Article:NBA Needs Some Eastern Conference Help, Maybe Borrow Some Teams?

Is it even worth debating how bad the Eastern Conference is? They made one team good and that is the Boston Celtics, and we know the Pistons are always a great team. Here's an interesting statistic:

If the season were to end today, the Eastern Conference would have 5 teams over .500. That would mean 3 teams would make the playoffs with an under .500 record. That's pathetic, no team that has more losses than wins should ever be granted the 6th friggin seed in the NBA Playoffs.

Over in the Western Conference, they have 9 teams playing .600 basketball, and only Portland playing over .500 but under .600. They have 9 teams playing .600 basketball, meaning that if the season were to end today, the Golden State Warriors, a record of 33-21, .611 percentage, would miss the playoffs. That's unbelievable. Don't believe me? Look at the playoff standings as of today.

= Eastern Conference =

1. Boston Celtics (41-11)

2. Detroit Pistons (39-15)

3. Orlando Magic (34-22)

4. Toronto Raptors (29-23)

5. Cleveland Cavaliers (30-24)

6. Washington Wizards (25-28)

7. New Jersey Nets (24-30)

8. Philadelphia 76ers (24-31)

_________________________________

9. Atlanta Hawks (21-30)

10. Chicago Bulls (21-32)

= Western Conference =

1. New Orleans Hornets (37-15)

2. Los Angeles Lakers (37-17)

3. Utah Jazz (35-19)

4. Phoenix Suns (37-17)

5. San Antonio Spurs (35-17)

6. Dallas Mavericks (35-19)

7. Denver Nuggets (33-20)

8. Houston Rockets (33-20)

____________________________

9. Golden State Warriors (33-21)

10. Portland Trailblazers (28-25)

You can be 12 games over .500 in the Western Conference and miss the playoffs. You can be 7 games under .500 and make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. That's horrible. Let's see what happens if we make the NBA a single table league and the top 16 teams qualify no matter what conference.

= NBA Single Table Standings =

1. Boston Celtics (East)

2. Detroit Pistons (East)

3. New Orleans Hornets (West)

4. Los Angeles Lakers (West)

5. Phoenix Suns (West)

6. San Antonio Spurs (West)

7. Utah Jazz (West)

8. Dallas Mavericks (West)

9. Houston Rockets (West)

10. Denver Nuggets (West)

11. Golden State Warriors (West)

12. Orlando Magic (East)

13. Toronto Raptors (East)

14. Cleveland Cavaliers (East)

15. Portland Trailblazers (West)

16. Sacramento Kings (West)

______________________________

17. Washington Wizards (East)

18-30 - Everyone else (8 East, 4 West)

The domination of the Eastern Conference over the Western Conference over even simple parity is now gone ever since Bird and Jordan left. Will it ever get back to parity?