East vs. West Disparity

With 15 games left in the regular season, the Rockets are poised to make the playoffs, but which team they will face in the first round is anybody's guess. That's because there are so many good teams in the Western Conference that 3rd place and 8th place are only separated by two games. It's tough out west.

The East, on the other hand, has three of the four best teams in the NBA, but the quality dwindles fast after that. In fact, the fourth place team in the East would not even make the playoffs in the West. Some would say that Cleveland, Boston and Orlando only have gaudy records because they play most of their games in the pitiful Eastern Conference. There may be a grain of truth to that, but having seen all three teams play, they are the real deal.

My scale has always been pretty simple. Win half your games, you're mediocre. 45 wins is a good team. 50 wins is a very good team. 55 wins is excellent. 60 wins is a great team. But this year is different. An abundance of lousy teams in the East has made a few very good teams look great and an overabundance of excellent teams in the West has made some great teams look mediocre.

How Houston fares post-season depends entirely on which team draws the Rockets in the playoffs. IMHO, the Rockets match up well against New Orleans, Portland, Denver and Dallas, but would have a tough time against L.A., San Antonio or Utah. If the playoffs were to start today, they would face Portland, but the Rockets have the toughest remaining schedule of any team in the West and could easily fall a few slots in these last games in the very competitive Western Conference. Not to mention that regardless of who they play in the first round, the Lakers and Spurs will likely still be out there waiting for them.

There is some good news. The Rockets have beaten all three of the best teams in the East, so if they can get to the finals, they've got a fair shot at winning it all. Obviously, I'm really reaching for some good news here.