The East Is Worse Then Ever

[FireDavidKahn]

George Mikan
@MikanFanClubCEO
Giannis' East opponents: 417-493 (45.8%)
--playoff teams only: 268-184 (59.3%)

2018 LeBron's East opponents: 553-595 (48.2%)
--playoff teams only: 345-229 (60.1%)

Hmm, but I was told the 2018 East was maybe the weakest ever, and that the East this year is the better conference.

:confusedshrug:

[NBAGOAT]

philly ruined things and indiana losing oladipo didnt help. I still like the east more this year, think bos and tor are better than their counterparts from 2 years ago but cant be sure. if tor gets swept in the playoffs, how do we know they're better than the 2018 team. next year should be pretty good with bkn, oladpio and wall healthy.

[Axe]

I guess that explains a lot about his 8th straight appearance in the finals.

[KD7]

The East

https://i.postimg.cc/GhL3XLR2/giphy-1.gif


The "Wild" West

https://i.postimg.cc/Vv7xGc9r/giphy-1505092538.gif

[AirBonner]

The East

https://i.postimg.cc/GhL3XLR2/giphy-1.gif


The "Wild" West

https://i.postimg.cc/Vv7xGc9r/giphy-1505092538.gif

In 2008 the #1 seed celtics was taken to 7 games by the Hawks. Meanwhile the wild Wild West Lakers were dispatched in 6 games

[insidehoops]

The Bucks did look like the best overall team in the league this season back when play was paused.

The Raptors actually looked as good this season as they did last year.

The Celtics were top 5 in the league in both offense and defense this season -- worried about Kemba's knee though.

And the Heat have serious potential.

I have mixed feelings about the Sixers and Pacers as far as playoff upside.

[tpols]

Well yea... when kawhi went back west, lebron already out west... Durant out whole season in the east. It's pretty weak right now. Sixers Bucks will be legit though, so it's not like we're going to see some cleveland toronto style ass whoopings.

[Naero]

The conference parity was actually respectable just last year. The West was still the better conference overall, but the East housed multiple title-contenders in its own right—one of the few seasons of the 2010s you could claim that.

Now that Kawhi's returned out West and the 76ers have foundered, it's looking like a single-team conference again.

It certainly hasn't reached its nadir, though—see the 2014 East—and I'd still decidedly take it over the 2018 East. The Bucks were playing like the league's best team pre-suspension, which you couldn't say about any Easterners in 2018; and although the rest of the current conference probably doesn't have the same playoffs upside, I wouldn't be surprised if Toronto, Boston, or the Heat gave us a (semi-)convincing run for our money (assuming the NBA sticks with the traditional bracket).

Should be competitive again next year, however, with the Nets healthy and the Celtics continuing to ripen.

[Axe]

Kawhi winning his first chip in the east during his one-year stay with the raptors