On one hand I think the we’ve overachieved considering the amount of injuries we’ve had

On the other hand, we haven’t looked great since Jokic came back. Maybe it’s just complacency but I’m not 100% convinced by this team at this moment

Both the Nuggets and Celtics will be edge cases to look out for

This is an interesting year. I’d buy Denver, Boston, Cleveland or even my Knicks catching a break somehow. Detroit feels like a regular season powerhouse in the east.

The Nuggets have only all been healthy for the first 10 games of the season. If they can all get healthy and stay healthy sure. But if AG comes back and then pulls his hamstring again….

Will they? They’re a pretty damn boring team this year.

I think this is true. Celtics of 2023 were on the warpath in the first half of the season and majorly cooled off in the last months and came into the playoffs not good.

2025 Celtics really never got into a great groove, lot of weird stretches. Didn’t feel like our year

He definitely valued that playoff rhythm, but man, those Lakers teams had the talent to flip the switch regardless. It’s a luxury not every contender has.

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I’m waiting for the teams that win 40 games before losing 20 in their last 60 games. I read somewhere that, historically, this is a more accurate way to distinguish the real contenders.

Last season, it was OKC, Cleveland, Boston, and Indiana. As you all know, Indiana and OKC met in the Finals.

https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/fourfactors?season=2024&seasontype=regseason&start=12/5/2024&end=10/15/2025

Also not a realistic rule…it has a positive correlation because all it means is “good teams usually win the title more” which yeah of course. 40 and 20 has little actual significance 

Tbf last year the Pacers almost had 20 losses before 20 wins, got saved by a win streak at 18 losses

I was gonna say even if the odds are incredibly slim I can see people coping years from now like the Celtics were only an outlier cause Tatum didn’t play and besides they were close anyways so it doesn’t actually discredit anything

We went belt to ass on both yall

So we only need a 19-6 and 18-5 finish to the season to get the Clippers vs Hornets final we all expected

Isn’t that exactly what this post is about?

Edit - oh LAST 60 games. Would make sense and be in line with going into playoffs hotter

OKC looked comfortably better than everyone last year and still could have easily lost to the pacers if haliburton didn’t get hurt

Idk, OKC looks pretty shaky right now. They continue to have a lot of injuries, and they’ve already gotten their back kicked in 4 times by the Spurs this season. I think it’ll all come down to matchup, but if the Spurs remain healthy and don’t shrink in the playoffs, I think they might have it

I think that there is a world where the team coming out of the west has had a much harder and much more strenuous time than whoever comes out of the east.

Okc hasn’t looked comfortably better than anyone. They’ve heavily benefited from a weak schedule. Haven’t been all that good since the 24-1 start.

We will never know what would have happened had Michael Jordan re-joined the 1994 Bulls late in the season. Pippen and Grant were really good that season and won 55 games. Adding Jordan on top of that, they could have been potentially gone deep. Without him, they lost in the 2nd round to the Knicks in the a 7 game series.

Instead, we got to see Jordan join the 1995 Bulls late in the season, but that Bulls team had lost Grant and were considerably worse. They were 34-31 when he came back. He went 13-4 with them over the remainder of the year. They fell to Orlando in the 2nd round.

All to say, if Tatum is 80% and joins this Celtic team (already on pace to win 55 similar to that 94 Pippen/Grant team), they should be very dangerous no matter what this 40-20 rule says.

Prepare to be shocked.

Would you though?

Barring injuries, the Spurs will be either first or second in the West. So they’re gonna play one of the play-in teams in the first round. I don’t think they’re scared of Warriors, Suns or Clippers (even if all these teams have more playoff experience and will surely steal some games.

Next, they would play one of Nuggets, Wolves, Lakers, Rockets. Hard to tell what the matchups would be, but at the very least you should assume the Spurs are favorite vs. the Lakers (no defense) and vs. the Rockets (no offense).

So would it be so surprising if the Spurs make the WCF?

Same for Detroit: they’re locked into #1 in the East, so likely they’ll play a play-in team. Now, some play-in teams can be dangerous, but they’re also massively inconsistent. Let’s say the Pistons win.

Next, they’ll play the winner of the ⁴⁄₅ match up. It seems plausible that that could be Knicks (why not? Both Celtics and Cavs have looked great as of late). And Detroit has been destroying the Knicks all year. Sure, regular season vs. playoffs, but would you really be shocked if Detroit wins (say, in 6 or 7) vs. the Knicks in the second round?

Out of interest, who do you have beating Detroit so ‘obviously’?

Pistons will lose in 6-7 in the second round imo

Spurs don’t need this, they receive zero slander. It yall and us that need it

What this means is that one of these teams will win thr championship.

Any of these 3 teams can get eliminated in the first round and the the rule would still hold true.

I get 2004 vibes from posts like this. East just showing up as fodder for the West. There’s a reason they play the games.

OKC only one that can win without injury shenanigans in each conference

It’s gonna be the dubs. They’ll defy all logic and be the first to break the contenders criteria

Steph’s knees will completely recover, KP will be cured of AIDS, Butlers knee will be restored to its original form and they’ll beat OKC in 7, and win against the Pistons in 5

RemindMe! 4 months

San Antonio. It’s their year.

RemindMe! 4 months