East vs West: Teams That Are Strangely Similar

There are teams in each conference that are twinning across NBA lines in some way or another

Daily Knicks

In sports, if something works, people try to copy it. We have seen it time and time again. The passing game in the NFL revolutionized the sport, as the three point bonanza that the Golden State Warriors started has shifted the NBA game to the perimeter.

Team structure is no different. General managers all over professional sports try to imitate teams that have had championship rosters. Think of the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks, as well as the Sacramento Kings trying to recreate the Warriors’ roster even though they probably won’t be able to do that.

One way or another, it is hard not to see similarities between certain teams in any sport. In this NBA this season, I have noticed that there are certain western conference teams that are weirdly similar to certain eastern conference teams. Whether it’s play style, or roster personnel, these NBA teams are twinning with their opposing conference’s squads.

Cleveland.com

Cleveland Cavaliers : Oklahoma City Thunder

These two teams are similar in both play style and personnel. While Cleveland is a much better version of the Thunder, both teams play a style of basketball around one superstar player. Both OKC and the Cavs give the ball to LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, respectively, and live or die by the plays that they make.

James leads his team in points, assists, and steals, while being third in rebounding and second in blocks. Westbrook leads his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals.

Cleveland surrounds James with shooters and scorers like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, which makes them the better team. The superior talent allows Cleveland to move the ball slightly more than OKC, but both offenses are dominated by one player dribbling the clock out.

CSN Northwest

Washington Wizards : Portland Trailblazers

Two teams that are completely run by their back courts, and have limited depth surrounding them. Washington is better than Portland due to the fact that Wall and Beal’s supporting cast is better than that of Lillard and McCollum, but they are still nearly identical teams.

Beal and McCollum are basically the same player at the shooting guard position. Here are their stat lines.

Beal: PPG/APG/RPG: 23.1/3.5/3.2

McCollum: PPG/APG/RPG: 23.1/3.5/3.6

Both shoot over 40 percent from three as well, so the similarity is clear. Wall and Lillard play a different style of basketball at the point. Lillard is primarily a scorer while Wall is one of the best passers in the NBA. Their differences in style are due to their supporting casts, but are most likely the reasons that Washington has more success. If Lillard moved the ball more, who knows if some of the players around him would produce a bit more.

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Boston Celtics : San Antonio Spurs

The Celtics and Spurs play a similar style of team basketball, led by two superstar coaches in Gregg Popovich and Brad Stevens. Both teams have quick guards that live in the paint (Thomas and Parker), two way wings that hit shots on the perimeter(Crowder-Bradley, Leonard-Green), and skilled bigs that pass the ball very well and stretch the floor(Horford-Olynyk, Aldridge-Gasol).

Both teams are top ten in the NBA in offensive and defensive rating this season, so they both play a two way style of basketball that the top heavy teams in the league simply don’t. Golden State does but I look at them as the ultimate exception in any basketball conversation.

Boston and San Antonio live off of their depth. The Celtics are led by Thomas and Horford, while the Spurs are led by Leonard and Aldridge. After that, the supporting casts of the two teams are extremely deep, and Stevens and Popovich use them to the fullest.

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Toronto Raptors : Los Angeles Clippers

The personnel of both teams seems similar to me. Kyle Lowry and Chris Paul are both the engines of their respective teams. Both are top ten in the NBA in ESPN’s Real Plus Minus, showing the two way nature of both of their basketball skills.

As their running mate, Paul and Lowry each have a superstar to throw the ball to. Demar DeRozan and Blake Griffin are both superstars in their own right, and fill the same purpose even though they play different positions. DeRozan is the better scorer, while Griffin is more of an all around offensive player. On defense, they are the same caliber.

After the two stars, both teams have tough, old school coaches in Doc Rivers and Dwayne Casey, and have decent supporting casts around them. DeAndre Jordan, JJ Redick, and Jamal Crawford bring scoring, shooting, and paint presence that helps the Clippers remain in the higher end of the western conference. For the Raptors, Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valunciunas, DeMarre Carroll, and PJ Tucker bring the same elements that the Clippers role players do.