Particular-Count3422

167 | 5 hours ago

Even funnier: Atlanta has a 7–2 record in their conference, and Mavericks are 3–5. Life is rough in the Western Conference, nothing new there.

nuuskatonttu [OP] | Finland

81 | 5 hours ago

Damn so Atlanta is 0-4 against the west and Mavericks are 4-0 against the East

Particular-Count3422

14 | 5 hours ago

Apparently.

Far-Veterinarian104 | HOU

19 | 5 hours ago

To be fair to Atlanta, they played us twice, the Lakers and a Pelicans team where Saadiq Bey couldn’t miss and the Hawks best players were missing wide open 3s. Outside of the Pelicans, Atlanta has just played some of the best teams in the West. Mavs have played the Heat when they were generationally ass, the Nets and the Pacers, once without Tyrese. It’s not the same.

Particular-Count3422

2 | 5 hours ago

To be fair, there is some truth to that, but don’t tell me that Atlanta is much better than the Phoenix Suns. If they played each other today, I wouldn’t be able to pick a winner. On the other hand, if the Wolves played against the Wizards, we all know who would probably win. If Cooper Flagg and the Mavs were in the East, they would get much more media coverage. Coop would be treated as an even bigger miracle than he is right now, because they’d probably be the 3rd seed or something.

nuuskatonttu [OP] | Finland

3 | 5 hours ago

East has zero teams with winning records against West. Also otherwise It’s a fair point to bring up the games Hawks and Mavericks have played but you can’t say ”ohh the pelicans one does not count because they missed shots” That’s how you win and lose basketball games.

El-Dixon | DAL

20 | 5 hours ago

I don’t know how I allowed myself to be convinced that the east was gonna be better than the west this year…

Far-Veterinarian104 | HOU

7 | 3 hours ago

The Celtics have only played the Rockets, the Pistons have only played the Lakers, 76ers have yet to play the West and the Cavs played the Thunder twice when they were fully healthy. It’s way too early to decide which conference is better.

nuuskatonttu [OP] | Finland

1 | 3 hours ago

Cavs played the injured thunder twice. First game even Caruso was missing who is back now.

Far-Veterinarian104 | HOU

2 | 3 hours ago

Fair, what about the other teams? What about the Knicks who have yet to play a western team? It’s just too early. The West is probably better but judging before some of the top teams even play the West is just not fair

beatrailblazer | POR

1 | 3 hours ago

I never bought into that because I dont trust Miami or Orlando or even Atlanta. but the West has still been better than I expected because i thought Mavs and Grizz would be lottery and Lakers are way better than I expected

TomatoSecure192 | CHI

10 | 5 hours ago

Are injuries effecting the east or west more rn? I haven’t really kept track but Kawhi at least missing for the raptors is a big one

Edit: also Hali for the pacers and Duren for the pistons

nuuskatonttu [OP] | Finland

17 | 5 hours ago

West has OKC (Almost the whole team), Ant, Ja/Sharpe, JJJ/Lauri/Nurkic, Butler/Porzingis/Curry (recent) on top of my head. East has Hali, Kawhi and many guys from Magic at least. Edit: I forgot Duren but Pistons are 8-3 anyways.

No-Leadership4372

-8 | 5 hours ago

Using Ja and Sharp to show how good Portland is definitely is a pick lol, I’d say Deni/Dame/Ja.

nuuskatonttu [OP] | Finland

17 | 5 hours ago

I was listing injured people mate

No-Leadership4372

5 | 5 hours ago

Oh mb

BananaRepublic_BR | SAS

9 | 5 hours ago

I bet the JJJ injury is directly responsible for the Jazz not having a .300 to .400 record.

EatBootyLoveLife | POR

4 | 5 hours ago

the nurk injury honestly hurts them more. they’re just throwing out bodies at the big spots rn

BananaRepublic_BR | SAS

0 | 5 hours ago

I think you’re right. Both of them being out are really harming that team.

azizinator25 | NYK

3 | 5 hours ago

Some injuries. There’s also a little of “just because a team is trying to be good doesn’t mean theyre going to be good”. And some teams (like the Knicks) have been pretty inconsistent even though I think they specifically will be okay in the end

TomatoSecure192 | CHI

3 | 5 hours ago

I was gonna say teams like the knicks and cavs are just kinda middling rn

azizinator25 | NYK

1 | 5 hours ago

Yeah Cavs are another team that I think will probably be fine in the end

yeeetmxster420 | LAL

1 | 5 hours ago

Hali got injured again? Wtf

gaya2081 | IND

2 | 5 hours ago

Hamstring… Out another 10 days…

temujin94

161 | 5 hours ago

That doesn’t even fully illustrate it, Eastern teams get to play more eastern terms, actually inflating their wins, West is obviously the opposite, so Mavs would probably be higher than 4th in the East, the Pistons are getting to mostly beat on the dregs of the East so far.

