No. 1: The LA Clippers
Schedule Score: 1.9
Right, so, onto the metric reason the top teams rank so high. It’s pretty simple actually, you see, this metric gives teams one point for every seed they are. So, like I explained in the intro, the higher seed you have, the more points you get. In the East, the top nine teams made it, and so there was a maximum of nine points to be had. In the West, 13 teams made it, and so there’s a maximum of 13 points to be had. Teams high up in the standings have better records against their opponents, leading to a higher score before standings are accounting for, meaning a top team’s standings only boost their rating all the more.
And this isn’t that much of an unfair advantage either, out of the top 10 teams in the league by win pct, six of them are from the West. The Grizzlies, the eighth seed in the West, have a better record than the seventh and eighth seed in the East. If that’s the case, why shouldn’t the top teams in the West have a small advantage?
And it is just a small one. Both the Lakers and the Clippers still play two of the top three teams in either conference, and both have primarily playoff contenders on their schedule, though admittedly the Clippers have two non-playoff opponents to the Lakers one. This is going to hurt their score, as shown by the Clippers -7 opponent score.
Aside from that, it’s safe to assume that the league wants their top teams in the postseason to be healthy, and so they give the top seeds an easier schedule. It’s simply business, and hopefully, it will be great business for the league.