As recently as last season, many people around the NBA have wondered if the conference format needs to be changed. Perhaps the teams should be seeded by record, regardless of the conferences, to ensure that the best teams make the playoffs. After all, the West has had a winning record in games against the East in 15 of the last 16 seasons, up until the current one. For over a decade, quality teams from the West such as the 2007-08 Golden State Warriors and the 2013-14 Phoenix Suns, with 48 wins apiece, have missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, subpar Eastern Conference teams have taken advantage of the conference disparity and snuck into the playoffs, despite winning less than 40 games. Obviously, this is a problem, but there’s another side to it: the East was better than the West at some point in history, so some argue that the disparity will eventually even out. Sooner or later, the balance of power will shift back to the East; this is simply the nature of the league, and it is what it is. But a new question has arisen this season: is the East already well on its way to being the better conference again?
Before the games of December 7th, Eastern Conference teams were 57-55 in games against the West. About a quarter of the way through the season, there are ten teams above .500 in the East, but only six in the West. This doesn’t necessarily mean the East is the better conference, and things could easily change by the end of the season. Even now, it’s clear that the league’s two best teams, the undefeated Warriors and the 18-4 San Antonio Spurs, reside in the West. An argument can be made for the Oklahoma City Thunder as the third best, although the Cleveland Cavaliers likely claim that spot when healthy. Another flaw of the East is that no team should really be expected to compete with LeBron James’ Cavs on their way to another NBA Finals appearance. The Cavs’ early struggles can mostly be attributed to injuries, which have decimated their backcourt. They’ve had to resort to using James Jones and Jared Cunningham as rotation players, with predictably bad results. If Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert, among others, are healthy for Cleveland, the Cavaliers will be the only real contender for the Eastern Conference title.
So in what way is the East better, you ask? Regardless of how much better the top of the West is, the strength of the East lies in its depth. Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto, Boston, and Washington were all playoff teams last year, and all five may compete for home court advantage in the playoffs, if the Wizards can recover from a slow start. Charlotte has flashed a new and improved offense, fourth in the league in terms of points per 100 possessions. The addition of Nicolas Batum has worked out even better than the team may have anticipated. Detroit Pistons coach and team president Stan Van Gundy has built a squad similar to his old Orlando Magic teams, with a deadly spread pick-and-roll attack spearheaded by Reggie Jackson and likely All-Star Andre Drummond. Speaking of the Magic, Orlando has finally started to see results in the win column, to go with its bright young core. The Magic have a chance at a playoff spot. The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers have looked like the two best challengers to Cleveland thus far. Miami has a dynamic starting five and the second best defense in the league, by points per 100 possessions. For the Pacers, Paul George has been better than ever after playing just six games last year due to a disastrous leg injury, which he suffered in the summer of 2014. If Stephen Curry wasn’t having a historic season, George’s play would be the biggest storyline around the NBA. Even the East’s worst teams by record, outside of Philadelphia, are still trying to compete. The Knicks and Nets have no reason to tank, since neither team has its own pick in the 2016 draft, and both have quality wins already. The Bucks have stumbled early, but they’re young and competitive, with some solid wins under their belt as well. Only the 1-21 Philadelphia 76ers really have no chance to recover and make the playoffs in the East, but they really can’t be considered an NBA team anymore. The overarching point is that the East is full of competitive teams, and it shows in their records – before play on December 8th, only two games separated the conference leading Cavs from the tenth place Pistons. Almost anyone can make the playoffs in the East, because there are so many good or decent teams.
In the West, teams that many expected to take a step forward, such as Houston and New Orleans, have struggled mightily. Last year’s playoff teams have been mediocre, most evident in the play of the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies. In a conference in which the eighth seed was expected to win at least 45 games, several teams have stagnated or gone completely in the wrong direction. At this point, it would be shocking to see more than seven teams approach 45 wins. This could all make the Western Conference playoff race as compelling as ever, with many teams bunched together like in the East, but the simple fact remains that these teams haven’t been as good as the “middle of the pack” Eastern Conference teams. There’s plenty of time for that to change, as we’re only a quarter of the way into the season. However, a quarter of a season definitely means something; the patterns that are emerging now aren’t just going to disappear, even if they balance out a little.
Only time will tell if the East’s current superiority over the West is legitimate. But no matter which conference turns out to be the better one this season, one thing is clear: the East’s improvement is here to stay.