RevolutionaryGuru613

75 | 5 hours ago

The worst part is getting through the WCF in the playoffs is like a trial by fire. It’s a gauntlet and teams seem to run out of gas by the time they reach the finals

SunKing210 | SAS

21 | 5 hours ago

I brought this up before that after the Spurs got through the Thunder in an absurdly physical 7 game series and then had to go up against the Knicks 3 days later whilst the Knicks got to rest for 8 days closely watching the Spurs/Thunder series

Of course, the Knicks earned that rest for dominating the post season, but the Spurs definitely were feeling the effects of the previous two series due to how physical it was

Large_Quantity4228 | LAL

-7 | 5 hours ago

Yep, Spurs were the better team last year

SunKing210 | SAS

10 | 5 hours ago

I dunno, the Knicks were always a very bad matchup for the Spurs regardless. They just always had the Spurs’ number for the past few seasons. Mitchell Robinson specifically was always a ginormous thorn in the Spurs side and I’m so glad he’s out of NY haha

FilmCroissant | ATL

7 | 4 hours ago

No they weren’t? Young, inexperienced, Fox playing like absolute garbage. Meanwhile the Knicks were locked in and motivated after multiple heartbreaking playoff defeats, plus coached by one of the best in the league who learned under Pop and Kerr. Knicks would have still won in 6 or 7

Gonzo3179 | NYK

0 | 3 hours ago

I thought we all agreed that it was the Cavs

temujin94

57 | 5 hours ago

The year the Celtics won the title, the 2nd seed in the East wouldn’t have made the playoffs in the West playing a Western teams schedule. They would have finished 6th even not adjusting for the schedule difference, ¹⁄₂ less wins would have pushed them down to around 9th.

nak214

10 | 5 hours ago

Yeah this is a great call out. The difference is actually disgusting. It’s like an A league and a C league

FilmCroissant | ATL

9 | 4 hours ago

True, but not really a Knock on the Cs who dominated the league and the Mavericks. One of the best ensemble teams ever, that starting 5 was humming on offense and defense

--Alix-- | DAL

1 | 3 hours ago

That starting 5 was disgusting, but the Mavs came out bloody and bruised after being underdogs in every series they played. Celtics cruised their way through the East.

EthicalBballFan | MIA

1 | 3 hours ago

If it inflates the wins, it also inflates the losses, because for every winner there must be a loser…

temujin94

3 | 3 hours ago

That’s only true if they only played teams in the East… Give it a little bit more thought and you’ll see why it doesn’t work as you think it does.

Papamoon0327

58 | 5 hours ago

The east hasn’t been better for as long as I can remember

ajteitel | PHX

10 | 4 hours ago

Since 2000, there have been 9 MVPs from the East and 15 from the West. And LeBron has 4 of those 9

Belieber_420 | TOR

3 | 3 hours ago

Are you three years old? The east won conference head to head in 2022 and 2023. The 10th seed in the east last season was also above .500

Dudeincar434

-15 | 5 hours ago

The conferences were very even last season and the east has won their share of champs over the last decade or so.

But yea they are dogshit this season.

Large_Quantity4228 | LAL

19 | 5 hours ago

They are winning championships in the east because they are cruising to the finals playing mediocre teams. While the west is beating each other up for a month straight

chismiten

4 | 5 hours ago

Jayson “The Schedule” Tatum

WWECreativegenius | SAS

1 | 3 hours ago

If Tatum was healthy they probably would have another finals appearance

Ven0m1zed | PHI

2 | 3 hours ago

Knicks, Celtics, Bucks were all absolutely the best teams in the league when they won their championships.

FeanorEvades | MIN

1 | 3 hours ago

While that’s true, I think that Celtics championship team absolutely deserves their flowers for how dominant they were.

Ok-Tree4365

3 | 5 hours ago

Who are they playing? Who on the opposing team was unavailable? Were they on the road? Etc etc

This early all these sorts of comparisons are nearly meaningless.

nuuskatonttu [OP] | Finland

3 | 4 hours ago

28-2 is diabolical anyway you put it.

Hefty-Ad1505

11 | 4 hours ago

NBA scheduling is very imbalanced throughout the season. Between b2bs and some playoff teams already facing off multiple times, some teams not even having cross conference games and others having extensive road trips.

