An article I created for Rufus on Fire, SBNation:
by Frank S. Collins
Many fans have wondered how the
Bobcats
and other NBA playoff teams would have fared this season if they had their
current roster for the entire season? The best indication of this is to
look at the win/loss record of the games played after many of the key roster
adjustments were made.
How would the season have ended if only the games played on or after January
1, 2010 counted? While the number of games played in 2010 onward varied by
team, the most games played by any one team in 2010 was 48. Therefore I
set 48 games as the base. I counted the first 48 games played in 2010 for
each playoff team to see how they would compare with each other.
- 35-13 Cleveland
- 33-15 Orlando
- 32-16 Milwaukee
- 30-18 Charlotte
- 29-19 Atlanta
- 28-20 Miami
- 26-22 Boston
- 25-23 Chicago
Charlotte would have the #4 seed and home court advantage against the
Atlanta
Hawks. Milwaukee would have the #3 seed and face Miami at home.
Boston would be struggling with Orlando. With the scenario above, the
Bobcats would be favored to knock off the Hawks and then likely face the
Cavaliers
in the 2nd round. With a 3-1 record against the Cavs this year, the
Bobcats would have a shot at reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. This
scenario could be a predictor of how the Bobcats finish next year if they
maintain their current roster.
How would the West stack up? I used the same 48 game formula above.
For tiebreakers I only looked at games played after January 1, 2010. Utah
would much prefer the #1 seed to the #5 seed. Can the
Lakers
beat the
Thunder without the home court advantage? Maybe next season we will
know.
- 34-14 Utah
- 32-16 Phoenix (wins tiebreaker)
- 32-16 Denver
- 31-17 OK City (wins tiebreaker)
- 31-17 LA Lakers (2nd in tiebreaker)
- 31-17 Dallas
- 29-19 Portland
- 29-19 San Antonio
