NBA: The east finally is competetive!

Published 01/05/2016, 12:14 PM EST

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Throughout the 21 Century, the Western Conference Teams have dominated the regular season and have proven to be a much tougher conference. Twice (2007-08 and 2009-10) all 8 teams of the West that made the play-offs finished with at least 50 regular season wins. The 8 seeded Western Team would have a regular season record close to the 6 seeded team in the East. The 9 and 10 placed teams in the West, may even have better record than the 8 team in the East.

The Western Conference is tough. But it seems the Eastern              Conference has finally caught up, with intense competitions for the play-off spots in the east. Some of the West’s teams that normally rack up a win count fairly easily are struggling this year.

In the West, the Warriors, Spurs and Thunder comfortably lead the pack. While the spacing between teams is some what similar, including those 3, only six teams in the West have a winning record so far. In the East, with Cleveland having a 3 game cushion at the top, there are 10 teams with a winning record.

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via Imago

While the West is still a competitive conference, the competition for the playoff spots will go down to the wire in the East. 2 placed Bulls and 11 place Washington are separated by just 5 games. The teams are running up and down the standings based on the day’s plays making the east enjoyable once again. So far, the Inter conferences game (each team plays 2 games against each team in the opposing conference) the East has a slim lead of 90-87.

What’s changed for the East?

Firstly, the competition form the west has fallen. Rockets, Memphis, Pelicans, TrailBlazers, Suns and the Lakers have generally struggled this season. The former 4 especially, as they were all playoff contenders with all winning 50+ games except the Pelicans. And surprisingly, 8 of the Thunder’s 10 defeats have been at the hand of the East. Dallas have also suffered 7 defeats against them.

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Also, stars of the teams are either dealing with injuries or other issues. Howard and Harden have not been at their best for the Rockets while Ty Lawson, who was acquired at a rather hefty price has not really clicked. Pelican’s have been shorthanded this season. The Lakers despite their rebuilding were amongst the worst teams in the NBA this season (this may have changed given they seem to be on a good run, winning 3 in a row). Memphis, a team known for its grinding defence has not been able to get their act together. The Thunder who have been defeated 8 times by the East, have not been able to finish in the dying moments of the match, with 4 of their defeats coming with just a few points differential.

On the side of the East, except for the young 76ers, most teams have just been at their best. For the Pacers, they once again have a healthy Paul George and motivated Monta Ellis. George, has been phenomenal (even though he’s in a rough patch). The Heat once again have a healthy Bosh and Wade who are leading them. Carmelo Anthony is once again healthy and leading the Knicks along with their dynamic rookie, Porzingis. The Cavaliers are healthy with Love and LeBron clicking together, Dellvedova had picked up the slack for the gradually recovering Irving. Boston and Orlando have also seen their squads imrpove their play, with both teams now having a bench leader in the form of David Lee for Boston and Victor Oladipio for Orlando. Jimmy Butler, who was the most improved player last season has elevated the game and Pau Gasol is ever reliable.

The only team that seems to have lost is the Atlanta Hawks. Currently they are 5 in the east with a 21-14 record (considering they lost only 22 last season). They have not been able to find the same rhythm despite strong individual performances. With just 8 defeats short of matching their tally last year, the Hawks are not going to finish anywhere close to 60-22, which can free up quite a few wins to be snapped by other teams. Philadelphia, is just a young team developing (mind you that overall, the 76ers have a winning record), and are just at the mercy of teams with experienced players. If there is any positive, they are able to close the games a bit better, and have 2 wins in the last 10 games, compared to winning once in the first 20.

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Another factor that might be responsible for the East’s dominance in the Inter-conference games, their ability to finish the games better in the dying moments.

It’s finally good to see a tightly packed and more competitive Eastern conference, to break the stronghold of the Western teams over the course of the regular season.

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Gaurav

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