The Wild Wild Western Conference
Yesterday by buddy po! and I had a small discussion about how tight the western conference competition is this year. Right now the New Orleans Hornets are on top at 37-15. Next in line are the Lakers at 37-17, and the Suns with the same record of 37-17. So we’re already at the 3rd seed and they’re only 1 game behind the 1st seed. From here we see the Spurs (1.5 games behind), the Jazz (3 games behind), the Mavericks (3 games behind), the Rockets (4 games behind), and finally the Nuggets (4.5 games behind).
Whew! That is tight by any standards. But if you need further proof, look at the eastern conference: Celtics lead the eastern conference at 41-11 followed by the Pistons who are 3 games behind. Already we’re seeing a bigger gap in the games-behind margin and we’ve just hit the 2nd seed. Next is the Orlando Magic sitting 9 games behind!
A quick look at the difference:
- Eastern Conference: The margin between the 1st seed and the 3rd seed = 9 games.
- Western Conference: The margin between 1st seed and 8th seed = 4.5 games.
Good news = If you’re a struggling team in the East then you still have a chance to make the playoffs.
Bad news = If you’re lucky enough to make it to the finals then you’re more than likely going to get blasted by whoever meets you there on the west end…
Unless you’re the Celtics or the Pistons. As much as it pains me to say it (sorry Cavs, I still love you) I really think you’re going to see one of these two teams in the finals this year. Based on their records and their stellar play, I’d say these are the two teams I feel confident in standing up to the western conference this year. We’ll just have to see what happens if the two meet in the playoffs.
Some quick facts:
- The Celtics are 3 games ahead of the Pistons right now.
- The Pistons are 1-1 against the Celtics so far this season.
- The Pistons averaged 39% from the field against the Celtics whereas the Celtics averaged 45%.
- The Celtics outscored the Pistons 88.5 to 86.0 on average during the season.
- The Pistons have far more experience as a team in and out of the playoffs.
The Celtics are just good right now, while the Pistons are a well-oiled machine (no pun intended). But if I had to choose a winner, at this point in time, I would pick the Celtics.
Could it be???
2008 NBA FINALS
Celtics vs. INSERT WESTERN CONFERENCE TEAM HERE
