Reply With Quote
West: 63 games
East 67 wins
Okay given the state of the league thus far this year. You have a bunch of teams that are winning a high percentage of games in both conferences. Granted because they will play each other, some of those teams will slow down a little.
But how many wins will it take to finish 1st in each conference and how many wins will it take to have the home court advantage in the Finals, if the #1 seeds both advance?
It appears early on that there will be 5-6 teams that will win 57 games or more. In the same year 5 teams winning 70% games has only happened once and never 6 teams with 70% winning percentage.
I would say that these first 5 teams are almost a lock to win 57 games:
Orlando
Boston
Mavs
Spurs
Suns
The next set of teams have an outside chance but not likely:
Hornets
Jazz
Rockets
Nuggets
Detroit
And not that getting a #1 seed is a must for the le but it couldn't hurt. So what are the estimates at this point?
West: 63 games
East 67 wins
I suspect it will only take about 55 wins or so to clinch the East; the West will probably take something between 60-63 wins.
per the norm these past few seasons, I'd say
I expect the East to be a bit tougher this season. Depends on Orlando staying in shape though. 57 is my guess. Regarding the Western Conference I think it's going to be closer this year. 61 maximum.
I think Orlando is improved and Detroit should still be at the top of the conference come season's end, but I can't see that the 2nd place team in the East will do any better than somewhere in the 52-55 wins range or so. Boston might win well into the 60's this season, but it will only need 55 to clinch HCA in the East playoffs.
A lot of teams can have a good start before slowing down.
Last season Orlando started with a 13-4 record before ending at 40-42 and Utah start was 12-1 for ending at 51-31.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
