NBA East: The Picture of Mediocrity
A check of the NBA standings reveals just how bed the Eastern Conference is compared to the Western Conference. In the East we have the Boston Celtics at 10-14. They are leading the Atlantic Division. Let me repeat that, they are LEADING the Atlantic Division. The Philadelphia 76ers are 7-16 and the New York Knicks are 6-15 in last place, only 2.5 games out. In fact, the Indiana Pacers at 19-3 and the Miami Heat at 16-6 are the only teams in the entire conference to be above .500.
The Atlanta Hawks would be the third seed in the playoffs if they started today at .500 ball. They are 11-11 and are one game ahead of the Charlotte Bobcats at 10-12. Yes, Charlotte would host a playoff series if they began today. The same Charlotte team that just lost last night to the 7-15 Orlando Magic at home to end a six game losing streak, would host a playoff series. Speaking of the Magic, they are a whopping two games out of the eighth spot right now. The Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards, both below .500 would be in the playoffs as would the Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls.
In the West, the eighth seed is the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks tied at 13-10. One of these would be out of the playoffs if they started today and if they were in the East, they would be a three seed. Do we need to re-seed? Perhaps we should put more West teams in the playoffs than East teams? No.
Sometimes these lopsided conditions happen. But to try to fix it will likely result in an unintended backlash. Remember when the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC West with a 7-9 record? That was not very long ago. Now the NFC West is one of the NFL’s toughest divisions. See, no fix needed. However, while you are going through it, like Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks, it can be frustrating. Right now, Dirk is looking at the standings just like we are and wondering what if his team was in the Atlantic Division. After last night’s loss to the Warriors, he sounded frustrated when he took a jab at the disparity saying teams in the East have a cakewalk while in the West it is tough sledding every night.
Let’s not forget though that there was a day when this was the other way around. Remember when Micheal Jordan’s Bulls won six NBA Championships having to battle through Patrick Ewing and the Knicks, Reggie Miller and the Pacers, and later Shaquille O’Neal and the Magic? There were some good teams in the West, but the East was definitely tougher then. In the 1980s, the Magic Johnson led Los Angeles Lakers had a pretty clear path to the NBA Finals most times while the Larry Bird led Celtics had to battle through Dr. J and the Sixers or Isiah Thomas and the Pistons.
By the time the season is over and the champion is crowned, the best team wins the title regardless of what division they played in. If the Heat wins for the third year in a row, it won’t be because the Warriors or Mavericks missed the playoffs. But the opening round match-ups in the East are going to be over quickly. Indiana beating up on the eighth seed should take four games. So will the Heat over number seven.
