Review of the regular season and what can we expect from the playoffs first round.

Another NBA regular season has come to an end. We saw quite a few surprises, that are welcome for a few teams and not so inspiring to others. But before the playoffs, the play-in tournament is waiting for us that will decide the final 2 teams of each conference, that will face the top 2 teams of the east and west. For the end of the regular season, we prepared a special blog, a breakthrough of the regular season.

Teams that are out of the playoff and out of play-in tournament.

This season we had a couple of teams that wanted the playoffs badly, but just could not make the step into the season’s best teams club. On the east, the teams that did not make it are: New York Knicks, Washington Wizards, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, and Orlando Magic. On the West the eliminated teams are: Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets. Some of these teams were not aiming for the playoffs, but for the highest pick on the next year’s draft. On the other hand, there are some teams, that have to have the grown-up talk about their future. But in the blog, we are gona focus on the teams, that are still in the race for the Championship ring.

Ekipe iz repa lestvice bodo imele več možnosti za višji izbor na naboru (vir: NBA.com)
The worst teams will have a higher chance of winning the round pick. (source: NBA.com)

Western conference – WEST

Nothing new on the west. The majority was already known a few games ago. The unknown was just the final standing. Warriors finished third and Dallas got their home advantage in the first round. The kings of the west were the Phoenix Suns, with a franchise historically good season. Halfway through the season it looked like the Warriors are gona take the second place, but surprisingly the Memphis Grizzlies finished at the second spot. In Memphis, they built a fun team, led by Ja Morant. Denver, even though they played a whole season without two of their top 3 players (Michael Porter Jr. & Jamal Murray) finished the season 6th. This year’s success is all thanks to a last year’s MVP Nikola Jokić. This year Nikola played much better on the defensive end, and if that is even possible, he was also better on the offense. He truly is a leader of the team, and is in a race for a back-to-back MVP award. Utah ended the regular season on spot number 6. After an amazing December, they had a bad January, and then a great February and a terrible march. They could not find the rhythm in the regular season, after being at the top of the western conference fort he last 3 years. Can they still surprise in the playoffs? Two wins behind them are the Timberwolves. After years of struggle the team led by trio Towns-Edwards-Russell, finally led the team into the playoffs. But first, they have to go through the play-in tournament where they will be challenged by LA Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs. Al three of these teams played much better in the second half of the season, especially the Pelicans, after the trade deadline.

 

Western conference – teams statistics

Phoenix Suns (64-18)

Points: 114.8 – Rebounds: 43.7 – Assists: 25.5 – Turnovers: 14.6 – Steals: 7.4 – Blocks: 3.2

2pts average: 48,5% – 3pts average: 36.4% – FT average: 79,7%

Memphis Grizzlies (56-25)

Points: 115.6 – Rebounds 43.7 – Assists: 25.5 – Turnovers: 14.6 – Steals: 7.4 – Blocks: 3.2

2pts average: 46,1 % – 3pts average: 35,3 % – FT average: 73,4 %

Golden State Warriors (53-29)

Points: 111.0 – Rebounds: 43.7 – Assists: 25.5 – Turnovers: 14.6 – – steals: 7.4 – blocks: 3.2

2pts average: 46,1% – 3pts average: 36,4 % – FT average: 77,1 %

Dallas Mavericks (52-30)

Points: 108.0 – Rebounds: 43.7 – assists: 25.5 – Turnovers: 14.6 – Steals: 7.4 – Blocks: 3.2

2pts average: 46,1 % – 3pts average: 35,0 % – FT average: 77,1 %

Utah Jazz (49-33)

Points: 113.6 – Rebounds: 43.7 – Asissts: 25.5 – Turnovers: 14.6 – Steals: 7.4 – Blocks: 3.2

2pts average: 47,1 % – 3pts average: 36,0 % – FT average: 76,7 %

Denver Nuggets (48-34)

Points: 112.7 – Rebounds: 44.1 – Asissts: 27.8 – Turnovers: 13.8 – Steals: 7.4 – Blocks: 3.7

2pts average: 57.5 % – 3pts average: 35.3 % – FT average: 79,5 %

Minnesota Timberwolves (46-36)

Points: 115.9 – Rebounds: 43.7 – Asissts: 25.5 – Turnovers: 14.3 – Steals: 8.8 – Blocks: 5.6

2pts average: 54.0 % – 3pts average: 35.8 % – FT average: 77,8 %

LA Clippers (42-40)

Points: 108.4 – Rebounds: 44.0 – Asissts: 24.0 – Turnovers: 13.7 – Steals: 7.4 – Blocks: 5

2pts average: 45,8 % – 3pts average: 37,4 % – FT average: 79,3 %

New Orleans Pelicans (36-46)

Points: 109.3 – Rebounds: 45.2 – Asissts: 25.0 – Turnovers: 14.1 – Steals: 8.3 – Blocks: 4

2pts average: 45,7 % – 3pts average: 33,2 % – FT average: 78,9 %

San Antonio Spurs (34-48)

Points: 113.2 – Rebounds: 43.7 – Asissts: 25.5 – Turnovers: 14.6 – Steals: 7.4 – Blocks: 3.2

2pts average: 46,7 % – 3pts average: 35,2 % – FT average: 75,4 %

Zahodna konferenca
Western conference

Eastern Conference – EAST

After a long reign of the west, the east has finally taken the primacy in the league. That’s how it looks at the first sight on the stands. Because of injuries and other ”problems,” Brooklyn Nets have fallen to a 7th spot and will have to go through the play-in system to play in the playoffs. Someone had to be the 7th, because on the spots from 1 to 6, there are Miami, Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Chicago. It’s hard to say which of these teams is the best because the standings tell us a lot, but not everything. 76ers will face Toronto, which is lower on the stands but has defeated the 76ers 3 times out of 4 matches. The same is with Miami and Boston. Both teams had a great regular season, but the first-round exit, would not be a surprise. One of them will face Brooklyn in the first round, a team that nobody wants to face. First round of the eastern conference is gona be very interesting and every matchup is gona be a joy to watch.

