National Basketball Association

The Starting Five: Eastern uprising, at least at the top

Published Jan. 13, 2015 3:57 p.m. ET

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Here are some hot topics of the NBA variety that may help you rally after failing to nab Hassan Whiteside for your fantasy team.

When it comes to depth, the Eastern Conference continues its second fiddling when compared to music provided by the folks out West.

Through last weekend, the East registered five teams with winning records; the mighty Western Conference was rolling along with eight.

But does the perception of overall superiority extend to the top levels of each conference?

With the season nearing the midway point, let's take a look at how teams currently occupying positions 1-4 in the standings for one conference have fared in head-to-head skirmishes with the first four in the other.

Our lineup for the Eastern Conference is Hawks, Raptors, Bulls and Wizards.

The West counters with Warriors, Trail Blazers, Rockets and Grizzlies.

With 14 inter-conference games contested involving these teams, the East holds an 8-6 advantage. The aforementioned East teams are 2-4 on the road in these events; that includes consecutive losses in Portland and Oakland for the Raptors who were without DeMar DeRozan.

Atlanta is 3-2 against the West elite, Toronto is 1-2, Washington is 1-0 and Chicago (with all of its wins at home) is 3-2.

It should be noted that the Wizards' win over the Rockets in Houston was followed by consecutive losses in Dallas (fifth in the West), Oklahoma City (10th) and San Antonio (seventh).

Overall, the Eastern Conference is 85-135 overall in head-to-head confrontations with the West. In case you hadn't noticed, those stinkers at the bottom of the East are really smelly.

Mike D'Antoni's pace is somewhat pedestrian by today's standards, but an examination of postseason results would seem to indicate that haste still makes waste.

It was pure anarchy, threatening to redefine how NBA basketball would be played.

But was Mike D'Antoni, Steve Nash and the seven-seconds-or-less philosophy unleashed by the Phoenix Suns all that revolutionary?

Well, it helped bring back the high-ball screen and floor-spacing tactics we see all over the league right now.

Looking at the numbers, however, we realize that the 2004-05 Suns -- who averaged 95.9 possessions per 48 minutes in D'Antoni's first season with Nash running the show -- wouldn't even crack the top five for pace this season.

The current Suns, it should be noted, have risen to third in tempo at 96.9.

This change of direction is downright plodding when compared to how transition-oriented teams played 20-25 years ago. As an example, the 1990-91 Denver Nuggets checked in at 113.7 possessions per 48 minutes.

It also should be noted the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons and Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls were among the slower-moving NBA teams in those days. They also were among the best.

Over the last 10 seasons, none of the teams ranked in the top five for pace have been able to convert a faster speed of play into a championship.

Based on the eyeball test, teams that are used to playing at more of a waltz may be prepared for the seeming glacier pace of the playoffs.

It also figures that teams with more selectivity enable their best players to have the ball a higher percentage of the time.

A trio of imports from the 2013 draft -- Alex Len, Rudy Gobert and Steven Adams -- have emerged as promising young men.

Despite the hue and cry over the NBA's drought at the center position, hope can be found in the Western Conference.

Thanks to the 2013 draft, we now have Alex Len (Phoenix), Steven Adams (Oklahoma City) and Rudy "The Stifle Tower" Gobert (Utah).

Since joining the Suns starting lineup, Len -- the fifth overall selection in '13 -- has starting erasing opponent shot attempts, and the Suns won 10 of the first 13 games. While still trying to find his spots on offense, the former Maryland star has risen to third (at 6.0) in block percentage.

Adams, the 12th pick that year, has increased his scoring (3.3 to 7.5) and rebounding (4.1 to 7.3) averages while taking over the middle for the Thunder. The New Zealander also is among the league's best on the offensive glass.

With Enes Kanter sidelined by injury, the 7-foot-1 Gobert and his 9-7 standing reach have made life tricky for bad guys near the Utah rim. With a league-leading block percentage of 8.0 (the highest we've seen in over three seasons), the 22-year-old from France also has limited foes to less than 40 percent shooting at the cup.

Gobert was picked by the Nuggets at 27 in that draft and traded to Utah the same night.

All three will have plenty of opportunity to improve in a conference that still offers post players Marc Gasol, DeMarcus Cousins, Dwight Howard, Tyson Chandler and Tim Duncan.

The acquisition of Dion Waiters would seem to make Reggie Jackson prime trade bait for Oklahoma City.

That could be how we'll refer to Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson, whose status provoked considerable trade gossip even before the team acquired Dion Waiters.

With Waiters providing a little duplication of skills and Jackson due to become a free agent this summer, a trade before the February deadline doesn't seem like an unusual idea.

How is Reggie handling the speculation?

"Probably better than you are," he told reporters Monday.

Jackson, working all but one game without injured Russell Westbrook, began the season averaging 19.5 points per game in November. His efficiency went up in December, but the minutes and ppg (12.4) went south.

Now, despite the team insisting it's not looking to move him, Jackson is getting only 21 minutes a game over four games in January and giving OKC just 9 points per outing. To the good (at least in terms of market value), he's made 6 of 11 3-pointers this month after converting at a rate of 25 percent over the first two.

In a league where point guard loot has been at a premium, Jackson could command way more this summer than a team that didn't want to pay James Harden would be willing to fork over.

This week's NBA menu features a star-studded Thursday night matchup pitting Olympic teammates LeBron James and Kobe Bryant on opposing sides.

Although there will be several team matchups that will eclipse it, Thursday's date between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lakers in Los Angeles could be the most compelling.

Well, perhaps . . . and the intrigue might not last very long.

Thursday was supposed to be the target date for LeBron James (knee, back) to return from chill mode. But after the Cavs lost seven of eight games without him, LeBron was supposed to be a game-time decision for Tuesday's matchup in Phoenix. And even though Kobe Bryant has been given periodic nights off, we expect that we would see the Black Mamba in this one if The King suits up.

For the record, LeBron and his teammates are 12-5 when matched against Kobe and the Lakers.

Kobe has averaged 26.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists in games against James. He's given the Lakers 21.8 points per game in the wins and 28.7 in the losses.

LeBron's averages vs. L.A. with Bryant available are 27.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists. James has pumped in 30.2 points per game in the victories and 21.6 in the defeats.

By the way, they probably won't even guard each other much, if at all.

An even more entertaining battle could co-star Cavs newcomer J.R. Smith against the Lakers' Nick "Swaggy P" Young. We even have a name -- "May the Forced Shots Be With You!"

For those looking for superior showdowns between teams, we recommend Saturday with Atlanta at Chicago, Golden State at Houston and Portland at Memphis.

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