First, in the 1990s, the alliance was still "strong in the east and weak in the west.".
The Detroit Pistons' "Bad Boy Army" led by Isaiah Thomas and Bill Lambier and Jordan and Pippen's "Bull Dynasty" rule almost the entire NBA League! In a decade, the Eastern Conference team won eight championships, and the Western team only the Houston Rockets took the opportunity to win two championships when Jordan first retired to play baseball.
Second, after entering the 21st century, the situation has suddenly changed, and the alliance has since entered the era of "strong west and weak east".
1. The number of east-west championships from 2000 to 2021
In these 21 seasons, 4 teams in the West have won 13 championships: including the Lakers 3 consecutive, 2 consecutive, and 2 warriors, the Spurs are a championship the following year; 6 teams in the East have won 8 championships, and only the Heat are 2 consecutive championships. The dominance of the Western conference team is on full display!
2. Eighth place win rate in the East and West from 2000 to 2021
If the championship doesn't tell the story, then the winning percentage of the East and West teams every season will tell us plainly that it's true and the gap is huge! Since the 2000-2001 season: eighth in the West with a win rate of less than 50 percent, the Grizzlies (49.2 percent) in the 2019-2020 shrink season (72 outbreaks), and the eighth in the East with a win rate of less than 50 percent 11 times...
Since I watched the game (the Lakers' 3 consecutive championship period), I often saw 3-4 teams in the West fighting fiercely to the last game for the last playoff spot; while the East had determined the match early without suspense. Eastern teams can make the playoffs with 40 wins, while Western teams have 50-54 wins, more extreme such as:
In the 2007-2008 season, eight teams in the West had a win rate of more than 61%, and the 9th Warriors in the West had 48 wins and 34 losses (58.5%) to rank fourth in the East (Cavaliers 45 wins, 37 losses and 54.9%);
In the 2008-2009 season, the 6 western players exceeded 60%, and the Suns 56.1% ranked 9th and ranked 5th in the East;
The 2009-2010 season was even more terrifying, with all eight teams in the West over 60 percent, and the Blazers, Spurs, and Thunder all finishing 6-8 with a 61 percent win rate, the same record as the 4th Celtics in the East.
2007-2008 season
2009-2010 season
Therefore, there are voices that James has entered the playoffs for 13 consecutive years and reached the finals for 8 consecutive years, because of the weak competition in the East, which will make James thrive.
Has the alliance pattern changed? Is it true that the East is weak in the West?
The Suns, who have been away from the playoffs for 10 years, directly reached the finals last season, facing the Eastern Conference's powerful Bucks 2-4 defeat, and the Bucks won the championship again after 50 years. More and more people think that the pattern of strong west and weak east has changed, is this really the case?
1. From the perspective of the 2020-2021 season, 4 teams in the West (Jazz, Suns, Clippers, Nuggets) have a winning rate of more than 60%, of which 2 (Jazz, Suns) are more than 70%, 3 teams (Lone Rangers, Blazers, Lakers) have the same record of 42 wins and 30 losses (58.3%), only 3 teams in the East (76ers, Nets, Bucks) have a 60% win rate, and 4-5 (Knicks, Hawks) 56.9% are not as good as the West, and the data shows that the West is still stronger.
2. Why do we think the east is stronger? In fact, it is because there are more and more top teams in the East, the Bucks have two consecutive years of MVP letter brother, Middleton, Holliday, nets Durant, Harden, Irving three giants, 76ers Embiid, Simmons, Harris. This season, the Heat led by Butler and Adebayo welcomed Lowry, and the Bulls immediately introduced DeRozan, Vucevic, Ball and Lavin to form a 4-person group, directly from the second echelon to the championship contenders. With the addition of the Celtics, Knicks, Raptors, and Hawks, the competition in the top 4 in the East is becoming more and more fierce, and there is no longer a phenomenon that the 8th-9th place in the West is equal to the top 4 in the East! So far this season, the top 7 wins in the East have all exceeded 60%, the defending champion Bucks have also fallen out of the team due to injury, only 3 in the West have a 60% win rate, and the team's record in the East has also beaten the West.
If last season was just an illusion, this season will really start to change the pattern, and from then on, the east is strong and the west is weak!