For a long time in the past, "strong west and weak east" have been recognized by the league, and even because of this, the outside world once questioned the gold content of James's consecutive finals.
But with the change of stars in the past few seasons, the league's long-lasting "strong west and weak east" pattern is quietly changing.
In particular, after the Raptors and Bucks have won the championship, accelerating the enthusiasm of the eastern teams to improve the lineup, coupled with the emergence of a number of dark horse teams in the east this season, the overall strength and fierce competition in the east this season have far exceeded the west.
Although in terms of top teams, the West still dominates, the top four in the league are all from the West, and the Warriors and Suns are even more invincible, far behind other teams.
But in terms of overall strength, the competitiveness of the West has declined rapidly, almost in a state of disconnection, and the eighth-place Timberwolves have not yet won more than 50%.
Such a record is placed in the East, which can only be ranked twelfth, and there is no place in the playoffs.
Especially after the decline in the performance of the eastern head team in recent times, it has intensified the fierce competition in the eastern rankings.
After the Nets' away loss to the Cavaliers, the top five teams in the East all had 27 wins, and Philadelphia, sixth in the East, was just 2.5 wins away from the first-place Bulls.
And the Bulls are currently in a 4-game losing streak, and although the team is still ranked first in the East, it may be surpassed by the team behind them at any time.
The Nets, which previously ranked second, have also lost the style of the championship team, not only facing the strength of the strong team, but also often losing victories against the weak team.
In the last 11 games, the team has lost seven games, and the team has slipped from second place in the East to third place in the East, and it is very likely that the ranking will fall further.
Because the Cavaliers behind the Nets are eyeing the tiger, after losing to the Cavaliers on the road, the Nets' advantage over the Cavaliers has been reduced to only 1 win.
Overall, the gap between Western Playoff teams and play-off teams is significant, and the record of play-off teams and pendulum teams is equally clear.
In contrast, in the East, the difference between the first place and the eleventh place is only 6 wins, and the gap between each team and the team in front of them is almost 0.5-1 wins.
Among them, the First Bulls in the East and the Nets in the Third Place are currently in the downward trend of losing and retreating, and the Bulls' Lavine and the Nets' Durant are deeply involved in injury problems, which makes other teams in the East have a stronger desire to win, because it is possible to win one more game and the team can get rid of the play-offs.
The most momentum is undoubtedly the cavaliers currently fourth in the East, as the big dark horse of the East, the Cavaliers are currently in a 5-game winning streak, the only team in the East to win more than 2 consecutive games.
Although the current Cavaliers team is not complete, sexton and Rubio two backcourt brains are reimbursed for the season, but the team has been out of trouble, new signing Rondo is perfectly integrated into the system.
In addition, the Heat, which have now reached the second place in the East, are also in excellent form, and the team has shaken off the fluctuations of the beginning of the season, and under the leadership of a group of healthy cores, it is expected to impact the first position in the East.
The Bucks in fifth place and Philadelphia in sixth place are equally in excellent shape, and the health of the core internal staff is relatively stable.
Even so, they can't let their guard down, as the 7-10 Hornets, Raptors, Wizards and Green Army are all eyeing out for a playoff spot and are expected to make a move in the trading market.
This is even more true of the 11th Knicks and 12th Eagles, both of whom were dark horses last season, and have now been exposed to hopes of completing a large-scale deal to turn things around, and it is believed that after the trade deadline, the situation in the East will become more chaotic.