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Tougher Conference: East or West?


Eastern Conference standings atm:




Western Conference standings atm:

For me it's West imho!

It's more difficult to get into playoffs in the West than in the East.

Oscar9992 wrote:For me it's West imho!

It's more difficult to get into playoffs in the West than in the East.

It's been this way for majority of the past 20 plus years. So, I agree.

It was the other way around during the '80s and '90s (East stronger than the West, and harder to get into the playoffs for the East) majority of the time.

Cyclical.

I think the better question is when is the last time the answer here was East?

The West easily and the Grizzlies are the biggest reason why. Had they been healthy without Ja's shenanigans, you'd be looking at arguably the best regular season team in the conference. 13 teams competing for the playoffs. Unheard of.

This season is the last hurrah for the Lakers and Warriors. They can fight the inevitable, but it's over. The Clippers are saved by an owner who is so wealthy, the tax literally is pocket change.

West is deeper this year

Is the west deeper? The east looks stronger 5-8

1-5 the East is stronger

West has won 31 more games against the East, if I counted correctly.

I don't ever remember the East being better than the West since I started watching the NBA which was since 1997.

Most of the dynasty teams have all been in the West Lakers/Spurs/Warriors.

MoneyTalks41890 wrote:I think the better question is when is the last time the answer here was East?

Honestly, not too long ago.
2021-2022 season.
EAst play in teams (Hawks/Charlotte) were 43-39.
West play in teams (Pels/Spurs) were 36-46/34-48.
West bottom feeder was Houston 20-62
East bottom feeder was Orlando, 22-60

One of the rare instances in the 2000s, that the East was better than the West overall.

This was the norm back in the '80s and '90s, though, that the East was better than the West overall, majority of those years.

cgf wrote:Is the west deeper? The east looks stronger 5-8

Kings (they are always underrated here in GM, the last couple of seasons, they are no slouch), Suns ( gettin healthy, gettin hot), Pelicans, Mavs are West 5-8.

JustBuzzin wrote:I don't ever remember the East being better than the West since I started watching the NBA which was since 1997.

Most of the dynasty teams have all been in the West Lakers/Spurs/Warriors.

the west is always tougher, even when the east has more talent at the top.

west = more travel + faster pace. tougher to play in the west.

JustBuzzin wrote:I don't ever remember the East being better than the West since I started watching the NBA which was since 1997.

Most of the dynasty teams have all been in the West Lakers/Spurs/Warriors.

The East was usually stronger than the West during the '80s,'90s.

2000 was when the shift of power occurred (West better than the East).

I may be a lil older than you, started watching and pay attention since the '80s when I was a kid lol. So that's probably why.

wegotthabeet wrote:

JustBuzzin wrote:I don't ever remember the East being better than the West since I started watching the NBA which was since 1997.

Most of the dynasty teams have all been in the West Lakers/Spurs/Warriors.

the west is always tougher, even when the east has more talent at the top.

west = more travel + faster pace. tougher to play in the west.

I wouldn't say always.

The East was usually stronger than the West majority of the '80s and '90s.

But, I do agree with the rest of your post.

Don't forget the high altitude, thin air at Denver/Utah! Rocky Mountains. Per Sixers/Embiid fans. lol

East is stronger 1-6. West is deeper.

jkvonny wrote:

JustBuzzin wrote:I don't ever remember the East being better than the West since I started watching the NBA which was since 1997.

Most of the dynasty teams have all been in the West Lakers/Spurs/Warriors.

The East was usually stronger than the West during the '80s,'90s.

2000 was when the shift of power occurred (West better than the East).

I may be a lil older than you, started watching and pay attention since the '80s when I was a kid lol. So that's probably why.

Oh yeah for sure the 80's/90's I can't comment on. I'm just speaking for when I started watching. The West has always been more dominant.

Kind of crazy I started watching when MJ was at the end of his prime. I remember being at my grandma house watching the game with my grandpa in the living room. Crazy how I was introduced the game of basketball by watching the GOAT. Proud to say I watched the end of prime MJ. Wish I could have seen him in his actual prime.

JustBuzzin wrote:

jkvonny wrote:

JustBuzzin wrote:I don't ever remember the East being better than the West since I started watching the NBA which was since 1997.

Most of the dynasty teams have all been in the West Lakers/Spurs/Warriors.

The East was usually stronger than the West during the '80s,'90s.

2000 was when the shift of power occurred (West better than the East).

I may be a lil older than you, started watching and pay attention since the '80s when I was a kid lol. So that's probably why.

Oh yeah for sure the 80's/90's I can't comment on. I'm just speaking for when I started watching. The West has always been more dominant.

Kind of crazy I started watching when MJ was at the end of his prime. I remember being at my grandma house watching the game with my grandpa in the living room. Crazy how I was introduced the game of basketball by watching the GOAT. Proud to say I watched the end of prime MJ. Wish I could have seen him in his actual prime.

True!

And also, Glad you got see the the tail end of MJ prime years. He was a great player. Would have been nice had you caught his true prime ('80s - '90s). Very good player and Bulls team.

West is certainly the stronger conference, with a huge lead in head-to-head wins.

However, when many people think about “Conference,” they only think about the best teams. For example, if people say that the East was the toughest conference in the 80’s-90’s, they think about DET and CHI, and don’t give equal weight to the two bottom teams back then.

Right now, the most significant team in the tougher conference debate is the Pistons, who have only one a single game vs the West. The top teams don’t have a bigger effect on how the Conference has done.

Finally, since people mainly focus on the top teams, it is easier to give more credit to teams like BOS, MIL, and PHI, who have had years of success, and under-rate teams like MIN, OKC.

18-27 currently gets the Hawks into the play-in. Yikes.