by Al McMordie
Sunday, Nov 08, 2026There were many moves in the off-season, with a lot of talent moving to teams like the Toronto Raptors (Kawhi Leonard), Philadelphia 76ers (Jaylen Brown, LeBron James) and Miami Heat (Giannis Antetokounmpo). The mainstream thought was that the Eastern conference was deeper and better than the Western conference which was top-heavy with the juggernaut San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Interestingly, the Western conference has dominated the Eastern conference out of the gate. The two conferences have played 26 games against each other, and the West's teams are 21-5 straight-up, and 22-3-1 ATS!
And, as further proof that this is not a mirage, and the results reflect reality, consider that basketball-reference.com's Team Ratings currently has Western conference teams ranked as the Top 11 teams in adjusted Net Rating (which focuses on margin of victory + schedule strength). It isn't until you get to #12 and #13 that you see an Eastern conference team ranked. Here are the Top 20 along with their ratings (after the games of November 7):
1. Spurs 14.02
2. Rockets 13.06
3. Timberwolves 11.95
4. Thunder 11.52
5. Blazers 10.08
6. Lakers 9.58
7. Warriors 8.12
8. Grizzlies 6.85
9. Mavericks 6.32
10. Nuggets 5.58
11. Pelicans 2.39
12. Cavaliers 1.95
13. Pistons 1.87
14. Suns 0.87
15. Celtics 0.85
16. Raptors 0.70
17. Hawks -0.61
18. Knicks -0.72
19. Clippers -1.70
20. 76ers -2.68
Clearly, one can take issue with certain things at Basketball-Reference's Team Ratings. Are the 76ers deservingly-rated #20, just behind the #19 Clippers? Philadelphia is 8-2, and the Clippers are 1-7, after all. On the surface, it makes little sense. Philadelphia's raw Margin of Victory is 9.30 ppg better than the Clippers. Does Philadelphia's Eastern conference-heavy schedule diminish its W/L record and Margin of Victory differential that much? I'm actually not concerned with those things. For me, the important takeaway is how much better the Western conference has generally been, and it is absolutely showing up in the ATS records.
Today, there are three games between Eastern and Western conference teams (all odds courtesy of Circa):
Los Angeles Lakers (+5) at Detroit Pistons
Dallas Mavericks (-8) vs Brooklyn Nets
Sacramento Kings (+10) vs. Miami Heat
Our NBA System of the Week is to take the Western conference teams in games against the Eastern conference.
Good luck, as always,
Al McMordie
Interestingly, the Western conference has dominated the Eastern conference out of the gate. The two conferences have played 26 games against each other, and the West's teams are 21-5 straight-up, and 22-3-1 ATS!
And, as further proof that this is not a mirage, and the results reflect reality, consider that basketball-reference.com's Team Ratings currently has Western conference teams ranked as the Top 11 teams in adjusted Net Rating (which focuses on margin of victory + schedule strength). It isn't until you get to #12 and #13 that you see an Eastern conference team ranked. Here are the Top 20 along with their ratings (after the games of November 7):
1. Spurs 14.02
2. Rockets 13.06
3. Timberwolves 11.95
4. Thunder 11.52
5. Blazers 10.08
6. Lakers 9.58
7. Warriors 8.12
8. Grizzlies 6.85
9. Mavericks 6.32
10. Nuggets 5.58
11. Pelicans 2.39
12. Cavaliers 1.95
13. Pistons 1.87
14. Suns 0.87
15. Celtics 0.85
16. Raptors 0.70
17. Hawks -0.61
18. Knicks -0.72
19. Clippers -1.70
20. 76ers -2.68
Clearly, one can take issue with certain things at Basketball-Reference's Team Ratings. Are the 76ers deservingly-rated #20, just behind the #19 Clippers? Philadelphia is 8-2, and the Clippers are 1-7, after all. On the surface, it makes little sense. Philadelphia's raw Margin of Victory is 9.30 ppg better than the Clippers. Does Philadelphia's Eastern conference-heavy schedule diminish its W/L record and Margin of Victory differential that much? I'm actually not concerned with those things. For me, the important takeaway is how much better the Western conference has generally been, and it is absolutely showing up in the ATS records.
Today, there are three games between Eastern and Western conference teams (all odds courtesy of Circa):
Los Angeles Lakers (+5) at Detroit Pistons
Dallas Mavericks (-8) vs Brooklyn Nets
Sacramento Kings (+10) vs. Miami Heat
Our NBA System of the Week is to take the Western conference teams in games against the Eastern conference.
Good luck, as always,
Al McMordie