Eastern Conference – teams statistics

Miami Heat (53-29)

Points: 110.0 – Rebounds: 43.7 – Asissts: 25.5 – Turnovers: 14.6 – Steals: 7.4 – Blocks: 3.2

2pts average: 46,7 % – 3pts average: 37,9 % – FT average: 80,8 %

Boston Celtics (51-31)

Points: 111.8 – Rebounds: 46.1 – Asissts: 24.8 – Turnovers: 13.6 – Steals: 7.2 – Blocks: 5.8

2pts average: 46,6 % – 3pts average: 35,6 % – FT average: 81,6 %

Milwaukee Bucks (51-31)

Points: 115.5 – Rebounds: 46.7 – Asissts: 23.9 – Turnovers: 13.4 – Steals: 7.6 – Blocks: 4.0

2pts average: 46,8 % – 3pts average: 36,6 % – FT average: 77,6 %

Philadelphia 76ers (51-31)

Points: 109.9 – Rebounds: 42.3 – Asissts: 23.7 – Turnovers: 12.5 – Steals: 7.7 – Blocks: 5.3

2pts average: 46,6 % – 3pts average: 36,4 % – FT average: 82,1 %

Toronto Raptors (48-34)

Points: 109.4 – Rebounds: 45.3 – Asissts: 22.1 – Turnovers: 12.5 – Steals: 9.0 – Blocks: 4.6

2pts average: 44,5 % – 3pts average: 34,9 % – FT average: 75,9 %

Chicago Bulls (46-36)

Points: 111.6 – Rebounds: 42.3 – Asissts: 23.9 – Turnovers: 12.8 – Steals: 9.0 – Blocks: 4.6

2pts average: 48,0 % – 3pts average: 36,9 % – FT average: 81,3 %

Brooklyn Nets (44-38)

Points: 112.9 – Rebounds: 44.4 – Asissts: 25.3 – Turnovers: 14.1 – Steals: 7.1 – Blocks: 5.5

2pts average: 47,5 % – 3pts average: 36,1 % – FT average: 80,5 %

Cleveland Cavaliers (44-38)

Points: 107.8 – Rebounds: 44.2 – Asissts: 25.3 – Turnovers: 14.1 – Steals: 7.1 – Blocks: 4.2

2pts average: 46,9 % – 3pts average: 32,8 % – FT average: 76,0 %

Atlanta Hawks (43-39)

Points: 113.9 – Rebounds: 44.0 – Asissts: 24.6 – Turnovers: 11.9 – Steals: 7.2 – Blocks: 4.2

2pts average: 47,0 % – 3pts average: 37,4 % – FT average: 81,2 %

Charlotte Hornets (43-39)

Points: 115.3 – Rebounds: 44.6 – Asissts: 28.1 – Turnovers: 13.3 – Steals: 8.6 – Blocks: 4.9

2pts average: 46,8 % – 3pts average: 36,5 % – FT average: 74,0 %

Vzhodna konferenca (vir: NBA.com)
Eastern Conference (source: NBA.com)

TOP 5 in team statistics before the playoff

Points Per Game

  • Minnesota Timberwolves – 115,9
  • Memphis Grizzlies – 115,6
  • Milwaukee Bucks – 115,5
  • Charlotte Hornets – 115,3
  • Phoenix Suns – 114,8

Rebounds Per Game

  • Memphis Grizzlies – 49,2
  • Milwaukee Bucks – 46,7
  • Utah Jazz – 46,3
  • NY Knicks – 46,1
  • Boston Celtics – 46,1

Assists Per Game

  • Charlotte Hornets – 28,1
  • San Antonio Spurs – 27,9
  • Denver Nuggets – 27,8
  • Phoenix Suns – 27,4
  • Golden State Warriors – 27,1

Blocks Per Game 

  • Memphis Grizzlies – 6,5
  • Boston Celtics – 5,8
  • Indiana Pacers – 5,6
  • Minnesota Timberwolves – 5,6
  • Brooklyn Nets – 5,5

Steals Per Game

  • Memphis Grizzlies – 9,8
  • Toronto Raptors – 9,0
  • Golden State Warriors – 8,8
  • Minnesota Timberwolves – 8,8
  • Charlotte Hornets – 8,6

2 Points Percentage

  • Phoenix Suns – 48,5
  • Denver Nuggets – 48,3
  • Chicago Bulls – 48,0
  • Brooklyn Nets – 47,5
  • Washington Wizards – 47,2

3 Points Percentage

  • Miami Heat – 37,9
  • Atlanta Hawks – 37,4
  • LA Clippers – 37,4
  • Chicago Bulls – 36,9
  • Milwaukee Bucks – 36,6

Free Throw Percentage

  • Philadelphia 76ers – 82,1
  • Boston Celtics – 81,6
  • Chicago Bulls – 81,3
  • Atlanta Hawks – 81,2
  • Miami Heat – 80,8

NBA Playoffs 2022 – play-in turnament schedule and playoffs

Razpored play-in turnirja in prvega kroga končnice (vir: CBSsports)
Play-In tournament schedule and playoffs first round (source: CBSsports)