We’ve talked about the Eastern Conference in the NBA, but now we’re going to talk about the Western Conference. The dynamic on the West coast is much different than the one on the East coast. In the Western Conference, we have the clear top two teams in the NBA, thus creating a huge gap between the first and second best teams compared to the eight and nine seeds.
While the difference in games back is just 12 from eight to one in the Eastern Conference, that difference jumps to 22 games in the Western Conference. Also, it’s likely we see another team under .500 play in the playoffs this season because of this conference. As it is, the Trail Blazers and the Jazz are right at .500 and that’s with them both going 8-2 over their last 10 games. Let’s take a look at the standings with the number next to the team denoting how many games back they are from first place.
Western Conference Standings
1. Golden State Warriors – 0
2. San Antonio Spurs – 3.5
3. Oklahoma City Thunder – 9
4. Los Angeles Clippers – 13.5
5. Memphis Grizzlies – 17.5
6. Dallas Mavericks – 20.5
7. Portland Trail Blazers – 22
8. Utah Jazz – 22
9. Houston Rockets – 22.5
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Photo credit: NBA