his goodbye Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls ended nearly a decade of dominance Eastern Conference According to west. The turn of the new century brought with it a change in the competitiveness, relevance and presence of ring contenders, with the vast majority of them being located on the other side of the country. A trend that in recent years seemed to start for many, which culminated in the current course 2022-2023.
A simple glance at the leaderboard will provide a simple but equally correct reading: the best teams are in the East.
If the 30 sets of the league were ranked by their winning percentage, only 5 from the West would directly enter the current Playoff zone and occupy another 3 of the 4 spots reserved for a hypothetical Play-In.
Things get complicated when you look at the top of the table. Only 2 teams appear among the top five (Nuggets and Grizzlies), but relatively far from the first two positions they occupy Bucks and Celtics. In fact, Denver would tie the 76ers, to whom they lost their only game so far. Except, Memphis would be 7 games behind the Milwaukee Bucks despite being the second The best in the West right now.
pick up a remodeling from conferencesas well as a Playoff format with the 16 top teams It’s something that’s been on the table for decades. Ironically, this was something that came from his mind Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks, who would be left out under this qualifying regime. Implementing a change of this magnitude would be extremely complex, especially logistically (travel, calendars, etc.).
The 2019-2020 season was the first since 1997 that a team from the West entered the playoffs with negative balance, something that was common in the East, and was repeated last season.
The change in trend is real and could be the juncture in this 2022-2023 presented by the East 8 teams with a winning percentage greater than 50%something that hasn’t happened since 2003.
The comparison up to the meetings held on March 24 is as follows:
| matches vs. another conference | victories | defeats | % win | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This | 420 | 221 | 199 | 52.6% |
| west | 420 | 199 | 221 | 47.3% |
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Eastern Conference franchises have won 52.6% of their face-offs against their opponents on the field. West’s performance in some cases has been extremely surprising, reflecting the moment of loss of relevance in this part of the NBA.
Golden State Warriors they’ve only managed to win 46.7% of their games despite being ranked 6th in the West. Similar case with Minnesota Timberwolves, at a very low 41.4%, Dallas Mavericks, with 37.5% or New Orleans Pelicans with 41.4%. And it is that there are only 6 teams with winning records against the other Conference.
Conversely, in the East the number increases to 8, with up to 11 franchises with 48% for the 7 in the West. Additionally, the Bucks, Celtics and 76ers have a 70% or better winning percentage against the other Conference. in the south; No one.
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What is the reason for this loss of relevance and hegemony of the West over the East?
One of the reasons has to do with player movement. The departures of Donovan Mitchell, Jrue Holiday, James Harden, DeMar DeRozan or even Jalen Brunson had a significant effect on the performance of their previous teams. To that list could be added Kevin Durant, who despite currently being with the Suns, has not played more than three games with them after spending the last 4 seasons with the Brooklyn Nets.
Another key should not be ignored, such as aging of some of the stars of the past decade. LeBron James has only played 47 games, Stephen Curry has missed 26 games, Chris Paul is still at a good level in May he will be 38 years old. Not to mention the KD case again. To which we must add youngsters or those who should be in their prime have been injured or have been in and out (Leonard, Booker, Towns, Davis, Jackson, Williamson, Doncic, etc.).
That the top three contenders for the ring are in the Eastern Conference should surprise no one. In between Bucks, Celtics and 76ers should emerge NBA champions taking as a reference what they have seen so far in the Regular Phase.
That’s not to say the Nuggets, Grizzlies, Clippers, Suns or Warriors don’t have a choice or are going to get trampled by their domestic rivals, but so far they haven’t shown they’re willing to do otherwise. Without further ado, the Denver’s 67.1% winning percentage would be the the lowest in the last 39 years of history, by the 1984 Lakers (65.9%), when there were just 12 teams in the West.
Something has changed in the NBA and the Eastern Conference is now the strongest in the league. At least as far as the Normal Phase is concerned.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
