2015 NBA Eastern Conference Playoff Race

knoxville7

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The West certainly isn't as threatening as it once was. I think GS and San Antonio are the only two teams with a legit chance at this point.

Of course most of those teams would still beat the East teams if they did manage to get by GS or SA to get to the Finals.

don't sleep on the grizz my friend
 

Scoot26

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Btw as of today there are 4 teams that qualify for the championship model in the NBA right now (Top 10 Offensive and Defensive Rating)

Atlanta (6th-O, 7th-D)
Golden State (3rd-O, 1st-D)
Portland (7th-O, 8th-D)
San Antonio (8th-O, 4th-D)

Chicago sits at 10th-O, 14th-D

Cleveland sits at 2nd-O, 21st-D (In a way they are resembling the 2001 Lakers).
 

knoxville7

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Still don't think they have the offense to do it.

14th in offensive rating and 2nd in defensive rating. and id be willing to bet the offensive rating has been trending upward post the jeff green trade
 

Scoot26

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14th in offensive rating and 2nd in defensive rating. and id be willing to bet the offensive rating has been trending upward post the jeff green trade


This is my post on 3/3

This could probably be it's own thread, but I'm going to post it here.. for now... Until I do a better study..


For those of you who don't know... in the MAJORITY of NBA Finals, both teams are ranked in the Top 10 in Offense Rating and Defense Rating. The SUPER MAJORITY of Champions are Ranked Top 10 in both.

So lets take a look at those teams in the East as to where they rank:

1) Atlanta - 6th ranked offense, 5th ranked defense [criteria met]
2) Toronto - 3rd ranked offense, 20th ranked defense [fail]
3) Chicago - 8th ranked offense, 12th ranked defense [just fails]
4) Cleveland - 5th ranked offense, 18th ranked defense [fail]
5) Washington - 19th ranked offense, 11th ranked defense [fail]
6) Milwaukee - 23rd ranked offense, 2nd ranked defense [fail]
7) Miami - 21st ranked offense, 22nd ranked defense [fail] (It's a miracle they're even a playoff team)
8) Brooklyn - 22nd ranked offense, 19th ranked defense [fail]
----
9) Charlotte - 29th ranked offense, 8th ranked defense
10) Indiana - 26th ranked offense, 9th ranked defense

One team in the East fits the criteria right now and that's Atlanta. Granted that doesn't mean jack diddly squat because there are still quite a few Finals teams that don't meet the criteria but get there..

For shits and giggles... the western conference..
1) Golden State - 2nd ranked offense, 1st ranked defense [meets criteria]
2) Memphis - 11th ranked offense, 4th ranked defense [just fails]
3) Houston - 12th ranked offense, 7th ranked defense [just fails]
4) Portland - 9th ranked offense, 6th ranked defense [meets criteria]
5) LA Clippers - 1st ranked offense, 16th ranked defense [fails]
6) Dallas - 4th ranked offense, 14th ranked defense [fails]
7) San Antonio - 14th ranked offense, 3rd ranked defense [fails]
8) Oklahoma City - 13th ranked offense, 10th ranked defense [on the cusp, but fails]

So 3 teams in the entire NBA currently meet this criteria right now... There's still plenty of basketball to play though and this could change.

They've actually fallen in ranks, while amping up the D. Of course there isn't all that much difference between 12 and 14 (0.4 difference). I'd say they haven't really changed at all. The team in the West that's made the best jump in offense is San Antonio from 14th to 8th.
 

knoxville7

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This is my post on 3/3



They've actually fallen in ranks, while amping up the D. Of course there isn't all that much difference between 12 and 13 (0.4 difference). I'd say they haven't really changed at all. The team in the West that's made the best jump in offense is San Antonio from 14th to 8th.

fair enough, glad I didn't bet lol

green since coming to Memphis has shot 36% from 3, adding a solid 3 shot to the team which they needed...that's why I figured they had trended upward in offense. I still like their chances of coming out of the west a lot. green at 36% to go with lee at 41% and conley at 40% makes for a nice trio of shooting to go with marc gasol and zbo down low for one rotation option
 

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fair enough, glad I didn't bet lol

green since coming to Memphis has shot 36% from 3, adding a solid 3 shot to the team which they needed...that's why I figured they had trended upward in offense. I still like their chances of coming out of the west a lot. green at 36% to go with lee at 41% and conley at 40% makes for a nice trio of shooting to go with marc gasol and zbo down low for one rotation option
I mean the model isn't 100%.... Teams have made the Finals plenty of times with average O's and great D's... A few teams have won in such a way (79 Sonics, 94 Rockets).. but its important to see who they matched up against in the playoffs as well.

I haven't looked up the 79 Sonics team, but the 1994 Rockets only played 1 team in the Top 10 in both categories (Utah) and beat them in the WCF 4-1. Its also key to note that before the rule changes to allow zone defenses in the NBA, the dominant centers (or at the very least, their starting C was an All-Star) just about won a title every year sans Jordan's Bulls. And Hakeem dominated that year.