Nothing of value can be surmised by records in the first 12 games. Let’s play a ¹⁄₃ of the season so some of these variables play out.

WolfieMensa | CHI

26 | 5 hours ago

The West is already getting to the point where making you gotta be over .500 to have a chance at the top 8

SemataryPolka | MIN

54 | 5 hours ago

That’s…pretty standard every year isn’t it?

inshamblesx | HOU

7 | 5 hours ago

thats been the case outside of 2016 and like 2019

Aestro17 | POR

8 | 5 hours ago

Right now you have to be over .600

Large_Quantity4228 | LAL

8 | 5 hours ago

Back in the day you had to win 50 games to be the 8th seed in the west

Zyntaro | PHX

6 | 4 hours ago

I remember us winning 49 games in like 2014 and missing the playoffs completely.

kyle2108 | SAS

3 | 5 hours ago

Woah are you saying you have to be over .500 to be a playoff team?

FlashyWriting3717

5 | 4 hours ago

Not in the East. You can be under .500 by 5 games and still be an 8th seed there.

Belieber_420 | TOR

2 | 3 hours ago

The Heat were 43-39 and 10th seed last season

EatMyShortzZzZzZ | LAL

1 | 3 hours ago

The east regularly has teams below .500 in playoff or play in contention.

EvoNexus03

1 | 3 hours ago

Im remember going into the season media/podcasters saying “ooo the east is much tougher then the west”

West has always been a gauntlet

kiroks

-9 | 5 hours ago

This is why Kobe is the goat FYI. 5 rings, 1 3-peat beat the most 50+ win teams in playoffs history. Carried the fuck out of Shaq through the West and WCF Shaq finals MVP vs Eastern teams that wasn’t building to play against Shaq 4 times a year. Maybe Shaq carried the first. I think the second and third year Kobe would’ve gotten WCF MVP and Shaq still finals MVP.

I have more but yeah. Kobe the goat. It’s not just stats kids. It’s degree of difficulty as well. How well each shot is contested. How much contact you’re playing through relative to size. Leadership. Taking the challenge when the time comes. Like only getting 81 because your team needed you to score that many times just to COMEBACK into the game.

rapelbaum | MIA

23 | 5 hours ago

10 to 13 games into the season. Too soon to do this kind of post

EbolaDP

10 | 3 hours ago

Its the same every year.

SemataryPolka | MIN

1 | 5 hours ago

But it wasn’t too soon to proclaim the East the new Juggernaut this off-season before a single game was played?

Ok-Tree4365

3 | 5 hours ago

Sure, whichever strawman made the “proclamation” that the east was a “juggernaut” may have been a bit wrong, or at least should have clarified “by the end of the season”, I guess.

[deleted]

0 | a year ago

RyuSunn | LAL

1 | 3 hours ago

It’s not too soon, the east has been a cakewalk for years

No surprise that cinderella runs or unexpected finalist always come from the east

Saitsuofleaves

1 | 3 hours ago

Now the language is that the only reason he East wins any finals is because the West goes through hell. People actually say this now

peanut-britle-latte | NYK

11 | 5 hours ago

Eastern/West parity is actually the lowest form of league discourse. Who tf careeeeees

emm7777

2 | 3 hours ago

It has been this way since Jordan left the bulls. Need to just go to the top 16 teams, period. The play in is a joke with an 82 game season.

beatrailblazer | POR

1 | 3 hours ago

the East top 4 are 0-6 against the West. and the top 8 are 5-14 vs the west. and thats after Miami adds 3 wins over Jazz, Kings, Clippers lol

Therealhatsunemiku | BOS

5 | 5 hours ago

The top east teams have barely played any west teams so the east vs. west record is pretty skewed rn

cadegoat | DET

4 | 5 hours ago

These posts are so premature and dumb

ArguingWithPigeons | IND

2 | 4 hours ago

It’s 12 games in. Who gives a fuck.

Cote_Goat

2 | 5 hours ago

If I had wheels I’d be a bicycle

lurkingtonbear

1 | 4 hours ago

It’s like this nearly every year

raiderrash | DAL

1 | 3 hours ago

I feel like we have this same convo every year about how dog shit the eastern conference is

grandmasterfunk | HOU

1 | 3 hours ago

This is way too early into the season to be having these type of conversations. East has been disappointing, but let’s at least wait until we’re 20 games in

Silly-Lion-7314

1 | 2 hours ago

One benefit of the expansion will be Minnesota going to eastern conference. We all know west is stacked.

Dallas Mavericks are 7-5 this season and they are 10th in the Western conference. The same record would put them fourth in the Eastern conference