The NBA is experiencing one of the moments of greatest equality in its history, especially in a Western Conference where the fight for first place in the standings was not resolved until the last day of the regular season. After earning their bread during 82 games, it was the young and thriving Oklahoma City Thunder who took the preeminent position against the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
OKC’s great season allows the American league to take advantage of the enormous level of competition among all teams, and the Thunder are the seventh different franchise to dominate their conference in the last seven years. Since the 2016-2017 season, no team has managed to repeat at the top of the tablesomething unprecedented since the current playoff format was introduced in the 1983-1984 season.
Los Houston Rocketsin 2017-18, began this remarkable streak, followed by the Golden State Warriors (2018-19), Los Angeles Lakers (2019-20), los Utah Jazz (2020-21), los Phoenix Suns (2021-22) and the Denver Nuggets (2022-23). Oklahoma City puts the icing on the cake thanks to its prevalence after this year’s final day.
Another proof of equality in the West is the gap between the first and tenth places, of only 11 victories. OKC managed 57 winsand the Warriors suffered to access the play-in with 46. This data, of course, also reveals the cross of this great moment on the other side of the table… In the East the inequality between Boston Celtics (64-18) and the rest has been evident. The New York Knicks (50-32), second, have been 14 wins behind the leaders of the table, a distance greater than that which separated all the playoff and play-in contenders on the other side.
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2024-04-15 18:34:36
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