OneGoodLeg wrote:
Guffaw wrote:
The Raptors won more regular season games than GSW.
And they did it in an Eastern Conference that is now as strong (if not stronger) than the West. The only reason some people are 'surprised' that the Raptors are beating GSW is that Toronto does not have the long history and legacy of some clubs, and its seen as a 'foreign' club (Even if its players are mostly American).
I'm gonna dispute that. They did win 1 more game, but if you look all the way up & down the standings, while Bucks had the best record and statistical profile, there were also more bad teams in the East still. Only PHX won fewer than 33 games in the West, while 5 teams fell below that line in the East. And the cut line for making the playoffs in the West was 48 vs only 41 wins in the East. I couldn't find the aggregate head-to-head record between conferences easily, but a quick search showed that the West had clinched a winning record vs the East w/ something like 37 games left in the season.
Taking that into account, the effect is compounded by the fact you play more games vs the teams in your own conference vs only 2 from the opposing conf, so those added games makes the West's avg SoS higher still. The gap was certainly a lot less than recent years, but there were still more 'easy' nights for the top teams in the East.
Good info. I looked at the regular season standings and in general you are right. The 8 West playoff teams had excellent records against the East. Not so much the other way around - except for the Raptors who had the best record (22-8) against the West, even with Kawhi load management. Bucks and Sixers had the 2nd best record (20-10) against the West.
I should check out previous years, and see if this is a good predictor of the East team in Finals.
[ The sign of intelligence is you are constantly wondering. Idiots are always dead sure about every damn thing they are doing in their life. - Vasudev ]