Who’s Leading the NBA?

The NBA season is in full swing and there are a lot of great players and teams out there vying for the championship title. But who’s leading the pack so far? Keep up with the latest NBA news and standings with this blog.

The Standings

As of December 18th, the Los Angeles Lakers are in first place in the Western Conference with a record of 22-3. The Lakers are followed by the Utah Jazz, who have a record of 20-5. In the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks are in first place with a record of 22-3. The Toronto Raptors are in second place with a record of 21-8.

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of two conferences that makes up the league, the other being the Western Conference. Like the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference is made up of 15 teams, organized into three divisions.

The current divisional alignment was introduced in 2004, when the now Charlotte Bobcats began play as an expansion team. The major changes caused by the realignment were the relocation of the former New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn and the former Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City.

As of 2019, the Eastern Conference has won a total of 40 NBA championships, while the Western Conference has won 32. The Boston Celtics have the most conference titles with 21, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers with 16.

Western Conference

The Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of two conferences that makes up the league, the other being the Eastern Conference. Like the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference is made up of 15 teams, organized into three divisions.

The divisional alignment began in 2004, when the now Charlotte Hornets began playing as the New Orleans Pelicans, and the NBA realigned itself so that each conference had three divisions of five teams each. This realignment also coincided with a change in how the playoffs worked; previously, conference seeding was used to determine playoff matchups, but now it is divisional seeding that is used. The three division winners in each conference are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, as are the two conference runners-up with the next best records. The remaining four playoff spots are filled by the four remaining teams with the best records, regardless of divisional alignment.

As of right now, these are the standings for the Western Conference:

-Golden State Warriors (48-4)
-San Antonio Spurs (43-9)
-Oklahoma City Thunder (37-15)
-Los Angeles Clippers (36-17)
– Memphis Grizzlies (32-20)
-Portland Trail Blazers (29-23)
-Dallas Mavericks (27-25)
-Houston Rockets (26-25)
-Utah Jazz (25-26)
New Orleans Pelicans (24-27)
Denver Nuggets (22-29) Minnesota Timberwolves (19-31) Sacramento Kings (19-31), Los Angeles Lakers (12 – 37), Phoenix Suns(13 – 39).

The Leaders

The Leaders of the NBA this season have been the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers have been led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, while the Bucks have been led by Giannis Antetokounmpo. These two teams have been the best in the league all season and have been the clear favorites to win the NBA Championship.

Eastern Conference

In the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks are in the lead with a record of 16-3. The Toronto Raptors are in second place with a record of 15-4, and the Boston Celtics are in third place with a record of 14-5.

Western Conference

The Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of two conferences that makes up the NBA, the other being the Eastern Conference. Like the Eastern Conference, the Western Conference is made up of 15 teams, organized in three divisions.

The divisional and conference winners will be seeded first and second in the playoffs. The next best six teams in each conference will be seeded third through eighth.

In the first round of the playoffs, the seedings matter only if there is a matchup between two teams with identical regular-season records. For example, if the sixth seed has a better record than the third seed but worse than fourth seed, it will play the fifth seed in the first round regardless. Such a scenario would arise if two or more playoff-bound teams had identical records at season’s end but finished in different positions due to having played an unequal number of games against conference foes with superior or inferior records.

The following are current team standings as of February 26th, 2020:

Los Angeles Lakers – 43-12
Milwaukee Bucks – 43-14
Toronto Raptors – 41-16
Boston Celtics – 41-17
Houston Rockets – 39-19
Denver Nuggets – 39-20
Miami Heat – 37-21
Utah Jazz – 37-21
Oklahoma City Thunder – 35-22

Dallas Mavericks – 34-22
Philadelphia 76ers – 34-22
Portland Trail Blazers – 29-28

Memphis Grizzlies – 28-28
New Orleans Pelicans – 28-29

Minnesota Timberwolves 27 – 30 Sacramento Kings 27 – 30 San Antonio Spurs 24 – 33 Phoenix Suns 23 – 34 Los Angeles Clippers 23 – 34 Chicago Bulls 22 – 36 Charlotte Hornets 21 – 36 Orlando Magic 21 – 36

The Teams to Watch

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks are currently leading the NBA with the best records. The Lakers have been led by Anthony Davis and LeBron James, while the Bucks have been led by Giannis Antetokounmpo. These two teams are the ones to watch this season.

Eastern Conference

In the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Raptors are currently leading with a record of 52-19. The Milwaukee Bucks are second with a record of 50-20, followed by the Philadelphia 76ers with a 47-23 record. The Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics round out the top five teams, with records of 47-25 and 45-26 respectively.

Western Conference

The Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, and Oklahoma City Thunder have the best records in the NBA as of January 2019. These teams are all in the Western Conference. The Warriors are currently in first place with a record of 37-14. The Rockets are in second place with a record of 34-16. The Thunder are in third place with a record of 33-19.