January 5, 2011 – Kevin Burke

For the past decade or more, the NBA’s Western Conference has boasted the more dominant teams in the league for whatever reason. It has always been tough to explain, but it has been that way for a while. From the Lakers to the Spurs to the Suns to the Jazz to the Nuggets, these teams have been the class of the league for a while, with the Spurs and Lakers claiming the majority of the Larry O’Brien trophies in recent memory. But has their suddenly been a shift of power? Are the league’s best teams now in the East?

Last year, every team to make the playoffs in the West won at least 50 games. That is a ridiculous stat considering that 50 wins is the unwritten benchmark for a very successful regular season. On the contrary, only four of the eight playoff teams in the East reached the 50 win plateau a year ago. In fact, if you took the 8th seeded Thunder from a year ago and inserted them into the playoff structure for the East last year, they would’ve been a 4 seed.

But let’s look at just the best teams, where things seem to be a bit different this year. The teams with the best records in the West today are the Spurs, Mavericks, Jazz and Lakers. The Spurs and Mavericks have played extremely well this season, but Dallas has been hit hard with injuries this year and may be without Caron Butler for an extended period. Not to mention Dirk who has been out with a bad knee. The Jazz are a good team, but are missing a piece or two in order to become legit contenders. And then you have the Lakers who are underachieving big time this year, losing to teams they have no business losing to.

In the East, the Celtics, Heat and now the Magic are the three best teams. Boston has been around the block lately and personnel-wise, they may even be better than last year. They just lost KG, but it should only be for a few weeks. It seems like the Heat haven’t lost in forever and they’ve finally figured that thing out. And the Magic are now legit down low, on the perimeter and on the wings too.

Boston, Miami and Orlando look like elite teams. While the Mavericks, Jazz and Lakers are very good, they don’t look elite today. That may change, but it doesn’t appear that way today. Butler’s injury makes the Mavs take a step back, even with a healthy Dirk. Like I said, the Jazz aren’t quite there yet and I have no clue what’s going on with the Lakers. However, the Spurs do look elite. So today, that tips the scale in favor of the East as far as elite teams go.

With that being said, has their been a shift? Are the best teams now in the East?

If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook