against the Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies while one each against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
