It seems like the NBA season started yesterday, but we’re already 20% of the way there. Most NBA teams have around 20 games under their belt and some interesting trends are shaping up. One of the stats I look at to determine a team’s talent is the number of teams. 500 or more that expired.
Any NBA team can get wins against poor teams, but to be a champion, a team must beat the cream of the crop. Here’s a great example of a potentially deceptive team. Take the Cleveland Cavaliers. They get a lot of attention thanks to LeBron James and are 12-7 this season. They are currently one game behind the Detroit Pistons for the Central Division lead.
However, that number is a bit misleading. The Cavs have played 12 of those 19 games against weak teams. Of the 7 games against .500 or better teams, the Cavaliers have won 4. Seeing that they are 4-3 against decent or better teams puts them in a different light than looking at their 12-7 record.
Let’s take a look at a couple more teams. The San Antonio Spurs lead the Southwest Division with a 15-5 record. Ten of those 20 games have come against decent or better teams and they are 6-4 in those games.
Now, this is where this stat really shines. The Dallas Mavericks are 14-5 and one game behind the San Antonio Spurs. Nine of their 20 games have come against teams .500 or better and they are an impressive 7-2 against those teams.
By watching how teams play against good teams, we can get a great idea of who is really good and who is just improving their record. We can deduce that the Dallas Mavericks are playing better basketball right now than the other teams mentioned despite having similar overall records.