As the regular season enters its finale, competition for the East and West rankings becomes particularly intense, with competition in the East dominating the top half compared to some western second-half teams still struggling for play-off spots.
In particular, after Irving's full-time return, the Nets became the biggest spoiler in the East, leading some teams in the upper half of the East to choose to strategically adjust their rankings to avoid encountering strong opponents in the first round.
In this case, the East ushered in 4 games about multiple strong teams, of which 76 people upset, the Nets lost, the dark horse win to determine the top ten list, and the latest ranking in the East was released.
First look at the latest match results for teams in the East:
The 76ers lost to the Pistons 94-102, the Hawks beat the Cavaliers 131-107, the Nets lost 119-120 to the Bucks and the Bulls beat the Clippers 135-130.
The latest rankings in the East after the game are: Heat (1), Bucks (2), Green Army (3), 76ers (4), Bulls (5), Raptors (6), Cavaliers (7), Nets (8), Hornets (9), Hawks (10), Knicks (11), Wizards (12), Pacers (13), Pistons (14) and Magic (15).
First look at the 11-15th place slot, where the Pistons and Magic are in a complete state of collapse.
As a result, the Pistons beat the 76ers in a cold way, which led to the Pistons' bottom-to-last position has been unstable, and it is possible to be overtaken by the Thunder, if it eventually rises to the fourth-to-last, then the Pistons' swing effect throughout the season will undoubtedly be reduced (the probability of competing for the title declines).
The Pacers, Wizards and Knicks didn't want to mess up at the start of the season, but the competition in the East was too fierce, so the team could not compete for playoff spots, and had to compete for the best possible first-round picks.
Next up are the 7-10 teams, which are in the play-offs.
After the Eagles beat the Cavaliers by a large score, the team's wins ahead of the 11th-place Knicks reached 6 games, and the play-off places have been determined with the advantage of winning and losing.
This means that there will be no changes to the top ten teams in the East, and the remaining games will only determine the specific ranking of the top ten, but it will not change the fact that the five teams in the bottom half of the region have completely missed the playoffs.
In addition, the Nets, Hornets and Hawks in this file currently have no win difference, with a record of 40 wins and 37 losses, and only 2 wins away from the seventh Cavaliers, and the competition for places in the first half of the playoffs is very fierce.
The remaining schedule of the 4 teams is equally difficult, all of which are the configuration of 3 strong teams + 2 fish belly teams, of which the Nets face the Cavaliers and Hawks, which will become the key games that determine the final ranking of the four teams.
The seventh Cavaliers, as the big dark horse team, are currently 2.5 wins behind the Raptors in front of them, considering that the Raptors have won 4 consecutive games and the Cavaliers have lost 2 consecutive games, the possibility of this team wanting to return to the top six is slim.
This was followed by the 1-6 positions, with the 5-6 Bulls only 0.5 wins away from the Raptors, with the Raptors in a four-game winning streak and the Bulls reversing the odds and recently winning two straight games.
However, the Next Bulls' schedule is extremely difficult, and although they beat the Clippers, they still have to face the Heat, Bucks, Green Army, Hornets and Timberwolves, and it is not easy to keep the fifth place.
On the raptors side, the remaining opponents of the team are magic, heat, eagles, 76ers, rockets and Knicks, of which the magic, rockets and Knicks are outside the playoffs, the team has a high probability of winning, and it is very likely to rise to the fourth position.
Finally, there are four teams in the top half, of which the 76ers are already 2.5 wins behind the first-place Heat after a three-game losing streak, and considering the Nets are highly likely to enter the playoffs in seventh or eighth place, 76ers losing is not necessarily a bad thing.
The Green Army also suffered two consecutive defeats, but the team only led the 76ers by 0.5 wins and 1.5 wins from the Bucks in front of them, which means that the final ranking of the first half of the district will still be very variable.
It depends on how teams in the first half of the zone view the Nets, whether they choose strategic rotation and ranking adjustments, so the first place in the East may not be known until the final round of the regular season.