So the Grizzlies at the moment would play Dallas, a team in disarray in the first round, then they'd played Houston or the Spurs. I'm expecting the Spurs to upset Houston at this point... Grizzlies would then be meeting a team that's Top 10 in both, and a team they haven't beat in a series and actually were annihilated by them in 2013. If they were to survive the Spurs, they'd probably play Golden State, another team that's in the Top 10.
 

knoxville7

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I mean the model isn't 100%.... Teams have made the Finals plenty of times with average O's and great D's... A few teams have won in such a way (79 Sonics, 94 Rockets).. but its important to see who they matched up against in the playoffs as well.

I haven't looked up the 79 Sonics team, but the 1994 Rockets only played 1 team in the Top 10 in both categories (Utah) and beat them in the WCF 4-1. Its also key to note that before the rule changes to allow zone defenses in the NBA, the dominant centers (or at the very least, their starting C was an All-Star) just about won a title every year sans Jordan's Bulls. And Hakeem dominated that year.

So the Grizzlies at the moment would play Dallas, a team in disarray in the first round, then they'd played Houston or the Spurs. I'm expecting the Spurs to upset Houston at this point... Grizzlies would then be meeting a team that's Top 10 in both, and a team they haven't beat in a series and actually were annihilated by them in 2013. If they were to survive the Spurs, they'd probably play Golden State, another team that's in the Top 10.

a team they've never beaten? they beat the spurs in 2011
 

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The Bulls also are not likely to break the Top 10 in Defensive Rating this year.. They would need to play some really awesome defense the last few weeks to bump up to #10...

They sit at 105.1 rtg while 10th is Indiana at 103.5.

They can move up in offense though to at least 7th as there isn't much difference between them and Portland right now. Bulls are 107.6 and Portland is 107.9.
 

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The Bulls also are not likely to break the Top 10 in Defensive Rating this year.. They would need to play some really awesome defense the last few weeks to bump up to #10...

They sit at 105.1 rtg while 10th is Indiana at 103.5.

They can move up in offense though to at least 7th as there isn't much difference between them and Portland right now. Bulls are 107.6 and Portland is 107.9.
There there goes our title hopes :elephant:
 

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There there goes our title hopes :elephant:
ITS ALL GONE!

Its actually really hard to find a team like ours in NBA history that even made the Finals. However there's 3 teams that do fit in the mold... They are also all the same franchise, they are all the Houston Rockets (1981, 1986, and 1995). All upset heavily favored teams on their way to the Finals.

The 1981 team didn't even win half of their games, were the 6th and final seed of those playoffs, upset the Lakers in a 3 game first round, beat the 2nd seeded Spurs next and then got lucky with Kansas City upsetting the #1 seeded Phoenix Suns in the 2nd round and drew them in the WCF.

The 1986 team was the #2 seed, and went to the Finals by surprising the heavily favored Lakers in the WCF in beating them 4-1.

That 1995 team was a #6 seed, upset the heavily favored Spurs, Jazz AND Magic to win the title. Incredible run really.

Vast majority of Finals teams though if they're outside the Top 10 in one category, they're usually a Top 5 team in another category (and often #1 or #2).
 

Diddy1122

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Stats shhmats. I doubt any of those team started 20 different lineups throughout the season. I am just honestly not scared by any team in the East right now, including the Cavs.

The West is scary as hell. There's so many good teams out there that it will all come down to matchups.
 

Scoot26

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Stats shhmats. I doubt any of those team started 20 different lineups throughout the season. I am just honestly not scared by any team in the East right now, including the Cavs.

The West is scary as hell. There's so many good teams out there that it will all come down to matchups.
I believe the Bulls can make the Finals fully healthy... I don't think they can win it though depending on their opponent of course.
 

JosMin

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I believe the Bulls can make the Finals fully healthy... I don't think they can win it though depending on their opponent of course.

But that's the question, is this team going to be completely healthy in two more weeks?
 

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According to ESPN, the Knicks cruise past the Bulls. :shrug:
 

JosMin

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According to ESPN, the Knicks cruise past the Bulls. :shrug:

We used the professional golf scoring system last night -- lower scores win :smug:
 

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And props to Thibs for letting his foot off the fucking gas and giving all the starters less than 30 minutes in a blow out.
 

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It will be interesting what the dynamic will be when Rose returns and how it will all mesh together. Franky it worries me. They really have a great chemistry going now and chemistry is a tricky thing.
 

knoxville7

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And props to Thibs for letting his foot off the fucking gas and giving all the starters less than 30 minutes in a blow out.

agreed. but at the same time the whole obsession with minutes is pretty silly IMO. these are some of the worlds best athletes, I don't think it makes a ton of a difference if they play 38 or 35 or 32, etc minutes a game. on the current bulls roster id pay attention to noahs minutes because of the knee, and pau because he is an older big man. I mean those bulls teams on the 2nd three peat were older and yet played big time minutes still.....and I don't recall anyone giving phil Jackson shit over it :shrug:
 

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